Viva la Mezzo!!!!!

Date: 20 Apr 2003 15:19:53 GMT
Newsgroups: rec.music.opera
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You know..the FIRST SECONDS of Sue Graham's recital..as that glorious tone
began to fill Carnegie..I instantly reminded myself of how my all-time favorite
voice-type is that of the Mezzo/contralto..and how many incredible varieties of
vocal tone there are among so many mezzos...I have now heard HUNDREDS of
them...and it is a veritable miracle that each one has a specifically distinct
tone..and from the so-called "lyric" types (Graham,Baker,Veasey,Von
Stade,Ferrier,etc.) through the intensely dramatic (Elmo,Resnik,Barbieri,etc.)
there is still that HAUNTING tone.....that gets into my inners.......
Just take the entire Fricka Monologue in act two Walkure..listen to what
Resnik,Klose,Thebom,Ludwig, and the young Jill Groves (I saw Regina coach her
in it) do with that "biting' phrasing...the richness and the power of the text
and the music..it is something awesome...Also the entire Waltraute Monologue in
Gotterdamerung is similar in its strength. On the lyric side,Octavian is possibly the most DIVINE role for the
mezzo..but it can be sung by a whole range of mezzos...from the lush Risë
Stevens sound..and how can I ever forget the way she walked down those stairs
toward Hilde Gueden..and the richness of the voice ..and the genuine
artistry...and even Irmgard Seefried sings the role more lyrically..and of
course our beloived Sue..and Jurinac and Minton and so many others.... It is just Signor Puccini who seems to have overlooked the mezzo in most of
his operas...but he made up for it in other ways...... Here is a list of some mezzos some of you might not know well,and it is
worth a look to sample their art:
Josephine Veasey
Barbro Ericson
Rosette Anday
Linda Finnie
Anna Reynolds
Frances Bible(I adored her!!!)
Anna Maria Rota
Mignon Dunn
Elena Nicolai (Not Nikolaidi..Nicolai is a SENSATION!!!!!!!!!)
and Nikolaidi ,just passed away recently..a fabulous voice also.)
Georgine von Milinkovic
Anny Schlemm
Eva Randova
Nan Merriman and so many more....... Viva La Mezzo!!! CH Yours truly, Charlie My best, Charlie. Check out my website dedicated to the wonderful world
of opera, and request my huge free catalogue of live opera tapes.
http://www.handelmania.com