# Final Round: Glitter and Be Gay: Costa or Cook



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)




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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Both of these videos seem to have compromised sound, especially damaging to Mary Costa as I can’t tell whether she’s smudging her runs or flatting here and there, or it’s just the poor sounding recording. Cook’s video seems glassy compared to the one I voted on before.
On the other hand, I’m going to an otolaryngologist tomorrow. 
I’m sticking with Barbara Cook, whom the composer selected.

Here’s another take of the aria:


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> Both of these videos seem to have compromised sound, especially damaging to Mary Costa as I can’t tell whether she’s smudging her runs or flatting here and there, or it’s just the poor sounding recording. Cook’s video seems glassy compared to the one I voted on before.
> On the other hand, I’m going to an otolaryngologist tomorrow.
> I’m sticking with Barbara Cook, whom the composer selected.
> 
> Here’s another take of the aria:


Sorry about the sound. I am hampered and limited by Youtube and what it brings up for me but couldn't have the contests without it.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Sorry about the sound. I am hampered and limited by Youtube and what it brings up for me but couldn't have the contests without it.


I’m not sure whether I’m lucky or just obsessive, though all I depend on is my iPad for sound.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I've come to the conclusion - actually I came to it almost instantly - that I don't care for Barbara Cook's voice. I don't actually dislike it; it's what I'd call a musical comedy voice, fine of its kind, excellently employed, but with a girl-next-door sort of timbre. It's neither sensuous nor brilliant, much less spectacular. Mary Costa's voice sounds to be all three of those, and even through the cramped and distant recording I hear her throwing herself into this and displaying her vocal splendors at full tilt. At no point did I crack a half-smile listening to the genteel Cook, neither during her faux-English spoken lines (she was born in Georgia and died in New York) nor during her precisely executed music-making. She does nothing wrong. She just doesn't sound spontaneous or funny in what is possibly the most hilarious piece of music ever written.

I didn't expect to prefer Costa by a wide margin, but it turns out that I do.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> I've come to the conclusion - actually I came to it almost instantly - that I don't care for Barbara Cook's voice. I don't actually dislike it; it's what I'd call a musical comedy voice, fine of its kind, excellently employed, but with a girl-next-door sort of timbre. It's neither sensuous nor brilliant, much less spectacular. Mary Costa's voice sounds to be all three of those, and even through the cramped and distant recording I hear her throwing herself into this and displaying her vocal splendors at full tilt. At no point did I crack a half-smile listening to the genteel Cook, neither during her faux-English spoken lines (she was born in Georgia and died in New York) nor during her precisely executed music-making. She does nothing wrong. She just doesn't sound spontaneous or funny in what is possibly the most hilarious piece of music ever written.
> 
> I didn't expect to prefer Costa by a wide margin, but it turns out that I do.


You may be right. There’s an interview with Barbara Cook on YouTube where she discusses her casting in *Candide*, saying that she was surprised they had cast her and that she’d never sung anything like the fireworks they demanded but just went ahead and did them - a testament to youth and chutzpah, no doubt.  Her performance, I imagine, was directed to be as she’s sung it - it’s probably a sign of the times, as are those of Chenoweth and Kahn are of our more overtly “funny” style of today. Not sure where Mary Costa fits, but I couldn’t tell from that video.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

MAS said:


> You may be right. There’s an interview with Barbara Cook on YouTube where she discusses her casting in *Candide*, saying that she was surprised they had cast her and that she’d never sung anything like the fireworks they demanded but just went ahead and did them - a testament to youth and chutzpah, no doubt. Her performance, I imagine, was directed to be as she’s sung it - it’s probably a sign of the times, as are those of Chenoweth and Kahn are of our more overtly “funny” style of today. Not sure where Mary Costa fits, but I couldn’t tell from that video.


She certainly deserves credit for having the guts to take it on. I don't doubt that she had success in the part, even if she isn't the last word in vocal splendor or humor.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> She certainly deserves credit for having the guts to take it on. I don't doubt that she had success in the part, even if she isn't the last word in vocal splendor or humor.


I much prefer the older, fatter, more mature Barbara Cook when she was a gay icon. I like her singing much better with the bloom of maturity in her voice. It is amazing that she sang this role without vocal training. Like Streisand she has a very unique placement to her voice and I find it so beautiful. Here she is with a funny song from this period= Vanilla Ice Cream


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

For once I find myself in sharp disagreement with Woodduck. Not only do I like Cook's voice, but I like her rather dead pan delivery of the piece. I have no doubt but that it was how she was directed to sing it. Too often singers tend to overplay and underline the comedy so that it becomes almost slapstick and Cook avoids that completely by playing it absolutely straight and allowing the music to do the work. Not that I'm saying Costa overplays it, but her version is somewhat compromised by the sound and it's not always possible to hear exactly how she's singing.

I had rather hoped we would get another round, so here are a couple of versions I've always enjoyed.

When it comes to vocal allure, well you probably can't do much better than Renée Fleming, whose diction admittedly could be better. However, she doesn't ham it up nearly as much as I'd expect of her and musically she's pretty impeccable.






Then there's this version by Dawn Upshaw, whose slim, pure voice has always lent itself to musical theatre better than many operatic sopranos. Nor does she underline the comedy too broadly. I really like it.






Both the albums that these two versions are taken from are well worth acquiring by the way, both for the performances and the material. Fleming's concentrates on American opera, where Upshaw's disc is excerpts from musical theatre.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

I liked Upshaw (as I generally do), but didn't care for Fleming. 

I dug up the Times review of the original production. Brooks Atkinson described Cook's performance as complacent but lovely. On the other hand, in 1974 Clive Barnes (then with the Times) described Maureen Brennan as a dizzy mixture of coloratura and sex. This from Hal Prince's revival/rewrite - the first commercially successful production of the show. 

So much depends on context. Will the singer emphasize the song as an aria or a send-up of an aria? Is it before a live audience or in a studio? Broadway or the concert hall?


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

MAS said:


> Both of these videos seem to have compromised sound, especially damaging to Mary Costa as I can’t tell whether she’s smudging her runs or flatting here and there, or it’s just the poor sounding recording. Cook’s video seems glassy compared to the one I voted on before.
> On the other hand, I’m going to an otolaryngologist tomorrow.
> I’m sticking with Barbara Cook, whom the composer selected.
> 
> Here’s another take of the aria:


Isn't this another mastering of the same recording? The YouTube poster says it comes from a Columbia/CBS/Sony compilation.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> For once I find myself in sharp disagreement with Woodduck. Not only do I like Cook's voice, but I like her rather dead pan delivery of the piece. I have no doubt but that it was how she was directed to sing it. Too often singers tend to overplay and underline the comedy so that it becomes almost slapstick and Cook avoids that completely by playing it absolutely straight and allowing the music to do the work. Not that I'm saying Costa overplays it, but her version is somewhat compromised by the sound and it's not always possible to hear exactly how she's singing.
> 
> I had rather hoped we would get another round, so here are a couple of versions I've always enjoyed.
> 
> ...


I think these are both marvelous. Fleming's familiar crooning inflections and her (admittedly brilliant but sometimes distracting) micromanaging fit the parodistic aspect of the piece perfectly, and Upshaw's naturally innocent vocal quality - she's a sort of operatic Julie Andrews in that way - is throughly endearing. I also appreciate the fact that she doesn't think she has to affect a foreign (posh English) accent. They both make choosing a favorite all the harder, but then who needs to?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I'm honestly baffled to find myself alone in thinking that Barbara Cook isn't the last word in this music. I was alone in choosing someone else in round one, and am alone again in this round. I can't figure out what makes Cook, or her version of this, superior either vocally or interpretively to some of the others we've heard. For one thing, I think having an opera-calibre voice is a real asset in what is clearly a parody of opera, and I can't imagine wanting to hear Cook in any opera, except possibly in a minor character part.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> I'm honestly baffled to find myself alone in thinking that Barbara Cook isn't the last word in this music. I was alone in choosing someone else in round one, and am alone again in this round. I can't figure out what makes Cook, or her version of this, superior either vocally or interpretively to some of the others we've heard. For one thing, I think having an opera-calibre voice is a real asset in what is clearly a parody of opera, and I can't imagine wanting to hear Cook in any opera, except possibly in a minor character part.


I suppose some of the reverence for Cook is pure sentiment, as no doubt many of us will have first got to know the aria from her version on the Broadway cast album. Nonetheless, and though I'm not saying I would like to hear her sing Donizetti or Rossini, I do like her voice and I do like her dead pan delivery. Her diction is superb too. You don't miss a word of the text and yet it's perfectly natural. Having heard her live several times, I can attest to the fact that one of her greatest virtues was the perfection of her diction and how it enabled you to hear all the words of whatever she was singing. You often felt you were hearing the words of a familiar song for the first time, and yet she never mugged or overpointed the lyrics, just sang them simply and naturally. This song from Sondheim's *Follies* is a perfect example of her superb, natural diction and I love the way she is able to swell the tone when the music suddenly turns lyrical when the big tune comes in on _In Buddy's eyes.





_
Now *Candide* may defy categorisation, but it was conceived as a Broadway musical, even if it a pastiche of operetta. Bernstein himself rather killed it with kindness when he conducted it at the Barbican with the LSO and a cast of mostly opera singers, just as he did *West Side Story* when he recorded it with Carreras and Te Kanawa. I still prefer their Broadway cast album couterparts.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I suppose some of the reverence for Cook is pure sentiment, as no doubt many of us will have first got to know the aria from her version on the Broadway cast album. Nonetheless, and though I'm not saying I would like to hear her sing Donizetti or Rossini, I do like her voice and I do like her dead pan delivery. Her diction is superb too. You don't miss a word of the text and yet it's perfectly natural. Having heard her live several times, I can attest to the fact that one of her greatest virtues was the perfection of her diction and how it enabled you to hear all the words of whatever she was singing. You often felt you were hearing the words of a familiar song for the first time, and yet she never mugged or overpointed the lyrics, just sang them simply and naturally. This song from Sondheim's *Follies* is a perfect example of her superb, natural diction and I love the way she is able to swell the tone when the music suddenly turns lyrical when the big tune comes in on _In Buddy's eyes.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


When it comes to non-classical singing I'm afraid I'm something of a philistine. I never have paid close attention to the popular musical theater, though I've heard plenty of musicals, seen a few, and could hardly escape familiarity with much of the music. I can see Cook as a fine exponent of the genre, and her musical virtues don't escape me; that performance of "In Buddy's Eyes" could hardly be bettered, and in that genre I do actually find her vocal timbre satisfactory. I presume she was also effective as an actress. 

Much comes down to our taste in voices, and that's one area in which a comparison of music with food actually has validity. A taste either delights you or it doesn't. I'd never criticize anyone for disliking the voice of, say, Maria Callas, as long as they don't say stupid and obnoxious things about her. I wouldn't even criticize the fans of Martha Modl, though the very thought of her makes my throat tighten. 🙉


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> I think these are both marvelous. Fleming's familiar crooning inflections and her (admittedly brilliant but sometimes distracting) micromanaging fit the parodistic aspect of the piece perfectly, and Upshaw's naturally innocent vocal quality - she's a sort of operatic Julie Andrews in that way - is throughly endearing. I also appreciate the fact that she doesn't think she has to affect a foreign (posh English) accent. They both make choosing a favorite all the harder, but then who needs to?


I generally agree with most of your choices, and relish what you have to say even if I may disagree. In this case, I violently disagree with you and others about these two sopranos, neither of which I can abide - Fleming for what I term her vapid singing and Upshaw who I hated on the word go. It’s the very sound of the voice, its preciousness and Minnie Mouse-ness.
However, there are plenty of others who like them - go figure!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

MAS said:


> I generally agree with most of your choices, and relish what you have to say even if I may disagree. In this case, I violently disagree with you and others about these two sopranos, neither of which I can abide - Fleming for what I term her vapid singing and Upshaw who I hated on the word go. It’s the very sound of the voice, its preciousness and Minnie Mouse-ness.
> However, there are plenty of others who like them - go figure!


I'm picturing a production of _La Fanciulla del West_ starring Minnie Mouse.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

MAS said:


> I generally agree with most of your choices, and relish what you have to say even if I may disagree. In this case, I violently disagree with you and others about these two sopranos, neither of which I can abide - Fleming for what I term her vapid singing and Upshaw who I hated on the word go. It’s the very sound of the voice, its preciousness and Minnie Mouse-ness.
> However, there are plenty of others who like them - go figure!


I mentioned Minnie Mouse in the last round, only in reference to Chenoweth, who, I would have thought, would be a much better candidate - for Minnie Mouseness, that is.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I am not aware of any other musical/ operetta aria that requires such operatic coloratura like skills to sing properly with all the coloratura and the Eb in alt.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I am not aware of any other musical/ operetta aria that requires such operatic coloratura like skills to sing properly with all the coloratura and the Eb in alt.


That's probably correct.

However Christine in *The Phantom of the Opera* has some vocalises to perform and has to sing a top E at one point. Carlotta has quite a bit of coloratura to sing too. Also the chorus quartet in *A Little Night Music *have music of operatic complexity to sing and they are usually played by classically trained singers.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I am not aware of any other musical/ operetta aria that requires such operatic coloratura like skills to sing properly with all the coloratura and the Eb in alt.


In a YouTube video it came in as the No. 1 most difficult song from a Broadway show.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> That's probably correct.
> 
> However Christine in *The Phantom of the Opera* has some vocalises to perform and has to sing a top E at one point. Carlotta has quite a bit of coloratura to sing too. Also the chorus quartet in *A Little Night Music *have music of operatic complexity to sing and they are usually played by classically trained singers.


I forgot about the Phantom. I used to dance to it all the time AGES ago!
I am super excited about this week's contests. Huge HUGE tenor and soprano offerings including Maria.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Just to note a performance of "Glitter and Be Gay" by *Sarah Maria Sun* from her 2020 release _Killer Instincts_. Re-arranged but sung very nicely and put across effectively.








> Sarah Maria Sun is perhaps one of the most sought-after singers in the contemporary music scene. She has sung more than 300 world premieres in recent years, and works together with the most important living composers.
> 
> “Killer Instincts” is a highly creative concept album, a collection of songs about “bad people doing bad things“, as Sun says. (The Classic Review)


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