Soprano Dorabellas: How rare / common are they?
Slrdsyj
"Cosi fan tutte" is either for lyric soprano or lyric mezzo-soprano. However,
I've noticed that all recordings (CD and video performances), with only one
execption [the Sir Charles Mackerras studio recording with Felicity Lott and
Marie McLaughlin], features a mezzo-soprano Dorabella. (The exception is
soprano Marie McLaughlin playing Dorabella in the Mackerras CD set.) How rare
or how common are soprano Dorabellas in "Cosi fan tutte"? [So far, it seems
different from Mozart's "Don Giovanni", where about half the recordings (CD and
video) have sopranos singing Donna Elvira, with roughly the other half having
mezzo-sopranos singing Donna Elvira.]
Mike Richter
There was no term "mezzo-soprano" in Mozart's day; the score calls for a
soprano. The requirement is for style and characterization, not for a
remarkable range. Note that the other women in the cast - Fiordiligi and
Despina - are also labelled soprano and sung by either sopranos or
mezzos as we label them today.
Contrast among the voices is needed more than labels so the three should
be recognizable. The same is true for "Nozze" where the four ladies are
all sopranos in the score, though two (Cherubino and Marcellina) are
usually mezzos in modern performance. I've not tried to classify the
singers in the recordings and videos I have, so I cannot give you a
count. I would guess that you'd be more likely to find a soprano
Dorabella when a mezzo (Bartoli, Berganza, ...) sings Fiordiligi.
Slrdsyj
Date: 6/19/04 7:40 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id:
<2jk16dF...@uni-berlin.de>>I would guess that you'd be more likely to find
a soprano
>Dorabella when a mezzo (Bartoli, Berganza, ...) sings Fiordiligi.
It's interesting that you mention a mezzo singing Fiordiligi. In the 2000
Zurich production, released by Arthaus, the mezzo Bartoli sings Fiordiligi, but
another mezzo sings Dorabella (Liliana Nikiteanu). Come to think of it, the
mezzo Agnes Baltsa also stars in it, singing Despina. If I'm not mistaken,
regarding the three female principals, this recording is an all-mezzo affair.
What opinions do you have of this recording? (Bartoli, Nikiteanu, and
Baltsa - a mezzo Fiordiligi AND a mezzo Dorabella AND a mezzo Despina)
David Melnick
> What opinions do you have of this recording? (Bartoli, Nikiteanu, and
> Baltsa - a mezzo Fiordiligi AND a mezzo Dorabella AND a mezzo Despina)
No one else has commented, so I'll rush in, you angels.
It is almost a chamber approach to the opera. The one
"concept" part, which doesn't work but doesn't take away
too much, is that the whole thing is conceived as a
"lesson" involving "Professor" Alfonso, complete with
blackboard, and "students" Guglielmo and Ferrando,
and even Fiordiligi and Dorabella at some points, IIRC.
It's from the "ossia" part of the title of the opera --
the director saying, "See! I read the title."
The three women are superb, with Bartoli disproving
the whole unfair cant about her that she "mugs" and
exaggerates the staccati. Her "Per pieta" is one of the most
affecting performances of any aria in any opera I've seen on
video. Nikiteanu is a lyrical, engaging Dorabella, her great
looks adding to the package (not that Bartoli isn't great-
looking too). Baltsa is the first "older" Despina I've seen,
and the appearance fits the situation perfectly. (Frederica
Von Stade, who is 59, will sing the role of Despina
this fall in San Francisco.) Baltsa's rapid passages
are beautifully articulated. Needless to say, Bartoli's
are, too, and she always gives the impression that she
is not in the least approaching the limits of her voice.
Also, I didn't once think there was a missing soprano-mezzo
contrast anywhere among the three women.
I'm not a fan of Roberto Sacca (Ferrando), in part because
of a hard-voiced Tamino he sang in S.F. a few years ago. He
doesn't sound all that much better in the smaller house
in Zurich. Oliver Widmer as Guglielmo has a lyric baritone
voice and a dashing look to him, though he's no Hermann
Prey. You can hear him in Papageno's first aria through
a link under his name on www.Operissimo.com and get a good
idea of his voice. I don't remember too much about Carlos
Chausson, the Don Alfonso, but I don't remember disliking
him!
I've never been a huge fan of Harnoncourt, ever since the
old record of Bach violin concertos with his wife as
soloist, which I thought to be pedestrian. But this Cosi
flows nicely from beginning to end, and, most important, he
allows his singers to excel.
All IMO only, needless to say.
Dav
Sailbad Sinner
> ... How rare or how common are soprano Dorabellas
On the Gardiner DVD (Archiv), the girls (Fiordiligi=Amanda Roocroft,
Dorabella=Rosa Mannion) are both sopranos, and in the booklet Gardiner
explains that this is how it should be, based on what kind of roles
were sung by the singers who created the roles.