Radvanovsky, Netrebko,Damrau,Dessay, Di Giacomo, Moore, Meade, Wagner,
Monastyrska,Giannattaso, and now as of last night's Aida, I add soprano Hui
He, a superb young lady who joins an array of marveous sopranos who now
seem to be able to thrill audiences as not in recent days. I am even getting
used to not hearing enough chest voice from most of them because i think thi
is the training of today, and there is so much more to them that I am
succumbing.
Last night, Mme.He showed that she could sing with such great beauty
and control of tone that I was totally captivated. In the "Patria mia," she
began that most treacherous high C piano, and swelled it to a long-held forte,
concluding with a gorgeous A pianissimo, the likes of whcih I have not heard in
ages. Like Monastryska the week before, she showed a rich,gleaming tone in
middle,upper middle, and top registers that made an otherwise somewhat
flawed Aida quite a beautiful evening. (The "flaw' is that Alagna, a fine artist,
does not have the heroic tone for Radames, and should stick to
Romeo,Nemorino,etc, and roles that show him off to best advantage. He also
takes that B flat at the end of the aria, and in the Nile duet in pure falsetto,
which I feel is "cheating."
So happy to hear Mme.He,who will return next season as
Mme.Butterfly. Nice to be able to enjoy some fine sopranos at the Met these
days.Now,all we need is Giacomo Lauri-Volpi's successor.
Love and happy Holidays
Charlie (whose favorite opera is still Aida)
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