Search - Kathryn Grayson :: Remember the Night

SHE COULD HAVE BEEN A FANTASTIC OPERA DIVA

Sung-chao Cheng | Taiwan | 08/22/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I finally received Kathryn Grayson's "Remember the Night" album from the mail. The reason I bought a second album after "My Heart Sings" is that there are two opera arias in this one: 'O Soave Fanciulla' and 'Mi Chiamano Mimi' both from 1st act of "La Boheme". After Listening to both arias, it confirms my conviction that Kathryn Grayson would make an outstanding opera singer. She sings the arias with ease and smoothness that other opera divas would envy. With some coaching from a good teacher and improvement of her Italian, she would be a fantastic opera soprano. Here I want to voice lament again that she didn't pursue an operatic career after MGM ceased to produce musicals. I suppose singing opera is not easy, it needs hard work. Well, it all in the past now.



"Remember the Night" has much better sound reproduction than "My Heart Sings", and Grayson's singing has marked improvement from the other album, I think it is because the songs are mostly from the original movie sound tracks, the studio usually have very capable voice and singing coaches. However, I'm sorry to say that it contains little or no coloratura singing at all, a very unfortunate omission, for coloratura is a very special feature in her singing.



Let's come back to opera, I wonder how she would fare in the "Bell Song" from "Lakeme", is her French any good. Her two arias from "La Boheme" sound like she is singing another language rather than Italian. Her tenor in 'O Soave Fanciulla' is much worse. I even think he can't sing opera. It's too bad they didn't provide her a better partner. I wonder how many opera arias she had recorded, would they be enough to make up an album, if then, I wish that Flare Records would compile them into a CD for those who would wish very much to appreciate her talent in this area. I for one would defitely like to own an album titled "Kathryn Grayson Sings Opera!" with introductory note by Mr. Hisato Masuyama."