Glyndebourne summons luxury sub
mainWe hear that Doris Soffel has dropped out of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmelites this summer.
Replacing the 71 year-old German mezzo in the role of Madame de Croissy is the Swedish former soprano Katarina Dalayman, 56, who has transitioned (as it’s fashionable to say) since 2017 to mezzo-soprano.
Remarkably, it’s her Glyndebourne debut.
Better slightly late than never, you could say…
The best Croissy I saw was in Stuttgart – an English lady called Rosalind Plowright. I bought the Olivier Py Paris production (Erato) which also has this performer. Surprised that Glyndebourne don’t use their wonderful home grown singers.
There is really no comparison in artistic stature between Soffel and Dalayman. At 71 Soffel is in towering vocal form, a compelling actress and regularly receives rave reviews for demanding roles like Klytämnestra, Herodias, the Nurse in Frau ohne Schatten etc. She is currently rehearsing Begbick in Amsterdam, her 100th role debut.
Glyndebourne obviously – as always – tries pin their singers down for an exaggeratedly long rehearsal period and non-competitive fees. In Soffel’s case for a role that consists of just two – albeit crucial – scenes. Soffel can afford to leave as she is booked at prestigious venues until 2023.
Barcelona and Munich will thus have the privilege of presenting her Croissy this coming autumn – which she has already sung to great acclaim in Amsterdam and Hamburg.