Droopy-drawers critic selects his ‘most glamorous singers’
mainThis is how low newspaper criticism has sunk at the end of 2014. Rupert Christiansen, who yesterday trashed Cecilia Bartoli’s ‘droopy drawers’ in the Daily Telegraph, today selects just for you the 12 opera faces that push his buttons.
Is one judgement more credible than the other?
I wonder when she will dare record something for which there is serious direct comparison. The bottoms of the deepest barrels are now being scraped….
Trying desperately hard to look on the bright side (not easy when reminded of what the DT has become), I suppose it might help dispel some of the “fat lady” views that emerge from time to time.
The big flaw in my argument, however, is that many of those fat lady views are voiced in the DT in the first place.
Maybe it is worth noting that RP’s selection is his personal selection of who he thinks are the “12 most glamorous singers” around today, not necessarily his opinion of who he thinks are the 12 best or greatest singers around today.
On another note, I sort of mostly agree with RP’s review of the new Bartoli recording, and also think it is rather a shame that she has abandoned the lower mezzo-sop repertoire (and sound) that suited her so well. 🙁
Might Bellini’s Norma fit the bill?
It does. Norma is back at Salzburg 2015.
not in the vegetarian version she sang – no comparison!
To me the dozen singers listed are
ones I would pass .Predictable and
boring at best .As for Bartoli she is
caught in some time warp ….Christiansen
has little to do with music, he is writing about himself which reflects in
the singers he names, all equally as
boring as his writing .Apart from this
Lebrecht observation does anyone
really care what Christiansen writes
or for that matter – who is he ????
Not that it matters but CB’s singing was described as “droopy-drawers crooning.” Her sartorial choices were not part of the mix.