I'm up early for tennis from Australia, a 16 hour time difference.
Roger Federer vs Tomas Berdych is about to begin.
Les, Roberta Peters sang 2 performances of Sonnambula at the Met
in 1964. I was at the first, and she was charming. It didn't have the
sheer vocal dazzle of Sutherland's, but it was sung more crisply and
it was infinitely more appealing, visually.
Bob
On Friday, January 20, 2017, Les Mitnick <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Am very saddened by the passing of Roberta Peters. I so vividly recall
> her multitudes of TV appearances on Ed Sullivan, Bell Telephone Hour, etc.
> I also heard her in concert and recital, the last being about fifteen years
> ago. She still sounded lovely and looked gorgeous.
> No singer can sustain a 35 year Met career without something very
> special, obviously, and Miss Peters, her vocal abilities notwithstanding,
> had the self discipline and dedication to her work that enabled her to take
> the lovely, but not large, vocal endowment she was given and to expand her
> stage repertoire as far as it could go. I'm amazed at the sheer number
> roles she encompassed in comparison to other sopranos of her voice type.
> Besides the Gilda, Rosina, Lucia, Norina, Adina, Despina, Susanna, Zerlina,
> Queen of the Night, she also sang a fine Zerbinetta, Amor in "Orfeo", and
> in
> "Arabella". Even as late as 1980, she undertook her first performances of
> Marcelina in "Fidelio". I know that she also undertook performances of
> "Puritani" and "Sonnambula" in Europe (but never here that I know of).
> Unlike Lily Pons, she refused to allow herself to ossify in a few high
> ranging "chirpy" parts while waiting for time to do its work on her voice.
> Also, for a voice of her type, I thought that she had an incredibly full
> middle and lower register. And of course she was a beautiful woman.
> My only regret is that she was never selected for recognition by the
> Kennedy Center of Performing Arts. I personally feel that she was far more
> entitled to such recognition than was Martina Arroyo (no disrespect to Miss
> Arroyo meant). I will sorely miss this lovely and distinguished artist.
>
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