‘The warm, sweet, silvery beauty of his voice’

‘The warm, sweet, silvery beauty of his voice’

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norman lebrecht

February 10, 2017

Peter G. Davis has written a fine obit of the late Nicolai Gedda in Opera News, reminding us of his extraordinary combination of virtues, allied to a profound personal introspection:

During a career that spanned nearly fifty years, Gedda was in demand the world over for the warm, sweet, silvery beauty of his voice, his patrician command of style, and an unshowy but dazzling technical virtuosity that was invariably in the service of the music.

Peter adds: ‘Gedda never generated the hysterical fan response of, say, Franco Corelli, but few left his finely nuanced, vocally secure, emotionally generous performances feeling cheated.’

Nobody captures singers like PGD.

Read on here.

Comments

  • Ungeheuer says:

    To cite Lucas Debargue is merited:

    ‘Plenty of critics are probably frustrated people who can’t do 10% of what the musicians do. It’s too easy. It’s even strange that people who do these things don’t feel ashamed of doing so. Because there’s a lot to feel ashamed about when you live like this. So, whatever…’

    So this hack, PGD, is still among us? A surprise as some of us thought he had long ago passed through the pearly gates.

    • Marshall says:

      You certainly live up to your pen name.

      This is a strange place-you don’t like a critic so you hope he’s dead? Must be part of the coarsening of everything.

      What was wrong with Davis’ tribute?

  • Petros Linardos says:

    ‘Gedda never generated the hysterical fan response of, say, Franco Corelli, but few left his finely nuanced, vocally secure, emotionally generous performances feeling cheated.’ –

    And Gedda’s finesse, vocal beauty and emotional generosity never fails to amaze.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrTxwoYp7os

    • Marshall says:

      You certainly live up to your pen name.

      This is a strange place-you don’t like a critic so you hope he’s dead? Must be part of the coarsening of everything.

      What was wrong with Davis’ tribute?

      • Petros Linardos says:

        What are you talking about? Nothing wrong with Davis’ tribute. I am taking his argument a step further.
        This is not my pen-name.

        • Marshall says:

          Not sure why it ended up there-but if you look above you can see the person for whom, and where the comment was intended

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