Her young voice there was like liquid, as a departed friend used to say. I forget if I used her in the contest.. Mozart worked well for her as there were few high notes. Her tone was a bit brighter at that point and so beautiful. It got more throaty as she matured. In my 30's I worshipped her like some here worship Callas. I am more balanced now but still love her in some things.
Technically deficient performances you still enjoy
On the back of the Callas-Butterfly argument what are some technically deficient performances, let’s say, that you still enjoy? This is probably a thread aimed more at those of us who stand by the old-school of singing as some are not quite so bothered by technique as others.
My first choice would be Callas’s Imogene in Il Pirata. Okay, maybe it’s not so much technically deficient as a voice that is failing itself. But it’s a remarkable performances with some remarkable dramatic coloratura moments and such sensitivity and involvement that I can’t help but be moved. No other recording approaches this for drama and insight, even if Callas is past her best and the rest of the cast not exactly well-versed in bel canto style, but they're good and the conducting is excellent. Sometimes I listen to Caballe and think this is so lovely that I must prefer it, but then I get bored and realise how much better the Callas version is. You really need a dramatic voice for this role.
Another would be Ilona Tokody in Respighi’s La Fiamma. Maybe this is partly because it’s the only decent recording of this wonderful opera available in good sound but I really do enjoy some of Tokody’s singing. Her voice has plenty of problems, she rarely gets it to expand above the staff and there are plenty of wobbles up high but she is also capable of making quite a beautiful sound in her middle register. But one thing she definitely is, is involved, and it’s one of those rare cases where I can enjoy the performance even despite some pretty awful sounds in places. At least she has a chest voice. I love this opera and wish it were more popular.
There are others but these are maybe the most obvious ones for me.
My first choice would be Callas’s Imogene in Il Pirata. Okay, maybe it’s not so much technically deficient as a voice that is failing itself. But it’s a remarkable performances with some remarkable dramatic coloratura moments and such sensitivity and involvement that I can’t help but be moved. No other recording approaches this for drama and insight, even if Callas is past her best and the rest of the cast not exactly well-versed in bel canto style, but they're good and the conducting is excellent. Sometimes I listen to Caballe and think this is so lovely that I must prefer it, but then I get bored and realise how much better the Callas version is. You really need a dramatic voice for this role.
Another would be Ilona Tokody in Respighi’s La Fiamma. Maybe this is partly because it’s the only decent recording of this wonderful opera available in good sound but I really do enjoy some of Tokody’s singing. Her voice has plenty of problems, she rarely gets it to expand above the staff and there are plenty of wobbles up high but she is also capable of making quite a beautiful sound in her middle register. But one thing she definitely is, is involved, and it’s one of those rare cases where I can enjoy the performance even despite some pretty awful sounds in places. At least she has a chest voice. I love this opera and wish it were more popular.
There are others but these are maybe the most obvious ones for me.
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There is nothing wrong with the INHERENT sound of her very distinctive voice. Likewise there is nothing wrong with the INHERENT sound of Amelita Galli-Curci, Nellie Melba, Frieda Hempel, Selma Kurz, Maria Ivogun, Lily Pons, Luisa Tetrazzini, Antonina Nezhdanova, Conchita Supervia, etc. etc. etc. all fabulously technically sufficient so there is nothing to post from them on this forum.I don't think anyone can say there was anything wrong with the sound of her voice, if you mean her very distinctive timbre. It's other qualities that people criticize, and her unmistikable and very peculiar timbre, I would say that counts as a plus.
Deleted commentJessye Norman is not the right young-sounding voice one expects to hear as Salome. She sounds more like and earthy Herodias. Nevertheless, I LOVE listening to her huge opulent voice singing this glorious music. It is like a very long and more twisted 4 Last Songs. Salome really is well within a mezzo's range as it only has one B that I know of but a number of A's, which were easy for Jessye. When they give her the head it could trigger an earthquake with the right sound system. Sorry if I have mentioned this before.
One of my favorite recordings is the Lamberto Gardelli recording of Macbeth with Elena Suliotis and Dietrich Fischer Dieskau. I find Suliotis' Lady Macbeth thrilling and totally compelling, if a bit rough around the edges.
I remember reading a review of Suliotis' performance in Fanfare magazine years ago, where the critic dismissed her outright, stating something to the effect that her singing Abagaille at such a young age had ruined her voice: "her voice must have been left on the recording room floor" or some such. I nonetheless love the recording - right along with Suliotis' performance in Gardelli's Nabucco, which has to rate as a reference recording for the opera.
I remember reading a review of Suliotis' performance in Fanfare magazine years ago, where the critic dismissed her outright, stating something to the effect that her singing Abagaille at such a young age had ruined her voice: "her voice must have been left on the recording room floor" or some such. I nonetheless love the recording - right along with Suliotis' performance in Gardelli's Nabucco, which has to rate as a reference recording for the opera.
The coloratura ("Treuer Liebe susse Schmerzen")-
[The video on the right]: Goebel's orchestra, which he justifies the use in his liner notes by calling the work a "symphonic opera", sounds way too un-HIP to me. (And there's no recording of the work other than these.)
Leonine Rysanek is a great lady Macbeth even if I wish she’d been a little more generous with her chest voice. But her slightly curdled middle works well for the role.
I’m not a huge fan of Suoliotis but I could imagine her Lady being interesting. What would keep me from that recording is DFD in such widely unsuitably repertoire… a shame as I seem to remember the rest of the cast is quite good? Ghiaurov as Banco?One of my favorite recordings is the Lamberto Gardelli recording of Macbeth with Elena Suliotis and Dietrich Fischer Dieskau. I find Suliotis' Lady Macbeth thrilling and totally compelling, if a bit rough around the edges.
I remember reading a review of Suliotis' performance in Fanfare magazine years ago, where the critic dismissed her outright, stating something to the effect that her singing Abagaille at such a young age had ruined her voice: "her voice must have been left on the recording room floor" or some such. I nonetheless love the recording - right along with Suliotis' performance in Gardelli's Nabucco, which has to rate as a reference recording for the opera.
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