# Contest: Printemps qui Commençe



## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Oralia Dominguez -





Elena Cernei -





Sigrid Onegin -





Bruna Castagna -


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## OffPitchNeb (Jun 6, 2016)

Very nice selections. Great taste!

Apart from Cernei, whose voice I don't like, I had a hard time with Dominguez, Onegin, and Castagna. Dominguez sounds dangerous and sensuous, Onegin dignified and a bit marmoreal. In the end, I opted for Castagna whose more "direct" felt just right for this aria.

Notice the final phrases:

_À lui ma tendresse
Et la douce ivresse
Qu’un brûlant amour
Garde à son retour! 

To him my tenderness
And the sweet drunkenness
That a burning love
Watch his return!_

Castagna does sound ecstatic as if she was "drunken in love"!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

This aria can seem sleepy and static if the singer has nothing interesting to bring to it. Dominguez is lovely but very slow, and her pianissimi strike me as calculated and excessive. Cernei, also slow, is more direct, and I like her rich tone and fast vibrato, although she does nothing particularly interesting. Onegin's contralto is smooth as silk, but she rushes a bit, not in the basic tempo but in slighting the value of long notes (the 78 side problem, I suspect). Castagna is the one to rouse me from slumber, singing in a natural, sincere, "speaking" manner, and at a tempo that moves along and allows for a nice slowing toward the end. She comes across as a person rather than an "opera singer," and I have no difficulty in awarding her first prize.


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## Francasacchi (7 mo ago)

Woodduck said:


> This aria can seem sleepy and static if the singer has nothing interesting to bring to it. Dominguez is lovely but very slow, and her pianissimi strike me as calculated and excessive. Cernei, also slow, is more direct, and I like her rich tone and fast vibrato, although she does nothing particularly interesting. Onegin's contralto is smooth as silk, but she rushes a bit, not in the basic tempo but in slighting the value of long notes (the 78 side problem, I suspect). Castagna is the one to rouse me from slumber, singing in a natural, sincere, "speaking" manner, and at a tempo that moves along and allows for a nice slowing toward the end. She comes across as a person rather than an "opera singer," and I have no difficulty in awarding her first prize.


Castagna sounds both sexy and dangerous though she can't match the beauty of Onegin,s voice. Dominguez is a powerhouse but kind of baleful. Cernei is inert


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## Francasacchi (7 mo ago)

Op.123 said:


> Oralia Dominguez -
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Uh ... I think we know whose is the best and it is not these four. 😉


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

_Commence _doesn’t need the cedilla.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

MAS said:


> _Commence _doesn’t need the cedilla.


Vraiment. C'est comme "ci," pas comme "ça."


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

None of them really do it for me, I'm afraid, despite having lovely voices. Only Castagna engages me though. I'd prefer her to be a bit more sensuous, but hers is the only one of the three performances to reach out from the recording and make me believe she is communicating something.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Voice-wise, I’d take Cernei who, to my mind, matches the music, but the mugging for the cameras is off-putting. Castagna is the more engaging words-wise. Her photo is like Garbo’s *Mata Hari*.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

MAS said:


> Voice-wise, I’d take Cernei who, to my mind, matches the music, but the mugging for the cameras is off-putting. Castagna is the more engaging words-wise. Her photo is like Garbo’s *Mata Hari*.
> View attachment 175251


Funny I didn't think of that, since i'm a long-time Garbo fan. Speaking of whom, I don't know whether Garbo enjoyed opera, but Callas claimed to have been inspired by Garbo. Apparently they hit it off aboard Onassis' yacht - the two greatest Ladies of the Camellias, and my two favorite women in the arts, walking and talking together... (Big sigh.)


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> Funny I didn't think of that, since i'm a long-time Garbo fan. Speaking of whom, I don't know whether Garbo enjoyed opera, but Callas claimed to have been inspired by Garbo. Apparently they hit it off aboard Onassis' yacht - the two greatest Ladies of the Camellias, and my two favorite women in the arts, walking and talking together... (Big sigh.)


I didn’t know they had met!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

MAS said:


> I didn’t know they had met!


I believe they met aboard the yacht, but I don't know what further contact they had. Callas talks about Garbo briefly at 43:27 in this interview for French TV.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Woodduck said:


> I believe they met aboard the yacht, but I don't know what further contact they had. Callas talks about Garbo briefly at 43:27 in this interview for French TV.















GarboForever - Maria Callas and Garbo



It was during the love affair of Onassis and Callas and since Garbo was a friend of Onassis they met often. The two women got on extremely well. During a 1969 TV special in France , Callas mentioned that she met Garbo quite often.

She was talking about her upcoming film _Medea _which was to be directed by Pasolini. Luchino Visconti , who also was attended at this show, was skeptical and said that he did not think that Pasolini was the right director fro a great tragedienne like Callas.

Callas said that the first time she became really fascinated with cinema was when she watched Garbo in _Camille_. She also mentioned Garbo and Lawrence Olivier as the two great actors she admired.

In his book on _Garbo - La Dame aux Caméras _, French author Jean Lacouture, while discussing Garbo's _Camille, _also said that Callas has never hidden how indebted she was to Garbo for her own interpretation of _La Dame aux Camélias _in Verdi's _La Traviata _.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> I believe they met aboard the yacht, but I don't know what further contact they had. Callas talks about Garbo briefly at 43:27 in this interview for French TV.


Thanks for the reminder. I keep forgetting that Onassis collected famous people within his sphere of influence and that Garbo was mentioned as one of his frequent guests, as was Winston Churchill. So, naturally, Maria would’ve met her.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

So, Bruna Castagna wins and I understand why. For me, nevertheless, she is associated with this:








Every lady present here has her accomplishments. But Castagna sounds infantile, Cernei tries to show as much sex as she can (and she's got the worst wig), Onegin is academic and seems unconcerned in the result of seduction, Dominguez is less playful than Castagna and Cernei, but warmer than Onegin. In short, we see how many fabulous mezzos are there and how diverse are they. They also represent different types of courtesans. 
Dominguez is my choice here.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I generally like Dominguez. Attractive tone and nicely sung. I just don't hear much in the way of interpretation or character, this could be an oratorio aria (and although Saint-Saens originally intended the opera to be an oratorio he changed his mind). 

I haven't heard much Cernei, but the echo on her version makes it hard to compare her with the others.

Onegin sings very well, but is cold.

I've actually read the comments before voting this time and I understand what everyone _hears _in Castagna and I can only agree.

N.


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