# Horne, Verrett, Powdles???



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I love all three. Do you have a preference. Horne has the edge in technique, but all are spectacular. I saw Horne in concert, but only in lieder and not the coloratura stuff I crave. I saw Powdles live twice. Weird to watch but great voice. I didn't include Bartoli as her voice is too small for most opera houses.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I am afraid I have not the breadth of listening experience to choose a favorite. Do love Ewa Podles as the Marchioness in the DVD of La Fille du Regiment with Marella Devia (also an excellent performance by Devia).


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Podles is pronounced 'Pode-lesh.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Verrett. she sounds like a majestic queen where Horne is a crushed soprano who sounds a bit like a counter tenor** and Podles can come off kinda muddy. 

**incidentally, I find her voice quite lovely in her native soprano rep. the difference in clarity and timbre is so obvious, but in the rep she is most known for...sorry, I tried to like her. I just can't.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> Podles is pronounced 'Pode-lesh.


and "Ewa" is pronounced like "Eva"


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

I voted all three, each are great and may I add Fiorenza Cossotto.:angel:


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I don't really know enough of Podles's work to be honest, but, of the other two, it's Verrett by a mile for me. Horne is a great vocalist, but Verrett really acts with her voice. Horne can sound a bit stentorian too. Compare their recordings of Dalila's famous _Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix_, and Verrett is so much more seductive.

Mind you, I'm not sure I'd think of Verrett as a coloratura mezzo, though her coloratura was very good. I think of her more as a lyric-dramatic, and some of her best roles (Dalila, Carmen, Eboli, Lady Macbeth) are in that repertoire.

I'd also say that it's the mezzo Verrett I love most. Some of the inidividual quality of the voice was lost when she moved up into soprano territory.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I don't really know enough of Podles's work to be honest, but, of the other two, it's Verrett by a mile for me. Horne is a great vocalist, but Verrett really acts with her voice. Horne can sound a bit stentorian too. Compare their recordings of Dalila's famous _Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix_, and Verrett is so much more seductive.
> 
> Mind you, I'm not sure I'd think of Verrett as a coloratura mezzo, though her coloratura was very good. I think of her more as a lyric-dramatic, and some of her best roles (Dalila, Carmen, Eboli, Lady Macbeth) are in that repertoire.
> 
> ...


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

In terms of voice, Horne is my favourite, it was such a rich, luxurious sound. However, I think Verrett was the better artist by far. Podles doesn't seem to have had a career at quite the same profile as the other two and I haven't heard as much of her singing. Horne could be vulgar at times, whereas Verrett never went beyond the bounds of taste and style and yet was more dramatic and exciting than Horne at times as well. Verrett was definitely the complete package. Am I right in thinking that there isn't an Aida recording with her in? Did she ever sing Amneris?

N.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

The Conte said:


> Am I right in thinking that there isn't an Aida recording with her in? Did she ever sing Amneris?
> 
> N.


She did sing Amneris, but there doesn't seem to be any recording. I always think it a shame she recorded so few of her roles in the studio. No Dalila or Carmen, and no Amneris.


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## IgorS (Jan 7, 2018)

It is a total mystery for me why people find Horne's voice any good. It is just sound like the voice of somebody with chronic sinusitis.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I respect Horne's technique but find the timbre brassy and tenorish. Podles is impressive but I haven't listened to her much. Verrett is one of my favorite mezzos.


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## davidglasgow (Aug 19, 2017)

Given the choice, I'd stump for Verrett but there are other candidates for me 

Huguette Tourangeau





Lucia Valentini-Terrani





Janet Baker in Maria Stuarda


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## davidglasgow (Aug 19, 2017)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> Verrett. she sounds like a majestic queen where Horne is a crushed soprano who sounds a bit like a counter tenor** and Podles can come off kinda muddy.
> 
> **incidentally, I find her voice quite lovely in her native soprano rep. the difference in clarity and timbre is so obvious, but in the rep she is most known for...sorry, I tried to like her. I just can't.


Horne sounded very comfortable as Mimi


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## davidglasgow (Aug 19, 2017)

The Conte said:


> In terms of voice, Horne is my favourite, it was such a rich, luxurious sound. However, I think Verrett was the better artist by far. Podles doesn't seem to have had a career at quite the same profile as the other two and I haven't heard as much of her singing. Horne could be vulgar at times, whereas Verrett never went beyond the bounds of taste and style and yet was more dramatic and exciting than Horne at times as well. Verrett was definitely the complete package. Am I right in thinking that there isn't an Aida recording with her in? Did she ever sing Amneris?
> 
> N.


Regarding Shirley Verrett in Aida, there are three recordings of her as Amneris and one as Aida

1969 in Dallas she was Amneris to Souliotis' Aida (Rescigno conducts)
1970 at the Met she was Amneris to Amara's Aida (Adler conducts)
1971 at Covent Gardens she was Amneris to Krilovici's Aida (Matheson conducts) BTW Kiri Te Kanawa is "Una Sacerdotessa" 

Finally, 
1980 at Boston she was Aida with James McCracken, Elizabeth Connell and Ferruccio Furlanetto (Sarah Caldwell conducts)

Cheers,
David


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

The Conte said:


> In terms of voice, Horne is my favourite, it was such a rich, luxurious sound. However, I think Verrett was the better artist by far. Podles doesn't seem to have had a career at quite the same profile as the other two and I haven't heard as much of her singing. Horne could be vulgar at times, whereas Verrett never went beyond the bounds of taste and style and yet was more dramatic and exciting than Horne at times as well. Verrett was definitely the complete package. Am I right in thinking that there isn't an Aida recording with her in? Did she ever sing Amneris?
> 
> N.


She sang duets from Aida with Caballe as Amneris. I can't believe she wasn't Amneris on stage.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

davidglasgow said:


> Janet Baker in Maria Stuarda


One of my all time favourite singers, but a mezzo of a very different type.


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## davidglasgow (Aug 19, 2017)

Tsaraslondon said:


> One of my all time favourite singers, but a mezzo of a very different type.


That's true. I think I'm balking somewhat at the designation 'coloratura mezzo'. Baker was no belcanto specialist but her beautiful timbre, flexibility, conviction and verbal acuity here are striking. We might (reasonably) assume that singers better associated with that rep would share these virtues but I'm not sure that is always the case.

Another singer who shows a considerable facility with coloratura is Frederica von Stade and I don't suppose she, any more than Baker, would be known as a 'coloratura mezzo'. Whatever the case, she sang parts like Amina in La Sonnambula with considerable grace and fluency





Cheers,
David


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## Telramund (May 20, 2019)

Well Verrett's Macbeth is from another world


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Frederica von Stade was always a solid performer in everything she did and was such a beautiful lady on stage. She always had a distinctive timbre to her voice and a voice that was both bright but still had a mezzo coloring. Her coloratura was very wonderful.


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Anyone who sings La Cenerentola, as von Stade did brilliantly and beautifully in Dallas in 1978 or '79 and many other places (including the wonderful Ponnelle film production), is a coloratura mezzo. And her physical beauty and personality would break your heart. She may be other things as well, but she was a great coloratura mezzo.

Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

*Rossini: La Cenerentola-von Stade, Araiza, Desderi, Montarsolo, Plishka, Ponnelle*






Best ever video of this opera. Save for Rocky Blake in the tenor part, this is basically the cast I was privileged to sing with in the Dallas Opera Chorus many years ago.

Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


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