tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post1368652300535163589..comments2024-03-05T22:44:45.962-05:00Comments on Great Opera Singers: Amelita Galli-Curci: Queen of the ColoraturasUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-35678229856043774402012-01-11T05:48:32.830-05:002012-01-11T05:48:32.830-05:00MOLTO BELLO!!! Thank you so much for this Valuable...MOLTO BELLO!!! Thank you so much for this Valuable biographical information. I was amaze in your Wonderful Web site and I was fascinated in your Great collections. It was very inspiring and really blissful performance! Again thank you and have a very nice day.Gerhard Santosnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-79730869226239706682009-12-29T13:43:10.030-05:002009-12-29T13:43:10.030-05:00Muchisimas Gracias. Mucho le agradezco su comentar...Muchisimas Gracias. Mucho le agradezco su comentario, y yo estoy de acuerdo. La G-C es para mi una diosa!Edmund St. Austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490721790447218365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-24355137064978620742009-12-27T18:52:37.943-05:002009-12-27T18:52:37.943-05:00MUY INTERESANTE TODOS LOS COMENTARIOS , SOY UNA FA...MUY INTERESANTE TODOS LOS COMENTARIOS , SOY UNA FAN DE LA GALLI-CURCI Y ADEMÁS SU SOBRINA NIETAAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-36965882641488205532009-09-26T09:30:18.721-04:002009-09-26T09:30:18.721-04:00Stunning comment, Nate! I could not agree more! ...Stunning comment, Nate! I could not agree more! Your special emphasis on l'art du chant, to reference Garcia's great book of the same title, which she studied like a bible, is spot-on, as is the "naturalness" to which you refer. "Naturalness" is the exact word someone used once in responding to a (probably characteristically) effusive comment of my own on the nonpareil interpretation of Gamzatti in La Bayadere, danced by Darcey Bussell, the London Royal's greatest ever prima ballerina, imho--(an opinion usually sure to start a quasi-hysterical agrument:) In the case of both Galli-Curci and Bussell, there is something that far transcends technique, even though both are masters of the same. It is that ineffable gift called "star quality" that everyone talks about and no one can define. It communicates itself with devastating power and it may be more nearly a quality of intellect or of "spirit" than pure vocal or balletic technique. Whatever it is, Galli Curci had it, and I think your use of the word "natural" comes closer to defining it than any other I can immediately recall.<br /><br />Thanks again for another great comment!Edmund St. Austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490721790447218365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-56683620466344481192009-09-25T23:06:51.726-04:002009-09-25T23:06:51.726-04:00Galli-Curci is most likely the greatest natural fe...Galli-Curci is most likely the greatest natural female singer on record. I know this is a rather bold statement, the kind I rarely make and actively avoid; however, I feel so strongly about this, that I am willing to take the plunge. Perhaps I should clarify exactly what I mean. By natural, I refer to her tonal emission and apparent lack of effort as well as artifice in her singing. As another commentator stated, she sings as easily as one speaks. I suppose natural might also refer to the fact she had very little formal training. I recall she admitted to a few lessons, which she deemed worthless. It was at that point she decided to teach herself by listening to recordings of famous sopranos and reading books about the art of singing, such as the Garcia treatise already mentioned. I also contend she is the greatest natural SINGER, not that she had the most beautiful VOICE. You mention the grace of her singing, and I agree there is an elegance, an artistic refinement and musicianship to her phrasing, her ornamentation (never excessive), her rhythmic control, her sense of style. Her thorough grounding as a pianist surely contributed to this. She worked hard perfecting her legato, which is most haunting. Even her staccati are beautifully and correctly executed (as are Sembrich's), and unlike those of Tetrazzini's, which, according to Henderson, although brilliant and charming, were formed incorrectly by checking the breath rather than gently touching the note. Melba's staccati do not sound quite right on record (what else is new?); however, they were compared by critics of the period to full-voiced "balls of light." Perhaps most of all, I view Galli-Curci's "naturalness" in terms of the fluency, ease, facility, and agility of her singing. Finally, when I say she may not have the most beautiful voice on record, that does not mean her voice is in any way ugly. It is a pretty voice with a "rare timbre," according to de Schaunsee, and a soothing, warm tone. But there are other female singers whose voices are perhaps more intrinsically rich and beautiful, including Melba, Patti, Tetrazzini, Ponselle, Rethberg, Flagstad, Sutherland, and Horne. Certainly there are others who have greater interpretive ability, such as Callas, Muzio, Lotte Lehmann, and Schwarzkopf; and still others who surpass Galli-Curci with regard to sheer power and intensity: Nilsson, Turner, Leider, Tebaldi, to name but a few. Nonetheless, in the matter of the art of singing, I sincerely believe Galli-Curci is indeed the greatest natural female singer of them all.Natenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-47004198885423059132009-08-17T14:11:49.362-04:002009-08-17T14:11:49.362-04:00Agreed. In the same way that professors often tea...Agreed. In the same way that professors often teach according to what they are, so singers often infuse their own personalities into their music. And, I might add, devotees of a particular artist or piece of music often invest something of themselves in their appreciation. Which, I suppose, is one of the reasons arguments about various musical artists, or compositions, can become so passionate. That which we love we passionately defend.<br /><br />Yes, my answer on the Verdi question was a bit long-winded:) It was an extraordinarily suggestive question. I know well the professor who wrote it, and he is a genius. To answer a question of his, I can assure you, is no simple task:) :)Edmund St. Austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490721790447218365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-39911064060344284422009-08-17T13:54:06.325-04:002009-08-17T13:54:06.325-04:00Yes, judging by her singing and photos, Amelita wa...Yes, judging by her singing and photos, Amelita was a very cultured, intelligent woman. Singing usually reflects artist’s personality.<br />Your comment on Verdi could have been a separate article.<br /><br />n.a.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-67838294520397911462009-08-16T19:55:44.825-04:002009-08-16T19:55:44.825-04:00Yes, it's a really wonderful voice, isn't ...Yes, it's a really wonderful voice, isn't it? So light, pure, clear and flute-like. Even today, on recordings, the voice still enchants. Thanks for the comment.<br /><br />EdmundEdmundhttp://gmail.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-24756351489054278102009-08-16T17:32:45.662-04:002009-08-16T17:32:45.662-04:00I looked at the videos you gave. The voice is real...I looked at the videos you gave. The voice is really great.Sikantishttp://www.sikantis.net/blog/?p=1886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-63585813960938418882009-08-16T10:56:30.398-04:002009-08-16T10:56:30.398-04:00Hmmmm....make that sentence of mine about diction ...Hmmmm....make that sentence of mine about diction "simply REFERS to the joking observation...." Answering comments early on Sunday morning is probably not a good idea:))<br /><br />Edmund The SleepyEdmundhttp://gmail.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-49761889710721518992009-08-16T10:49:53.279-04:002009-08-16T10:49:53.279-04:00Thank you! Yes, I have to admit I am a fan. I ha...Thank you! Yes, I have to admit I am a fan. I have never had any resistance to girl-like charm:)<br /><br />My joke about belonging to the Joan Sutherland School of Stage Diction simply reflects to the joking observation about coloraturas in general (Sutherland being the prime example)that no one can ever understand anything they sing. The reason is that everything vocal is sacrificed to the purity of tone and to extreme flexibility of articulation. What we really listen to in the great coloraturas are vocal pyrotechniques (пиротехника)and what are essentially elegant vocalises. Actually, Galli Curci spoke five languages fluently. She was a very elegant and refined person from an upper class background. But unfortunately, I usually can't understand her in any language except Italian, which is not too bad. The English was hopeless:)Edmundhttp://gmail.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-11866924169902241492009-08-16T10:31:42.840-04:002009-08-16T10:31:42.840-04:00Beautiful article, written by a true fan:) I total...Beautiful article, written by a true fan:) I totally agree with everything you wrote about her singing. Though her technique is perfect , it’s easy to imagine that she learnt it as a hobby, while singing at home. Perhaps not many singers can study so easily, but the general idea of beautiful singing is that it must be effortless, natural and pleasant. Vishnevskaya said that she had left the stage when stopped feeling the “joy of singing”. It seems that for Galli-Curci singing is as easy as speaking. But what is wrong with her diction? Did she speak with Italian accent?<br /><br />n.a.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-56926827465413589992009-08-16T10:26:48.096-04:002009-08-16T10:26:48.096-04:00Thank you so much for your lovely comments and pro...Thank you so much for your lovely comments and profound questions. This one is a beauty! I have to admit that I do not believe I have ever heard it posed before. My sense is that Verdi's operas may be more sui generis than transgressive. I think the "transgressiveness," if we go with that concept, may in fact be something else, and that is a visible dynamic; one resulting from a constant tension between Verdi's talent and the changing times in which he lived. I think it's important to remember that he was born in 1813...barely out of the 18th century. His earliest musical memories would coincide with the age of conflict beteen high Classicism and nascent Romanticism. Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini would have been immediate influences. At the same time, Verdi himself (and this may not be commonly understood) was personally interested in German music, and listened to a great deal of it during his early years. His lifetime--a very long one--covered a period during which he saw Classicism give way to Romanticism, and Romanticim slowly yield to Music Drama and incipient Verismo. Emotionally and intellectually, he was grounded in the idea of musical theater for the people. "Trust the people!" he would often say. It seems certain he was aware of the growing disconnect between popular tastes and what today we might call "academic" composition. Against this tendency (which is reflected in the middle period operas that everyone knows)there was a lively intellect, a deep and brooding temperament (springing from dreadful personal loss)and a burning desire to keep up with what was going on in the increasingly intellectual musical world around him. By the time of La Forza del Destino, the popular style of which he was fond had clearly begun to exhaust itself, and he was both criticized and ridiculed in musical circles for not keeping up. Stung, he created (as an aging man) Aida, and immediately won back the enthusiasm of the musical world. By the time of Falstaff, he was clearly into the then modern concept of music drama, or through-composed musical plays. He was by now an old man, but the tension I am trying to describe here is still there. I believe what you notice is the dynamic tension between the strong desire to write the popular music of his middle period and the intellectual and artistic need to be contemporary. In the case of Traviata, for example, the 3/4 time oompah tempi were a deliberate attempt to use the then growing popularity of Viennese waltz music as a leitmotiv for the frivolity and artificiality of Violetta's world, which he will bring to tragic disavowal. Such an opera, therefore, presents an opportunity for the sensitive artist to highlight that aspect of Violetta's life which she wants to stress, or, even more subtly, to color the seemingly frivolous coloratura with hints of darkness and tragedy. This is something a really good musician and stylist like Galli-Curci could do. Others, with different voices could do the same in different operas. [Callas (La Divina!) comes to mind. We both know what she could bring to Bellini, for example.] Because the tension of which I speak was almost always present in Verdi, the opportunities are certainly there to take a piece such as Il Trovatore and highlight the earlier styles of High Romanticism when possible, and darken, either musically or sylistically, certain phrases that present the opportunity to foreshadow tragedy or darkness, in the same way that Verdi's own evolving sense of leitmotiv and musical suggestion could do. This would be my best understanding, admittedly off the top of my head, of what Galli Curci, a superb musican, could do with Tacea la Notte.Edmundhttp://gmail.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-6104446305405632422009-08-16T00:30:51.421-04:002009-08-16T00:30:51.421-04:00as usual, your writing is pellucid, and you go str...as usual, your writing is pellucid, and you go straight for the essentials. your diagnosis of galli-curci's technique is unparalleled in its accuracy, clarity, and usefulness. an excellent example of why we keep coming back to your wonderful blog.<br /><br />your comments on her TROVATORE recording were most provocative. i have been musing on the whole verdi thing for some time -- TRAVIATA is another good example of a soprano role that attracts singers of various types, and their violettas will of course vary accordingly. i am sure there has been plenty of scholarship on the actual music of verdi -- probably a hundred scholars have already made this point with more learning or eloquence -- but what i want to suggest is that his music, despite certain deceptive simplicities such as the frequent oom-pah-pah bass in the accompaniment, is really stylistically transcendent -- or what a postmodern scholar might call 'transgressive' -- it doesn't belong to a single genre, or perhaps it is just sui generis. though he is a generation older than puccini, i think the case could be made that he is more radical in this regard than his successor. certainly, that puccini would not have been possible without verdi.<br /><br />if i'm right about this, it might help explain why a flutey bel canto soprano like galli-curci can end up making musical sense of leonora; or why so many different types of soprano can succeed as violetta [imagine: galli-curci, callas, moffo, sills, sutherland, to name only a few, all singing the same arias ... and in their way, each makes sense of this extraordinarily challenging role].<br /><br />in ogni caso: bel lavorio professore! [come al solito]coraxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03645573592247798140noreply@blogger.com