Word: rysanek
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
DIED. LEONIE RYSANEK, 71, show-stopping Austrian soprano whose soaring arias so entranced fans she once kept them standing--and clapping--throughout the entire intermission of a Wagner opera; of bone cancer; in Vienna...
...initial years onstage are crucial, and according to their elders, many of today's young singers are in too much of a rush. Leonie Rysanek, 64 and still a shimmering soprano, says, "The first word to learn is no, if you want a career." Says Pavarotti: "Go easy. One new role a year is plenty." Before his Otello, sung in a concert version with the Chicago Symphony, music fans speculated that he lacked the declamatory heft for the part. But Pavarotti not only had it; he was able to sing three out of four performances with a bad cough...
...range of notes where most of a part lies, or too heavy a draatic role. Especially in his later years, Herbert von Karajan was a great seducer of semiformed talent because he sought a clear, pure voice in almost any female role. Freni, offered the declamatory Turandot, and Rysanek, the taxing Salome, resisted. The maestro never called again...
...factor. A popular artist can sing in Brussels on Monday, Paris on Tuesday and Chicago on Thursday, and by the time Chicago rolls around, audiences often feel they are presented with a raspy voice and an unfocused characterization. Many veterans monitor their travel schedules as closely as their repertory. Rysanek arrives in a city two weeks before she is scheduled to sing. Kraus warns that if you sing in two cities on successive days, "your subconscious is working in both places, and it's too busy...
...there almost has to be another you, standing at your side, in full control." To Pavarotti, long success depends on "remaining a student all your life. Remember the first lesson you ever took and believe it." Oh, and a couple of other things. Freni recommends pasta on performance days. Rysanek warns against after-performance partying. And Nilsson decrees, at all cost, wear comfortable shoes...