The Passion of Opera

Rosa Ponselle & Shirley Verrett Rosa Ponselle             When I began investigating Rosa Ponselle’s voice I proceeded from the assertion, raised by Professor Spears, that some people always considered Ponselle to be a mezzo-soprano rather than a dramatic soprano. I discovered through my investigation of her 1937 performance of Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera, Nimbus Records Ponselle , Volumes 1&2, RCA Victor’s Rosa Ponselle , and The Radio Years that, in my opinion, this was resoundingly not the case. Ponselle’s interview with Jerome Hines on singing technique, as well as some of my own observations, however, offer a suggestion of how this might have seemed the case. Reviews from the time support these claims.             I actually began my investigation with the 1937 Carmen . Unfortunately this was the only full role I could find, a pity gi...

Maria Callas & Victoria de los Angeles Maria Callas Maria Callas’ renown as La Divina is of course legendary. Her legacy, however, is equally clearly controversial. Walter Legge, producer of many of her recordings, describes her vocal assets as part of a larger section on the same in Jürgen Kesting’s Maria Callas . Her three octave range, distinctive timbre, sizable voice, a potential darkness in the middle range, easy coloratura , and access, if not security in the top notes. Perhaps even more of note is Kesting’s description of the dichotomy between “good” voices, lacking in naturally effortless technique but with great artistry, and “beautiful” voices whose effortless technique seems to be the end in itself. Kesting asserts that Callas fell into the former category. Kesting repeatedly addresses issues of style in relation to this categorization, noting Callas’ abilities to execute pianissimi , portamenti , true Bel Canto coloratura , and emotional shading. ...

I have created an independent study entitled Great Singers: The Ambiguity of Fächer at Lawrence University this term under the direction of Professor Bonnie Koestner. The purpose of this independent study is to look at great singers of the recorded era who have crossed between fächer  or even broader voice categories either due to versatility at a given time or changes throughout their career. I will be studying two singers a week, moving through voice types as the term progresses, listening to or watching them sing both full roles and excerpts. I will also be looking for reviews of performances, books or journal articles on their singing, and anything they may have written about their own singing. I will then be writing up a summary of my findings combined with my own impressions. I will end the term with a formal academic paper, but these summaries are informal and lack citations. I will post them every week and then post the final paper once it is written.