FIBICH • Die Braut von Messina (on CPO)

[Ebubu]

To be issued this month. 
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/zdenek-fibich-die-braut-von-messina/hnum/7136657


There was already a pretty good recording of the work on Supraphon (with Benackova).

[Alan Howe]

I would favour the Supraphon recording myself...

[adriano]

The Supraphon recording (still available as an excellent CD transfer), although done in 1975, has such a super cast, a super orchestra and a super conductor that it cannot be surpassed, considering, in first line, that all singers are Czech. In the cpo cast there is not even one singer speaking this language... Considering the situation of the CD market, I cannot explain that there are budgets around to finance such productions. How many copies of this CD will be sold? Perhaps 300, by good luck...
The Supraphon CD I have, was a gift of Benackova, the last time we worked in Zurich together. She brought me a pile of operas - and I will never forget her as such a wonderful musician and person. The last time I saw her was in 2012 in Salzburg, where she sang the part of the old mother in Zimmermann's "Die Soldaten". She admitted having never before to struggle with a musical part like this; she was very happy, that it was a small part and that there were but a couple of performances.

[sdtom]

Having not heard it before I need to investigate.

[Alan Howe]

Benackova is a great singer. I've ordered the Supraphon set.

[BerlinExpat]

Just to put the record right, Richard Samek, who sings the role of Don César, is indeed Czech!

I saw the Magdeburg production and was impressed by all aspects of it. I'm not qualified to comment on the accuracy of the Czech singing, but I was impressed by Canadian, Israeli and Turkish singers among other natioanlities who coped with the language.
At long last a few East European and Russian operas are now being sung in their native lanuages in Germany and so some singers are becoming more acquainted with what may be said to be more difficult  languages of Eastern Europe.
With a good coach, why shouldn't non-Czechs tackle the language?
Until recently the Komische Oper in Berlin had been a bastion of operas only sung in German, but in recent years Englsih, Czech, Hungarian and Russian have been added to the usual opera languages of German, Italian and French.

[adriano]

You are perfectly right, BerlinExpat :-) - but:
I am a kind of perverse language purist - this after having worked for 25 years as a German, Italian, French and English language coach (all languages I also speak) at the Zurich Opera. Some directors like Jean-PIerre Ponnelle always wanted me during all rehearsals, to correct and excercise separately with singers , until a Morart or Momneverdi Opera became perfect. I am also a specilist for Mozart ans Rossini recitatives, which have theior own characteristics. There are many big stars, who sing Italian or French - and I shudder hearing them. In Italian they double consonants where there are none or make simple consonants where should be doubles, they open their "e's" where they should be closed or vice-versa. Not to speak about the wrong emphazising of ending syllables or keeping vowels too long at endings, so that those syllables lose the right accentuation. They don't know that most Italian words have the accentuation on the previous last syllable, and they sing (or recit) words like "amOre" "amorEE", which is horrible. They thoink tah they have to keep the sound until the bitter ending. There are, fortunately, intelligent singers, who remember all what a coach has worked with them (I teached them when they were younger pupils at the Opera Studio), but some others were hopeless cases. The causes were vocal teachers who may be good technicians, but had no idea about languages and, since singer's learning of foreign languages is closely connected with vocal technique, it was sometimes too late to improve. Apart from Russian and Czech, the most difficult language to sing for "foreign" singers is French, since there are bigger diffierences between speaking and singing than in other. And here we can hear some horrible examples on stage and on CDs, especially as far as open and close "e's" are concerned, or mute enling "e's" (sounding in French like the Germen "ö"). Also in French, for example, a singer can only reach a good high note whilst opening an "e" - contrarily to the rules, but many do not know these rules! Then comes the accentuation of ending syllables... Another aspect is singing a Monteverdi, a Mozart or a Verdi Italian: there are subtle differences nobody takes care anymore today. A Baroque or a Rossini "donnetta" si pronounced with a closed "e", whilst in a Verdi opera this can be done, in a more "modern" way with an open "e" etc.". A couple of months ago I coached a samll and Zurich double-bill prordution of Gilbert & Sullivan's "Trial by Jury" and Offenbach's "Les Bavards" - and all singers were very cooperative. They even accepted my proposal that some G & S parts would be sounding more Cockney-accentuated than othern (I even created a Scotch-accentuated Judge). Any the results of my owrk was even appreciated in the press.
As you see, BerlinExpat, the field of language stylistics is a serious thing and a specialist like me always notices wrong pronounciations. Unfortuately, such experts are no more ired today, since it costs extra money. And there are many piano coaches too, who have not the slighets idea about foreing language singing! We had in Zurich a USA piano coach, who was a perfectionist like me: during years she even learned Czech and Russian, and became an absoluetly unique case - and so we could produce almost authentic stagings of Russian and Czech Operas, but our previous Manager always insisten that main rules should be cast with mother-tongue singers.
In the 1999 and 200 I offered to give two series of Italian, French and German pronounciation masterclasses at the Moscow Gnessin Insitute. That was a huge suscces, and I had a listener's audience of 60-90. Professors were sitting in the first row, taking notes all the time. They had never heard before about Mozart and Rossini recit style - and they all were afraid of singing Bach. There was a smaller class for German Lied. They adored me and the Conservatory Management gave me a wonderful certificate. It was there I met Valentina Levko and Irina Archipova - and we became friends. In later classes it came out that there was also Professor of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory lstening and taking notes...
Incidentally, I studied singing during 6 years, just to be able to work with singers, I never wanted to become a professional singer.

[M. Yaskovsky]

Well hadrianus how horrible you must find Anna Netrebko singing Richard Strauss and Franz Léhar?!  CD's that sold very well indeed.....

[Alan Howe]

Netrebko in Richard Strauss (e.g. Four Last Songs) was awful: I don't care how many copies have been sold, the singing was raw and uncontrolled. Unfortunately, she's attempted too many heavy roles. She should have stuck to the lyric soprano repertoire instead of venturing into spinto territory. And that's before you take account of her German...

[Gareth Vaughan]

Also in French, for example, a singer can only reach a good high note whilst opening an "e" - contrarily to the rules,

As a singer, I know what you mean. It can sometimes be difficult (even impossible) to sing the correct vowel sound on certain notes because of where they lie in the voice and one is forced to compromise in order produce a true note. (e.g. with very high soprano coloratura passages in particular all vowels can tend to sound the same).

[Ebubu]

So, Hadrianus, you're a sort of "Pr. Higgins" of singers ? 
I know what you mean about these final "e"s in French (I'm French).  The other day, I was listening to a fairly good French song album, by a british singer (can't remember exactly which album it was, nor which singer), and remember being fairly impressed by the coaching work, until, patatra ! came these final "e"s, which were sung far more than necessary and broke the musical intention.  This is exactly where a coach can tell a singer : "see, yes, there's an actual NOTE" on this "e", BUT you just have to HINT it, and not fully SING it....

And yes, sometimes I shudder listening to some commercial recordings by GREAT artists, when obviously these people thought "a coach ?  A what ? Well, what the heck, I'm THE star ! No need for a coach !"

[adriano]

Oh thanks, my friends, for all this solidarity - I feared finding some shocked replies...
Netrebko's German is horrible indeed, not to speak about her stylistics for such repertoire. Now she is planning to sing Wagner... In that case I rather prefer Schwarzkopf singing Strauss, even though in her later recordings you mostly don't understand a word...
Fortunately enough, there are singers achieving better results - although still inufficient from my "Higgins" point of view, as, for example Agnes Baltsa in her "Kindertotenlieder"; but she should have not been doing this recording for singing technique reasons...
There are English singers who have excellent French; once I have more time, I must listen to various Duparc song CDs (I have them all - I am a Duparc addict) in order to find out...
Language specialties can only be explained and solved from the beginnings of a singer's formation. If the teacher does not take care, the singer will keep these faults through his whole career. Once Renée Fleming guested as la Traviata at the Zurich Opera, there were two particular passages which made us desperately laugh - and I even discovered some chorist's faces get cramp - although, generally she has an excellent foreigh language pronounciation.
Last week I re-listened the cpo recording of Korngold's "Die Kathrin" - o my God, a German coach would hev been urgently needed! Especially in the 3rd act, taking place in the Swis Alps, and where the libretto uses some typically Swiss words... Cannot understand why some conductors do not have the feeling/conscience for taking care of such an important element.
In some Opera Rara recording, an Italian named language coach is mentioned, which I not always feel as being very effective...
Last but not least: why on earth did Solti agree to Placido Domingo recording Lohengrin?? They were also planning a CD of "Tristan" with him and Jessye Norman (who has an excellent German pronounciation - her Brahms songs are divine!), but, thanks God, this never happened... 

[Alan Howe]

Yes: with Domingo Wagner one is constantly torn between the magnificence of his singing qua singing and his inability to articulate hard German consonants (which too often just disappear).

[John Boyer]

I would investigate, but I can't get Schumann's overture out of my head.  It's like trying to listen to Loewe's "Erlkoenig" without thinking of Schubert. 

On the topic of language and singing, I have a fine recording on Etcetera of Roberta Alexander singing Barber's "Death of Cleopatra".  She's an American singing an English text, but I can't make out a single word...but I still love the performance.   

[Mark Thomas]

This might help, John .