From: Karen Mercedes
To: VOCALIST <vocalist>
Subject: Re: Olga Borodina and "Mon coeur..."
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

On Tue, 1 Feb 2000, Jennifer L. Fretwell wrote:

> I recently purchased Olga Borodina's CD "Arias" and wanted to comment on how
> impressed I am with her voice! I am really floored by her rendition of "Mon
> coeur s'ouvre a ta voix" - she has such a beautiful, dark, rich sound. I
> noticed that she sings the optional notes at the end of "Mon coeur"
> ("Samson...Samson). I have never heard anyone sing this aria with those
> optional notes at the very end. Olga sings those notes with a wonderful,
> beautiful, floating style to great effect. Is there a story behind those
> optional notes in "Mon coeur"? There aren't too many arias with optional
> notes.

Are you referring to her taking the high B flat rather than the F? If so,
I've heard a few other recordings of the aria with this "showy" deviation.
Frankly, I have mixed feelings about the little tag line at the end
anyway. In the opera it's actually sung by Samson, the second half of the
second verse really being a duet for him and Dalila (I performed it that
way with a tenor friend, and it was even more glorious than the aria
solo). If you notice in the Schirmer Mezzo books, that tag line is marked
"optional". And I often opt not to sing it, and simply allow the
"orchestra" (i.e., the pianist) to play those notes instead.


I too adore Olga Borodina's voice, though I found her "Mon coeur" a little
too well mannered for my own tastes. I just found a recording of Christa
Ludwig doing it, and am eager to hear it - though based on her Carmen, I
fear it will also be very well sung but rather restrained.

Have you heard Shirley Verrett's rendering of the aria. She was an
absolutely magnificent, sexy Dalila. Denyce Graves also sings the hell
out of this aria, and like Verrett, infuses it with LOTS of erotic power
(though she takes the tempo a bit faster than I like). Rise Stevens was
another mezzo who really rendered this aria beautifully, and struck that
ideal balance between too-restrained and over the top.

But the best recorded Dalila of all, IMO, is Rita Gorr. Her recording of
the opera with Jon Vickers (who I otherwise can do without) is the sine
qua non, IMO.

Karen Mercedes
a born-again lyric mezzo (for now)
=====
There is delight in singing,
tho' none hear Beside the singer.
- Walter Savage Landor
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