Renee Fleming has a senior moment with Cheryl Studer
mainThe diva tells the New York Times why she’s singing Nettie Fowler on Broadway in Carousel.
‘Well, I’m the first soprano I’ve been able to find to do this,’ she opines.
Oh, really? How about Cheryl Studer, just 15 months ago?
picture: Simon Hallström/Theater Basel
I saw Shirley Verrett sing the role on Broadway (is the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center considered Broadway?) in 1994. I was working for PolyGram at the time, and went with Cecilia Bartoli, who had never previously attended a Broadway show.
Another stupid statement from a singer who knows, or should know, better. Equally, the reporter for the Times should have done his homework pre publication. Does he even know what he writes about, one wonders?
Don’t blame The Times – it’s the New York Times! Ha, ha!
Which character is Nettie Fowler? I don’t recognize that name at all from “Carousel”.
Nettie is Julie’s cousin. She sings “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
Then you don’t know Carousel. Ever heard “You’ll Never Walk Alone?” Well, that’s Nettie’s big tune.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carousel_(musical)
She also has June Is Bustin’ Out All Over (with the chorus).
I have a couple of recordings of “Carousel” and the DVD of the film in my library. I’ve never known that character by name and I dislike “You’ll Never Walk Alone” (as do many critics and music-lovers). That ending is the weakest part of the musical.
Well, as an opera singer myself I must be in the minority then if you say people don’t like it. But I adore ‘You’ll never walk alone’ and I doubt if I could ever sing it as – not just that it’s very low for a soprano, but the fact that it never fails to bring a lump to my throat when I hear it. The words are so consoling for so many who have been through hardship in life, the harmonies are beautiful, and it doesn’t have to be flogged to death by a musical theatre person – it needs to be sung with line and sincerity, not hammed up. In England, so many of us love it because of the association too with Liverpool, hence the setting by Gerry and the Pacemakers. Turn your nose up if you like! But you should have heard our own opera singer Yvonne Howard, a very fine mezzo and colleague who was at Glyndebourne as well, sing that part when Opera North did it in 2012 and in 2017. She was just fabulous and hardly a dry eye around us. Each to their own.
🙂
And Cheryl was fantastic!
Here is a clip featuring Studer in June Is Busting Out All Over: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LesRVxN2zs8
Does anyone know if Renée Fleming will perform again in Ontario Canada?