At first I thought a man was talking about Milanov but then I realized.... HOLY SHIT THAT'S ASTRID'S VOICE, DAAAAYYUUUUNMM! Her speaking voice is as good as her singing voice! XD
I adore Astrid! She was such a complete accomplished artist! She was the quintessential HUGE, DARK, METALLIC dramatic soprano but she had finesse and beauty in her singing!
Luckily, we have her Ring performances from Bayreuth during the early 50s when she was still singing soprano roles. Most prople living today know her only as a mezzo.
Zinka was a giant.Of nature & technique. Astrid had a unusually idiomatic color & tessitura also ,but she was a very prepared singer. In Elektra's most difficult phrase ... Was bluten muss ,between '44-'64 ,Varnay has almost no difference ,no vocal loss. Siciliani signed her for the '51 Macbeth ,without audition ,only with her Met glory.Versatile enough to be able to handle .. La Juive & Thais ,Verdi,Wagner,Strauss,& modern operas .Great singer,actress& personality.
I’d never heard Astrid Varnay speak until this interview. I thought she’d be verrrry intense with a thick foreign accent. Quelle surprise, there’s no accent; she’s witty and lighthearted.
Avevo letto i commenti scritti per questa registrazione. Come la gente può parlare in questo modo veramente assurdo per una attrice non lo so . Ogni cantante lirico ha una voce diversa , e anche come artista è unico . Voi ragazzi vi credete più grandi del Dio!… A cosa serve di parlare a vanvera?!… A niente . Tutti e tre erano dei soprani Meravigliosi. Oggi Neteebko è la vostra dea… O tempora o mores il vecchio
@@pillsber There is no comparison between the two sopranos. Milanov never sang Wagner or Strauss. Varnay's forays into Milanov's rep were few and far between. It is hardly necessary to make a choice. Thanks to Wieland we have several ring cycles that have become available as well as two or three Elektras--one in excellent sound. Varnay was tragically under used by the record companies: Decca did release the Lohengrin an DGG and a compilation of Wagner excerpts. Lurking in DGG's list of items that could be released is a Jenufa sung in German as was common at the time.
Milanov sang Elsa,Elisa’s and Sieglinde in Europe before she can’t go the zMet and she had them in her role list at the Met in the 40s but aside from some Concerts at the house, never sang a Wagner role at the Met.
