Cav and Pag from ROH - Sat 6th opera

[Anastasius]

Ravishing orchestral sounds and a great chorus. Delightfully well-behaved audience refraining from clapping at every opportunity unlike the Met. But the soloists....why is it that so many female opera singers sound so rough? Too much vibrato for my ears. The men weren't that brilliant either. Had I spent good money and gone there then I think I'd have been even more grumpy.

[Nick Armstrong]

But the soloists....why is it that so many female opera singers sound so rough? Too much vibrato for my ears.

Our dear and lately-departed member gamba (he died aged 92 last year and was posting almost to the end ) started a most relevant thread about this, to be found here:

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?11761-Wobbly-Women-Spoil-My-Music&p=419240#post419240

[makropulos]

Ravishing orchestral sounds and a great chorus. Delightfully well-behaved audience refraining from clapping at every opportunity unlike the Met. But the soloists....why is it that so many female opera singers sound so rough? Too much vibrato for my ears. The men weren't that brilliant either. Had I spent good money and gone there then I think I'd have been even more grumpy.

Chorus and orchestra - yes, absolutely. But I'm a bit surprised to hear you say that about the female soloists - I've not heard the broadcast yet, but the night I saw the show in the theatre, Eva-Maria Westbroek certainly didn't sound "rough", and was a very compelling presence on stage too. The men - particularly Antonenko - I'd probably agree with you. But as for spending good money, I've no regrets at all: it was a production that was well worth seeing, and was extremely effective in the theatre.

[Stanfordian]

Chorus and orchestra - yes, absolutely. But I'm a bit surprised to hear you say that about the female soloists - I've not heard the broadcast yet, but the night I saw the show in the theatre, Eva-Maria Westbroek certainly didn't sound "rough", and was a very compelling presence on stage too. The men - particularly Antonenko - I'd probably agree with you. But as for spending good money, I've no regrets at all: it was a production that was well worth seeing, and was extremely effective in the theatre.

My immediate thought to your night at the opera is: It's verismo you were listening to. Heart-on-sleeve stuff not Mozart.

[makropulos]

My immediate thought to your night at the opera is: It's verismo you were listening to. Heart-on-sleeve stuff not Mozart.

Yes - quite right - it was. And the whole thing was properly red-blooded.

[Anastasius]

My thoughts are that when seen on stage there are so many other delights that one is seeing the overall package, as it were, and so perhaps one is more forgiving of a bad singer.

[underthecountertenor]

My thoughts are that when seen on stage there are so many other delights that one is seeing the overall package, as it were, and so perhaps one is more forgiving of a bad singer.

Not only that, but the singers are (or should be) singing to, and for, the auditorium, not the microphones (which can, like cameras, lie - or at least tell an unfairly brutal truth). I rarely listen to radio broadcasts of opera for this very reason.

[Nick Armstrong]

Not only that, but the singers are (or should be) singing to, and for, the auditorium, not the microphones (which can, like cameras, lie - or at least tell an unfairly brutal truth). I rarely listen to radio broadcasts of opera for this very reason.

Agreed, and same here.