Verrett is in such command of the stage when she sings ANYTHING. She is not singing something on a page that was written down, remembering how to do everything completely in style etc, she is CREATING her own personal rendition, bringing it to life, fully in character. This is the big difference between a true artist and just a singer.
It's about TIME this GREAT LADY of OPERA is GIVEN the RESPECT, APPRECIATION, and CELEBRATION for the consummate PROFESSIONAL ARTIST , INTELLIGENT MUSICIAN and ACTRESS she was and STILL IS in this DOCUMENTARY for INFINITY!!! It always seemed to me she was always presented to the public in the SHADOW of someone else. I WON'T name names. Miss Verrett was and will forever be one of the BEST who ever graced an OPREATIC STAGE. Her repertoire was impressive and Miss Verrett's acting abilities were at the TOP of ANY artist I had ever seen on stage!! She was a PREMIER OPERA DIVA even if she was not acknowledged in the way she DESERVED to BE. Thank GOD for this DOCUMENTARY which lays her EXCEPTIONAL talent bare for the WORLD to FINALLY realize what a PHENOMENAL OPERATIC DIVA she was and, in our hearts, shall ALWAYS BE!! REST in IMMORTALITY Miss Verrett!!! We STILL salute and ADORE you!!!
To this day, I cannot find any taped performance of En Vain Pour Eviter that compares to the tempi, the intensity, the musicality, the EXPRESSION of Verrett. She was just so full and as I like to visualize her, SMOLDERING.
@@christopherbrooks5157 I got that biography as a birthday gift - I love it. So very interesting, nice to hear the stories of her and the two other world super stars, especially the immortal Leyla Gencer and the spectacular Elena Obraztsova. Ms Verrett is one of my absolute favorite singers. "An inspiring self-portrait of a world-renowned African American vocal artist This is a fascinating account of a gifted woman's coming of age and rise to success at a time when black classical musicians faced barriers at every turn. Shirley Verrett possessed a talent and ambition so dazzling she could not be denied?and she became one of the most celebrated artists of her time. I Never Walked Alone draws the reader into the world of this graceful, fiery artist, dramatically telling the story of her childhood and her brilliant international career. The book is filled with behind-the-scenes tales of this diva?s great performances, roles, and collaborations, offering insight into her stormy personal relationships as well as her private struggles and critical decisions. Featuring forewords and afterwords by such figures as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Zubhin Mehta, and Claudio Abbado, this richly detailed book paints a vivid picture of a magnificent survivor and an indelible artist known around the world as the black Maria Callas. Shirley Verrett (Ann Arbor, MI, and New York, NY) is currently Professor of Voice at the University of Michigan School of Music. Christopher Brooks is a biographer and award-winning musicologist."
It’s a very long document because they play the full arias but it’s so revealing that she was so aware of herself and the black context and express her understanding and wishes in a rather firm yet calm manner
Hands down the best performance of Delilah of all time. Very close second is Jessye Norman's performance, in my opinion. Love me some Shirley Verrett! She's so good.
Verrett had the refinement of tone of nearly perfect chiaroscuro: the clarity, the brightness, and yet the dark, the creamy darkness. NEVER muddled, never woofy, never a wobble (until VERY late, and even then, not completely), a vibrato that followed a forward moving line, not a vibrato that INTERRUPTS the line, the musicality. That's the problem with today's singers. You hear this shake that is just there to be there, it's not connected to a stream, a deliberate musical line that is moving forward in motion. Verrett was the real deal. I look at Verrett and Troyanos and those are the 2 that I'm so sorry i didn't get to see live in person. True theater animals!
Unique artist. Lucky to have heard her with Vickers in Samson (1981 - London) and a concert with Bumbry which was a bit of "I can outsing you by a mile" contest! but very exciting none the less. They don't make singers like this anymore.
Finally! I've been waiting and searching for this great documentary. It highlights the great variety of some of this incredible artist's most thrilling accomplishments ❤❤! Thank you for sharing!!
13:45 “One can’t divide oneself in half,” although that’s precisely what she did taking on the soprano roles in her career. I wonder if she had known, instinctually or otherwise, while filming where she would go vocally!
