Search - Giuseppe Verdi, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Stella Doufexis :: Julia Varady - Verdi Heroines Vol. II / Fischer-Dieskau

Breathtaking performances!!!

12/22/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Julia Varady - it's not as famous a name as Renee Fleming, or Angela Gheorghiu, or Cotrubas, or Leontyne Price, or Tebaldi. No, it's not as famous a name as her husband Fischer-Dieskau. BUT... here's a classic example of the fact that FAMOUS DOES NOT MEAN BETTER. LESS FAMOUS DOES NOT MEAN LESS GOOD.Julia Varady did attain fame eventually - in the late 80s and the 1990s. She was acclaimed by conductors, press and public alike. Legendary Sir Georg Solti hand-picked Julia Varady to take on the role of the Empress in his Die Frau Ohne Schatten. Imagine, Julia Varady was asked to take on the mantle laid down by the great and incomparable Leonie Rysanek by Solti himself. And succeed she did - she is incredible as the Empress. The reason Varady never became very famous earlier in her career was that she never chased after fame and success. She did things the old-fashioned way. She performed faithfully mainly in her home base - the Bavarian State Opera and the Deutsche opera house. She engaged in long periods of rehearsal in new productions with her house team, eschewing the jet-setting opera 'star'-circuit. And she never undertook roles just to become famous. She is a true master of her craft - the art of opera singing and acting.Her strategy has paid huge huge dividends. Even at age 55, she sounds like she's 30!! The purity and beauty of her voice is incredible. Not only that, she tackles the coloratura and trills and pianissimi with consummate ease. A true artist. And she looks beautiful. And she can act - not only in the theatre but with her voice on recordings!!! I was stunned when I heard this recital disc. It is captivating from first to last. It's a pity she never recorded these roles in full. Orfeo has recently released her full Leonora in Il Trovatore. Let's hope that we'll get to hear her full Lady Macbeth, Aida, Elisabetta (Don Carlos) and Desdemona one day. Well, her Lady Macbeth is almost full here - all 3 "arias" are here!!I enjoyed this recital immensely. You don't feel it's a recital, more like it's part of an opera performance!! Don't miss it."