This was a surprise

[Dave2002]

I found this while looking for something else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcNlgELra9I

It is - of course - not from Butterfly - but from La Boheme. It's not perfect - the high notes are somewhat strident - but really not too bad at all.

Deanna Durbin may have faded from view - after WWII - but she wasn't poor!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deanna_Durbin

[smittims]

But is that really her singing ? Film stars were often ghosted' by professinal singers, for instance Deborah Kerr's 'Hello, young Lovers', in the King and I , was actually sung on the soundtrack by Marni Nixon, who, incidentally, had perfect pitch and recorded all Webern's Lieder for voice and piano, and the two Cantatas. .

[Master Jacques]

But is that really her singing ? Film stars were often ghosted' by professinal singers, for instance Deborah Kerr's 'Hello, young Lovers', in the King and I , was actually sung on the soundtrack by Marni Nixon, who, incidentally, had perfect pitch and recorded all Webern's Lieder for voice and piano, and the two Cantatas. .

But Deanna Durbin was a top professional singer - and as Dave2002 relates, a very good one indeed.

[french frank]

Wikipedia says the Met offered her an audition when she was 15 - which turned down on the grounds that she needed more lessons.

[Padraig]

But Deanna Durbin was a top professional singer - and as Dave2002 relates, a very good one indeed.

As a youth in 40s early 50s I was very much aware of the name of Deanna Durbin as I often heard her singing on the radio. I classed her as a 'serious singer' as opposed to 'crooner' in my boyish way, and I recognised that the adults in my circle seemed to have a high opinion of her singing. That's my contribution to sticking up for a star of yesteryear. Oh, she gave a sweet rendition of Danny Boy which I have resurrected. In my innocence I don't doubt that it is her own voice.


Deanna Durbin sings 'Danny Boy' for Charles Laughton in "Because of Him" (1945) - YouTube

[Ein Heldenleben]

But Deanna Durbin was a top professional singer - and as Dave2002 relates, a very good one indeed.

Absolutely. She was a proper singer. This is a quote from a fan (from her Wiki entry

^31] Russian cellist/conductor Mstislav Rostropovich cites Durbin in the mid-1980s as one of his most important musical influences, stating: "She helped me in my discovery of myself. You have no idea of the smelly old movie houses I patronized to see Deanna Durbin. I tried to create the very best in my music, to try to recreate, to approach her purity."

[Dave2002]

As a youth in 40s early 50s I was very much aware of the name of Deanna Durbin as I often heard her singing on the radio. I classed her as a 'serious singer' as opposed to 'crooner' in my boyish way, and I recognised that the adults in my circle seemed to have a high opinion of her singing. That's my contribution to sticking up for a star of yesteryear. Oh, she gave a sweet rendition of Danny Boy which I have resurrected. In my innocence I don't doubt that it is her own voice.


Deanna Durbin sings 'Danny Boy' for Charles Laughton in "Because of Him" (1945) - YouTube

Funny how some people always seem to have orchestras "appearing" out of nowhere - isn't it?!