Singing both Cav and Pag in one evening
NewsThe Uruguayan-Italian soprano Maria José Siri claims she is making history in the Arena di Verona by singing the lead roles in ‘Cavalleria Rusticana’ and ‘I Pagliacci’ in the same evening. Evidently a first at the Arena di Verona.
Surely that’s not so rare, but what are the risks for a young soprano?
I don’t think she is a young soprano, but she sings wonderfully for sure
If you trace this back to the original articles, in Spanish and German news sources, they claim that she’s the first to do this at the Arena di Verona and one of the “select few” to do so at all.
I agree with Alexander: she’s a terrific singer who is still unknown to many, especially in North America. Heard her as Maddalena in Andrea Chénier in 2014 and was very impressed.
She may be the first soprano to do so with reddish hair?
Just PR puff!
Given that Santuzza (“Cavalleria”) is usually performed by a mezzo (my first was Fiorenza Cossotto) and that Nedda (“Pagliacci”) is written for a light lyrico with some flexibility (my first was Teresa Stratas), it is indeed very rare for the same singer to take on both roles, especially in the same evening. The tenor leads lay in the same range and are quite often performed by the same guy, especially if his name is Kaufmann, Alagna or Cura.
She is not so young and have a big experience and carrier .
According to her Wikipedia page, she is 44, hardly a young soprano.