# The Helen Traubel Appreciation Thread



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Unlike the more steely dramatic sopranos most of us are used to, Traubel possessed a warm, motherly voice. There were touches of brightness, but not a youthful brightness. It was more like the brightness of the last shimmers of twilight which gave the voice a perpetual melancholic quality. Imo, the voice sat more comfortably in the mezzo range, but I enjoy the voice from top to bottom, so I'm happy to listen to it in either range.


----------



## Retrograde Inversion (Nov 27, 2016)

Traubel was awesome, but I'm not sure_ Home, Sweet Home_ would be among my first choice of her recordings...

I know I'm a dreadful snob, but I'd rather listen to this:


----------



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Retrograde Inversion said:


> Traubel was awesome, but I'm not sure_ Home, Sweet Home_ would be among my first choice of her recordings...


"Autumn Leaves" was the first one, not home sweet homes. I wanted to start out with her mezzo/contralto register. my favorite part of her voice



> I know I'm a dreadful snob, but I'd rather listen to this:


<3


----------



## gardibolt (May 22, 2015)

Traubel was terrific and is underappreciated.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

The Traubel voice was one of the great ones indeed. Her range was a bit short - she avoided high C - but the timbre was dark velvet and consistent from top to bottom. She resembled Eileen Farrell not only in vocal opulence but in being attracted to popular entertainment; Traubel made Hollywood movies (as did Lauritz Melchior, the two of them thus getting on the bad side of Rudolf Bing), and Farrell appeared frequently on TV variety shows. 

I always get nostalgic for the interwar period (no, I'm not old enough to remember it!), when the big soprano roles of Wagner were sung by the likes of Leider, Flagstad, Lawrence and Traubel. Where are such majestic voices today?


----------



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> The Traubel voice was one of the great ones indeed. Her range was a bit short - she avoided high C - but the timbre was dark velvet and consistent from top to bottom. She resembled Eileen Farrell not only in vocal opulence but in being attracted to popular entertainment; Traubel made Hollywood movies (as did Lauritz Melchior, the two of them thus getting on the bad side of Rudolf Bing), and Farrell appeared frequently on TV variety shows.
> 
> I always get nostalgic for the interwar period (no, I'm not old enough to remember it!), when the big soprano roles of Wagner were sung by the likes of Leider, Flagstad, Lawrence and Traubel. Where are such majestic voices today?


That would have been priceless :lol:


----------



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)




----------



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> The Traubel voice was one of the great ones indeed. Her range was a bit short - she avoided high C - but the timbre was dark velvet and consistent from top to bottom. She resembled Eileen Farrell not only in vocal opulence but in being attracted to popular entertainment; Traubel made Hollywood movies (as did Lauritz Melchior, the two of them thus getting on the bad side of Rudolf Bing), and Farrell appeared frequently on TV variety shows.
> 
> *I always get nostalgic for the interwar period (no, I'm not old enough to remember it!), when the big soprano roles of Wagner were sung by the likes of Leider, Flagstad, Lawrence and Traubel. Where are such majestic voices today?*


we killed them when we decided that dramatic sopranos needed to sound like screaming hippos, rather than the _relaxed_ vocal production of singers the likes of which you mentioned.


----------



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tuoksu said:


>


This is one of my favorite recordings of hers. She had a very Italiante sound and she got to show off her marvelous chest voice. She started out as a contralto. This is the best B5 I ever heard from her. To my ears her voice is almost as beautiful as Flagstad... and that is saying a lot. It is said that on a good night she could hold her own with Flagstad in volume. Their voices were very different.


----------



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Here she is dancing and singing. She was a large woman but not obese like many today. I believe she was 6 feet tall.


----------



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

This is my favorite video of her singing from the movies. Her singing is marvelous. She would be what we used to call a handsome woman. If you haven't seen this it is very much like an art song. You'll love it. It was said she was a stiff actress on stage, but she was a natural on film for these musicals. Bing fired her because she liked popular singing. Enjoy


----------



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> This is one of my favorite recordings of hers. She had a very Italiante sound and she got to show off her marvelous chest voice. She started out as a contralto. This is the best B5 I ever heard from her. To my ears her voice is almost as beautiful as Flagstad... and that is saying a lot. It is said that on a good night she could hold her own with Flagstad in volume. Their voices were very different.


Bb5. it was trasposed down


----------



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> Bb5. it was trasposed down


The things you know. This also accounts for the unusually rich lower notes in her version. I wouldn't be surprised if Tebaldi did this in her late Giocondas... which are amazing!!!!!!!!!!!
Are you of Russian heritage... hence your avatar name?


----------



## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

I gotta have more Traubel!


----------



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> The things you know.


to be fair, I had to double check 



> This also accounts for the unusually rich lower notes in her version.


indeed. the voice sat more comfortably in a mezzo tessitura



> I wouldn't be surprised if Tebaldi did this in her late Giocondas... which are amazing!!!!!!!!!!!


I might look into them, though I've never been a huge Tebaldi fan



> Are you of Russian heritage... hence your avatar name?


nope, I just love Eastern European music


----------

