Isabelle Bracamonte wrote:
> I hear Jennifer Larmore's voice as "hooty," too, if
> that helps. It's like... a voice that has no sharp,
> clean edge to it. It sounds almost hollow, like
> someone is singing inside a cavern or in the shower,
> just round and over-covered and artificial-sounding,
> to me. Not lacking in overtones, because these voices
> can be quite bright (in a way), just not that good,
> pingy forward-bright... more like a cavernous,
> balloon-like hooty-bright.
>
> It reminds me of the vocal tone that deaf people who
> have been taught to speak use, if you have ever known
> someone like that. Or like Kermit the Frog's voice
> (the original Jim Henson one, not the one they have on
> TV now, nor the "froggy" voice that people use to
> imitate him). There, that's my definition of hooty.
Just goes to show how differently people react to singers. I am a big fan of
Jennifer
Larmore, both her voice and her performing. I've been fortunate to see her
perform in
person both in opera (La Cenerentola at the Met) and in recital (at the
refurbished
Kennedy Center Concert Hall), and both times I was very impressed. She has
terrific
technique, can handle florid music in a way that makes it sound easy (and
without the
aspiration that is a feature of Bartoli's Rossini singing), was convincing in
the lyrical
music on the recital program (I don't remember the songs now), and was very
exciting in
some Spanish songs that required a very extraverted performance style. I also
love the
sound of her voice. When I brought my sister to see her first opera, the
Cenerentola,
this non-classical-music-loving but open-minded woman commented to me on the
beauty of the
tone without my having asked her what she thought (and I had said nothing to
her about
Larmore or any of the singers she was hearing).
I also like Horne's singing, though she does have a distinctive quality to her
low notes
that might not be to everyone's taste. I like it, and also find her diction and
expression in English-language songs that I've heard her do on recording (the
Copland
songs and her recent American song CD) to be spectacular.
I think most opera-aspiring singers on this list would be very pleased to have
the careers
of either of those two singers, neither of whom had their careers handed to
them, but who
worked very hard to achieve their success (Horne's memoirs are recommended
reading). They
must be doing something right, something that knowledgeable audiences like and
are willing
to pay lots of money to see in person and listen to on recordings. That's why
they get
hired over and over again.
Peggy
--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...
|
|  |
