# Vocal Disasters..................



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)




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## Loge (Oct 30, 2014)

Lol, the chicken woman aria should be a standard at most recitals.

And I like Hildegard Behrens impression of Linda Blair in the Exorcist.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

A classic failure... oh well!


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Some more bombs by greats:


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Bartoli got mad at La Scala... wow folks.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I can't abide Callas' high notes after about 1955, but before and just after her weight loss she had truly mind boggling notes above the staff. By the time she did her tv recitals I can't stand her high notes. Callas is a love/ hate situation with me depending on when she was recorded.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)




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## Kivimees (Feb 16, 2013)

"Mercy! My jewels!"


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

albertfallickwang said:


> Bartoli got mad at La Scala... wow folks.


I hadn't heard about the Bartoli episode, so this gave me some background. I don't think she was the disaster.

http://www.gramilano.com/2012/12/cecilia-bartoli-triumphs-at-la-scala-amidst-catcalls-and-boos/

Apart from anything else I think it's unbelievably selfish to impose your views on the rest of the audience in this way. Children showing they can make a big noise because they don't like something. The Claque is unacceptable.

I was present at one such "disaster". In Taormina they have (had?) a short season at a Greek Amphitheatre for a Week in July. The setting is really lovely and about 10 years ago we enjoyed a young cast in La Traviata and returned the following night for Cavalleria Rusticana. I first noticed the Conductor hissing at Tirrudu about an hour in and then about a minute later he put down his baton and a verbal exchange took place. The Tenor complained that the air was to dry and his throat couldn't produce enough sound and the crowd started hissing him. Santussa brought on a jug and a glass of water. The crowd really worked itself up and let him know just what they thought of him. I've been to many sporting events including Soccer, Rugby and Boxing but I've never felt such an aggressive atmosphere. Perhaps it was the surprise of it all but it was really shocking. The action recommenced with loud booing throughout and at the end the Tenor tried to join the cast for the applause but they were nervous about welcoming him and with the crowd remaining vocal he gave them the raised fist salute and stormed off.

There was a character in our hotel who we had nicknamed "Il Profesore" and he would talk of nothing else for the next 3 days. He had no sympathy for the "so called" professional singer who's career had just taken a big hit. (It was reported in the Daily Telegraph the next day.) I never warmed to him.

I hope I'm never present at something like that again. Looking back I'm wondering if it's entirely due to other factors that my Opera attending dropped off and is only really getting back in to stride now. It was very ugly.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

I rather feel sorry for these folks, at least the ones who are still living. I'm sure it's embarrassing enough to experience vocal problems in performance without having the moment recorded and preserved in cyberspace for all to hear.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Those with a trained ear, may be able to discern the very subtle moment when a small boy kicks a football into the singer's plums.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

More ooops for us to hear:


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Even Dessay had her share of boo-boos...


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

And more and more terrible vocal disasters:


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

MAuer said:


> I rather feel sorry for these folks, at least the ones who are still living.


Mind you, we can also have sympathy with the ones who are dead!


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Kivimees said:


> "Mercy! My jewels!"


Indeed! I imagine Bianca Castafiore is 'serenading' the obviously delighted Captain Haddock with the Jewel Song from Faust - her signature piece.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I can't abide Callas' high notes after about 1955, but before and just after her weight loss she had truly mind boggling notes above the staff. By the time she did her tv recitals I can't stand her high notes. Callas is a love/ hate situation with me depending on when she was recorded.


Clearly you've never heard that top D in the Act I Finale of *Anna Bolena* (1957) or the Eb in *La Sonnambula* (same year) from Cologne, on which she even manages to effect a diminuendo (something even Sutherland couldn't do).

But actually, when push comes to shove, I'm not really that fussed about top notes. I'm much more interested in how a singer interprets and shapes the music, how they mold the musical line. I don't have any problem with Callas's high notes up to, say the late 1950s, and even, in some instances, the early 1960s. Her top voice in her second recorded *Norma* (1960) may not be as secure and stentorian as it was in the early 1950s, but she still gets more out of the role than any other singer on disc.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

MAuer said:


> I rather feel sorry for these folks, at least the ones who are still living. I'm sure it's embarrassing enough to experience vocal problems in performance without having the moment recorded and preserved in cyberspace for all to hear.


I agree with you. I have no wish to hear great singers having mishaps. I'd much rather remember them at their greatest!


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

GregMitchell said:


> Clearly you've never heard that top D in the Act I Finale of *Anna Bolena* (1957) or the Eb in *La Sonnambula* (same year) from Cologne, on which she even manages to effect a diminuendo (something even Sutherland couldn't do).
> 
> But actually, when push comes to shove, I'm not really that fussed about top notes. I'm much more interested in how a singer interprets and shapes the music, how they mold the musical line. I don't have any problem with Callas's high notes up to, say the late 1950s, and even, in some instances, the early 1960s. Her top voice in her second recorded *Norma* (1960) may not be as secure and stentorian as it was in the early 1950s, but she still gets more out of the role than any other singer on disc.












_"Hey Divina!- Not even 'I' could do that._"

High praise indeed.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Marschallin Blair said:


> _"Hey Divina!- Not even 'I' could do that._"
> 
> High praise indeed.




Great photo in fact... Thanks!


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

By the way, I don't celebrate the "failure" for any vocal artist... that is why the term "black pearl" is used.

However, for vocal students and scholars, these are key moments that people need to study to understand vocal technique and very much how not to extend the voice too far unnecessarily.


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## Retired (Feb 15, 2015)

Does anyone here think that it is possible to perform and not have a disaster? Does anyone here realize how often you go on stage in "perfect" form? How dependent you are on so many others to be able to deliver your best? The politics? This thread is disturbing. I'd rather cherish the "gems" we get than put the "stumbles" on display.



> However, for vocal students and scholars, these are key moments that people need to study to understand vocal technique and very much how not to extend the voice too far unnecessarily.


Possibly...but maybe the plane got in late, the mezzo is sick and the baby was up all night.
Good word.... A great many performances have been sung by singers in less than top form...and the engineered perfection of recordings has raised the expectation of perfection on stage. There is risk...on the part of the singer, conductor and the audience...which is what makes the sublime possible.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Retired said:


> Does anyone here think that it is possible to perform and not have a disaster? Does anyone here realize how often you go on stage in "perfect" form? How dependent you are on so many others to be able to deliver your best? The politics? This thread is disturbing. I'd rather cherish the "gems" we get than put the "stumbles" on display.
> 
> Possibly...but maybe the plane got in late, the mezzo is sick and the baby was up all night.
> Good word.... A great many performances have been sung by singers in less than top form...and the engineered perfection of recordings has raised the expectation of perfection on stage. There is risk...on the part of the singer, conductor and the audience...which is what makes the sublime possible.


Indeed, the gems are important but I was talking to my dad who is a vocal teacher and he says that it is important to be "amused" by the legends not being up to par. To do hero-worship of any singer is dangerous and it's like an Ayn Rand novel fan... it means that these singers are still human at the end of the day.

Which is why my dad keeps telling him that story about the time he brought a six pack of beer to Sutherland back in the good old days . Humanity is important, not images.


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## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

Vocal disasters, yes... but how about MAKEUP disasters? That picture of Pier Miranda Ferraro... it looks like he was in an explosion or an acid bath! What was that makeup artist trying to achieve???


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Marschallin Blair said:


> _"Hey Divina!- Not even 'I' could do that._"
> 
> High praise indeed.




No, you were better on that tv show with Lady Val Kilmer.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

The saddest one that I was privy to was Rolando Villazon as Edgardo in "Lucia" when he lost that high note, stopped and looked at Netrebko like a deer in headlights, and did it over again.
Such a fine talent and an exciting performer. MY heart goes out to him.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

One of the saddest disasters was Andrea Gruber. I saw her as Chrysothemis in Elektra when she was young and fat and fabulous. It was a big, exciting, wonderful dramatic soprano voice. Then she got on drugs and had gastric bypass, a diaster for singers, and problems ensued. By the time I heard her in Macbeth and Fanciulla her voice was a wreck and I believe her career is over and I doubt if she is 50. Very sad. Fortunately the drug problem is not too common in the opera world. The radical weight loss like Debbie V. underwent after surgery takes the bloom off of big wonderful voices it seems.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Jane Eaglen and Rita Hunter both had remarkable, beautiful voices that were capable of singing Bellini and Wagner in their 30's. I think in both of their cases the extreme weight they carried started to cause problems as they headed towards 50. Both of their voices ceased to be beautiful and aged excessively. Eaglen ended up retiring before she reached 50 and now teaches. I'm not sure about Hunter, but the glory of her English Wagner set and Euryanthe were gone way too fast.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Jane Eaglen and Rita Hunter both had remarkable, beautiful voices that were capable of singing Bellini and Wagner in their 30's. I think in both of their cases the extreme weight they carried started to cause problems as they headed towards 50. Both of their voices ceased to be beautiful and aged excessively. Eaglen ended up retiring before she reached 50 and now teaches. I'm not sure about Hunter, but the glory of her English Wagner set and Euryanthe were gone way too fast.


I loved earlier Jane Eaglen and it's really sad that her voice went away relatively quickly. However, the redeeming factor is that we have some very lovely recordings from her including her version of Strauss' Four Last Songs which is part of my dad's collection.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

When a singer does lose their voice, it's always an uncomfortable moment for me in the audience. It should be easier as I'm sitting in the dark but you can't help but feel bad for them. Of course that doesn't stop me from laughing for brief second if they emit a hilarious squeak.


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

I think going flat, like that tenor at the end of La donna è mobile is far worse than an absent or cracked/screechy high note that happen once in a while...it's a mixture of physics and human nature mismatch.
Anna's screechy notes or absent/flat coloratura is worse than many other sopranos not hitting a high note in the wrong moment.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Couac Addict said:


> No, you were better on that tv show with Lady Val Kilmer.


Undeniably.

But then, 'absolutely fabulous' is me, a credit card, and a dressing room.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Albert7 said:


> Indeed, the gems are important but I was talking to my dad who is a vocal teacher and he says that it is important to be "amused" by the legends not being up to par. To do hero-worship of any singer is dangerous and it's like an Ayn Rand novel fan... it means that these singers are still human at the end of the day.
> 
> Which is why my dad keeps telling him that story about the time he brought a six pack of beer to Sutherland back in the good old days . Humanity is important, not images.


I'd say its more akin to the the reflexive and uncritical adulation of Foucault, Barthes, or any other Marx-o-holic, post-modernist celebrity.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Jane Eaglen and Rita Hunter both had remarkable, beautiful voices that were capable of singing Bellini and Wagner in their 30's. I think in both of their cases the extreme weight they carried started to cause problems as they headed towards 50. Both of their voices ceased to be beautiful and aged excessively. Eaglen ended up retiring before she reached 50 and now teaches. I'm not sure about Hunter, but the glory of her English Wagner set and Euryanthe were gone way too fast.


The Ring that I attended in Seattle was with Rita Hunter & Alberto Remedios - what a combo!!


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Becca said:


> The Ring that I attended in Seattle was with Rita Hunter & Alberto Remedios - what a combo!!


I can't decide if I would have rather have heard early Rita Hunter in the Ring or as Norma. Her voice was so beautiful back then, like a lyric soprano with a microphone in her throat.


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

I know several people whom I would classify as 'vocal disasters'.


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