# Angela Meade as Semiramide



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/arts/music/met-opera-semiramide-review.html
I saw this and was impressed. How long since we have had a voice of any size in this role???
Questions:
1. She hit the high E, which I didn't know she had. It was very nice, but her very top doesn't sound to me on the level of volume of Dame Joans. Correct? Her voice itself seems really big and opulent.
2. I knew she was a big girl, but I had no idea she was Jane Eaglen big!!!! Is it just the costume or is that the fact. It doesn't affect how much I'd love to see her. She , Radvonovsky , David Hansen,and Jonas K are my 3 most desired artists to see live.
3. If I opted not to go to the HD broadcast, do they usually put these on demand?
4. HD question: do you find it much better in the theater than at home on demand?
Sorry I am so demanding.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Not to be snarky - OK, to be snarky - if Angela Meade were to sing a trill, how would we know?


----------



## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> 3. If I opted not to go to the HD broadcast, do they usually put these on demand?
> 4. HD question: do you find it much better in the theater than at home on demand?
> Sorry I am so demanding.


3. They usually end up in Met On Demand in 6-9 months. I think some do not make it to steaming, but I don't follow closely enough to know for sure.

4. It depends a lot on your home set up and your tolerance for being around people eating popcorn, etc. (and, I suppose, the ambient noise at your home). Being in a good cinema with great sound and few distractions is really great. It's at a set time so you can't put it off. And even though some of the people around you may not be entirely quiet during the screening, it can be good to see a bunch of people also there to see something you love.


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

> HD question: do you find it much better in the theatre than at home on demand?


I like the atmosphere in theatre, but sitting at home with a nice cuppa and seeing it again does wonders for me. 
Tell you about it after March 10th


----------



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

I hear she completely devoured Ildar in their duet.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Bonetan said:


> I hear she completely devoured Ildar in their duet.


She's clearly devoured a lot of other things too.


----------



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Woodduck said:


> She's clearly devoured a lot of other things too.


LMAO!! Lobbed that softball right up there for you :lol:


----------



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> She's clearly devoured a lot of other things too.


I think the moderators need to be alerted about you LOL


----------



## Rossiniano (Jul 28, 2017)

I have heard Mead in the flesh... and yes there is a lot if it... both at the MET (as Anna Bolena) and at Carnegie Hall (as Matilda in _Guglielmo Tell_). I have never been overly impressed with her voice which sounds dry and uninteresting. I mentioned both venues because it did not resonate with any meaningful presence in either hall.

Yet she always hit all the notes cleanly, and that included hearing her in an in house recordings of Rossini's _Ermione_ which like _Semiramide_ was written for Isabella Colbran and indeed a recording of her as Semiramide from a few years ago at Caramoor. That was until the recent MET broadcast of _Norma_ where she fudged so much of the coloratura that it was almost as if she never learned the part properly. Plus she sounded ragged. If that is her current vocal state then I don't have high hopes for her Semiramide, I do plan to get to the HD Theatre simulcast. Keeping my fingers crossed.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan;140117nto said:


> I think the moderators need to be alerted about you LOL


Thanks, but the mods already know what a problem I am. :devil:

I generally dislike the "so-and-so is overrated" sort of discussion, but - Angela Meade is overrated, or at least overemployed (I don't know what most people really think of her). I'm not trying to pick on her, but I think her present status as a leading soprano at the Met may be symptomatic of the acknowledged difficulty, in the last few decades, of finding singers fully equipped for the dramatic side of Italian opera, starting with bel canto and moving through the heavier Verdi roles and verismo. There may never have been many singers equally effective in the whole range of that repertoire, but Meade seems to be the Met's present candidate for _prima donna assoluta,_ and to my ears she is pretty far from being that. She should, in particular, leave bel canto alone. I happened to overhear this 



 from another room where I couldn't hear the piano accompaniment, and despite being familiar with the aria I couldn't tell what it was because I couldn't tell what pitches were being sung. In Bellini's day a singer who made noises like this would have been sent back to school, or advised to find another profession.


----------



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

^^^ is Leonard in giant heels there or is Meade as short as she is wide?


----------



## Rossiniano (Jul 28, 2017)

Well!! I just checked out the NYTines online review. Ms. Mead certainly fills out that costume more than I had even imagined that she would. I saw the prima in the house in 1990 with a quite svelte Lella Cuberli who acted the part as a half crazed and somewhat unstable ruler who would be just looney inough to kill her husband, dump her lover, and then fall in love with someone who was her son's age. Only in opera... with, as the Times notes, nods to Greek mythology and Shakespeare of course! Additionally there was then the video with June Anderson who played the part as a much more regal monarch. I guess Meade will take the stand and sing approach. 

I must admit that in the excerpt from "Bel raggio" that she hit all the notes and sang a few of Sutherland's embellishments to boot. Plus she did hit the E so there is hope.


----------



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Rossiniano said:


> I have heard Mead in the flesh... and yes there is a lot if it... both at the MET (as Anna Bolena) and at Carnegie Hall (as Matilda in _Guglielmo Tell_). I have never been overly impressed with her voice which sounds dry and uninteresting. I mentioned both venues because it did not resonate with any meaningful presence in either hall.
> 
> Yet she always hit all the notes cleanly, and that included hearing her in an in house recordings of Rossini's _Ermione_ which like _Semiramide_ was written for Isabella Colbran and indeed a recording of her as Semiramide from a few years ago at Caramoor. That was until the recent MET broadcast of _Norma_ where she fudged so much of the coloratura that it was almost as if she never learned the part properly. Plus she sounded ragged. If that is her current vocal state then I don't have high hopes for her Semiramide, I do plan to get to the HD Theatre simulcast. Keeping my fingers crossed.


Perhaps she has a big voice that just doesn't project well. I am apparently one of the few who likes her lush vibrato. There are lots of voices that record differently than they sound in a theater. My sister taught voice for years and she said she always had to go hear a student in a large space to see how their voice really carried.


----------



## Rossiniano (Jul 28, 2017)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Perhaps she has a big voice that just doesn't project well. I am apparently one of the few who likes her lush vibrato. There are lots of voices that record differently than they sound in a theater. My sister taught voice for years and she said she always had to go hear a student in a large space to see how their voice really carried.


I totally agree that voices sound different in an actual space as opposed to the manner in which they are picked up by a microphone. Of course some voices sound coarse under both situations, yet in still others what the microphone detects as coarseness can translate into all sorts of colorations in an acoustic space. Furthermore, what some hear as a "lush vibrato" is heard di as a "wobbly mess" by others, and either live or via the microphone. Still some voices sound a size or two overly small when heard live. Yet others such as Sutherland had a much larger voice than what was depicted on recordings. When in her prime talk a about a laser-like quality and a lower register that did not sound as dry and colorless even when heard from the far reaches of the Family Circle standing room at the MET! I can only imagine Callas sounded like! Something tells me it must have been quite the unique experience when heard in an actual space!


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Bright or edgy voices are apt to sound more so in the studio. Birgit Nilsson's timbre sounded warmer and more rounded from the Met stage than on recordings. I'll cut Meade a little slack - but not enough to think she ought to sing bel canto!


----------



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

she sounds out of place here: a lyric voice with a spinto-y technique singing bel canto. I'll bring up weight only because I think it impacts the voice and makes it sound unhealthy. with that said, it's a nice voice overall with some great high notes, and despite the previous point, I really hope she doesn't go the Callas/Voigt route of drastic weight loss procedures.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> she sounds out of place here: a lyric voice with a spinto-y technique singing bel canto. I'll bring up weight only because I think it impacts the voice and makes it sound unhealthy. with that said, it's a nice voice overall with some great high notes, and despite the previous point, I really hope she doesn't go the Callas/Voigt route of drastic weight loss procedures.


What the Sam Hill is a lyric voice with a spinto-y technique? Now you're even turning fachs into adjectives!


----------



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Woodduck said:


> What the Sam Hill is a lyric voice with a spinto-y technique? Now you're even turning fachs into adjectives!


I can get with the fach system, but that's over my head too lol. The technique shouldn't really change voice type to voice type for whatever that's worth.


----------



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Bonetan said:


> I can get with the fach system, but that's over my head too lol. The technique shouldn't really change voice type to voice type for whatever that's worth.


voice teachers argue over this a lot. some insist that technique is the same for each type, while others insist that there are subtle but significant technical differences between fach. I'm in the latter camp personally. at the very least, any baroque specialist will tell you their technique is significantly different from your average singer on the classical career track.

in the context of the original comment, "spinto-y technique" is a reference to a more pushy/thrusting kind of style. bel canto singing requires finesse and the ability to switch from agility and delicate phrasing vs greater declamation and power (listen to Joan Sutherland sing verismo or Sondra Radvanovsky singing bel canto and you'll get a clear idea of what happens when one sings in the style of the other).


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> voice teachers argue over this a lot. some insist that technique is the same for each type, while others insist that there are subtle but significant technical differences between fach. I'm in the latter camp personally. at the very least, any baroque specialist will tell you their technique is significantly different from your average singer on the classical career track.
> 
> in the context of the original comment, "spinto-y technique" is a reference to a more pushy/thrusting kind of style. bel canto singing requires finesse and the ability to switch from agility and delicate phrasing vs greater declamation and power (listen to Joan Sutherland sing verismo or Sondra Radvanovsky singing bel canto and you'll get a clear idea of what happens when one sings in the style of the other).


What you're calling technique I would call articulation. Singers must use different articulations for music of different styles, but good technique is good technique, regardless of repertoire. Technique concerns the consistent production of tone and the controlled manipulation of the voice. You either do it well or you don't.

Singers differ in what sort of music they can articulate best; sometimes that's a result of some technical shortcoming, sometimes its a matter of inherent qualities of the voice (timbre, say, or volume, or vibratory rate, or equality of registers). Some singers can articulate any sort of music effectively. That doesn't mean they've mastered _different _techniques, but that they have an adaptable voice and a sufficiently _complete_ technique. Callas in her prime came close to being such a singer; Lilli Lehmann reportedly was as well. Sutherland couldn't sing verismo because verismo requires a timbre with edge, a strong low voice, clear diction, and temperament. This isn't a matter of her having the wrong technique for verismo, but of having the wrong sort of vocal timbre, a weak chest voice, and stylistic limitations. These factors may indicate a technical limitation, but it would be wrong to identify a limited technique as being intrinsic to a style of music or to a "fach."

Singers with certain limitations commonly get shunted into the repertoire they can handle best, based on what their vocal limitations are. Birgit Nilsson couldn't sing Bellini, not because she had a "Wagnerian technique," but because her voice was inflexible. Inflexibility is not a "different technique"! But Lilli Lehmann and Frida Leider, equally renowned for singing Wagner, apparently sang Norma successfully. Lehmann even sang the Queen of the Night, and it seems a strange notion that she changed her technique again and again for the immense variety of roles she sang. I've never read her book on singing, but it would be interesting to see what she had to say about this.

I'm thinking of the story Jess Thomas told of having been congratulated by Frida Leider for singing Parsifal "in the Italian manner" (something Wagner himself appreciated in singing his works). It wasn't his technique she was praising, but his articulation: he wasn't the stereotypical barking "heldentenor," just as she wasn't the stereotypical ponderous "Wagnerian soprano."


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/arts/music/met-opera-semiramide-review.html
> I saw this and was impressed. How long since we have had a voice of any size in this role???
> 
> 4. HD question: do you find it much better in the theater than at home on demand?
> Sorry I am so demanding.


Unless you have a room in your home the size of the theater screen there simply is no comparison. HD is very exciting and as a bonus you get to see them strike the sets for the next act which is fascinating. You also get to see interviews with the singers which is fulfilling and entertaining. And to think you get all that for less than $25. (and what about the popcorn?)


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Woodduck said: "but Meade seems to be the Met's present candidate for prima donna assoluta, and to my ears she is pretty far from being that. She should, in particular, leave bel canto alone. "
Do you dismiss Sondra Radvanovsky from that list? And what about the coming of Sonya Yoncheva? She's not there yet but boy is she ever on her way. Many are already seeing some Callas signs in her voice.


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> Woodduck said: "but Meade seems to be the Met's present candidate for prima donna assoluta, and to my ears she is pretty far from being that. She should, in particular, leave bel canto alone. "
> Do you dismiss Sondra Radvanovsky from that list? And what about the coming of Sonya Yoncheva? She's not there yet but boy is she ever on her way. Many are already seeing some Callas signs in her voice.


There's only one Prima Donna Assoluta: Dame Joan Sutherland.
As for Sonya Yoncheva the least said the better .


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> Woodduck said: "but Meade seems to be the Met's present candidate for prima donna assoluta, and to my ears she is pretty far from being that. She should, in particular, leave bel canto alone. "
> Do you dismiss Sondra Radvanovsky from that list? *And what about the coming of Sonya Yoncheva? She's not there yet but boy is she ever on her way. Many are already seeing some Callas signs in her voice.*


Yoncheva revealed some "Callas signs" today in _La Boheme_, but not good ones. At 36, her high notes are exhibiting the slow vibrato that will become a wobble if she doesn't nip it in the bud. Aside from that, I find her voice completely uninteresting, and her dramatic instincts pedestrian. She doesn't seem to be on her way to anything but overemployment at the Met, which is apparently all you need now to be a "star."

What list did I dismiss Radvanovsky from? I didn't mention her. But I'll take her over Meade any day, for both her singing and her figure.


----------



## davidglasgow (Aug 19, 2017)

nina foresti said:


> Woodduck said: "but Meade seems to be the Met's present candidate for prima donna assoluta, and to my ears she is pretty far from being that. She should, in particular, leave bel canto alone. "
> Do you dismiss Sondra Radvanovsky from that list? And what about the coming of Sonya Yoncheva? She's not there yet but boy is she ever on her way. Many are already seeing some Callas signs in her voice.


The case can barely be made for any of them - these are meant to be singers in their primes and they all sound preternaturally old to me.

Sonya Yoncheva has a nice enough timbre but sounds to me alarmingly like Callas' mid 1960s wobbly self in "Tacea la notte placida" Link: 




I'm not sure what the deal is with Angela Meade and Sondra Radvanovsky - I just don't get the thought process behind their decisions. Who thinks that voices pressed well beyond their comfort zone, squeally high notes and all, are just the ticket for Norma and Ernani?
Meade in "Ah bello a me ritorna" Link: 



Radvanovsky in Norma Link:




Meade is certainly happier-sounding as Alice in Falstaff than these aforementioned parts. Lyric repertoire offers so much potential e.g. Boheme, Otello, Guglielmo Tell, Luisa Miller, Boccanegra, I Due Foscari etc.
Link: 




Ditto for Radvanovsky in Manon Lescaut (how about the parts mentioned above or Tosca, Suor Angelica)
Link: 




I've heard various apologists for these sopranos along the lines of "she doesn't have a voice which records well', she was having an off night, "who else could sing that role today?" But this lowers standards - if there aren't singers up to it, plan ahead and pick another opera for production.


----------



## Rossiniano (Jul 28, 2017)

There are more snippets of _Semiramide_ on YouTube... not worth posting directly as the more I listen the worse things sound. While Meade sounded ok in the the "Dolce pensiero" excerpt noted above, if you listen to the next number in the score posted on YouTube which is the conclusion to the duet "Serbami ognor" Mead is wavering all over the place. Add in the jarring cut by bandmaster Benini and there's not much to like. I'm guessing that tenor Camerena in the peripheral role of Idreno is going to be the highlight of the production.

I spoke via email with a person who works at the MET and has been employed by various opera companies as a consultant and he is not happy with much of the production. He really did not want to waste any bandwidth discussing it and especially Meade any further! Incidentally he feels the same way about Radvanovsky... However, the powers that be at the MET feel otherwise. They have hoodwinked the public into thinking that these also rans are stars. I think Yoncheva might be the next also ran. I hope she finds her proper Fach.


----------



## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

The best Semiramide I have heard on the disc is Alex Penda (Alexandrina Pendatchanska) in a complete performance with NAXOS. Never been a fan of carnary-like singing with mushy dictions and/or cute but mindless coloratura, it is quite nice to discover a soprano who could bring drama and clear articulation to this music. And *unlike Meade*, you don't need to worry too much about the trill/vibrato/tremolo problem 






Not sure if she is still keeping this role in her repertoire. Didonato showed some potential in her _Colbran the Muse_ disc, using the mezzo version. She is trying this role, but from what I gather she is not in her best shape at the moment.


----------



## Rossiniano (Jul 28, 2017)

silentio said:


> The best Semiramide I have heard on the disc is Alex Penda (Alexandrina Pendatchanska) in a complete performance with NAXOS. Never been a fan of carnary-like singing with mushy dictions and/or cute but mindless coloratura, it is quite nice to discover a soprano who could bring drama and clear articulation to this music. And *unlike Meade*, you don't need to worry too much about the trill/vibrato/tremolo problem
> 
> 
> 
> ...


This Naxos recording is currently my go to _Semiramide_ of choice. It is not perfect, and won't erase memories of Sutherland and Horne, but it works. In fact, if one were to only have the Naxos Rossini series of recordings in their collection that would not be a bad thing.

Regarding DiDonato, I really prefer a more sopranoish type singer as Semiramide even though at this stage of her career Isabella Colbran was probably more of a mezzo. Rossini is very careful to avoid anything above the staff, and more so than is usually the case. In addition, there are not many slow exposed legato lines compared to earlier roles. This might indicate vocal problems in that regard. That's why the role is probably overly loaded with coloratura which was probably her only remaining strong point. Indeed, Rossini nixed a version of "Bel raggio" that was in one slow long movement. He shortened it and added the coloratura laden cabaletta "Dolce pensiero".

Incidentally, Colbran must not have been in good voice for that original 1823 Venice production. The Venice police records at the time indicate all sorts of grafitti posted on walls throughout the city that ""advertised" the fact!


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

silentio said:


> The best Semiramide I have heard on the disc is Alex Penda (Alexandrina Pendatchanska) in a complete performance with NAXOS. Never been a fan of carnary-like singing with mushy dictions and/or cute but mindless coloratura, it is quite nice to discover a soprano who could bring drama and clear articulation to this music. And *unlike Meade*, you don't need to worry too much about the trill/vibrato/tremolo problem
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I have this version on CD and I agree with you. Penda doesn't have the most beautiful voice in the world, but she is thrillingly dramatic. Sometimes she threatens to go off the rails (rather like Souliotis in *Nabucco*), but the end result is definitely exciting.


----------



## Rossiniano (Jul 28, 2017)

GregMitchell said:


> I have this version on CD and I agree with you. Penda doesn't have the most beautiful voice in the world, but she is thrillingly dramatic. Sometimes she threatens to go off the rails (rather like Souliotis in *Nabucco*), but the end result is definitely exciting.


Since Alex Penda has been mentioned, she performed the title role in Rossini's _Ermione_ at NYC Opera in 2004. She was fabulous. Since the Souliotis comparison was made it was like very very early Suliotis (Yes that's how she originally spelled her name!) with a much smoother vocal delivery. Of course the Naxos _Semiramide_ was recorded in 2012 by which time Penda's vocal delivery became more dramatic and exciting if somewhat erratic. Still in the context of the Naxos recording it all works. Just have Sutherland/ Horne on CD or the DVD of Anderson/Horne as an alternative and you will have your bases covered.


----------



## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

Rossiniano said:


> Since Alex Penda has been mentioned, she performed the title role in Rossini's _Ermione_ at NYC Opera in 2004. She was fabulous. Since the Souliotis comparison was made, it was like very very early Suliotis (Yes that's how she originally spelled her name!) with a much smoother vocal delivery. Of course, the Naxos _Semiramide_ was recorded in 2012 by which time Penda's vocal delivery became more dramatic and exciting if somewhat erratic. Still, in the context of the Naxos recording, it all works. Just have Sutherland/ Horne on CD or the DVD of Anderson/Horne as an alternative, and you will have your bases covered.


I just did quick browsing on youtube. Penda is apparently an early bloomer: she did many scary things in her 20s (including Esclarmonde and Queen Elizabeth in Roberto Devereux). One thing I notice is that she had quite an obtrusive vibrato early on, though the singing is top-notch (ways less shrill and wobble than the mature Sills). This is a memorable moment:






As you mentioned, she recorded the Semiramide later, where the voice is probably riper, and I didn't notice much vibrato problem.

Regarding Sutherland, even though I am no fan of her, I acknowledge that she had a pretty decent live Semiramide in the 60s with Simionato, conducted by Santini:






Now back to Meade, I don't think she is well-suited for bel canto. However, I remember she did some nice Verdi in one of the Tucker Galas. I suspect that early Verdi like I due Foscari, Ernani, Attila or Il Corsaro may suit her better.


----------



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

after listening to some different clips, I think I found the problem: she is a spinto soprano in disguise, not a coloratura. she's a high spinto, she has a solid high E, but the voice doesn't move the way a coloratura does. bel canto is just....not for her :/


----------

