Tonite I ventured out to the local Borders Books & Music, a local mecca for the
artistic community and settled into a large overstuffed chair with a book a
friend had pointed to and stated "Oh, Ed! You'll LOVE this!!!"! I didn't!
The book was "Greatest Stars of the Opera:The Lives and Voices of Two Hundred
Golden Years" by Enrico Stinchelli. Pavarotti was on the cover and many images
of great singers filled the pages. When I quit browsing the pics and went to
reading I discovered I wasn't in Kansas anymore!
The author referred to Dame Clara Butt, Ernestine Schumann-Heink and Louise
Homer as "mezzo-sopranos" and Marilyn Horne, whom I've observed on three
occasions, was referred to as as "contralto d'agilita"! Weldon Whitlock heard
Schumann-Heink and Louise Homer a number of times and assured me that these
ladies were indeed rare dramatic contraltos. I met one British gentleman who
had heard Dame Clara Butt and over 50 years later he kept saying how huge her
voice was and how tall she was. He also added that Kathleen Ferrier was very
lovely in the concert in which he'd seen and heard her. Denyce Graves was
referred to as a "colored mezzo". I hadn't heard that term used since I was in
the 4th Grade! The book at this point made an audible noise as I slammed it
shut and informed the clerk it should be outside on the bargain table with a
price tag of $1.99 TOPS!! Ten cents would be TOO MUCH!!! The shame is that
some poor soul will purchase the thing and BELIEVE every word!
I am certain that all here are aware of the fact that Butt, Homer and
Schumann-Heink were among the greatest contraltos of all time and Horne was a
lyrico-spinto who trained herself as a dramatic coloratura mezzo-soprano.
Denyce Graves has one of the loveliest mezzo-soprano voices I've ever heard and
is a lovely person, too. I really took his remark about her as a racist one,
but I might have been mistaken.
Vocal Classification or "fach" (a word I used only once with Middle-Schoolers!)
is a challenge for many, but there's more here than meets the eye! (Or less
here than meets the eye if you want to take Tallulah Bankhead's interpretation!)
Does anyone have any skinny on Enrico Stinchelli?
After putting down the book, I promptly washed my hands, got in the car, drove
home, typed this email and will shortly turn out the lights!
I'm waiting to hear on this one!
Ed
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