Imagine my surprise when I arrived in Salzburg and found this picture of Anja Harteros on the cover of Salzburg Exclusiv magazine along with the caption "Soprano of the century."
I like these in her voice, but she seems a bit too cautious with the phrases. Judged strictly on the basis of her voice and technique, I have to say she is spectacularly gifted. But perhaps with a different conductor I would experience them differently. One could learn to love these exactly as they are.
In a previous post I made a statement about the size of her voice, but I must apologize. You cannot accurately gauge the size of someone's voice unless you are in the room with them. I compared her to Kaufmann whom I certainly have been in the room with--5 times, 5 different rooms, if my count is correct. (Zellerbach, Zurich, Paris, Munich, Met.) But Harteros I know only from streaming and recordings. It seems from my observations that when she needs more sound, it is there for the asking.
She is far too restrained for Verismo, but I have loved madly her Wagner and Verdi, and look forward to hearing more. I loved best, I think, her Don Carlo.
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