Vocalist.org archive


From:  Dré de Man <dredeman@w...>
Date:  Fri Jan 4, 2002  10:41 pm
Subject:  RE: [vocalist] different length

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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