Barry Morell ?
can...@webtv.net
someone mentioned Barry Morell in a posting
know the name but can't place him
can anyone give details of career and if he is still singing?
thanks
c.
Monte Stone
Barry Morrel-American tenor quite active in the 70s and early 80s. Never
a really big star, but sang some at the met. Mostly Puccinni, if memory
serves. I think he was from Long Island, and was a protoge of Licia
Albanese. I heard he dies a few yreas ago, but I'm not sure about this.
--
Monte Stone
Creator and Author
The Ring Disc An Interactive Guide to Wagner's "Ring"
http://www.ringdisc.com
Kalliban
On Sun, 20 Apr 1997 13:23:12 -0400, Monte Stone <ring...@snet.net>
wrote:
I last saw Barry Morell (if I remember correctly) at the Met about 30
years ago in a performance of Adriana Lecouvrier with Albanese who was
replacing an indisposed Renata Tebaldi. I vaguely recall a pleasant if
not really distinguished voice. It is Albanese who remains in my
memory, a wonderful artist even at this late period in her career.
Morell did make an LP aria collection for RCA which, again, was
pleasant if not exceptional. I heard he settled at the Vienna Opera
and died not too long ago.
Kalliban
jfu...@unix.asb.com
Barry Morell was one of the "duty tenors" at the Met in the 60s and
possible into the 70s.
He covered roles, replaced those indisposed and generally acquired the
following (?) that
unfortunates in his position did.
There was payback, however. At the old Met there was a non-sub Tosca on a
Sunday night
with Tebaldi, Gobbi (in his only appearance that season) and Morell.
Suddenly Osie Hawkins (retired singer and then hit-man for replacement
announcements) appeared
before the curtain and there was a collective groan in the audience. Was
it Tebaldi
cancelling? Gobbi? - well..........it was Morell who cancelled! Franco
Corelli had
"kindly consented" to replace Morell. Well, you can imagine - the place
went wild.
Morell may have been ok, I never really got to hear him. There were
others like him
on the roster who were really good singers who generally only got used in
emergencies
and consequently were always thought of in a negative way as second
string. A couple who come to mind are Jean Fenn and Mary Curtis-Verna,
both of whom were fine singers.
In article <335cc036...@news.earthlink.net>, kall...@earthlink.net
can...@webtv.net
re Barry Morell just being a pleasant tenor
we could use him today
Havlena
can...@webtv.net wrote:
> someone mentioned Barry Morell in a posting
> know the name but can't place him
> can anyone give details of career and if he is still singing?
He also sang some Verdi roles at the Met. I remember a broadcast of La
Traviata in which he sang Alfredo. If memory serves me right he ended the
second act aria at least a half tone sharp -- it was very obvious when the
orchestra re-entered.
I also recall one or two recital albums, but don't remember the label.
Bill Havlena
Claud H. Shirley III
Your memory is accurate. He did go a half tone sharp during the cadenza
and the orchestra re-entered to create a dreadful minor 2nd. Mr. Morell
made no effort to tune, but in fact, swelled the tone, making the
dissonance even worse. I think the reason I remember this so well is
because it was the first time that I ever heard a singer booed on the
broadcast. I do remember seeing him in Cavalleria with Elinor Ross, and
he was very good in that part.
WClayTex
Barry Morell made one really fine recording--of La Wally.
Bill Clayton
Musipro
wcla...@aol.com (WClayTex) wrote:
>Barry Morell made one really fine recording--of La Wally.
I also remember a recording of Handel's _Judas Maccabeus_ conducted by
Stephen Simon wherein Morell is laughably miscast--he was not by any
stretch of the imagination a Baroque stylist or adept at coloratura--but
that is nevertheless notable for fine singing by Judith Blegen and Simon
Estes in their early primes.
Carmen Z. Catoni
can...@webtv.net wrote:
>
> someone mentioned Barry Morell in a posting
>
> know the name but can't place him
>
> can anyone give details of career and if he is still singing?
Barry Morell was scheduled to sing at Barcelona's Liceu on Jan 26, 1972 in the gala
celebrating the theater's 125th anniversary and 25 of thedirection then leading the
theater, Juan A. Pamias. He didn't appear.
He did appear the following year in La Favorita opposite Cossotto. It was a year I was
away from Barcelona, but all reports say he was terribly miscast. Not only was there no
sense of bel canto, but he cracked the high notes every single performance.
The next year he returned with the Graz company to sing the italian singer. A young
Roberta Knie was the Marschallin. Those performances I saw and he was not very good.
But the last performance was sung by a certain Thomas Tarjan, who we learned held an
administrative position in the company. He was awful, terrible!!!
HAPPY LISTENING!!!
Luis A. Catoni
cat...@bellsouth.net
Ho da fare un dramma buffo e non trovo l'argomento.
victor filler
In article <335A51...@snet.net>, Monte Stone <ring...@snet.net> wrote:
>can...@webtv.net wrote:
>> someone mentioned Barry Morell in a posting
>> know the name but can't place him
>> can anyone give details of career and if he is still singing?
>
>a really big star, but sang some at the met. Mostly Puccinni, if memory
>serves. I think he was from Long Island, and was a protoge of Licia
>Albanese. I heard he dies a few yreas ago, but I'm not sure about this.
>
Seeing Barry Morell mentioned brings back a lot of memories, and it's sad to
hear he died--he wouldn't have been very old.
In the early 60s I saw a lot of him--it seemed he was in almost every other
opera I went to at the Cincinnati summer opera (at the zoo) and the
Philadelphia Grand or Lyric opera. He was then a young, sturdy looking tenor
with a srong, warm, and very pleasant voice. In appearance (to me) he looked
somewhat like Mario Lanza. When Morell sang at the Met the writeups as I
recall said he came from Tennessee and had started out as a baritone. At the
Met he was considered a solid leading tenor, not a drawing card like Tucker or
Bergonzi, but reliable and capable of some very beautiful singing and
characterization. At Cincinnati that summer of 61 or 62 I was much impressed
by his singing as the Duke with Frank Guarrera as Rigoletto. He sang
beautifully in Boheme with Kostas Paskalis as Marcello and Lee Venora (of the
City Opera) as Mimi.
When I say Morell was solidly built I don't mean it as as euphemism for fat.
He just looked barrell-chest and strong. He had one skill that I don't recall
seeing in other tenors--that of singing in full voice while carrying the
soprano. I would say it's a risky move and not absolutely essential, but
Morell sang his part with no problem while carrying in Mimi in act 4 of
Boheme. (He also carried Butterly into the house at the end of act 1--in
this case the singing was over.) No doubt he would not have tried this
maneuver with any of the bulkier sopranos--Lee Venora was trim and petite and
so was the Butterfly. Still, it was a nice touch.
My impression is that Morell had a low-key career for one who sang so many
leading roles at the Met (including broadcasts), at regional companies in
America, and in Europe, but I would bet there are many other opera lovers like
me who have very fond memories of him.
Vic
j...@nospam.com~
One memory awakes another. What ever happened to Lee Venora - she was
wonderful!
In article <5ktmje$8ie$1...@nntp.Stanford.EDU>, as....@forsythe.stanford.edu
(victor filler) wrote:
--
Email to <jfu...@unix.asb.com> IGNORE SPAM FREE HEADER
dtri...@bway.net
Lee Venora, after a wonderful regional opera career here, played
opposite Alfred Drake in "Kean," a good musical with a too-short run,
then went off to Deutsche Oper Berlin, where she had a string of
predictable successes. Still young and breathtakingly beautiful, a
splendid singer and actress, she simply wearied of the peripatetic
life, married an army colonel and settled down in the Washington area.
If she had only been at the Met too! She could still be singing if she
cared, and could we ever use a splendid artist like Venora!
dft
can...@webtv.net
re Lee Vanora
did she make any recordings?