For many, many years, the world has known Lisa Della Casa for one thing and one thing alone: Richard Strauss's Arabella. Unfortunately most of the world doesn't even know her for that. There is truly one real reason why the musical world of today doesn't know her, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.
By politely naming Della Casa as the greatest Arabella, it allows Schwarzkopf to reign supreme in all the other Strauss roles that are "more important." Don't get me wrong, I love Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Any one who has read this blog would know that, but I adore Della Casa. It is a shame that she had to be such a close contemporary and fach to THE Schwarzkopf. She deserved better.
The Swiss soprano started her performing career in small swiss films and plays which her father, a doctor, put on in his spare time. He had a passion for the theatre. She sang with the Zürich Municipal Opera House from 1943 to 1950, where she sang a wide range of roles from die Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte to Dorabella in Così Fan Tutte. When she sang Zdenka in Arabella at the Salzburger Festspiele in 1947 with Maria Reining and Hans Hotter, Strauss himself said, "Die kleine Della Casa wird eines Tages Arabella sein!" or "The little Della Casa will one day be Arabella!"
Like all the great German/Austrian/Swiss singers of the day, her specialty was Strauss and Mozart and occasionally the lighter Wagner heroines. Her Strauss was phenomenal. She was the greatest Arabella the world will ever know, her Countess in Capriccio easily matches Schwarzkopf's, her Ariadne is beautiful, she sang a mean Chrysotemis in Elektra, and she has been recorded singing all three leading roles in Der Rosenkavalier. Marschallin being the most wonderful, but Octavian and Sophie are both admirably sung as well.
Her Contessa di Almaviva is legendary, her Donna Elvira is perfection, and her Pamina is practically without equal.
I also recommend her Elsa in Lohengrin and her Eva in Die Meistersinger.
She sang all these roles with such impeccable style and finesse. She was always the picture, physically and vocally, of beauty and elegance. She was at one point dubbed the most beautiful woman on the operatic stage. She reminds us of that long lost time when the Opera world was elegant, tasteful and sophisticated onstage and off.
She turned 93 last February and is still kicking, living in a castle on Lake Constance in Switzerland (Schloß Gottelieben am Bodensee).
These are some wonderful examples of her Mozart and Strauss. I can't think of a better small representation of her wonderful voice, personality and presence in the world of opera.
For those of you who speak German, check out this great (short) documentary about her life that aired on German TV when she turned 90. Be prepared… some of this interview is in Swiss German…
I hope you all have a new favourite singer after this short introduction. She personifies elegance and her silvery voice rings in my ears whenever I think about the good ol' days of opera.
- Christopher Michael Kelley
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment