# MEZZO/CONTRALTO TOURNAMENT (Round 1, Match 1): Stignani vs Verrett



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Ebe Stignani, Italy, 1903-1964






Shirley Verrett, USA, 1931-2010






'O mio Fernando' from Donizetti's _La Favorita_.

Who's singing did you prefer and why?


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Stignani is hardly recognisable here from the rather matronly woman who sings Adalgisa to Callas's Norma in London and on her first studio recording. The top register is much more free and her performance of this aria is really thrilling.

In fact, both ladies acquit themselves wonderfully well and give fabulous performances of the aria. You'd go a long way to hear such firm, full-throated, passionate singing today. I'm going to give it to Verrett though, simply because I prefer her gloriously smokey, totally individual voice. She also has a degree more flexibility. Verrett it is.


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## damianjb1 (Jan 1, 2016)

While both are enormously enjoyable I'm voting Stignani. The quality of the instrument itself is superb. Such a firm rich sound with a really solid core. Interestingly it seems to be a little low for both of them is parts. It appears to sit right on the lower passagio. Stignani takes a little while to warm up but once she's going - it's a magnificent voice and this is magnificent singing. Verrett has a better top but it sounds like Stignani has the bigger sound. And Stignani's orchestra is definitely a league or two above Verrett's. But both are wonderful. 
Stignani 8/10 
Verrett - 7.5/10.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Both so different in their approaches and both with fine instruments -- Stignani being the more mature sounding and intense in her presentation, but the smooth and extremely beautiful sound that emits from Verrett wins my vote clearly.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

The singing is so glorious, it's like liquid gold.
Verrett is from 1978, sometimes live recordings from 70s and 80s sound much worse than those from 30s and 40s. Stereo does not help either, in fact, it would sound slightly more tolerable downmixed into mono.
Verrett is more intense and free while Stignani more audibly stressed in lower register but displays a wider emotional palette, I especially enjoy the central lyrical section.
I want to vote for both ladies, but with a slight nod my final vote goes to Ms. Verrett.
Highly enjoyable poll!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I didn't appreciate Stignani until I heard recordings made in her prime, which predated the LP era. She was clearly a powerful singer, and I slightly regret choosing Verrett over her here. The latter's recording doesn't give her quite the presence Stignani's affords, and the voice itself seems less voluminous, but she nonetheless works up quite a heat in performance and ultimately wins me over.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx


In America "xxx" is often used to mean "hugs and kisses" in written communications. Apparently, it can also mean "explicit adult content."

I'm not sure which is intended here, or for whom it's intended, but after a year of covid-19 hermitage I'm delighted to accept either one.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> In America "xxx" is often used to mean "hugs and kisses" in written communications. Apparently, it can also mean "explicit adult content."
> 
> I'm not sure which is intended here, or for whom it's intended, but after a year of covid-19 hermitage I'm delighted to accept either one.


Whichever works for you, Woodduck :lol:


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Hard for me to tell because the Verrett recording is a bit tinny sounding.


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## Dimace (Oct 19, 2018)

*I went for Ebe*, because of the overall recording tempo. Jesus's frantic tempo is very xxxxx xxxxx xxxx :lol: (explicit...) for my taste. Otherwise both performances are good, despite the fact the Ebe's high notes sound a little bit hard to my ears. Thanks Bonetan.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

Both are very good. Overall though I like Stignani's voice better. I Verrett a little strident, though still very listenable. I also liked Stignani's interpretation better.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

What lovely singing; a really enjoyable comparison. I had not previously heard either and was deeply impressed by Stignani’s gloriously rich voice, wide range of expression, and magnificent lower register (I love female singers who can sing really well down low); as well as Verrett’s extremely unique, more lyric timbre. I give the edge to Stignani for her grand tour de force, even though I really like Verrett’s slightly lighter, more straightforward approach too.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I am a huge Verrett fan ( more as a mezzo than as a soprano with the exception of Tosca and Norma) and have often thought I should love Stignani more than I do. This time, though, Stignani blew me away. Such a huge, beautiful, effortless voice and unusual for her sung with great passion. The Italian Flagstad they called her. Here she even uses her chest voice which she often avoided. Verrett was great as well but not as great. I think Verrett suffered by a bad recording. I think Stignani might have more stiff comptetion from Jamie Barton with her ringing high C's and chest tones.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

duplicateduplicateduplicate


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

It's like comparing a dramatic mezzo with a _falcon_ mezzo.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

MAS said:


> duplicateduplicateduplicate


No. What you have there is triplicate. 



MAS said:


> It's like comparing a dramatic mezzo with a _falcon_ mezzo.


Yep, good reason for me to stay out of this game. Its beyond me.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

MAS said:


> duplicateduplicateduplicate


Thanks for not writing "xxx." I'm still reeling from Tsaraslondon's explicit adult content.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

In other recordings Verrett comes off as having a sizeable voice, but next to Stignani .......!


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> In other recordings Verrett comes off as having a sizeable voice, but next to Stignani .......!


Size ain't everything honey!


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> Size ain't everything honey!


No I know that, Nina, and I was surprised I preferred Stignani... but she really turned it out here and what a voice! I can understand preferring Verritt, who I love.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

This is another tough one. Stignani has the better voice (as far as these two excerpts are concerned) and it is truly luxurious. Verrett doesn't display as solid a technique and I find her voice to be of somewhat thin material in comparison with the first version in this thread.

However, I find Stignani's interpretation rather staid, whereas Verrett brings the aria to life. I've, therefore gone with Verrett.

N.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Stignani seems to have had that powerful, rich voice by nature. She debuted as Amneris, of all things, in 1925 at the age of 22, and sang until 1958, mostly in dramatic mezzo roles which included even Wagner's Ortrud and Brangaene. We can hear her breathing out Brangaene's warning at a deliciously slow tempo in the wonderful, too-brief excerpts from the 1930 La Scala _Tristan_ conducted by De Sabata.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Interesting article on Ebe Stignani -

https://bob-opera.weebly.com/ebe-stignani.html

A selection of quotes...

"Surely, hers was the most voluminous voice among the Italian mezzo sopranos, and the most even in scale throughout its range. Every utterance spoke to a dignity of expression and a clarity of technique that has rarely, if ever, been heard. Ebe Stignani knew from the outset that she could have been a most imposing dramatic soprano, but she chose, for good reason, to become the most famous exponent of gypsies, embittered princesses and abandoned lovers in her time.

Ebe's return to Italy anticipated one of the most important events in her career, her first collaboration with Maria Menighini Callas with whom she sang in "Norma" at the Rome Opera on 23 February. Galliano Masini and Giulio Neri contributed mightily to a performance that was headline news throughout Italy. Il Tempo "To hear Ebe Stignani is to know that she has no equal". The newspaper further reported that the presence of the "Greek" created a tense situation between her admirers and those who did not consider themselves "callasiani". However, it was an unprecedented success for all involved.

In January of 1952 Ebe sang with Callas in "Norma", this time at La Scala, and on 8 November they appeared again in the legendary revival of the Bellini work at Covent Garden. The performance is well known to collectors around the world as one of the finest performances ever preserved for posterity. Both were in stupendous voice and the ovations after the two great duets are as memorable as was the vocalism. The "Manchester Guardian" - "Ebe Stignani sang with a classic grandeur, a beautiful voice, perfect intonation and rich dramatic accents. At the end of the opera there were over a dozen curtain calls, but Stignani did not appear". It was reported that during the final dress rehearsal and again at the first interval on opening night, Madama Callas had made sarcastic remarks about "one of her colleagues", variously reported as directed at Giulio Neri and at Stignani, herself. One reported suggested that Callas had snarled the word "giovinetta" toward the forty nine year old mezzo. In any case, Ebe determined to express her displeasure by excluding herself from the evening's final festivities. Her music over, she retreated to her dressing room, changed, and returned to her hotel.

Ebe returned to Chicago, where, on 4 November she sang in "Il Trovatore" with Callas, Bjorling and Bastianini. It was a headline story, not only in Chicago but throught the United States and some who attended have declared Stignani's voice the most naturally effulgent tone they ever heard. The Chicago Sun Times headlined its review "Callas bows to Gypsy in "Il Trovatore".


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Paired with an interesting article on Shirley Verrett -

https://parterre.com/2010/11/07/remembering-shirley-verrett/

"In addition to an instrument of stunning natural beauty and easy range, Verrett displayed superior musicianship, dramatic intelligence and searing interpretative commitment.

She was a real stage animal, always careful not to cross the boundaries of bad taste but still reveling in the philosophy that "if you've got it, flaunt it."

It says something about her excellence that when it was announced she was forsaking her mezzo-soprano repertoire for choice soprano plumbs, protective voices howled in protest. "I wish Verrett would listen to plain common sense," wrote Walter Legge. "She is by achievement the best mezzo in the world. She should be forbidden to sing Norma . . . I adore her as an artist, her application, natural acting ability, lovely velvety timbre, agility and brilliance. These particular qualities are so rare in one beautiful young woman that someone should lay down the law."


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Stignani also sang Azucena alongside the Leonora of Callas at La Scala in 1953 and the recording of one of those performances exists (unlike the Chicago ones). She is one of my favourites in the role.

N.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Sunburst Finish said:


> Paired with an interesting article on Shirley Verrett -
> 
> https://parterre.com/2010/11/07/remembering-shirley-verrett/
> 
> ...


I'm curious if Verrett had problems with her voice after switching to soprano? Often a hollow sounding middle will be the outcome. I'd be curious to hear. She was a great Norma and Tosca, but just like Bumbry, I thought they lost some of their best qualities when they moved to higher roles. The lower voice didn't sound the same. Both had great lower voices. 
Stignani could have sung soprano but stayed put. Her Casta Diva was really good.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I'm curious if Verrett had problems with her voice after switching to soprano? Often a hollow sounding middle will be the outcome. I'd be curious to hear. She was a great Norma and Tosca, but just like Bumbry, I thought they lost some of their best qualities when they moved to higher roles. The lower voice didn't sound the same. Both had great lower voices.
> Stignani could have sung soprano but stayed put. Her Casta Diva was really good.


https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/06/...s.&text=To Ms.,could clog her bronchial tubes.

"By her own admission, Ms. Verrett's singing was inconsistent. Even some admiring critics thought that she made a mistake by singing soprano repertory after establishing herself as one of the premiere mezzo-sopranos of her generation, riveting as Bizet's Carmen and Saint-Saëns's Delila. A contingent of vocal buffs thought that her voice developed breaks and separated into distinct registers.

To Ms. Verrett the problem was not the nature of her voice but health issues. During the peak years she suffered from allergies to mold spores that could clog her bronchial tubes.

...in 1979, when New Yorkers finally had the chance to hear Ms. Verrett's Norma at the Met, her allergies acted up and undermined her singing, as Ms. Verrett recalled in her memoir.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/nov/08/shirley-verrett-obituary

The breadth of her vocal range came at a price, however. Underpowered in the middle register, her voice could also acquire a strident edge when pushed higher up, while the lower notes could be forced and unsteady in pitch. . For some, her singing was over-emphatic and characterised by reckless abandon, but to others this visceral quality was its strength. At her best, Verrett could produce tone that was both silky and sumptuous; her majestic ascent to climactic high notes was truly spine-tingling. Her stage presence too, exuding regal authority, was electrifying.


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Stignani joins Muzio and Boninsegna as women who's offerings I have listened to over and over in this tournament through vocal opulence alone. It's not often that I just close my eyes and listen, but with Stignani that's what I find myself doing. I find her singing inspirational. I really enjoyed Verrett's singing as well, but she's facing a juggernaut.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Verrett by a razor thin margin. there is a certain "style" to her singing. not the distracting jazziness of Renee Fleming or modern takes on "musicianship" that break the musical line. more of a pleasant, matronly cadence


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