# Christine Goerke Strauss



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Here is the monologue from Elektra.



 The final scene from Salome. I'd rather hear her than any other soprano in the world now. This is fabulous. She is huge now, but what a sound!!!!


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## kineno (Jan 24, 2015)

Actually she's lost a lot of weight recently. Her first Siegfried Brünnhilde is tonight, in Toronto. I'll be there on Feb. 2!


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## kineno (Jan 24, 2015)

And I agree with you: she's the top dramatic soprano in the world today.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

kineno said:


> Actually she's lost a lot of weight recently. Her first Siegfried Brünnhilde is tonight, in Toronto. I'll be there on Feb. 2!


But is the voice still the same?


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Pugg said:


> But is the voice still the same?


Oh, no! I must say now she is totally and completely unrecognizable from when she was thin here is Seattle. The face is so very different. She used to be rather pretty. That was mean. Please don't ban me from the forum. Still, I'd prefer her as she was in these videos with THAT voice.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Here is the monologue from Elektra.
> 
> 
> 
> The final scene from Salome. I'd rather hear her than any other soprano in the world now. This is fabulous. She is huge now, but what a sound!!!!


I'm not sure of a way to listen to it other than the Boston Symphony app, but via that app you can still listen to an entire live recording of a concert performance of _Elektra_ with Goerke from October 17, 2015. It's riveting.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

In May...2007, I think...I saw Goerke as Chrysothemis in ELEKTRA in Washington, DC. What astonished me most was the depth of her lower register -- amazing for a soprano! I had at the time heard very few Metropolitan Opera regulars in person, so hearing her in that performance was a real thrill for me.


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## kineno (Jan 24, 2015)

When I heard her Walküre Brünnhilde last year, she had lost weight, and, as far as I'm concerned, sounded better than ever. I had the same impression from the above-mentioned Boston Elektra broadcast. And yes, her lower register is very, very powerful. The first time I heard her live, I was accompanying her in a small rehearsal room at my church, and my jaw dropped. I'm surprised the roof didn't blow off!


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## kineno (Jan 24, 2015)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/a-stunning-siegfried-at-the-coc/article28365474/


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

mountmccabe said:


> I'm not sure of a way to listen to it other than the Boston Symphony app, but via that app you can still listen to an entire live recording of a concert performance of _Elektra_ with Goerke from October 17, 2015. It's riveting.


You can hear it here too:
http://www.wgbh.org/programs/The-Boston-Symphony-Orchestra-in-Concert-1641#63866

I agree, well worth a listen for Goerke's performance alone.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

I've seen Goerke as EleKtra at both the ROH and the Proms I agree she was very good, even better the second time round. However she isn't the best Elektra I've seen. That honour goes to Herlitzius in her prime.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

. This is an utterly fabulous interview with Christine. She talks about switching fachs.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

me listening to Christine Goerke for the first time
first minute: ...I knew it, another mezzo who thinks she's a dramatic soprano
after first minute: ....uh....WHAT?!!!! 

best dramatic soprano around today, bar none


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## kineno (Jan 24, 2015)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> me listening to Christine Goerke for the first time
> first minute: ...I knew it, another mezzo who thinks she's a dramatic soprano
> after first minute: ....uh....WHAT?!!!!
> 
> best dramatic soprano around today, bar none


Loved your reaction... and you are SO right!


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> me listening to Christine Goerke for the first time
> first minute: ...I knew it, another mezzo who thinks she's a dramatic soprano
> after first minute: ....uh....WHAT?!!!!
> 
> best dramatic soprano around today, bar none


She sang lyric coloratura successfully, especially Mozart roles for a dozen years, even winning a Richard Tucker Award, then all of a sudden in her early 30's her voice grew 3 times in size and it took her a while to sort it all out. Even back 15 years ago when she did Norma in Seattle she had that powerful rich lower register... along with probably the biggest High D since Sutherland. If you look at photos of her her face reminds me of the great dramatic soprano Milanov who also had unusually wide cheekbones.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> She sang lyric coloratura successfully, especially Mozart roles for a dozen years, even winning a Richard Tucker Award, then all of a sudden in her early 30's her voice grew 3 times in size and it took her a while to sort it all out. Even back 15 years ago when she did Norma in Seattle she had that powerful rich lower register... along with probably the biggest High D since Sutherland. If you look at photos of her her face reminds me of the great dramatic soprano Milanov who also had unusually wide cheekbones.


I credit starting as a lyric coloratura as a reason for her solid technique and natural sound. there is a feminine quality to the voice not there in most dramatic sopranos


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## kineno (Jan 24, 2015)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> I credit starting as a lyric coloratura as a reason for her solid technique and natural sound. there is a feminine quality to the voice not there in most dramatic sopranos


Italianate legato is a very big priority of hers. It does indeed distinguish her singing from that of many other dramatics.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

kineno said:


> Italianate legato is a very big priority of hers. It does indeed distinguish her singing from that of many other dramatics.


no wonder I like her so much. that's my biggest complaint among current singers (esp. dramatic)


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Legato? Isn't that something that Frida somebody did back around, um, 1920?


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## kineno (Jan 24, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> Legato? Isn't that something that Frida somebody did back around, um, 1920?


Most definitely- and certainly Flagstad. But it hasn't always been the case with their successors!


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

kineno said:


> Most definitely- and certainly Flagstad. But it hasn't always been the case with their successors!


Jane Eaglen always said that having sung Bel Canto really helped with Wagner. Goerke seems to have benefited as well. Nilsson wasn't her best at Verdi, but singing it helped with Wagner overall. Certainly she had great longevity!


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