> Ponselle is the youngest
> singer (21) that I can name that sang a substantial
> role in a major opera
> house (Verdi's La Forza Del Destino at the Met.)
> She had relatively little
> formal training, but she had this naturally very
> rich, dark , large voice.
> Many professionals were in awe of her voice.
Imagine how encouraged I was to find out that this
rumor (Ponselle was a smash-hit voice from her debut)
isn't exactly true.
Paul Gruber and Robert Tuggle (first an Opera News
writer, second the Met archives director) wrote:
"Met history is rich with sensational debuts, but the
most extraordinary may well have been that of Rosa
Ponselle. Having sung only in vaudeville and movie
theaters, churches and cafes (usually with her sister
Carmela), Ponselle auditioned for Gatti-Casazza and
Caruso; a mere six months later she was given the
leading role in the Met premiere of a major work by
Verdi, joining a cast that included Caruso, Giuseppe
De Luca and Jose Mardones. Critics judged her a great
talent who had much to learn, and as Robert Tuggle
points out, she was not to achieve the promise of her
debut 'until La Vestale, seven years later, when, her
magnificant voice under perfect control, the Ponselle
people remember and what she made of herself became
the same.'"
So, take heart! Her voice was certainly
extraordinary, but her fantastic debut and the
unveiling of the voice we associate with her came at
the age of 28, not 21.
Isabelle B.
=====
Isabelle Bracamonte
San Francisco, CA
ibracamonte@y...
__________________________________________________
|
|  |
