tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post5712695790535535696..comments2024-03-05T22:44:45.962-05:00Comments on Great Opera Singers: Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-43058552777458176212012-09-02T02:14:54.683-04:002012-09-02T02:14:54.683-04:00Dear Edmund,
This is Boris once again. I listen ...Dear Edmund,<br /><br /> This is Boris once again. I listen mostly to old opera singers, but I also sometimes listen to popular singers as well. I just went on a HUGE listening binge of both American and Russian singers. I really wanted to establish the similarity pattern between American and Russian singers. Here is what I am concluding after listening to tens of hours of music.<br /><br />Feodor Chaliapin=Bing Crosby<br />Alexander Vertinsky=Billie Holiday<br />Mark Reizen=Frank Sinatra<br />Leonid Utesov=Louis Armstrong<br />Mark Bernes=Johnny Cash<br />Bulat Okudzhava=early Bob Dylan<br />Vladimir Vysotsky=early Beatles<br /><br />Also, I noticed a great similarity between Russian pre-revolutionary singers and AMerican singers of the 20s and 30s. Namely, here is what I had found:<br /><br />Varya Panina=Bessie Smith<br />Antonina Nezhdanova=Marian Anderson<br />Leonid SObinov=John McCormack<br /><br />Would you agree with these equalizations?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-49339740122935767122012-07-03T07:36:29.593-04:002012-07-03T07:36:29.593-04:00Hello Sir Edmund! Thank you so much for your knowl...Hello Sir Edmund! Thank you so much for your knowledge and dedication on sharing this with us!!! Thank you !More Power!~ and *GOD BLESS*Gerhard Santoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03407517517439439662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-624819472210715292012-06-06T15:03:07.147-04:002012-06-06T15:03:07.147-04:00Thank you very much, Kate. Yes, the trials of the...Thank you very much, Kate. Yes, the trials of the poor Russians during the 20th century were just horrendous. The more I learn of all they had to go through, the more I admire their strength and tenacity. That art could have survived in the midst of all that is truly amazing. I read the autobiography of Galina Vishnevskaya several times, I found it so fascinating. She told how, when she was in the pioneer corps in WW2, they had a little theater group that went around singing opera, with a piano accompaniment during the siege of Leningrad. One of their singers dropped dead on stage on night, from starvation, and they buried her outside, in her costume. We cannot readily conceive of the horrors they went through.Edmund St. Austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490721790447218365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-79117308542461388992012-06-05T21:52:36.235-04:002012-06-05T21:52:36.235-04:00Such a fascinating and tragic life story. And a be...Such a fascinating and tragic life story. And a beautiful voice, too. <br /><br />Despite all the turmoil of wars and revolutions in the first half of the twentieth century artists like Sobinov continued to make great music.<br />Another great post Edmund.<br />KateVerdiwagneritenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-77249547018517774052012-05-11T08:18:01.081-04:002012-05-11T08:18:01.081-04:00A very interesting comment! I'm not sure, to ...A very interesting comment! I'm not sure, to be honest. I have always more or less assumed that the native language of the singer was a very important element in the sounds produced, but I could be wrong, obviously. You pose a most interesting question!Edmund St. Austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490721790447218365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-54130394846778279982012-05-10T21:24:12.706-04:002012-05-10T21:24:12.706-04:00Thanks for the article, Edmund.
Sobinov is truly ...Thanks for the article, Edmund.<br /><br />Sobinov is truly the best example of the art of the Russian lyric tenor. A lyric tenor whose voice is one of a pure and simple beauty, not as sugary as the French, fuller than the cooing sound the Italians produce, and easier on the ear than the Germans. I wonder if the difference in techniques in the various national singing schools was responsible for that. I don't think this has anything to do with culture or language. Even if Sobinov sings in Italian or German, he sounds different from the Germans or the Italians.Darren Seacliffehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14067833026696460418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-88858618647900677402012-04-30T09:04:57.775-04:002012-04-30T09:04:57.775-04:00Thank you, Gioacchino, for that technical tour-de-...Thank you, Gioacchino, for that technical tour-de-force! So true that internationally accepted pitch levels are extremely important. That additionally explains so much about the difficulties modern tenors face. Imagine what kind of supermen this makes of tenors like Lauri Volpi, who in his youth could nail a D natural above high C. or tenors like Di Stefano or, as we discussed last week, Eugene Conley, for whom Db's were common and predictable notes. I know that when I try to tune my harpsichord at 440 I break strings all over the place. At 415 they will hold, but even then some harpsichordists will use phosphor bronze strings to avoid breakage. Christophe Rousset, a brilliant harpsichordist, will actually tune in the 390's for some Baroque pieces, so what you point out is general, and applies across the board. This is something many people are unaware of, and it is an excellent idea on your part to bring it up. Bravo!Edmund St. Austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490721790447218365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-71477458179204829292012-04-30T08:53:07.924-04:002012-04-30T08:53:07.924-04:00Thank you so much, Natalie, for that information. ...Thank you so much, Natalie, for that information. I had no idea. Your knowledge of such matters is truly astounding, and I am much indebted to you, not only here, but generally. In light of this information, I think I need to re-edit the article, and at least made reference to these tragic elements in his biography. I guess it's true that, as we say in English, "there is no free lunch."! Thanks again, you are a treasure-trove of information!Edmund St. Austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490721790447218365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-42268545525910187512012-04-30T08:01:55.796-04:002012-04-30T08:01:55.796-04:00Another wonderful article Edmund!
It makes me re...Another wonderful article Edmund! <br /><br />It makes me realise how much operatic singing has changed Sobinov's time, and leads to a question. If de Reszke came back alive tomorrow, would be able to do everything he did more than a century ago? Or what about Caruso? <br /><br />Of course, it is just speculation, we can never know, but to me, the short answer is no. Since the early 1900s, the orchestra has become much more powerful, both because of better manufacture of instruments and the rise in pitch, which makes the instruments much brighter and rounder. <br /><br />The lowest "international" pitch we could find today would be A440. However Verdi, for example, wrote to A432. There is also the notorious example of the Salve dimora casta e pura high C, which it is alleged actually demanded a frequency somewhere between B-natural and B-flat when measured against modern pitch. <br /><br />The strain that such high tuning puts on the vocal cords is horrendous, and I truly cannot say that de Reszke, even less Caruso, could cope with it! In fact, you mentioned Kaufmann, and in light of his achievements vis-à-vis de Reszke, I could make the bold statement, that given today's difficulties, Kaufmann is the better tenor! <br /><br />Certainly, only speculation. But interesting still!G. Fiurezi Maragioglionoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-60473206015635928142012-04-30T04:40:37.703-04:002012-04-30T04:40:37.703-04:00Thanks a lot for the article. You are absolutely r...Thanks a lot for the article. You are absolutely right about Sobinov’s main qualities: he had a beautiful timbre and was a fine musician. People who heard him, often wrote that recordings didn’t capture beauty of his timbre He also was very intelligent as an actor. Though he was famous as a “romantic hero” and could be very moving, he never was ‘over the top’. A singer with perfect style And taste. <br /><br /><br />Unfortunately, there was a tragedy in his life: he had two sons Boris and Yury and a daughter Svetlana. During the Revolution and the Civil war both sons served in the White army, while Leonid became a Commissar and a Chief Manager of the Bolshoi. In 1920 his son Yury was shot by a Bolshevik. He captured that Bolshevik soldier, asked him if he was armed; the soldier said ‘No’ and shot Yury in the back some moment later.<br /><br />Another tragedy in Sobinov’s family happened after Leonid’s death. His second son Boris was a pianist and composer. With the White army he emigrated to Europe and lived in Germany until 1945. When Berlin was taken by Soviet and American forces, he lived in the American zone. He was asked to give a concert for Russians, and was captured by NKVD people after that concert. They sent him to GULAG, where he spent 10 years. He died soon after he was released from the camp. Naturally, his story was totally unknown in the USSR until the 1990’s. Only Sobinov’s daughter Svetlana lived normal life.<br /><br />I read an article in Russian Wikipedia on Sobinov, they didn’t mention these facts. It’s natural that this information is unknown in the West, and not many Russians know about it either, because Sobinov is an artist of the pre-revolutionary era.<br /><br />In the USSR he was glorified as an ideal artist with a perfect biography, you are right about the “Golden boy” reputation.<br /><br />n.aAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-35118898968157268112012-04-29T14:08:50.344-04:002012-04-29T14:08:50.344-04:00Yes, I can imagine some technician, barking at the...Yes, I can imagine some technician, barking at the singers in those days to "sustain" the notes:-)J. D. Hobbesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-57010871885259854862012-04-29T13:35:30.944-04:002012-04-29T13:35:30.944-04:00You were right, Mr. Hobbes!! I went back and foun...You were right, Mr. Hobbes!! I went back and found an old documentary that was electrically filmed, of Sobinov as an old man singing, and all the dimuendos and dynamic variations are there! I think you have found something important. Well done!Edmund St. Austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490721790447218365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-36228419126019543132012-04-29T13:14:51.511-04:002012-04-29T13:14:51.511-04:00You make a very good point, Mr. Hobbes. It is pos...You make a very good point, Mr. Hobbes. It is possible that if they sang a diminuendo ending back in that day, it disappeared off the disk, and they felt obliged to hang on to the note. You have aroused my curiosity...I don't know if Sobinov sang into the electric era or not. I'll check it out. If not him, perhaps another singer who spanned both periods, to see if they performed diminuendos on the electric and did not on the acoustic. Yes, good point! Thanks as always for an interesting comment!Edmund St. Austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490721790447218365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-76113883117195466062012-04-29T12:27:16.059-04:002012-04-29T12:27:16.059-04:00You are right about the "gasp" at the en...You are right about the "gasp" at the end of notes or phrases. It reminds me of some of the heavy gasps found in Caruso's recordings. But I imagine those old recording techniques made it difficult to sustain the lyric line all the time as they needed to bellow into that old megaphone-like device.JD Hobbeshttp://cinci.rr.comnoreply@blogger.com