# Opinions About Ruth Ann Swenson????



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I always am really impressed with how incredibly beautiful her voice was. In photographs she appears very, very pretty, too. I heard the Met let her go in the middle of her career. Does anyone know why. On the radio her voice is almost as beautiful to me as Sill's was, and that is saying a lot. Any opinions???? I got the impression it was a lyric voice that projected well in a large house.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Personally, I've always liked her very much. I just don't agree with people who think she was "boring." Maybe she wasn't the most animated actress (which I think may have had something to do with why Peter Gelb let her go), but her singing as singing was always its own reward. I'll never forget the 1998 radio broadcast of LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR: her tone and expression were just beautiful. I own two of her CDs ("Positively Golden" and "Con Amore"), which I highly recommend. Her "Regnava nel silenzio" from LUCIA is actually my favorite recording of that aria, which is saying a lot. Her "Caro nome" from RIGOLETTO is one of my favorites as well. 

I don't think Ruth Ann performs anymore, but I could be mistaken. I do know she had early-stage breast cancer in, I think, 2006, which might have slowed her down to some extent. I think it was shortly after that that Gelb dismissed her; the last time I recall hearing her is on a broadcast of FAUST around 2007 or so.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I think poor Ruth Ann just got swept up into the wrong time period when the stars of Fleming, Netrebko, Gheorghiu and Radvanovsky were glittering too bright to save her. It could be called "The Gencer/Sills Syndrome".
I think she simply lost heart after that huge snub by Gelb and never overcame it.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> I think poor Ruth Ann just got swept up into the wrong time period when the stars of Fleming, Netrebko, Gheorghiu and Radvanovsky were glittering too bright to save her. It could be called "The Gencer/Sills Syndrome".
> I think she simply lost heart after that huge snub by Gelb and never overcame it.


I challenge you on Sills.
She was a very modest woman and although she never recorded very much, like the likes of Sutherland
she is a very fine Soprano. ( capitol S)
I do have two recitals by Swenson and "it" is just not there .
Not bad but not a stunning impression.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I saw her in Lucia and she was GREAT.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Itullian said:


> I saw her in Lucia and she was GREAT.


I believe you without a doubt but: no comparison with the Beveryly Sills / Carlo Bergonzi recording


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

It took a while, but I finally got some responses to this thread. Thanks for the interest and opinions.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Pugg said:


> I challenge you on Sills.
> She was a very modest woman and although she never recorded very much, like the likes of Sutherland
> she is a very fine Soprano. ( capitol S)
> .


No need to challenge me on Beverly Sills because I couldn't agree more with what you said about her.
I think you read my post incorrectly and for that I must apologize for not expressing myself more clearly. Let me try again.

By the Gencer/Sills syndrome all I meant was that these two spectacular singers got caught up in a spiral. One, Gencer, had to compete with the likes of Sutherland, Tebaldi and Callas at a most inappropriate time for her and was given short shrift.

As for Sills, she came up hard against Bing who simply refused (for whatever prejudices were in his head), to recognize her stellar talent and permit her the right to become one of the major attractions of the Met, leaving her no choice but to end up at the NY City Opera instead. Only after he left was she approached to join the Met but by then her shining star was starting to dwindle somewhat.

One of the toughest things for any fine talent to do is to sit back and recognize when to "give it up" (can you say Pavarotti?) but Beverly was a smart lady and did the hard thing and walked away while she was still being courted. 
Her life was a difficult one yet she didn't get the nickname "Bubbles" for nothing. She always managed to show her strength and cheerfulness. 
She was special and there never will be one like her again.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> No need to challenge me on Beverly Sills because I couldn't agree more with what you said about her.
> I think you read my post incorrectly and for that I must apologize for not expressing myself more clearly. Let me try again.
> 
> By the Gencer/Sills syndrome all I meant was that these two spectacular singers got caught up in a spiral. One, Gencer, had to compete with the likes of Sutherland, Tebaldi and Callas at a most inappropriate time for her and was given short shrift.
> ...


​


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Itullian said:


> I saw her in Lucia and she was GREAT.


When she was Lucia at the Met in the late 1990's, I vividly remember that there was an article in OPERA NEWS by some elderly lady -- I don't even remember her name, but I think she was a journalist or a novelist or something -- who attended a performance and couldn't say anything good about Swenson's Lucia. She had a perfect right not to like the performance, but the way she referred to Swenson was belittling and dismissive, and she herself came across as nasty and pretentious. That article really left a bad taste in my mouth; I actually thought it was in marginally poor taste for OPERA NEWS to run it. The article wasn't actually a review of the performance; it had some title like "Going to the Opera with [whoever the woman in question was]" and was meant to be entertaining.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Pugg said:


> I challenge you on Sills.
> She was a very modest woman and although she never recorded very much, like the likes of Sutherland
> she is a very fine Soprano. ( capitol S)
> I do have two recitals by Swenson and "it" is just not there .
> Not bad but not a stunning impression.


I do agree that with Swenson there was a certain lack of "star quality." She had great virtues, but I think they were the type of virtues best appreciated by fellow singers or by audience members with a lot of vocal knowledge.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Bellinilover said:


> I do agree that with Swenson there was a certain lack of "star quality." She had great virtues, but I think they were the type of virtues best appreciated by fellow singers or by audience members with a lot of vocal knowledge.


For me (so very personally ) about the same as June Anderson.
_Trying to hard to be _the new Joan Sutherland .


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Pugg said:


> For me (so very personally ) about the same as June Anderson.
> _Trying to hard to be _the new Joan Sutherland .


Rather like Souliotis, who tried to be _the new_ Maria Callas. At least Anderson's career lasted rather longer than Souliotis's did.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Pugg said:


> For me (so very personally ) about the same as June Anderson.
> _Trying to hard to be _the new Joan Sutherland .


as much as I like June Anderson, I can't help but agree with this (she had a lovely timbre, wide range, substantial agility and flawless technique, but her voice had maybe 25% of the power of Sutherland. not every coloratura soprano with any measure of heft in the voice is a dramatic coloratura)


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> as much as I like June Anderson, I can't help but agree with this (she had a lovely timbre, wide range, substantial agility and flawless technique, but her voice had maybe 25% of the power of Sutherland. not every coloratura soprano with any measure of heft in the voice is a dramatic coloratura)


I actually like June Anderson quite a lot and hear certain virtues in her than I don't hear in Sutherland, like sharper vocal definition. I have no idea whether or not Anderson was consciously trying to imitate Sutherland or whether she just had the misfortune of looking and sounding a lot like her. I have a feeling it was the public more than the singer herself who created the "new Joan Sutherland" image around Anderson. Keep in mind, though, that I missed Anderson's career and know her only from recordings like her MAGIC FLUTE.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I always am really impressed with how incredibly beautiful her voice was. In photographs she appears very, very pretty, too. I heard the Met let her go in the middle of her career. Does anyone know why. On the radio her voice is almost as beautiful to me as Sill's was, and that is saying a lot. Any opinions???? I got the impression it was a lyric voice that projected well in a large house.


Regarding "very pretty" -- she certainly was, though I think that throughout her career she was also too plump for some people who absolutely _had_ to have a slim Gilda or Lucia.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Bellinilover said:


> Regarding "very pretty" -- she certainly was, though I think that throughout her career she was also too plump for some people who absolutely _had_ to have a slim Gilda or Lucia.


I'm guessing most Rigolettos preferred a slim Gilda too :lol:


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Just looking on Amazon and Ebay I am not seeing many complete operas featuring Ruth Ann Swenson.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Fritz Kobus said:


> Just looking on Amazon and Ebay I am not seeing many complete operas featuring Ruth Ann Swenson.


From the back of my head, I recall only Romeo and Juliette by Gounod and some second prima Donna roles like La Boheme


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Rogerx said:


> From the back of my head, I recall only Romeo and Juliette by Gounod and some second prima Donna roles like La Boheme


I see Kismet which is a musical or operetta depending on what Google search link you choose. Also I see DVDs of Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail and Meyerbeer's L'Africaine (not the lead role here).


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Fritz Kobus said:


> I see Kismet which is a musical or operetta depending on what Google search link you choose. Also I see DVDs of Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail and Meyerbeer's L'Africaine (not the lead role here).


And she made some recital discs from whom two are standing out: Positively Golden and Con Amore.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Rogerx said:


> And she made some recital discs from whom two are standing out: *Positively Golden* and Con Amore.


I have it. The only Swenson I have. It is very good. Listening to "Come per me sereno" from La Sonnambula right now. Wish for an entire performance of La Sonnambula with her.


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## IgorS (Jan 7, 2018)

Rogerx said:


> And she made some recital discs from whom two are standing out: Positively Golden and Con Amore.


There is also "Endless Pleasure" (1998) with Handal and Mozart arias.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

IgorS said:


> There is also "Endless Pleasure" (1998) with Handal and Mozart arias.


You are correct, but the other two please me more .


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Fritz Kobus said:


> I have it. The only Swenson I have. It is very good. Listening to "Come per me sereno" from La Sonnambula right now. *Wish for an entire performance of La Sonnambula with her*.


*Lookie here*! 

Bellini: La sonnambula. New York, 1999
Christ and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church (New York) 12.V.1999 In forma di concerto
*Amina - Ruth Ann Swenson *
Elvino - Gregory Kunde 
Rodolfo - John Relyea 
Lisa - Lynette Tapia 
Teresa - Carla Wood 
Alessio - Patrick Carfizzi 
Un notaro - Christopher Pucci

Opera Orchestra of New York Direttore d'orchestra - Eve Queler
Ars Musica Chorale Maestro del coro - Italo Marchini


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Fritz Kobus said:


> *Lookie here*!
> 
> Bellini: La sonnambula. New York, 1999
> Christ and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church (New York) 12.V.1999 In forma di concerto
> ...


I remember this, when I have a question, your the man to ask. :tiphat:


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