This magnificent ensemble is brilliantly brought to life by the powerful singing of John Alexander in the title role, Richard Fredericks as the Duke, and last but not least, Beverly Sills as Queen Elizabeth.
Lucky enough to see this at the NYC Opera in Oct. 1971, I think an orchestra seat cost about $8.50. That 'Va' is one of the most memorable moments out of thousands of hours of opera performances.
We either don't have this caliber of singers anymore, or, we don't have directors/companies that will take the chance of not always casting our "popular" singers of the day! Sills had the discipline and the desire to sing this role. Too big for her? Maybe. Who's to say? She was a fierce artist and took the chance!
This was the very first performance I ever saw (televised on PBS) of "Roberto Devereux" and I was riveted! Did not stop watching once during the entire production. I wondered why "RD", as done at the Met (with the amazing and powerful voice of soprano Sondra Radvanovsky) (just recently shown on PBS's "Great Performances" series) did not 'grab me' with the same excitement. I went back to watch excerpts from this Wolf Trap performance, and I think (as I sensed) it had to do with a couple of things: (1) tempo (the Met tempi seemed overly slow, which, IMO, cut the drama of the overall production); (2) the top-quality match of all 4 soloists (including baritone Richard Fredericks) at the 1975 WT production (whereas Ms. Radvanovsky and tenor covered up the Met baritone and mezzo); (3) the dramatic acting of Sills et al., which made the opera so tense and exciting. Even back in 1975 I could hear a few notes by Sills which were not exactly/perfectly in pitch, but I missed (in the recent Met production) the slightly faster tempos, the exquisite match of voices of the 4 soloists, and dramatic intensity of the WT production. I was not a huge "opera buff" but I was riveted by this Wolf Trap performance in a way that gave me goosebumps and which I still remember vividly. (But I was really impressed with Ms. Radvanovsky's voice and would like to hear her again in a different production with a different director.....) But, for me, overall, this 1975 WT production was a riveting eye-opener (I had never even known that Donizetti had written an opera like this until I heard the WT production).
i agree with the fact productions nowadays are hardly engaging.. they are trying too hard, most of the times it only takes good singing and acting to make it engaging, too many extra unnecessary details become to distractive for the audmience to enjoy the opera🤷♂️🤷♂️but of coz, we always have those wannabe artistic directors all around the place and those wannabe artistic audience defending them
Actriz y soprano excepcional ¡Grandísima!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👌🏻❤️👍🏻
This magnificent ensemble is brilliantly brought to life by the powerful singing of John Alexander in the title role, Richard Fredericks as the Duke, and last but not least, Beverly Sills as Queen Elizabeth.
Lucky enough to see this at the NYC Opera in Oct. 1971, I think an orchestra seat cost about $8.50. That 'Va' is one of the most memorable moments out of thousands of hours of opera performances.
John Alexander is one of the greatest tenors of all time, so great to see some of his singing/performances on youtube, thank you!!!!
What a genius Donizetti is!!!
As great as Mozart, Verdi, and Wagner.....
Her acting, oh my!!! And her voice! Splendid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We either don't have this caliber of singers anymore, or, we don't have directors/companies that will take the chance of not always casting our "popular" singers of the day! Sills had the discipline and the desire to sing this role. Too big for her? Maybe. Who's to say? She was a fierce artist and took the chance!
"VA!" She spits it out like a cobra!!! She is a goddess!
This was the very first performance I ever saw (televised on PBS) of "Roberto Devereux" and I was riveted! Did not stop watching once during the entire production. I wondered why "RD", as done at the Met (with the amazing and powerful voice of soprano Sondra Radvanovsky) (just recently shown on PBS's "Great Performances" series) did not 'grab me' with the same excitement. I went back to watch excerpts from this Wolf Trap performance, and I think (as I sensed) it had to do with a couple of things: (1) tempo (the Met tempi seemed overly slow, which, IMO, cut the drama of the overall production); (2) the top-quality match of all 4 soloists (including baritone Richard Fredericks) at the 1975 WT production (whereas Ms. Radvanovsky and tenor covered up the Met baritone and mezzo); (3) the dramatic acting of Sills et al., which made the opera so tense and exciting. Even back in 1975 I could hear a few notes by Sills which were not exactly/perfectly in pitch, but I missed (in the recent Met production) the slightly faster tempos, the exquisite match of voices of the 4 soloists, and dramatic intensity of the WT production. I was not a huge "opera buff" but I was riveted by this Wolf Trap performance in a way that gave me goosebumps and which I still remember vividly. (But I was really impressed with Ms. Radvanovsky's voice and would like to hear her again in a different production with a different director.....) But, for me, overall, this 1975 WT production was a riveting eye-opener (I had never even known that Donizetti had written an opera like this until I heard the WT production).
Radvanovsy simply can't sing this. Donizetti requires the most brilliant singers imaginable.
The end.
i agree with the fact productions nowadays are hardly engaging.. they are trying too hard, most of the times it only takes good singing and acting to make it engaging, too many extra unnecessary details become to distractive for the audmience to enjoy the opera🤷♂️🤷♂️but of coz, we always have those wannabe artistic directors all around the place and those wannabe artistic audience defending them
Can these DVDs be purchased anywhere? Fantastic!
Beverly said this role was her undoing....
Bravo il canto, ma non se capiscono due parole di seguito del'italiano (sopratutti negli uomini).