Search - Gaetano Donizetti, Friedrich Haider, Elio Boncompagni :: Edita Gruberova - Donizetti's Tudor Queens (Anna Bolena · Maria Stuarda · Roberto Devereux)

A WORTHY SUCCESSOR.

10/06/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The recording of the legendary Beverly Sills singing the "Tudor Queens" is not available on cd. However, this recording by Edita Gruberova is a worthy successor to the Sills version. Gruberova possesses a beautiful coloratura soprano voice which perfectly suits Donizetti."

The Great Gruberova Sings Royalty

Rudy Avila | Lennox, Ca United States | 04/19/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Edita Gruberova is a great artist in her own right. She is a magnificent soprano with versatile talent. Her voice is primarily lyric-coloratura, but she can deliver the powerful sforzato dynamics of a diva like Maria Callas or Joan Sutherland or even Leontine Price and Jessie Norman for that matter.
Perhaps it is true that she is not as good as Beverly Sills in the department of the Donizetti Tudor Queens- Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda and Roberto Devereux. But Gruberova ranks at least second to Beverly Sill's towering performances of the early 70's. It's very likely that Edita Gruberova was inspired by these classic performances and took the dramatic leap to this difficult repertoire. The Donizetti Tudor Queen Trilogy is rather difficult material to sing and very rare to perform. In the light of the more blockbuster hits of Puccini and Verdi which will forever be performed, the Donizetti operas remain neglected and only appear ocassionally on recording.One soprano singing all three roles ? If Beverly Sills could do it, so could Edita Gruberova. In the 80's and early 90's, Gruberova managed to sing the roles with great acclaim in Europe.
Her voice reminds people of the versatility of the female singing voice. In Anna Bolena, Gruberova showcases much of her lyric legato phrasing to note perfection, as in "A Dulci Guidami" and she is dazzling in the finale as Anne Boylen is about to be executed by order of Henry the 8th. In Maria Stuarda, she again impresses the listeners with her incredible breath control (those bel canto operas have such LONG VOCAL LINES between breaths)and her vulnerability and humanity shines through. As Queen Elizabeth I in Roberto Devereux, she is fiery, feisty and diva- esque. She may not reach the status that Beverly Sills' performance reached (Beverly Sills got a cover in the 1971 issue of Time magazine for Queen Elizabeth in this opera) but Gruberova does deliver a sensational performance. On stage, in red hair and make up, she does look like Queen Elizabeth and her acting was very powerful as well. So this is an overall superb recording of excerpts from all threee operas."