This is a quote from an article about Anna Netrebko in the New York Times:
What about the ne plus ultra of the soprano repertory, Bellini’s “Norma”?
“That’s what everybody says, but it is so hard!” she said. “And it has to be sung absolutely perfect. I was recently in the Met store, I came in there, and somebody was singing Norma just perfect! I cannot say any bad word about this singing. I said, who is this? Joan Sutherland.”
But, this anti-diva added, she does not listen to Ms. Sutherland when she is working on a role. Rather, she turns to Mirella Freni, Renata Scotto or Callas. Ms. Sutherland “is a completely different way of singing, and different technique,” she said. “I don’t know how she’s singing. It’s just like flute playing. Perfect sound, beautiful, everything is free. I think this is a voice, one in a century like that.”
Dr.B: She is amazingly self aware, blurts right out that her technique isn't good enough for certain things. When someone is so up front and honest about themself, one feels no inclination to give advice. There is more than one way to handle coloratura, to place the voice for coloratura, and Anna knows this. It's a matter of taste that you reject one and love the other.
Woking Phoenix
4 hours ago
1 comment:
I absolutely love Netrebko's honesty and her singing. She'll always tell you what her weaknesses and foibles are better than any critic.
Speaking of Norma, in an interview for Opera News (2003) there was this comment:
Another Bellini role that would suit her magnificently is Adalgisa, in its original conception for Giulia Grisi, a youthful lyric soprano, rather than the weighty mezzo of tradition. For the moment, though, Netrebko is not interested, noting shrewdly that Norma is the better part. Perhaps alone among current sopranos of her artistic stature, she's willing to state outright, with refreshing forthrightness, "I will never sing Norma."
Another quote you might find interesting and how aware she is about what she's doing (and its consequences) is this one from an interview in The Sunday Times by Hugh Canning:
“When I am on stage, I give everything. I’m not thinking, I must save my voice here, and I must sing a bit carefully there. I see a lot of singers who do that. Maybe because of that I won’t last long. But I don’t care. I have already been singing for 13 years, and I would prefer to sing 10 or 15 more, but to give everything, so people will remember me and my voice. I don’t want to sing young girls when I am 50.”
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