ODivaTina@a... wrote:
> << All I hear is her steely tone and lack of any warmth and I must
> turn it off immediately.>>
>
> Hear hear! She is one of those singers whose rise to fame baffles me
> completely.
> TinaO
Here's why I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Roberta Peters. The
very first
opera I ever heard was a recording my parents had of Marriage of Figaro - a
Metropolitan
Opera Recording, with Lisa della Casa as the Countess, Roberta Peters as
Susanna, Rosalind
Elias as Cherubino, Giorgio Tozzi as Figaro, George London as the Count,
Fernando Corena
as Bartolo. I loved the opera from the first moment I heard the music, and
would play the
record all the time. And it's still my very favorite opera.
On the cover of this album was a great picture of the principals in what to my
nine-year-old eyes were the most beautiful costumes I'd ever seen. I had a
hard time
understand why a grown woman would playing a man. The two other women seemed
so beautiful
to me - Lisa della Casa was so elegant! But I loved Roberta Peters' picture as
Susanna
the best. It expressed so much joy and personality.
I haven't listened to the record in years, because I don't know if my turntable
even
works, so I don't know if I would still like the singing. I suspect that
Roberta Peters
was a performer who had a terrific personality on stage, whom audiences loved
to be in the
presence of. And this very important aspect of a performance doesnt' come
across on a
recording. Some very nice things have been written about her over on the
Opera-list over
the years, by those who heard her in person on many occasions.
I've never heard her in person - however, she did appear in a movie I saw a few
years ago
- in a non-singing role - I think it was called City Hall, and she played the
NY City
Mayor's ex-Broadway-star wife.
Peggy
--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...
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