“Ich kann nicht sitzen” Cheryl Studer | Chrysothemis’ Monologue | ELEKTRA | Wien | Claudio Abbado
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- Richard Strauss’ ELEKTRA, Chrysothemis’ Monologue
Chrysothemis - Cheryl Studer
Live, 1989, Chor und Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper, Claudio Abbado
And the world waits and waits for Deutsche Grammophon to release their studio recording of ELEKTRA with Jessye Norman, Cheryl Studer, Helga Dernesch, Victor Braun, et.al., and the late Claudio Abbado and the Vienna Philharmonic.
I have to confess that i really think: Cheryl Studer was the unmatched Chrysothemis in my opinion. The young and girlish sound, full of passion to being a woman and mother... she hits it perfectly. I red about your Jessye Norman discussion here, sorry for my opinion: it was a velvet, rich voice. No need to judge about a voice just on parameters who has sung which stage roles. She was a wonderful, delicious and leading performer in song evenings and this in a wide, wide repertory in four different, perfectly pronounced languages. That is truly a solitaire.
Her rendition of Strauss "Vier letzte Lieder" is a monument, also her Ariadne. What you wanna more. Of course she did some strange recordings, like Salome. That was a fail. But her Carmen was an erotic experiment for a record, very well balanced singing with all of her experience as a huge and important song singer with different nuances. She did some strange things but at least she found her cup of tea. And it was a great one. Of course a century voice. Of course.
This role fits her so well, formidable. I remember her at the Paris Opera, with Gwyneth Jones as Elektra. Her fortissimi were as powerful as Jones's. And with this silver colour, it was quite unique.
(A five-year-old upload finally makes its way into my feed. But anyway…) Studer really does bring out the lyricism of this difficult passage. Indeed, this is about as lyrical as a Chrysothemis can get-as she must!-against so much dramatic tension and such a loud LOL orchestra.
She's perfect, so feminine yet with such a soaring voice! Today's interpreters of the part - and of the title role! - are almost inaudible, even in concertante performances...
Wow, I didn't know there is such a recording in the vaults. I had heard of a Tristan und Isolde one with Jessye Norman that was never released... (Coincidence? I find her terribly overrated...) I wish we'll listen to it someday.
Dimitris Lianos Indeed Norman is said to have recorded Isolde (for Solti?) but I am sure she blocked its release. I believe she also blocked release of the Elektra. I suppose we will have to wait until an inevitable future life event to possibly hear them. I have always been conflicted about Norman. On one hand, the voice was unquestionably grand. On the other, her fake British accent (and her Pavarotti and Sutherland-like broad smile) struck me as, well, pretentious beyond belief. Also her operatic portrayals were nothing more than vehicles for her to show-off but with little or no insight into characterization. Just my 2¢.
Amen to all you just wrote here. Grand voice, strange and quite limited repertory. Verdi? Puccini? Bellini? (also:THAT Carmen recording?... THAT Salomé? Elsa? Any other singer would have been roasted!)
I feel like her entire fame rests on those three 80s Matinée broadcasts from the MET: Die Walkure, Ariadne, Les Troyens. If she's such a legend, where are her performances from Paris, La Scala, Vienna Opera, Munich, Bayreuth, Liceo, Covent Garden?... Sporadic...
Dimitris Lianos So true
Dimitris Lianos I think it is safe to say Norman was a "concert artist" above all else. This can be pejorative or not depending on one's point of view. From mine, it is.