June Anderson - LUCREZIA BORGIA - "Era desso il figlio mio"

[MegaOperafreak]

awful - thin highs, wobbly, no trills

[liguten]

June Anderson chante avec justesse, mais elle est loin de la beauté du timbre de Caballé, pour laquelle elle n'a jamais caché son admiration

[allanaki]

le variazioni fanno schifo.

[magicmonkichi]

I dont' know why but..i didn't think this'd be as good as it is :D

. I really like Anderson, just didn't anticipate a Lucrezia from her ^_^ Brava ~!

[dougbalt]

@magicmonkichi I didn't think it would have been this good either.... probably because she's way past her prime of the late 80's, and she's just had a quiet career lately. But wham!

[orejarota]

Si consideramos que esta al final de la representaciòn, es cierto que su voz ya se nota fatigada, pero ... es inengable que hace un trabajo en donde se luce mucho y bien vale un bravo! Una mìnima cosa se le puede pedir a un cantante que sea afinado, y eso es algo que siempre encontramos en Anderson, siempre!

[dfush]

love her

[luvxl]

The killing section from 5:57 is the best ever, much more natural than Grub's and much better handled than even Devia. She does a terrific job.

[JoanNilson]

The woman started her career in 1971 - how do you expect her to have even a half-decent E-flat 38 years later????????? I give her credit for not attempting it and coming up with paint-peelers the way Gruberova has done on numerous occasions.

[opera75frfr]

Merveilleuse June. La voix a un peu changé bien sûr, mais quelle maîtrise, et quelle probité- et quel PERSONNAGE. Et Jordi, à l'école de Kraus, est très bien aussi. Pourquoi ne voit-on pas plus Anderson sur scène? Elle est fantastique.

[maggieoates]

it truly irks me that this opera is not performed with greater frequency

[CatalinaDM56]

DEFINITELY more impressive than Gruberova..

[birgitnilsson]

@CatalinaDM56 Anderson knows very well what she is singing, and she does it remarkably well. Gruberova never had the faintest idea.

[vitellia]

She just doesn't wanna dip down below the staff, I guess. Despite the absence of the almost required interpolated Eb and not so interesting ornaments, I actually find this more respectable than Gruberova's recent turn in Munich. I wonder if either of the great ladies ever sang Lucrezia during their prime. I just don't think Lucrezia is one of those gracious diva-of-a-certain-age roles that would've been more suitable and certainly more pleasant.

[Tristiano]

I agree totally.The tone is drier or perhaps she was just in tired voice that night.That said it is a clean performance. Some are concerned no doubt.This all due to the less oiled sound,chirpy and odd variants total lack of the Eb sustained ending that one comes to expect from this opera.Grbva's muscles are practically gone.Both these women simply have waited too long for Borgia.They clearly were not offered this role earlier.Both dominated Traviata/Lucia/ Sonnambula's for years.Very well too.

[operara]

June Anderson was offered Lucrezia Borgia several times in her early career, even with Alfredo Kraus

[Tristiano]

Wow, well then another unfortunate refusal. but of course joan was still singing it and perhaps it was just a little to much stress for Anderson at the time to bother.

[asdfopera]

Exactly, Joan was still singing Lucrezia with Alfredo so June wouldn't except the offers. From what I have seen/heard from Anderson she has always been very modest about her own talents so it's completely within her character to avoid being compared with Sutherland. But I think she could have been a great Lucrezia if she'd done it earlier. This is still good for her age.

[kgarmaker123]

Anderson is not a dramatic coloratura either,.. she was a fine coloratura a number of years ago, but her prime has passed.

[asdfopera]

June should have sang this role much earlier with Alfredo when she had the chance. A lot of singers wait too late to sing Borgia. Still this is good and I love the da capo!

[eradesso]

You love the da capo huh? lol

I'd love it too if these variations were in the da capo of Da Tempeste not Era Desso lol

What was she thinking exactly??

[asdfopera]

She was probably thinking, "how am I going to get through this?". This is a difficult finale and when I heard this live I was very nervous for her. I like the da capo because it's different and I can still hear some of old June when she was still in her prime. She always had her own unique variations that aren't quite "right", but they somehow work for her voice.

[eradesso]

the variations do fit her, they just don't fit the aria/opera/style/moment - that is my thing.

It's not that I don't like the execution although to me it appears she goes a bit flat in a couple occasions like from 08:50 on and seems often underpitch throughout - then again I have a horrible cold and my ears may not be functioning too well these days.

[asdfopera]

From what I have read, Donizetti believed that this entire aria didn't fit the moment and in fact he wrote it to please some prima donna. It's a show off aria so the soprano can ornament it however she wants in any way that's comfortable that suits her voice. Or she could just not sing it at all because Donizetti didn't originally put it in the opera anyway.

[eradesso]

You might have misread :)

It's Romani's wife, Emilia Branca, that declared such thing in her book. A Book full of innaccuracies. Donizetti himself only ever stated in letters destined to his brother in law that he was not satisfied with the aria referring to a staging in Rome.

He never mentioned once the aria being imposed/requested by Lalande.

This isn't a show off aria, it's is a "aria di disperazione" air of despair. He wrote similar arias before Borgia for Bolena, Fausta and Parisina

[eradesso]

and in later operas as Devereux, Maria di Rudenz, Gemma di Vergy etc. When Borgia was written Airs of despair were too much in fashion to even think it didn't fit or that he didn't want it there - take Bellini's Pirata & Beatrice di Tenda.

It was many years after writing it that Donizetti complained about it; in a time where airs of despair were gone and his taste had changed.

[eradesso]

Therefore, being a Donizetti cabaletta signed sealed delivered it should be embellished according to the style not according to the voice that is singing it or the urge to show off (Fleming docet)

Whether one wants to "play" with it during a recital it may be another story but all is more accepted in recitals.

Embellishing is one thing, ravishing the melodic line is another story.

PS: sorry for making the reply so long :)

[asdfopera]

Yeah, I'm not so strict because I'm sure that at the time this was written artists weren't so concerned with "style" because it was a creative process and things were evolving. Now people want to regress and stop singers from being original by telling them they have to adhere to what a small group of scholars feel is authentic (aka boring).

[eradesso]

I don't think tossing in a high G out of context is something to condemn, nor is it elaborating a particular cadenza or whathaver as long as it's consistent and also, respectful of what you're singing. Keep in mind these scores are art and reinventing them is hardly a form of artistry to me. If that were the case then these so called artists should compose their own arias.

Besides, it's not like these composers left ALL THAT MUCH room for personal interpretation, the did set boundaries.

[eradesso]

as i said, in recital almost everything can go.

regarding your vision, i'm not surprised you're a big Fleming fan after your "aka boring" statement but I'm surprised you would enjoy Sutherland as she was always very much adherent to the boring visions of the "small group of scholars" - which included her and her hubby too.

[asdfopera]

I actually like a lot of other singers, not just those two. Fleming and Sutherland are VERY different but I still enjoy both and I don't bother to compare them (as though one is better than the other) because they both have very different things to offer.

[gestas60323]

great thanks for this take. wonderful to listen to June Anderson back in great form !!!! very exciting rendition and easier to the ear (and, I suppose,to the eye!) than Groberova in the dreadful Munich production.

In this case, never mind the missing Eflats - she is great!

[primohomme]

great breathe support and coloratura, and still fantastic upper register. Only thing I'm not fond of is avoiding the low register.

[Renaudalemans]

j'y étais aussi c'était très beau :) :D

[magicmonkichi]

Though June isn't at the top of my list of favs, this version of Era desso was great. Thanks for the post.

[mrportobello]

i thought she sounded great. although i miss her e-flats!

[tenor003]

J'y étais :D

[Ronizetti]

Beautiful! Brava, June!

[MrAlbar1]

Absolutely! She was simply breathtaking! I don't think any singer alive can compete with her interpretation of Lucrezia. Maturity, incarnation, and somptuous sound, even on high notes which remind us of her glorious past. Yes, I confess: I'm in love.

[eradesso]

I think you really need to listen to Mariella Devia, the Queen of Bel Canto at 61 years old still doing Borgia with better voice and quite frankly better taste for Bel Canto.

[MrAlbar1]

Dear... it is not a question of whether you like or dislike June. Caviar is exquisite, we can all agree on that I suppose. Some prefer Sevruga, some Beluga... Devia is another extremely gifted singer. I am just saying that her performance here was close to perfection for my ears. And I have been attending opera performances for about 30 years now...

[kgarmaker123]

No thanks.. She is not the queen of belcanto to me. She does not have a dramatic coloratura voice, she rewrites whole operas to suit her voice... I find her boring and vocally insufficient, it doesnt impress me that she can still sing high F's at 62, .. small coloratura voices usually can.. like Roberta Peters.

[eradesso]

I don't really see what the fach would have to do with being the queen of belcanto.

it is a matter of vocal technique, style, taste, musicianship and artistry.

and frankly, find me a modern soprano other than Devia who combines all that nowadays.

If being vocally sufficient to you means having a C3 then you might wanna listen to Ewa Podles.

Denying the vocal ability of Devia says more about your knowledge and understanding of music (or lack of) rather than her skills.

[kgarmaker123]

She vocalizes very well, That is not the same as sings well.. To be the queen of belcanto you must also interpret music and be MUSICAL, have excellent technique, and respect the composer.

[eradesso]

It's really impossible to have a positive and constructive debate with someone biased and unobjective as you and the nonesense you just stated really doesn't leave room to anything more than a laugh.

[eradesso]

And, when you critique someone, don't use hearsay but bring facts to the debate.

"she rewrites whole operas to suit her voice"

Tell us more about that statement.

And before you use that critique, think of sopranos who you like that have transposed or omitted notes they weren't comfortable with. I'm sure in their case you wouldn't define it "rewriting whole operas".

[kgarmaker123]

I am not talking about a note or two, nor am I talking about embellishing the second time a melody is repeated in a caballetta, I am talking about rewriting the entire melodic line and say that the license that is being taken is in the "tradition": of great sopranos who sing the bel canto repertoire. Thats a dodge. This is what Devia does and you know it.

[tklogan11809]

no way! La Anderson is back in great form!