Opera & song recordings by ODA SLOBODSKAYA & VIRGINIA ZEANI, two great but grievously under-recorded Sopranos Recordings by other much admired singers Songs, arias and compositions by Yvonne Fuller / Carezza Gentileschi, aka CiW. Village activities in Cornwall & The Children's Coronations 2002, 2012, 2013 and 2022 Book readings Paintings of Cornwall, Venice, London etc by Yvonne Fuller - more on website yvonnefuller.org
Saw her in Elektra at Covent Garden in 1977. She was in her late 50s but the voice was still enormous. I was in the back of the amphitheatre but I was pinned back in my seat! Extraordinary.
She was for many years an active member of St Mawes Art Group and particularly liked painting detailed still lifes which included fine china. She lived in St Mawes and died about ten years ago.
@@CharlotteinWeimar oh that is so interesting, the painting I bought is beautiful; it's titled 'Champers' on the back of the painting, and has a bottle of champagne, glass, and flowers, within a beautiful gold frame! I'm so glad I bought it and it will look beautiful hung on my wall! I hope she would be happy someone loved her painting so much! Thank you for replying ☺️
I went to Indiana University for 6 weeks in the summer of 1986 to study with Zeani's husband, Nicola Rossi Lemeni. He was a great guy - warm, funny. When I sang a song in Russian for him (he had Russian heritage) he gave me a big hug :) My one regret was that I didn't get to meet Zeani. When I arrived in Bloomington I called to let him know I'd arrived. Virginia answered and I politely 'transferred' me to her husband, saying, "Nicola!" I only learned more about her singing and career much later, and glad I did!
La Zeani était avec nous, (les choeurs), dans les coulisses du grand théâtre de Genève pour écouter son mari, Nicolas Lemini dans Macbeth de Bloch, première en Français. Quelle femme, aussi belle que gentille et la voix, qu'elle merveille!
Thank you for this one. I had not heard of this singer but she is wonderful. Did she sing opera as well. Her ability to convey emotions would have made her great in the big soprano roles.
She was a great opera singer but the only opera recording is her definitive performance as Tatiana in the Letter Scene from Evgeny Onegin. She was chosen by Chaliapin to join his opera company when they came to the west after the revolution and sang opposite him as Elisabetta in Don Carlo.Her repertoire included the typical Italian spinto roles as well as some Wagner, including Kundry at Covent Garden. She later sang the first concert performances of Katerina Ismailova and was fearless in tackling "new" music. And she was a great teacher, much missed!
This is another one of those extraordinary voices which seemed to coexist with other supreme voices at that time - and the likes of which are nowhere to be found any longer.
What a glorious singer! A God-given voice! She was a dear friend of two wonderful sisters who left me all of their memorabilia of Oda - letters, postcards, photos, reviews, they even had her gowns but they had fallen to pieces. I later became a close friend of Kyra Vayne who knew Oda well.
She taught mr for the last gour years of her life and was wonderful, inspiring and technically amazingly helpful. I studied Tatiana with her and she showed me how not to avoid singing it too heavily - which many are. Also, thanks to her, I learned and performed Beethoven's "Ah Perfido!" and Massenet's "Pleurex mes yeux" which were two of her warhorses. Marvellous lady.!
How wonderful! I've just subscribed to your site. Did you also know Kyra? Some of Oda's last recordings were partly financed by the sisters I mentioned. Perhaps you knew them? Coggie and Stella Margetson. Frida Leider and Gundula Janowitz were also their close friends as was Maggie Teyte.
Words cannot fully capture her greatness as an artist and teacher. She gave so much to us all of her vocal genius as singer and teacher. We were personally blessed to have had her as a close friend as well. Virginia truly "set the standard" with her vocal artistry!
Thank you for sharing this. Finding it today, has brought back so many memories of her. And tears for the recollection. Her ability to replicate moments from this performance, without hesitation, in her Indiana studio twenty years later for the benefit of a questioning student was stunning and humbling. I treasure the time I enjoyed with her. And smile at her cutting comments when my life and musical choices did not align with those she wished for me... Bella Diva, indeed. Bless you, Madame Z.
