Reviews

[+ Charlie]

I often disagree with reviews of operas I have seen, but the latest issue of Opera News has a review of "Nabucco" in San Diego that is almost identical to what I wrote in my private journal right after the performance. It is so satisfying when one's aesthetic opinions are confirmed by someone else.

[whipped guy]

I just read that review... and it appears that the role of Abigiaile, like that of so many of those early Verdi soprano roles, is for one reason or another difficult to cast. It seems that sopranos who have the dramatic heft can't cope with the wide range and the necessary coloratura... "labored" is the word used in the review and that is what one often gets in these roles. At any rate, it is a part that has always been difficult to cast... and it has been said that it even contributed to the vocal decline of Giuseppina Strepponi (Verdi's second wife) who created the role... Along those lines, I always associate the part with Elena Souliotis (the Callas wannabe) who recorded the part superbly (with Tito Gobbi as Nabucco) and within a few short years became totally washed up as a singer... with everything she touched sounding "labored"... Of couse Callas was quite wonderful in the role as have been a few others...

[+ Charlie]

It is a very difficult role, and Suliotis recorded it at a very young age (I also have a live recording of her singing it at La Scala in 1966 with Giangiacomo Guelfi), but it was something of a popular myth that it destroyed her voice: I heard her sing Santuzza in London several years later, and she still sounded pretty good to me. Valayre, on the other hand, sounded like her voice was already shot from the moment she started: she was almost inaudible when she tried to sing a normal line, then swooped and screeched when she went for dramatic effects.

[whipped guy]

It is a very difficult role, and Suliotis recorded it at a very young age (I also have a live recording of her singing it at La Scala in 1966 with Giangiacomo Guelfi), but it was something of a popular myth that it destroyed her voice...

Souliotis aka Suliotis was quite wonderful early in her career... and I recall hearing about her several years after she burst on the scene... I was just a young kid at the time... but interested in opera. I have a weak spot for her... as there was so much promise and always enjoy hearing her recordings... I wish Decca would re-release her Norma on CD... it is/was available in Japan... not a perfect recording but quite interesting. I have a recording of her 1968 Carnegie Hall appearance as Norma where she walked out... but then returned to finish... real drama!

[+ Charlie]

Was that the strange performance where she wore a pants suit and kept her hands in her pockets while she sang?

[whipped guy]

Was that the strange performance where she wore a pants suit and kept her hands in her pockets while she sang?

I don't think so... but I am not sure... However, she was booed for some "transgression" during the Act Two duet "Mira, oh Norma"... and she refused to appear for the final scene... Callas was in attendance and went back stage to encourage her as was French soprano Regine Crespin who admonished the audience for their behavior. Even Milanov was there that evening. I find it to be better than the studio recording as she really outdoes herself in that final scene and totally wins over the audience. I incorrectly listed the date as 1968... it was actually 1967. I recall reading about it in Time Magazine where it was presented as some sort of operatic scandal.