Did we know there was at least an excerpt of Flagstad in Elektra? If someone knows if there’s more than just the beginning of the recognition scene, for the sake of the war on Christmas, email me! I mean…I’m actually about to give it another listen and see what I think about it. Just between you, me, and the people who say “between you and I,” (so they can learn their lesson) I’m not the world’s biggest fan of KF. (A dear eccentric friend in Austin refers to her exclusively as “KF” and to Furtwangler as “god.” He’ll say to people “have you heard the Siegfried with KF and god?” and then stare them down as if to say, “no you’re nuts.” I miss Austin eccentrics.) But there’s a kind of roundness and solidity, as opposed to the taut solidity of Nilsson for instance, that’s the reason I always kind of wanted Voigt to sing Elektra and the reason KF could be terribly gratifying in the role. A round, plummy tone (though we hate food metaphors for singing...what the hell is chocolatey?) is a luxury, though-solidity is the sine qua non. Any fragility must be the province of Chrysothemis: della Casa sounds lost in her I believe one-off of the role, and it's what makes her so touching. Sometime around 1995 when Voigt for one thing was the first diva with a website and for another didn’t have a bajillion fans, she answered emails personally and told me she wasn’t seriously considering it which I think was how a charming, polite midwesterner says “hells naw.” Ok, sounds like a concert ending. No more KF Elektra I’ll wager. Rather a loss.
Current soundtrack: Golijov; The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind. Kronos Quartet w/ David Krakauer
5 comments:
I'm quite fond of KF, but I'm fucking nuts about David Krakauer.
Whoops. There. Credited.
Have you seen the Elektra that Parterre is raving about? I'm leery of anything with Gwyneth Jones at that late of a date, because I don't worship her like La Cieca does, but it could be interesting, nu?
My feelings are exactly the same as yours but everyone's squeeeing over it. Ever since hearing the climcatic C in the Boulez Siegfried, I am a little bit afraid. Nostalgia, though: I saw Rysanek sing Mommie Dearest. I'm not sure she knew the whole role, but she was scary as shit.
Once upon a time, I watched the Chereau Ring on video in my college dorm lounge. People walking by, hearing Dame Gwyneth, generally reacted with the cries of "What the FUCK is that?", and not good ones, either. I was whimpering but drunk by the end of Gotterdammerung.
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