Comments on The Last Debate: The Opera House is Half Full

Oh Andrew, you never like poor Jane Eaglen!Now if ...

2007-10-25T21:49:00.000-04:00

Oh Andrew, you never like poor Jane Eaglen!
Now if it were Freni.....

*smiles*

when are you going to be back on that stage andy?

2006-11-05T14:17:00.000-05:00

when are you going to be back on that stage andy?

It's hard to judge what she really would have soun...

2006-10-28T09:15:00.000-04:00

It's hard to judge what she really would have sounded like; one of the problems of early recordings is that they couldn't capture overtones and had very poor fidelity on high notes, making nearly everyone sound thin and straight-toned up there.

But..in general, I would say today a fuller, warmer sound -- especially in Puccini -- is what people want to hear. Farrar had a more girly quality, as did most sopranos then. (Yes, I am well aware that Puccini thought she was great.) I am ALL in favor of generous portamento, but she had a tendency -- as was the style at the time, I concede -- to really slide around a lot, and even in the middle register, where fidelity is better, you can hear that the vibrato goes out of her tone when she does it.

Also, again hard to judge from the old recordings, but I'm not sure her voice was big enough for today's taste in Butterflies. I can't really imagine her voice in that "E questo?" passage, or in the more dramatic moments from Tosca, which she sang often.

Andy, I'm curious what about Farrar's vocal style ...

2006-10-27T16:49:00.000-04:00

Andy, I'm curious what about Farrar's vocal style makes her out of fashion today?

Thanks!

Off topic, but...HI ANDY!Going to the chapel and I...

2006-10-26T10:28:00.000-04:00

Off topic, but...

HI ANDY!

Going to the chapel and I'm gonna get .....

Today, I accept my status as Jersey Boy!!!

Incidentally, the argument is often made that, at ...

2006-10-25T18:32:00.000-04:00

Incidentally, the argument is often made that, at least in America, Enrico Caruso established his fame as a recording artist before he became known as a stage performer. Of course, there's a great difference between Caruso's career path and, say, Bartoli's -- but at the same time, without his million-selling recordings Caruso would have had a very different career.

ROTFLMAO!you just earned a spot on my blog roll.

2006-10-24T22:19:00.000-04:00

ROTFLMAO!
you just earned a spot on my blog roll.

Here is an image of La Bartoli.

2006-10-23T12:05:00.000-04:00

Here is an image of La Bartoli.

Gino, just google it.David: I'm not a fan of Ms. E...

2006-10-23T03:52:00.000-04:00

Gino, just google it.

David: I'm not a fan of Ms. Eaglen, either. As far as I can tell, the only thing she's got going for her is the ability to still be standing at the end of the night. (Though, to do so, she does end up sitting down on stage as often as possible.) I'm trying hard not to be mean, but every time I've heard her, she's left me absolutely cold. As I said, sometimes we have to take the tradeoff: not all great interpreters and performers have great voices; not all great voices have great bodies. Ms. Eaglen seems to have none of the three qualities.

I agree with your sentiments, Andy, and generally ...

2006-10-23T03:29:00.000-04:00

I agree with your sentiments, Andy, and generally can suspend belief with the best of them.

But, I must say, it really broke the magic watching Jane Eaglen very, very, very slowly wending her way to Ben Heppner at the end of "Tristan". The Queen Mary came to mind, and not in a good way.

Having made that mean-spirited remark, I'll balance it with the fact that I began crying as the first chords sounded. What a marvelous opera.

the least you could do is post a picture of Cecili...

2006-10-22T21:10:00.000-04:00

the least you could do is post a picture of Cecilia Bartoli so guys like myself can learn to appreciate opera,also.