tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post1147008572023897559..comments2024-03-05T22:44:45.962-05:00Comments on Great Opera Singers: Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-46045576664925885352013-06-09T18:26:15.631-04:002013-06-09T18:26:15.631-04:00Thank you very much, Mr. Drake, for lending your a...Thank you very much, Mr. Drake, for lending your authority to our blog, with your detailed information. I apologize for having misrepresented Ponselle's opinion. I just didn't have all the information. Now that I do, thanks to you, I will re-write those sentences in the article which refer to the great soprano's views. My sincere thanks! EdmundEdmund St. Austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490721790447218365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-88877045608006647882013-06-09T18:23:33.926-04:002013-06-09T18:23:33.926-04:00A minor clarification, submitted very respectfully...A minor clarification, submitted very respectfully, concerning Rosa Ponselle's assessment of Richard Crooks. In the 1930s, Ponselle and her then-husband, Carle Jackson, were social friends of the Crookses (in fact, Jackson and Crooks, both of whom were avid outdoorsmen, often fished and hunted together), and Crooks sang at Ponselle's wedding to Jackson in December 1936.<br /><br />Although Ponselle admired Crooks' distinctive lyric voice, his impressive stage presence, and his overall musicianship, she did not regard him as highly as she did Gigli, Martinelli, nor a number of others with whom she sang, including the American tenor Charles Hackett ("Now, there was an artist!" she exclaimed when, as her biographer, I asked her assessment of Hackett).<br /><br />As the Metropolitan Opera Annals confirm, Crooks and Ponselle sang only one performance together, in "Traviata" on January 31, 1935, when Crooks was cast in lieu of Tito Schipa, whom Ponselle preferred as a partner in that production. Her esteem for Crooks, however, both as a colleague and as a personal friend, was sincere, enduring, and profound.<br /><br />James A. Drake, Biographer<br />Rosa Ponselle--A Centenary BiographyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-84298832008372963312012-10-01T09:42:24.275-04:002012-10-01T09:42:24.275-04:00If the readers would like to hear more from Crooks...If the readers would like to hear more from Crooks, you can donwnload 16 operatic tracks from Mozart to Wagner in my blog (LP from 1969 on MP3).<br />http://recordplayer78.blogspot.de/2012/09/richard-crooks-tenor-1900-1972-in-opera.htmlEmiliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16020912982888929199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-63736248116166890772012-06-29T07:33:47.378-04:002012-06-29T07:33:47.378-04:00Filippeschi sang this role all over Italy and over...<i>Filippeschi sang this role all over Italy and overseas as well, more than fifty times between his début of the role in 1949 and his last performance of it in 1959—a record that is unlikely ever to be equalled. </i><br />This is certainly by far not a record for the number of Arnold sung worldwide.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-71332998640826548612012-05-19T19:20:16.601-04:002012-05-19T19:20:16.601-04:00Thank you very much, Gioacchino. An excellent com...Thank you very much, Gioacchino. An excellent comment! I absolutely agree with you! Again, my respect and my thanks.Edmund St. Austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490721790447218365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-92121676072917913782012-05-19T09:23:00.136-04:002012-05-19T09:23:00.136-04:00A supreme artist. Tenors like Crooks have no need ...A supreme artist. Tenors like Crooks have no need for publicity or promotion because they never make down to the audience. If a person is interested, they will take the time to understand and appreciate his art to go up to his level. If not, well that is too bad.G. Fiurezi Maragioglionoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-12627078260476717652012-05-13T16:25:49.871-04:002012-05-13T16:25:49.871-04:00Thank you very much, Natalie! I really appreciate...Thank you very much, Natalie! I really appreciate that! Yes, I think he did have many good personal qualities. Like Sobinov, there is a kind of golden history there, at least up until the time of his illnesses. After his abdominal surgery caused him to retire early, he waged a long battle with cancer, finally dying at the age of 72. Like you, I admire "Leve-Toi" and "Ah, fuyez" very much. He seems perfectly suited to them, vocally speaking. My thanks, again.Edmund St. Austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490721790447218365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-48867749431629078132012-05-13T16:11:31.034-04:002012-05-13T16:11:31.034-04:00“: brilliant tenor, without question! “I totally a...“: brilliant tenor, without question! “I totally agree, he had all the qualities of a great singer. Thanks for the article. Perhaps you gave the most profound description of a great singer: “As I search for adjectives to describe the overall effect of this singing , the words "elegant," "genteel." "restrained," all come to mind, as does—compounding the adjective one degree, "deeply-felt." . This is true. His versions of " Lève-toi Soleil and "Ah, fuyez, douce image” are brilliant and moving; he sang like a truly romantic hero. Probably he was a hero in real life too, judging by his biography.<br /><br />n.a.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-58700349649285975352012-05-13T15:07:25.538-04:002012-05-13T15:07:25.538-04:00I chose the baritones because they were in the sam...I chose the baritones because they were in the same category. I agree with you on the tenors like Del Monaco and Corelli. They had the same vibrancy.JDHobbeshttp://cinci.rr.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-78437905290309767492012-05-13T14:08:36.221-04:002012-05-13T14:08:36.221-04:00And interestingly, you have mentioned three barito...And interestingly, you have mentioned three baritones. I'm not sure if it is significant, but it may be. Something to ponder! Thanks again.Edmund St. Austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490721790447218365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-29836418004831264272012-05-13T14:00:44.858-04:002012-05-13T14:00:44.858-04:00Yes, I think you have it. I listen, for example, ...Yes, I think you have it. I listen, for example, to Tibbett singing. It is always exciting. If I hear the same thing by Merrill or Warren, it doesn't have the same effect.JDHobbeshttp://cinci.rr.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-1823721449298688882012-05-13T13:38:04.904-04:002012-05-13T13:38:04.904-04:00It might have to do with expectation, or with repe...It might have to do with expectation, or with repertoire. Or possibly even choice of word. I think the essential effect, for me at least, is ethereal. There is a real joy, or beauty about very elegant singing, or very fine singing, that is perhaps different from raw excitement. When I think about singers whom I would designate as "exciting," I tend to think about Mario del Monaco, Franco Corelli, Franco Bonisolli, Mario Lanza, Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, Zinka Milanov. Another class of singer, another kind of experience. We could compare it to ballet. I sense the same kind of difference between very dramatic, strong and virile male dancers such as Rudolf Nureyev, Irek Mukhamedov or even Mikhail Baryshnikov, against the delicate and etherial touches of Anthony Dowell,Jonathan Cope, or even Igor Zelinsky Different creatures, distinct appeals. Thanks as always for a comment that goes to the core of the matter! Always appreciated!Edmund St. Austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490721790447218365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-21289080281831544442012-05-13T12:32:32.524-04:002012-05-13T12:32:32.524-04:00What you say is true, but somehow his voice doesn&...What you say is true, but somehow his voice doesn't excite me. I am not sure why. I read or heard once that he was ambivalent about acting. Perhaps he lacks some kind of flair or exaggeration that we often expect? I don't know for sure what it is.JDHobbeshttp://cinci.rr.comnoreply@blogger.com