Dear mike and co-vocalisters,
mike wrote: ‘there is also an occasional shrillness to karneus' voice, as well. maybe there is a gloriousness in her voice that only live perfomances and the most elite equipment will reveal but, if that's true, wouldn't she be a household name by now?’
As for the first: the shrillness is not on the recording, it is produced by your stereo set.
Furthermore: I'm not a casting expert and neither was I trying to say she’s the best singer in the world, only that she is a good example of a singer with an exceptional wide (and easy) range, who might easier change Fach than others (in the article there were also some speculations about this.)
I don't know what a 'household name' means, but in February this year she'll sing Olga in Eugene Onegin at the Met. She has already sung Varvar in Katya Kabanova there. BBC Music Magazine: 'Graham Vick saw her at the Met and was impressed by her tremendous charisma on stage and the way her voice filled the huge auditorium effortlessly.' She has already sung in many Opera houses, like Paris Opera, Bavarian opera, the Welsh National Opera, Glynbourne etc. She also has made several records, for Chandos, Etcetera, Hyperion and EMI (Strauss songs). That's not bad and you should take in mind she also had a baby since she won in Cardiff. If you do a search on Yahoo (don't forget the é (Alt 0233) you'll find 174 hits and can judge for yourself.
Maybe a last judgement from someone who *is* a casting expert, Matthew Epstein, Vice-President of Columbia Artists' Management in the USA. BBC music Magazine: 'Matthew Epstein was in charge of Welsh National Opera when he attended Katarina's audition in London for the National Opera Studio. "She walked in on-stage and already had a presence about her. We hadn't yet cast the title role in a small-scale tour of Rossini's Cenerentola. She began to sing Cenerentola's recitative "Nacqui all affanno e al pianto", By the time she reached "pianto" I'd made up my mind and told my colleagues, "take her". They did.' WNO sponsored her studies at the NOS and engaged her to sing Cherubino in Figaro. She was already booked to sing Carmen at the Opéra Comique in Paris, where Bizet's work was first performed. All this before the competition took place. After it, in Mathew Epstein's words, "Thank God she went slow, so she wasn't eaten up'.
I thinks she really does not need me to defend her. Nevertheless I'll write an email or two to find out more about the asymmetrical chords issue. Until now nobody has convinced me that what she stated is not possible. As I wrote before, I'll keep you informed.
Best greetings,
Dré
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