Isabelle Bracamonte wrote:
> I hear Jennifer Larmore's voice as "hooty," too, if > that helps. It's like... a voice that has no sharp, > clean edge to it. It sounds almost hollow, like > someone is singing inside a cavern or in the shower, > just round and over-covered and artificial-sounding, > to me. Not lacking in overtones, because these voices > can be quite bright (in a way), just not that good, > pingy forward-bright... more like a cavernous, > balloon-like hooty-bright. > > It reminds me of the vocal tone that deaf people who > have been taught to speak use, if you have ever known > someone like that. Or like Kermit the Frog's voice > (the original Jim Henson one, not the one they have on > TV now, nor the "froggy" voice that people use to > imitate him). There, that's my definition of hooty.
Just goes to show how differently people react to singers. I am a big fan of Jennifer Larmore, both her voice and her performing. I've been fortunate to see her perform in person both in opera (La Cenerentola at the Met) and in recital (at the refurbished Kennedy Center Concert Hall), and both times I was very impressed. She has terrific technique, can handle florid music in a way that makes it sound easy (and without the aspiration that is a feature of Bartoli's Rossini singing), was convincing in the lyrical music on the recital program (I don't remember the songs now), and was very exciting in some Spanish songs that required a very extraverted performance style. I also love the sound of her voice. When I brought my sister to see her first opera, the Cenerentola, this non-classical-music-loving but open-minded woman commented to me on the beauty of the tone without my having asked her what she thought (and I had said nothing to her about Larmore or any of the singers she was hearing).
I also like Horne's singing, though she does have a distinctive quality to her low notes that might not be to everyone's taste. I like it, and also find her diction and expression in English-language songs that I've heard her do on recording (the Copland songs and her recent American song CD) to be spectacular.
I think most opera-aspiring singers on this list would be very pleased to have the careers of either of those two singers, neither of whom had their careers handed to them, but who worked very hard to achieve their success (Horne's memoirs are recommended reading). They must be doing something right, something that knowledgeable audiences like and are willing to pay lots of money to see in person and listen to on recordings. That's why they get hired over and over again.
Peggy
-- Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA "Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile" mailto:peggyh@i...
|
| |