# Greatest actors among opera singers



## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Thread inspired by what Jon Vickers do with his hand at 0:57 - 1:00 in this - 



 - video.

It's just a detail, but what brilliant sense of acting it reveals. I never seen such deeply expressive gesture before.

Especially sopranos are very boring. I imagine that they teach them few shallow moves for most basic emotions in universities. I can't describe it but I think anyone with experience in watching opera and good perception noticed those mechanical and obviously trained moves.

I remember that Teresa Stratas is at least decent actress, her facial expression is realistic. She was great in Zefirelli's Traviata (so was Domingo), but that's a movie. Let's focus on live recordings from opera houses.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

I think Simon Keenlyside is a brilliant actor. This is from Die Zauberflöte.


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## karenpat (Jan 16, 2009)

I remember seeing a clip of Jonas Kaufmann in Carmen, which impressed me. He was in tears at the end, at least it seemed very convincing to me 

I think Bejun Mehta is a great actor too. His voice may be a little too heavy or with too much vibrato at times but put together with acting skills it gives a great dramatic intensity. In particular I like his "He was despised" from the staged Messiah and as Farnace in Mitridate, especially in the death scene of the latter where he is asked to forgive his dying father. (Mitridate is played by Richard Croft who in my opinion is a great singer & actor too)

Oh, and I found the youtube videos!















^btw this is from my youtube account, I have some more classical videos in it.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Aramis said:


> Thread inspired by what Jon Vickers do with his hand at 0:57 - 1:00 in this -
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Natalie Dessay does wicked mad scenes.


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

I think it's hard to judge them like you would movie actors because what looks like over-acting with the camera up close may be appropriate when you also try to communicate with the folks who are sitting at the back of the theatre where subtle gestures or facial expressions will go unnoticed. So you have to be bigger than life and put on a show to some extent. Having said that, I think that on the female side Karita Matilla and Anja Silla are very good actresses. Netrebko is also very good in my opinion, but when I say that everyone will think that I only say that because she's so beautiful. :lol: Villazon is usually very convincing and in comedic roles like Nemorino he has an almost Chaplin-esque quality. Domingo is solid, but he's always Domingo - not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Villazon is the king of overacting, and it works GREAT on stage, less well on film or on Met in HD when there are too many close-ups. That guy overacts even in his real life, LOL. But I love him, very passionate, and with a beautiful voice and good technique.

Netrebko like I said in another thread definitely can act, and people who don't agree are like you said just picking on the poor thing because she is so incredibly beautiful and doesn't have the best of techniques.

I think Domingo improved his acting a lot. It wasn't first notch at first, he tended to overacting and melodrama as well - but later in his long career the acting became exquisite too, like his recent Simon Boccanegra proves with no possible doubt.

Karita Matilla is a very good actress, granted.

I think Natalie Dessay, given the right role (gamine, weirdo) can be an outstanding actress.

Renee Fleming was extremely impressive in Rossini's Armida recently at the Met, which is a very demanding role, with some of the longest soprano singing in all of the repertoire, and a huge range of emotions to be displayed - seductress, assertive politician, terrifying sorceress, woman in love, resentful/angry scorned woman, desperate woman... Her work there got me breathless.

One of the most expressive faces in the business is Bryn Terfel. That guy can surely act! He does the most convincing buffo characters, and can be imposing and terrifying in serious roles. And he's got the voice to match it too, navigating easily in the bass and baritone ranges with lots of power. I'm looking forward to his Wotan at the Met this season.

Nina Stemme is a fine actress too.


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## karenpat (Jan 16, 2009)

I forgot to mention Joyce DiDonato  She was great as La Cenerentola. There's a very touching moment at the end where there's raining confetti on the happy couple and she instinctively grabs a broom and starts sweeping until she realizes in a second that she doesn't have to sweep floors ever again and she just lights up. It's not overdone, even though it was on stage, she's glowing with happiness and it looks very real. Maybe that's why it's so touching.


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

Almaviva said:


> I think Natalie Dessay, given the right role (gamine, weirdo) can be an outstanding actress.
> 
> Renee Fleming was extremely impressive in Rossini's Armida recently at the Met, which is a very demanding role, with some of the longest soprano singing in all of the repertoire, and a huge range of emotions to be displayed - seductress, assertive politician, terrifying sorceress, woman in love, resentful/angry scorned woman, desperate woman... Her work there got me breathless.


I like Dessay a lot also, and she's the living proof that you don't have to be a beauty queen these days to make it. In fact, I think she often looks a bit like Barbra Streisand. :lol:

As for Renée Fleming, she's my favorite active singer of them all - period. I hope they will put that Armida up on Met player or better still, release it on DVD.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

karenpat said:


> I forgot to mention Joyce DiDonato  She was great as La Cenerentola. There's a very touching moment at the end where there's raining confetti on the happy couple and she instinctively grabs a broom and starts sweeping until she realizes in a second that she doesn't have to sweep floors ever again and she just lights up. It's not overdone, even though it was on stage, she's glowing with happiness and it looks very real. Maybe that's why it's so touching.


Yep, Joyce is great. I loved her Rosina at the Met a couple of years ago. She was so naturally feminine!


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## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

I'd nominate Fischer-Dieskau as the worst.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

jhar26 said:


> I like Dessay a lot also, and she's the living proof that you don't have to be a beauty queen these days to make it. In fact, I think she often looks a bit like Barbra Streisand. :lol:
> 
> As for Renée Fleming, she's my favorite active singer of them all - period. I hope they will put that Armida up on Met player or better still, release it on DVD.


You know, actually Dessay *can* look good when she wants. She is not exactly unattractive.

Renée Fleming is excellent, also my favorite soprano in activity (unfortunately she is starting to slow down).

You have Met player... I'm envious. I keep postponing the $150 plunge (which is silly because I end up spending more in other ways to see the operas that I could be seeing there).

I loved three recent Met performances and they haven't been released on DVD yet, I'm dying to see them again: the Barbiere with Joyce DiDonato, the Hoffmann with Caleja and Netrebko, and the Armida with Fleming.

Have you seen Rossini's Armida? It is very effective and I'm glad that it got a revival. It's not great, but it is pretty pretty good, and Renée was just spectacular, I'd buy the DVD just to be able to see her performance over and over.

Another thing about Renée Fleming is that she is very intelligent. I got a book with several interviews with singers, conductors, stage directors - Living Opera - and it is impressive to see how her interview soars above most others. She is knowledgeable, articulate, cultured, nice... Truly the whole package we've been talking about.


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

Almaviva said:


> You know, actually Dessay *can* look good when she wants. She is not exactly unattractive.
> 
> Renée Fleming is excellent, also my favorite soprano in activity (unfortunately she is starting to slow down).
> 
> ...


I saw the Barbieri with DiDonato a few days ago (very good) and I haven't yet seen the Hoffmann, but it's on there. You can watch Met player for $15 per month and the first week is for free.



> Have you seen Rossini's Armida?


No.



> It is very effective and I'm glad that it got a revival. It's not great, but it is pretty pretty good, and Renée was just spectacular, I'd buy the DVD just to be able to see her performance over and over.
> 
> Another thing about Renée Fleming is that she is very intelligent. I got a book with several interviews with singers, conductors, stage directors - Living Opera - and it is impressive to see how her interview soars above most others. She is knowledgeable, articulate, cultured, nice... Truly the whole package we've been talking about.


She's also written a book called 'The Inner Voice." It's not a real (auto)biography but is full of interesting stuff about what it takes to be a professional opera singer. It's not much 'fun to read', but then I don't think the book was written for fans like us but for young singers who are just starting out.


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

My two favorites as far as acting are Natalie Dessay and Diana Damrau, though they have very different approaches. Natalie Dessay almost takes a Method style approach, really inhabiting her character. Diana Damrau has a much "stagier", dramatic style that fits certain characters really well.

Ms. Dessay does so many little things that really make her characters come alive. In La Fille du Regiment, just watch her during Mon Regiment. Her body language during the bit that starts with Sulpice singing "Oh quelle beau jour...", her little nod when Sulpice sings "Where you slept peacefully", just great stuff. Similarly, she does a great job in Orphee aux Enfers. Watch her when she gets the gauze ready and is approaching Jupiter. Her "casual" walk and her facial expression is just hilarious.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

jhar26 said:


> She's also written a book called 'The Inner Voice." It's not a real (auto)biography but is full of interesting stuff about what it takes to be a professional opera singer. It's not much 'fun to read', but then I don't think the book was written for fans like us but for young singers who are just starting out.


Oh. In that case I won't buy it. I was planning to, but I don't think I'd enjoy it a lot if it is more technical and not fun reading.

I have a similar book called Fortissimo, about a program at Lyric Opera in Chicago for young singers, and while I found it interesting at first, I was unable to finish it, got bored and dropped it.

Currently I'm reading Opera and Ideas, a controversial book that was written from the point of view of a historian (it's by the chairman of the Dept of History at Stanford) who was then criticized by musicians and music scholars, but actually I'm enjoying it wildly. I have ordered the continuation in which he responds to his critics, it's got the interesting title of "Opera, Sex, and other vital matters."


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Almaviva said:


> Oh. In that case I won't buy it. I was planning to, but I don't think I'd enjoy it a lot if it is more technical and not fun reading.


Don't get put off. It's admitedly not a barrel of laughs but it's extremely interesting and definitely accessible. In fact it's been one of my favourite books about opera singing.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I concur with many of the opinions here - Dessay, Keenlyside, Fleming, DiDonato. 

After watching I Puritani with Netrebko, followed by Boccanegra with Adrianna Pieczonka, I realised that one of the reason Netrebko convinced me more is that she looks at her her fellow actors when she is interacting with them. In fact sometimes deeply into the eyes. I am simply not convinced by professions of undying love or paternal devotion when everybody is studiously avoiding eye contact.

My favourite singer actor is currently Jonas Kaufmann. He did a fine job in Lohengrin, bringing some much needed humanity and vulnerability to a character who can often be simply symbolic.

Very fine ensemble acting can be found in the Glyndebourne Cosi fan tutte - particularly Mia Persson.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

karenpat said:


> ...as Farnace in Mitridate, especially in the death scene of the latter where he is asked to forgive his dying father. (Mitridate is played by Richard Croft who in my opinion is a great singer & actor too)


Every time I think I have enough operas on DVD another one comes along that I "need". That Mitridate looks very powerful.

I agree about Croft - he was very impressive in Theodora (so was Dawn Upshaw)


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## violadamore2 (Mar 6, 2010)

Don't short change Kaufmann's Strauss Lieder CD on Decca. It's wonderful.

I love the male singing voice when its used with color and dynamics, like the women do.

Standing and bleating is not my cup of tea.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Don't get put off. It's admitedly not a barrel of laughs but it's extremely interesting and definitely accessible. In fact it's been one of my favourite books about opera singing.


In that case I'll buy it, unless someone tells me not to then I won't unless someone tells me to buy it then I will unless someone tells me not to then I won't and so on and so forth.:lol:


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

Almaviva said:


> In that case I'll buy it, unless someone tells me not to then I won't unless someone tells me to buy it then I will unless someone tells me not to then I won't and so on and so forth.:lol:


For the record - I wasn't trying to tell you not to buy it. Only that you shouldn't expect it to be a regular autobiography with lots of amusing anecdotes and such. It's an interesting book about what it all involves to be an opera singer. But I nevertheless think that it's more "a young singers book" than a fans book. One thing I must say though, and I'm sure that Natalie will agree with me, and it's that after reading it my respect for opera singers was even higher than it was before.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

jhar26 said:


> For the record - I wasn't trying to tell you not to buy it. Only that you shouldn't expect it to be a regular autobiography with lots of amusing anecdotes and such. It's an interesting book about what it all involves to be an opera singer. But I nevertheless think that it's more "a young singers book" than a fans book. One thing I must say though, and I'm sure that Natalie will agree with me, and it's that after reading it my respect for opera singers was even higher than it was before.


I was just kidding in my second post. :lol:

My initial reaction in my first post was to retreat because recently I bought a book on the history of opera authored by a French conductor; it turned out that it was his doctoral dissertation, and it was so technical, with musical bars on each page and endless considerations about technicalities of the score that flew well above my head, that I considered it to be a waste of my money (and it was expensive since it was imported from France and shipped overseas). So what you said made me think that Fleming's book would include technical instructions to student singers and would be the same case. Now it's been clarified; I have understood the scope of the book and I'm likely to order it.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

jhar26 said:


> One thing I must say though, and I'm sure that Natalie will agree with me, and it's that after reading it my respect for opera singers was even higher than it was before.


Wow yes, the more I read the more I come to the conclusion that being an opera singer must be one of the most difficult jobs in the world. So much to get right all at the same time. I have to try to keep remembering this whenever I feel an urge to get hyper-critical about them, they are doing something hugely difficult and I can't even sing two notes in tune, let alone in Czech in my nightie standing in a pool of water in front of 2,000 people with a full orchestra between them and me and I have to convince them I'm a love-struck water-nymph (have you seen the tenor) and I have to keep going for another 3 hours and next day I'm going to get up and take my kids to school.


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

mamascarlatti said:


> Wow yes, the more I read the more I come to the conclusion that being an opera singer must be one of the most difficult jobs in the world. So much to get right all at the same time. I have to try to keep remembering this whenever I feel an urge to get hyper-critical about them, they are doing something hugely difficult and I can't even sing two notes in tune, let alone in Czech in my nightie standing in a pool of water in front of 2,000 people with a full orchestra between them and me and I have to convince them I'm a love-struck water-nymph *(have you seen the tenor)* and I have to keep going for another 3 hours and next day I'm going to get up and take my kids to school.


Yep, our Renée is a great actress allright. :lol:


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> let alone in Czech in my nightie standing in a pool of water in front of 2,000 people with a full orchestra between them and me and I have to convince them I'm a love-struck water-nymph (have you seen the tenor) and I have to keep going for another 3 hours and next day I'm going to get up and take my kids to school.


:lol: Very funny. Is this something that is in the book, or is it you saying it? :tiphat:


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Almaviva said:


> :lol: Very funny. Is this something that is in the book, or is it you saying it? :tiphat:


No, this is my personal reaction after watching Fleming in Rusalka. She did say in the book that she had to learn the Czech phonetically and then go through the libretto word by word to understand what she was saying at any one point.


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## Amateur (Mar 21, 2013)

Films show Chaliapin was a great actor -- certainly a great presence -- though his histrionics have perhaps dated.


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## JCarmel (Feb 3, 2013)

I'd like to mention that Placido Domingo pretty-well always convinced me in terms of his acting, as well as his singing. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity of seeing him perform Live but seeing many of his performances via DVD and television broadcast has really enriched my Operatic Journey! Also, I always enjoyed and was convinced by the performances of Ileana Cotrubas and Mirella Freni...as they truly sang and acted 'from the heart' and that is basically what is required.
And of course, there was Maria Callas....though as time goes on, I am becoming a little less impressed with both aspects of her legacy...the acting and the singing....if I dare to say that?!


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## suteetat (Feb 25, 2013)

Teresa Stratas and Renata Scotto would be the top of my list as far as stage acting is concerned. Freni who is my favourite singer but I am not sure if she is a good actress in the sense of Scotto/Stratas. However, she doe have this stage presence.
Not really a beautiful woman but when she is on stage, you will notice her and look at her. Dessay is an excellent physical actress and more amazingly she can sing while doing all those things on stage. I only saw her once a long time ago in Alcina. She did just about everything on the stage except for a cartwheel while singing.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Feodor Chaliapin was the greatest singing actor without doubt and as has already been said the acting is for long distance,not film or TV, But i thought you all loved La Callas--I don't' but she could certainly act !
The great bass Ezio Pinza, Lawrence Tibbett,Mario del Monaco,Tito Gobbi,Tereza Berganza,Fischer-Dieskau (surprised to read your comment Air ),Hermann Prey,Sophie von Otter,Conchita Supervia, Geraint Evans-the best Falstaff, Giovanni Martinelli-the greatest Otello since Tamagno. There have been many very fine singing actors.also quite a few lousy ones.


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## Zabirilog (Mar 10, 2013)

Keenlyside the best! His Papageno is just so funny.
And - ever seen Tomlinson's Wotan? With Kupfer's directing he really seems to be crazy.


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

jhar26 said:


> I think it's hard to judge them like you would movie actors because what looks like over-acting with the camera up close may be appropriate when you also try to communicate with the folks who are sitting at the back of the theatre where subtle gestures or facial expressions will go unnoticed. So you have to be bigger than life and put on a show to some extent.


What an impression it made on me in my first live opera performance (well, my first as an opera lover), when Hao Jiang Tian as Oroveso struck a classically "operatic" pose shunning his daughter, Norma, for her crimes, in the last act. Isn't it odd that stage communication can be so different, and communicate so much better, than people in real life! It was like a thunderbolt, that pose.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Since I lastposted on this I must have watched hundreds of DVDs ( and a couple of live productions)

Some nominations:

Anna Caterina Antonacci as Cassandra in Les Troyens (but she is always 100% committed to any role she plays). I saw her do this at ROH last year and you could completely feel her despair and rage at knowing disaster was abut to strike and being powerless to convince her city that they should prepare for it.

Barbara Hannigan in Written on Skin, Lulu and everything else. The woman is a modern marvel.

Renata Scotto in the Met's Luisa Miller. The weary resignation she shows at the end is very moving.

The entire cast of this Don Giovanni:










They had signed up to do this production for a whole year, and it showed in that the characters are fully evolved and convincing, and every word of recit counts:

Finally, others have mentioned Joyce DiDonato in Rossini Comedies, but she also does bonkers very harrowingly:


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I agree with the general consensus about today's actors, but I wax nostalgic about past performers. No one has mentioned one of the most supreme actors in operatic history, the GARGANTUAN voiced Dame Gwyneth Jones. She had features that "read" very beautiful from far back in a house and conveyed great emotion to the audience. Check out this Youtube video of her in Siegfried:



2 other great actresses totally committed to their roles were Leonie Rysenek and Birgit Nilsson who can be seen here in this riveting performance from when Nilsson was 62 years old in Elektra. Nilsson was not naturally a great actress but she worked very hard at her craft and it worked:



.
Here is another riveting dramatic scene with the great Leonie Rysenek near age 60 with the magnificently reactive Astrid Varnay as her mother Clytemnestra in a filmed version of Elektra. Both were consummate actresses, and in her younger years Varnay was a gorgeous woman.
I would also be remiss not to mention the great English mezzo Janet Baker,who had a perfect mezzo voice in all aspects of color and technique, who was also a great actress. She has the darkness I prefer in mezzos that I find lacking in some of a current artists. Here she is in Orfeo:



.
And finally, and certainly not last in importance, is this performance by the incomparable Astrid Varnay in Jenufa in perhaps the most thrilling combination of overwhelming emotional singing and total immersion in a character I can recall ever seeing..... especially in the last 3rd of the video. Just the sound of Varnay's voice is so completely emotional and goosebump raising. Check it out:



John


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

*Natalie Dessay's *Lucia (or Lucie in the French version I saw) will probably be the best dramatic performance I see on any stage anywhere, sung or spoken. And no one does a more troubling troubled monarch than *Ferruccio Furlanetto*. *Catharine Malfitano* galvanized the stage in anything I ever saw her in. Wagner can be tough to pull off credibly, but *Waltraud Meier *makes it work. I never really "got" Callas until I saw some films of her on stage -- wow.


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

guythegreg said:


> What an impression it made on me in my first live opera performance (well, my first as an opera lover), when Hao Jiang Tian as Oroveso struck a classically "operatic" pose shunning his daughter, Norma, for her crimes, in the last act. Isn't it odd that stage communication can be so different, and communicate so much better, than people in real life! It was like a thunderbolt, that pose.


I got see to him at the intimate Central City Opera House portraying his countryman in "The Poet Li Bai". Goes right up there with with Natalie Dessay on my list of unforgettabe performances.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Leo Nucci in the 2006 Macbeth from Parma. Descending into hell and madness very effectively.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Mamascarlatti wrote:

*Renata Scotto in the Met's Luisa Miller. The weary resignation she shows at the end is very moving.*

I've seen that on DVD. Yes, Renata Scotto was a great operatic actress. She seems never to have had any "dead" (i.e. merely "stand and sing") moments.

Speaking of that same production: I'd heard some people say that Sherrill Milnes was not a particularly good actor, so when I saw the LUISA DVD I was very pleasantly surprised by how fine his acting was. During his aria he does sort of just stand and sing, but elsewhere he has wonderful moments. One is when he first enters from the house in Act I, scene one -- the way he puts his finger to his lips to indicate to the villagers that Luisa is still sleeping is charming. In the final trio when Luisa is dying, he has two very moving moments. The first is when he sort of bows his head as though he can't bear the sadness; the next is a few seconds later when he is gazing at Luisa and appears to choke up. It looks very real.


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

jhar26 said:


> I think it's hard to judge them like you would movie actors because what looks like over-acting with the camera up close may be appropriate when you also try to communicate with the folks who are sitting at the back of the theatre where subtle gestures or facial expressions will go unnoticed. etc etc


Excellent point. Of course, today's opera stars take drama and acting lessons too, so they'll be good viewing for DVDs and telecasts. Most pro singers are therefore acceptable actors.

Keelyside is a terrific actor, about the best I can think of off the top of my head. Also good is Bryn Terfel. And Teresa Stratas was a natural.

From personal experience, my singing in a small but "authentic" (full length operas, on stage, original language, costumes, sets, etc) theater, and having zero acting prior, we all had some things to learn and were lucky to have good stage directors plus fellow singers with experience to help those of us who were newbies.

Turned out that I was a natural stage hog and had no stage fright at all -- if I forgot lyrics it was just simple overload and I'd do the same when singing in an oratorio or chorale too, occasionally.

One thing that beginners often do is to gesture in time with the music. For example, in Hoffmann during the Venice canal scene, the female chorus members had parasols and had to be brutally reminded during rehearsals to PLEASE NOT swing or twirl them in time with the music. That can be very annoying to the audience.

One little slang item about over-acting is called "tenor hands" (ha ha) where the singer gestures dramatically with each and every phrase. No.

Of course we baritones would always joke that the reason tenors could sing such high notes was that they had a large empty cranial cavity right behind the eyes, that ran all the way back past the ears (through which you could of course see daylight on occasion).


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Rodolfo Celletti, the Italian musicologist and critic, always said that the singing-actresses that have impressed him the most were Claudia Muzio, Maria Callas and Magda Olivero. I share his opinion. Let's listen to them in the role of Violetta, singing "Addio del passato":


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Look at the DVD of Cosi fan Tutte Glyndebourne 2006. 

Acting is great!


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

The best acting I've seen on any DVD is the 2008 Royal Opera production of Marriage of Figaro, with Schrott, Persson, Finlay, etc.

It's also one of the best overall opera DVDs I've seen, superb orchestra, great singing, very realistic acting, the whole thing a delight.

And of course there's the famous Magic Flute by Ingmar Bergman, with Hagar Hagegard as Papegeno, one of the most delightful characters ever seen in any video opera. My sister had a huge crush on him.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Even though I'm not very fond of pants roles, I think Elisabeth Kulman is a terrific Smeaton in the Vienna State Opera's _Anna_ _Bolena_. She really captures an enamored adolescent boy who innocently falls right into the trap Henry has set.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

The bass Ferruccio Furlanetto has always been an extraordinary actor. I have him as Leporello on the DVD of the 1999 Met DON GIOVANNI, with Bryn Terfel as the Don. He has wonderful reactions throughout (he really brings to mind the old adage that acting is mostly reacting). My favorite is in the Act II trio when he slowly realizes that the Don means to switch places with him in order to fool Elvira. As I recall, Furlanetto's eyes widen and he starts shaking his head "no."


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