Saturday, June 18, 2005

Stephanie Friedman

After reading K's review of Giulio Cesare on the Cecilia Bartoli Forum, I realized I would never appreciate Fagioli, the countertenor who sang Caesar as much as he, because the role exists always in my mind in the voice of Stephanie Friedman, a mezzo who specialized in Handel's castrato roles. San Francisco's Pocket Opera was her primary venue. She had a beautiful voice and her coloratura mezzo work was truly spectacular. I love Donald Pippin, the founder and director of Pocket Opera, but it was Stephanie that really put him on the map. For many, many reasons every great singer does not have a great career.

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