Edita Gruberová (23 December 1946 – 18 October 2021)

 The great coloratura soprano Edita Gruberová has died.  I believe in this performance she was 61.

Soprano

I'm sort of writing a book, and this is one of the chapters. It's intended as introductory but let me know if it is too hard.

The highest vocal Fach is the soprano.  Opera singers refer to their voice category as their Fach, the German term for category.  Vocabulary has crept in from Germany such as Sitzprobe, which translates to sitting rehearsal and means an unstaged rehearsal with orchestra.

A soprano must have a good high C.  After that they are broken down into categories:

Soubrette
Lyric Soprano
Coloratura Soprano
Spinto Soprano
Dramatic Soprano

I am now going to describe the sub-categories, but please be aware that the same singer may show up in different sub-categories.  I have tried in selecting these examples to make sure that the singer is actually of the suggested sub-category.

Soubrette

The term soubrette actually describes more than just the voice.  She has a light, high voice and plays young women.  Examples of soubrette roles are Zerlina in Don Giovanni (Mozart), Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier (R. Strauss), Lisette in La Rondine (Puccini), Sophie in Werther (Massenet), etc.  The women shown below embody all aspects of their Fach.  First is Kathleen Battle singing "Batti, batti, o bel Masetto" from Don Giovanni.

"Al dolce guidami" from Anna Bolena

Maria Callas.  

Modern bel canto singing starts with Callas.  This role was written for Giuditta Pasta, a singer who is now considered a mezzo.  Perhaps it validates my opinion that Callas was also a mezzo.  The aria only goes up to an A, and already she shows a wobble.  Overall this is an outstanding performance with great simplicity.

Edita Gruberova. 

Gruberova does more with the rhythm than anyone of this group. The army of commenters all seem to want to critique the sound of the singers' voices. They never say what they like. They just trash the one you're hearing. I'm far more interested in the style and like Gruberova more here than some other places. She is a very creative artist. She has announced her departure from the Bavarian State Opera because they don't use her much now. She would like to continue singing.

Montserrat Caballe.  

Begin 4:20.  From the comments I begin to believe that those who make nasty cracks like voices no heavier than Caballe.  This is elegant and sweet.  No one would mistake her for a mezzo.  Of course, if you sit around reading YouTube comments, you know that someone will mistake anything.

Anna Netrebko. 

If Pasta was a mezzo, she might have sounded more like Trebs than most of the other ladies. This is Netrebko after the baby, and my sense of this is that she is struggling with her new voice.

Angela Gheorghiu.  

Begin 4:08.  For my ears Angela is one of the most stylish singers that ever existed.  No one slides better.  She draws me, but also has quite a light voice. 

Joan Sutherland 

This is just for fun.  Everyone has their opinions.  After reading the latest study, perhaps the supercritics all live in Louisiana and Texas.  The most favorable ratings seem always to go to the most boring performances.  What fun is that?

Jonas

Jonas Kaufmann has not only cancelled Walkure at the Met, but the Jonas Kaufmann Gala in Zurich is also cancelled. The only thing I can find out is that he has a trachea infection. Let's hope for the best.

The Opernhaus Zürich has announced that May 11 will be a recital by Edita Gruberova and May 13 will be a Leo Nucci Gala. Nucci's gala will consist of three acts from Verdi: Act II of La Traviata, Act II of Rigoletto and Act III of Simon Boccanegra. Piotr Beczala will be there for Traviata and Rigoletto. It sounds like fun.

I Puritani contest

I did a chart of the current I Puritani mad scene from YouTube to try to get an idea of the differences between the voices. I have modified the original contest selection to include Maria Callas 1949, Cecilia Bartoli 2007 and Natalie Dessay 2007. Only the cabaletta is considered. All of these performances are on YouTube. [Maybe not any more-can't currently find Bartoli.]

I tried to evaluate them by categories:

My opinion of their tone.
How slurred are the fast notes.
How much scooping and sliding.
How many added notes, trills, etc.
How do they treat rhythm and tempo.
General style.

There is wide variation in each category.

Tone



Lucia Aliberti was vying for the Maria Callas award, due to the strange darkness of her tone. Most have strong but not dark voices. Occasionally she actually sounds like Callas.

Gruberova

I realized suddenly that I know nothing about Edita Gruberova. I may have had her confused with Guleghina who is singing in Macbeth tomorrow.

So now I have two DVD's of Roberto Devereux, one with Gruberova and one with Caballe. I'm going to an opera party with my friends soon and I'm going to take both of them along. Gruberova sort of blasts her way through with huge patches of notes hardly noticed and certainly not articulated. Caballe is better on style, and Caballe's DVD comes with a very young Jose Carreras as Elizabeth's boy toy. Notice how many more notes there are in the Caballe rendition, and how much more graceful phrasing.

So I am ready to dismiss Gruberova when I play her Donna Anna on YouTube. It turns out to be excellent. What is it about Mozart that inspires people to do their best?

Gruberova's "Casta Diva" on YouTube shows a style of scooping that is a little out there. I don't think I'll acquire a taste for it.

So what is one to make of an artist that is so all over the map?

I used to confuse Regine Crespin, Leonie Rysanek and Regina Resnik, thinking they were only two singers. I've probably told this story before--one of the annoyances of advancing age. One acquires a taste for strangers--one can be sure they haven't already heard ones stories.
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Mozart Operas

I have recently bought a couple of CD sets of Mozart operas: Lucio Silla, recorded in 1989, and Mitridate, recorded in 1998. The common thread, of course, is Cecilia Bartoli, who sings Cecilio in Lucio Silla and Sifare in Mitridate. I was surprised to see that Mitridate was recorded so long ago, but that would explain Cecilia's contralto sound here. Cecilia's arias from Lucio Silla were released on Erato years ago, so it seemed unnecessary to buy the complete recording. Wrong. All this time I have been missing the spectacular duet "D'elisio in sen mi'attendi" between Cecilio and Giunia, sung by Edita Gruberova. I am more familiar with Mitridate from watching videos of it here and here. Cecilia produces her usual miracles, but the surprise here is Natalie Dessay who catches the flame of expression. I am closing in on owning all of Cecilia's recordings. There are a large number of collections where she is included, but I am not counting these, since they should be made up of items from things I already own. I am missing her performance of Dorabella and maybe something else.

The education of Dr. B

Or famous sopranos I've never heard. We did Waltraud Meier yesterday. Today is....

 

Magda Olivero was shown on ARTS singing the big aria from La Traviata. I am most surprised by how cleanly she sings it. There's one big glissando where you absolutely must have one--it may even be composed for all I know--but that's about it. Who would think an Italian soprano would give such a singing school performance? It's beautiful, yes, and "Sempre libera" could hardly fail to make an effect, but where is the schmaltz we expect from the "last verismo" singer, as she is billed here? La Traviata is not verismo. It does make one curious. 

 

Edita Gruberova appeared performing Adele's laughing song from Die Fledermaus. The point here is that class is in the eye of the beholder. Edita's Adele has the right outfit, but hasn't quite left the farm.