# Moments of Unique Characterisation



## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

One feature that seperates the great from the merely technically accomplished is having the ability to properly identify with the roles they play. Often there are certain moments which really get to the heart of a character so share your favourites.

Of course, the obvious place to start is with Callas, someone with an extraordinary sense of drama coupled with wonderful technique. Unique moments of dramatic and nuanced characterisation are in plentiful supply so I will just pick a few here.

Aida, 1951, Mexico - Act 3: - 




Both Callas and Taddei are exceptional here, even more so than with Gobbi in the studio recording four years later. A couple of Gobbi's lines are more clearly sung but Taddei really brings out the drama especially pitched against the full pre-diet Callas voice. Heavy drama aside, listen to the soft sobbing at 5:45 and how young and feminine it is. It's worth noting that the size of her voice hardly makes her sound too mature to be playing the young princess as it could. There is always a sense of youth to her singing.

Norma, 1955, Teatro alla Scala - 




This whole duet is incredibly beautiful but what really sticks out is Callas's heart-rending phrasing of "Oh! Cari accenti! Cosi li profferia!". Her voice becomes so sweet and passionate as she remembers her lost romance with Pollione. No other soprano sings this phrase so poetically, even those who might at first seem more suited to singing a high melodic line like this (Caballe or Sutherland maybe) seem to totally botch the lyricism in this phrase.

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And then there's the huge drama of the final scene. Listen to the fury in her voice as she sings "Tutti. I Romani a cento..." this is truly exhilirating vocal acting and brings out the dramatic genius in Bellini's writings. I have a feeling if the technical demands of his music didn't make it so hard to interpret well Bellini's operas would certainly be more regularly preformed. But alas, they need a Callas to do justice to the composer's vision, not that I mean that as a criticism.

Medea, 1958, Dallas - 




Of all her Medea's this is the entrance that really caught my ear. It's to with the conducting too which really helps build the tension. Her conception of Medea is complete from the first note. That of a primal, otherworldly being. As posted in the video's comments, there is this wonderful quote from Diana Vreeland -

"For years, I couldn't get over Callas... On stage she was the most extraordinary performer I have ever seen in my life - _ever._ She _just_ opened her throat. But I want to tell you that a tenth of a second later I was totally drenched, I mean _totally_ - it had nothing to do with crying or weeping. It was shock. It was total electricity. I had been prepared to hear the most dramatic singer in the world, but _this_ ... and by God, when she died she was _dead._ I've never seen such a death scene. On stage she didn't have a gauche thing about her. She was unique. That's a word I use sparingly."

I can imagine her medea being absolutely terrifying, it would have been incredible to see. How one can just as expertly portray the innocence and purity of Amina as well as the mystical evil of Medea is beyond me.

Medea, 1953, Florence - 




La Traviata, 1958, Lisbon - 




This duet is full of special moments, barely two mintues in and that sweet phrase "Oh, come dolce mi suona il vostro accento!" is imbued with a bitter-sweetness that speaks so much more than the libretto. She already knows what is going to be asked of her as the hope slips out of her voice on the last pianissimo notes. The explosive turns of emotion and the moving "Amami, Alfredo", sung even more so later that year at Covent Garden, make this another masterpiece of Callas's art.

Ljuba Welitsch - Salome, 1944, final scene - 




This is a unique interpretation. Welitsch's voice is amply youthful, with a seductive edge to it, but cuts through the large Straussian orchestra with ease. She was a favourite Salome of the composer, picked by Strauss himself to sing at a performance commemorating his 80th birthday, and personally coached by him. You can see why.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Felicity Palmer's incredible performance as the Mother Superior that wrenched the heart as she lay dying of painful cancer in "Dialogues des Carmelites." Just picturing it gives me goosebumps.

Magda Olivero's death scene in "Adriana Lecouvreur" with Corelli and Bastianini. The audience applause never stopped.

Renata Tebaldi's Poker Scene in "La Fanciulla del West" when she screamed out, 'tre assi e un paio' which brought the audience to their feet with excitement.

Neil Shicoff divesting himself of his shoes and jacket, etc. while singing 'Rachel Quand du Seigneur' in "La Juive" grabs your emotions and won't let go.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

There are so many Callas moments, I hardly know where to start, but the blistering way she sings the phrase _Giudice ad Anna_ when Henry tells her the judiciary will decide her fate has never been equalled, not to mention the intensity with which she launches the _stretta_.






I'd add also a personal reminiscence. I've seen *Der Rosenkavalier* quite a few times, but I will never forget the first production I ever saw when I was still a teenager. It was a superb Scottish Opera production by Antony Besch. Helga Dernesch was the Marschallin. The set for the Marschallin's boudoir must have been a nightmare to light as it was all mirrored walls, but it worked dividends at the end of the act. After the page had gone out with the silver rose and during the long postlude, Dernesch walked reflectively round to the back of a chaise longue that was in the middle of the room. Suddenly she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror and quickly turned away as if she couldn't bear to see herself, but as she turned of course she was confronted by another reflection in the mirror on the other wall. As the violin span out the final phrase, unable to escape her reflection, her hands crept slowly to her face, examining it for the slightest change, and the curtain fell. There couldn't have been a dry eye in the house. It certainly helped that Dernesch was a very beautiful woman and exactly the age Strauss and Hofmannsthal specified for the role (approximately 35).

Her exit in the final act was equally effective. As she was about to leave the stage, her back to the audience, Octavian (the wonderful Anne Howells) took her hand and went down on one knee. Dernesch simply inclined her head slightly towards him before taking her hand away and swiftly disappearing out of the door at the back. That tiny gesture spoke volumes.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I saw a Met performance years ago where Rene Pape was King Philippe in Don Carlo and sang one of the most beautiful and plaintive renditions of "Ella giamma m'mo" I ever heard. He was so into the role that when the pronouncement "The Grand Inquisitor" was announced, he still just sat there in his misery, and suddenly, as if awakened from a dream, realized that someone was speaking, which brought him out of his pain. It was a deep and sincere action naturally expressed.


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