Sondra Radvanovsky's Last Season at the MET
In an article in this month's Opera News entitled "Chanson triste' Sondra Radvanovsky informed the press that she has not received any upcoming contracts from the MET and that this Leonora might be her farefwell Trovatore.
Damm! I'm pretty mad about this. Although I have not had the chance to hear her in person, I was planning on making my way down there for this. So ....what appened?
Well I think the Renee Fleming's rock star status has basically squeezed her out. But no that cant be it...could it? Dont they sing different repertoire? OK Here's the scoop. Last year I heard that Peter Gelb took and gave Sondra's Leonora's to Renee. That said, I don't know the season implied but I think Renee will sing Leonora in 2009-2010. So that's why Sondra's contract is ending.
Now Renee is enjoying a real climax in her career right now. She has been called the "darling of the Met" and all kinds of sweet and saucy stuff. But I am not sure I want to hear Renee get in there and slurp up Verdi with all her scooping and jazz inflections. Let's face it. Verdi should be sung as cleanly as Mozart. Verdi is beautiful music and there is a lot of integrity that goes into the study of Verdi. There is a Verdian Style. And though Renee sang "Tacea" well on the Volpe Gala...she did! I was glad to hear her sink her teeth into some Verdi...it took some of the boredom out of her singing. But will she refrain from scooping throughout the whole role? And why won't someone tell her that the scooping sound is ugly? Why wont someone stand up to Renee and say " Renee quit the scooping! " Because her name sells tickets? Well.....
Anna Netrebko just came back from maternity leave to bad Lucia reviews. They said she didn't hit the high Eb at the end of "Spargi." Well that particular Eb is standard and she is required to sing it but I read that it was so flat it sounded like a Db -- a whole 'whole step' down. Dang. Well she hasn't sung in six months but to come back in with an acrobatic role like Lucia....it was too ambitions.
But getting back to Sondra. Sondra's been hanging out at the MET since 1995 when she won the Met auditions. Peter Gelb wants singers who can pull in crowds...However I hate to see another get squeezed out. Ruth Ann Swenson was accused of being a stand and sing soprano and Gelb let her go too. Now she's rotating Musetta's with Nicole Cabell... Some spots have been lost in music because of the recession too. That plays a part in this too.
Anyway, I have said before that we can't compare singers of the past to the singers of today. But I see everybodys still doing it. Why? Because singing cannot be just about beautiful voice. Singing has to be a burning lightning rod for the singer and for the audience. One has to have a beautiful voice but singing ultimately has to transport people....take them to another level and give them an out of body experience...and sometimes that is not with a beautiful voice. That is the art of interpretation. Singers need to go back and read all of Maria Callas' biographys and see what she did. She was the greatest .. if I must compare.
posted by Pimp My Voice at 8:38 PM
7 Comments:
Renee doesn't understand she's singing jazz opera....
Anna just had a baby...her muscles are still jelly.
Sondra..had no name recognition, and had no fire.
Ruth Ann...had name recognition but had no fire.
And Dolora Zajick beats out all the sopranos!!
I agree, Zajick is fabulous. But after hearing Sondra Radvanovsky in San Francisco I am still raving about her exquisite voice. Her forte to pianissimo had such lovely control. It was spell binding!
People tend to pick on Renée for her scooping, but the reality is that she is not alone in this offense. I attend an opera performance about once a week and listen to recordings constantly - many, many, many singers scoop, even the greats of years past that no one wants to touch. Also, Leonora would not have been her first venture into Verdi, as she's sung Desdemona and Violetta several times - both to great critical acclaim (though personally, I don't think Violetta is one of her stronger roles).
I am a HUGE fan of Sondra's, and I'm glad to see that the Met did engage her for Stiffelio this season - I'm actually going tonight. She gives some of the most thrilling performances in my opinion, and I wish she had broader recognition. She mentioned in a recent interview that she has future engagements at the Met to sing Tosca and Aida, so let's hope those come through.
While I think it unfortunate that the Met has been engaging lots of young pretty faces with mediocre talent (Danielle de Niese) - and conductors for that matter - I do believe that Renée is rightfully celebrated for her consistency and versatility - she's done Mozart, Strauss, Verdi, Massanet, Handel, Rossini, Dvorak, Messien, Floyd, Previn, Gounod among others. Unfortunately given the nature of Sondra's voice, her rep is somewhat limited (i.e. she does Verdi and very little else). Therefore, in my humble opinion, it makes sense that the house would give preference to the more versatile performer who's contributed more over the years - assuming that the stories you heard of Gelb giving the Trovatore to Fleming are true. I'm not sure how credible the source is giving the fact that Sondra didn't mention it in her Opera News article. If she was ballsy enough to cite that she had no pending offers from the Met (In the Met Guild's own magazine nonetheless), why not go all the way and disclose the fact that the engagement was originally taken away but then given back?
But back on the subject of Fleming - I know there are several nay-sayers out there, but let's be honest, people. Marketing is marketing, but an individual does not become an international success over so many years for lack of talent, particularly in a field like opera, where its patrons are hyper-critical.
Sondra was a fantastic Lina. I saw the Trovatore at the ballpark in San Francisco and listened again to the radio broadcast on the internet earlier this month. She was amazing. I want to hear her sing all the Verdi roles and want to revisit her earlier Verdi broadcasts. (Does anyone have any of them??) She doesn't sing to only produce beautiful sounds. She is the real deal, a great Verdi soprano--a great singer. I hear the feeling of Maria Callas in her voice without the wobble and an overall more pleasing sound.
Well of course, the Met would want Fleming. She is quite ordinary which is in line with the quality of voices over the last 20 years. Ms. Radvanovsky's voice is from the Golden Age. She is too much competition for Fleming and Netrenko.
Yesterday night Sondra was amazing in Montreal - had Place des Arts in her hand - and it is a city that has heard many extraordinary voices. I went to see Dmitri Khvorostovsky and came back in awe with Sondra!
I am so glad to have gotton so many comments on this subject. @anonymous - Renee scoops so much she sounds like she's singing jazz to me...but more annoying...why wont her coaches stop her??..probably because they dont want to lose the business right?? Exactly. Also Leonora is a different 'fach' than Desdemona (lyric), and Violetta (lyric coloratura). Leonora is for a spinto. You need to have a certain 'yang' in the cupo and a certain amount of 'vocal float' which is also characteristic of a "Verdi soprano." Danielle de Niese....I heard she screwed her way to the top. Enough said.
Zajick remains forever fabulous in my opinion and I also love Anna Netrebko for her stage shenanigans......Mimi with runny eyeliner..Elvira writhing around on the floor acting crazy ..stupidity drama...but.... I still like it......
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