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News
Read Sondra's interview with the Met
Opera
"Verdi Woman - Sondra Radvanovsky,
Elvira in Ernani, talks about having to deal with three suitors
and recalls a very special birthday present"
Read
the full interview here
As Elvira, Sondra triumphs over the
flu on opening night at the Met
"Sondra Radvanovsky, singing through a
vocal indisposition, proved to need not a bit of sympathy or indulgence.
Hers was the most consistent performance of the evening, an accurate,
graceful and impassioned account of every soprano phrase in the
score. Her tone was firm over the wide range of this sweeping
role, and no ailment jarred those ingratiating high diminuendos
that have become a Radvanovsky trademark. This Elvira seemed more
spontaneous and less of an automaton than is often the case."
(Opera News, 2008)
"Sondra Radvanovsky is a hugely committed
artist whose sense of text and strong projection are ideal for
Verdi. An affecting actress, Radvanovsky ensured that although
Elvira is thrown from one man to the next, she remained an active
character, and I was impressed at her ability to ride the orchestra
and chorus during the concertati." (Musical
Criticism, 11 April 2008)
"The Met's revival is a step up for the
evening's Elvira, Sondra Radvanovsky. Hers could well be a major
career. She sang with a viral infection, rendering her usually
potent soprano occasionally brittle and underpowered. But the
important qualities came through: intense and convincing involvement,
statuesque presence and sound musicianship." (New
York Times, 19 March 2008)
"She gleamed quite nicely through all four
acts" (New York Magazine, 18 March 2008)
"While her first notes, the cabaletta
"Ernani, involami", is the most difficult in the whole opera,
she came out wonderfully... But she not only improved throughout
the opera, but in the one duet with her lover, she seemed faultless."
(Concerto.net, 17 March 2008)
Saturday, March 29th - Tune in for Ernani
on CBC Radio Two
Be sure to catch Sondra as Elvira in Ernani
on Saturday Afternoon at the Opera, Saturday, March 29th. Saturday
Afternoon at the Opera airs on Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. (2:00 AT,
2:30 NT) on CBC Radio Two.
March 25th - Sondra on SIRIUS Satellite
Radio
Sondra is the intermission guest on the SIRUIS
Satellite broadcast of Tristan und Isolde.
JANUARY 2008
Sondra is currently in Milan where she made
her debut at La Scala in what has become one of her signature roles,
Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac once again alongside Placido
Domingo in the title role.
"Sondra Radvanovsky portrayed a bold and
beguiling Roxane, with great stage presence, vocally round, full
and splendid" (La Panania, February 3, 2008)
"No less, for her effectiveness and bravura,
is Sondra Radvanovsky, wonderful soprano in the role of Roxane
to whom Alfano gives the few melodic moments in order to wring
applause (from the audience) …" (La Stampa,
Fbeurary 2, 2008)
"…in addition to Domingo, a Roxane of a
splendid timbre as Sondra Radvanovsky…" (Corriere
della Sera, February 1, 2008)
"…from the magnificent Roxane of Sondra
Radvanovsky…" (Corriere del Ticino, January
31, 2008)
"Worthy of note is the intensity of
Sondra Radvanovsky's interpretation of Roxane." (Giornale
della Musica, 30 January 2008)
NOVEMBER
Sondra Radvanovsky made a superb debut as Elvira in Verdi's Ernani
at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, a role she will reprise at the Met
in March & April
"Rising to the occasion was Sondra Radvanovsky,
able to portray a beleaguered but determined woman, an Elvira
of beautiful presence and florid voice, who impresses by the power
and flexibility of her voice." (Il Piccolo,
November 23, 2007)
"New to us was Sondra Radvanovsky, an American
from Chicago, beautiful to look at, who displayed a rich voice,
well controlled with luminous high notes and soft accents." (Messaggero
Veneto, November 24, 2007)
"Sondra Radvanovsky, Elvira, is blessed
with a huge voice... The opening aria, which everyone recognizes
as being very difficult because it is sung 'cold', was beautiful
with a wealth of colours and shading. Her Elvira is a temperamental
young woman, fiercely in love, young and determined, passionate,
magnificent. The best moment was in the finale of the opera, when,
desperate, she turns on Silva with a savage fury and then immediately
begs his forgiveness: the passage between the two opposing states
of mind succeeded beautifully, softening the modulation splendidly."
(Operaclick, November 24, 2007)
"…the sumptuous Sondra Radvanovsky takes
us back to the young Verdi." (La Repubblica,
November 11, 2007)
"The young and Junoesque Sondra Radvanovsky
created a credible and distressed Elvira and from the vocal standpoint,
displayed a powerful and burnished voice, open, capable of controlling
the messe di voce and a sustained mezza voce." (ZENO,
December 2007)
"One can say the same for the wonderful
American Sondra Radvanovsky, who debuted in the role of Elvira...the
breath-control is perfect and the tone also which moves in an
expressive balance between the clear and darker colours with remarkable
ease while remaining always true." (Vita
Nuova, November 30, 2007)
OCTOBER
Sondra Radvanovsky -- "Luminous
and fascinating" in her debut at the Teatro Carlo Felice in
Genoa in one of her favourite and most acclaimed roles: Elena in
Verdi’s I Vespri Siciliani.
"The cast was dominated by the vocal quality
and stage presence of Sondra Radvanovsky, an Elena of strong temperament
who, in the fourth act, received the warmest and most convincing
applause by the entire house (and the only one, perhaps, not benefitting
from an organized 'claque." (La Repubblica
Genova, October 21, 2007)
"American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky
sang Duchess Elena and she gave a totally brilliant performance,
in spite of the initial warning that she was suffering a cold.
She is one of the most important spinto sopranos of our time,
with a dark voice of great beauty, outstanding phrasing and a
powerful and bright vocal acuity. Add to all of this her attractive
figure and her skills as an actress and it sums up her excellent
perfomance...In this role she has no rival nowadays, to my mind."
(Seen & Heard, 30 October 2007)
"Sondra Radvanovsky impressed with the
fullness and beauty of her voice, creating a sensitive and powerful
Elena. Ovations to her. " (Il Secolo
XIX, October 20, 2007)
"…the luminous and fascinating Sondra Radvanovsky"
(La Repubblica, October 22, 2007)
"…revealed a jewel in Sondra Radvanovsky:
a beautiful timbre, a lovely legato, sensitive, with character:
a perfect Elena." (Corriere della
Sera, October 21, 2007)
"…and if anyone thinks, and not without
reason, that the Verdi soprano is extinct, they would be proved
wrong by Radvanovsky's Elena - vocally hot, powerful and flexible,
lyric and dramatic, capable of agile dominance"
(La Stampa, October 22, 2007)
"In the performance on Friday at the
Teatro Carlo Felice, of special note were the bass Orlin Anastassov
and the soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, who interpreted Giovanni da
Procida and Elena. They captured completely the power of the characters
and left the public breathless with the beauty and warmth of their
voices." (Mentelocale, 22 October 2007)
"We place very highly Sondra Radvanovsky,
who has even improved her style and her technique since the Paris
performances. She is now as at ease in the light passages as she
is in the moments of authority. She creates a character of a Racinian
violence, noble, sculptural" (lepetitjournal.com,
October 23, 2007)
Check out The
Listening Room on the Opera News website to hear Sondra
talk about the records that comprise the soundtrack of her life.
Recent Accolades
Sondra makes her debut with the CSO in Verdi's
Requiem
"Two of the Requiem's most affecting
sections are the duets for soprano and mezzo-soprano soloist,
and here the American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky and the Swiss
mezzo Yvonne Naef blended voices beautifully....
Radvanovsky made the terror and anguish
of 'Libera me' palpable against the chorus' thundering its final
shouts of the 'Dies irae.'" (Chicago
Tribune, 16 June, 2007)
"Radvanovsky led the final 'Libera
me,' essentially an opera scene within a requiem, with power and
poignancy."(Chicago Sun-Times, 16 June,
2007)
Sondra "conquered" at the Luminato Festival's Opera Gala
- LUNA
"Soprano Sondra Radvanovsky came and
conquered. American-born, she is the leading international Verdian
who now calls Toronto home, yet she never sings here. The crowd
went crazy for her formidable range, woody-honey voice and impassioned
singing." (Classical 96.3, 11 June
2007)
"The moment she began to sing it was
clear that this is a performer who was born to do big tragic Italian
roles. Her voice was large and radiant, and seemed drenched with
tears no matter what she sang. It was almost shocking how much
power she could muster in her upper range, though as she proved
in the D'amor sul'ali rosee (from Verdi's Il Trovatore) she could
also shrink to pianissimo in the same territory with no loss of
tone or projection. Her sense of what she was singing was equally
expansive: she even squeezed some fresh feeling from a hard-worn
excerpt from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi (O mio babbino caro)."
(Globe and Mail, 11 June 2007)
'Trovatore' stirs Music Hall crowd in Cincinnati
"(The cheers and applause) continued
so long after soprano Sondra Radvanovsky's powerfully emotive
scene outside Manrico's cell (act IV) that she waved cheerfully
for the audience to desist so the opera could continue...Radvanovsky's
youth, good looks and creamy, flexible voice with its mezzo-like
heft, mark her as a dawning diva."
(The Cincinnati Post, 21 May 2007)
"Interest was high for Radvanovsky,
who was reared in nearby Richmond, Ind., and inspired to pursue
opera after trips to Cincinnati Opera as a girl. Now an international
star, she has made Leonore one of her signature roles, performing
it more than 135 times.
Hers was a dazzling, enthralling
and well-paced performance of this demanding role. One of a new
breed of opera singer, Radvanovsky possesses both physical beauty
and vocal splendor, with a dusky lower register and rapturous
high notes. Her sound filled the hall's immense space like none
other.
The soprano's coloratura sparkled
in her first act cabaletta, "Di tale amor." She poured out her
heart in the emotional Act IV "D'amor sull'ali rosee" (On rosy
wings of love) with stunning phrasing, and wiped away a tear at
the audience's extended ovation. It was a spectacular scene, set
against the hushed chorus intoning "Miserere" and the troubadour
singing offstage." (The Enquirer, 20
May 2007)
Last Updated: May 14, 2008
© 2002 Moira Johnson
Consulting, All Rights Reserved
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