Galina
Fri, Feb 8 2013, 7:49AM
I read in the February issue of Gramophone that Galina Vishevskaya is dead. Her voice may have been well past it's prime when she came to my attention, but what an artist she was! I love her Tosca, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Songs and Dances of Death. Баюшки, баю, баю, Гали́на!
Fri, Feb 8 2013, 10:46PM
#2
RE: Galina
I would be interested to hear what it is about Galina Vishnevskaya that you love. I have tried to appreciate her for many years by listening to most of her recordings. Apart from her earliest recordings, however, I cannot get beyond my frustration that the actual sound of her voice could be as silvery as one could wish and in the next moment become harsh and unlovely. Without wishing to denigrate any of them, she sounds like a Russian equivalent of Scotto or Callas.
I have a few of her recordings, including the Tosca. If there is a more exciting Scarpia murder on disc than this, though, I have yet to hear it.
Fri, Feb 8 2013, 11:37PM
#3
RE: Galina
It is perhaps a little hard to be critical of someone so soon after their death but I have to agree with Caballe. She can be compared to Callas only in so much as she could be erratic and disappoint. She is lucky that she had second rate Russian recording technology to mask most of her recordings.
Sat, Feb 9 2013, 2:14AM
#4
RE: Galina
Don't attack her that much. She was a better singer than she sounded. If one may say she was the equivalent of a Scotto or Callas, that sounds as a huge compliment for her overall artistry and musicianship.
Parla
Sat, Feb 9 2013, 9:51AM
#5
RE: Galina
She was a better singer than she sounded.
Parla
Is that possible Parla?
Sat, Feb 9 2013, 10:19AM
#6
RE: Galina
It has been said for some very good singers, including Callas, because a great singer is not only and always his/her sound (voice). Callas, Scotto, Fischer-Dieskau and some more had sheer musicality, superb musicianship, theatrical presence, a deep understanding of the roles they perform and some more significant features, which, sometimes, magnificent voices neglect to pay the necessary attention...or, simply rely on their sure "weapon" to impress and arrest their audience.
Parla
Sat, Feb 9 2013, 11:55AM
#7
RE: Galina
She may have been a better performer than a recorded singer, as Callas was. She was a big Russian bear in the recording studio.
Sat, Feb 9 2013, 12:26PM
#8
RE: Galina
S-K, do you know her 1956 Bolshoi recording of Eugene Onegin. She is superb in that (as is Sergei Lemeshev as Lensky). Not well ecorded but I definitive performance.
Sat, Feb 9 2013, 2:25PM
#9
RE: Galina
No I have to admit I don't. Her voice is maybe one I just don't get on with. I have the Freni on DG which, under Levine, is a bit of a whipped cream performance as a whole but sometimes, especially with Tchaikovsky, whipped cream is not as tasteless as it sounds.
Sorry about the typo. It should be Vishnevskaya.