6 replies to this topic

[cubanmiamiboy]

Last night I took my friend and my mother to a recital by Cuban coloratura soprano Eglise Gutiérrez at the University of Miami’s Gusman Concert Hall, who sang along with with Elaine Rinaldi, artistic director of Orchestra Miami, at the piano.  I have seen Miss Gutierrez before with the FLorida Grand Opera, and was very pleased with her choice of songs and arias.  We had a great night, which ended up wth late-late roasted pork at Versailles restaurant.  A very Cuban night indeed!

The programme was as follows.

Eglise Gutiérrez, Soprano
Elaine Rinaldi, Piano

Piangeró la Sorte Mia from Giulio Cesare Georg Friedrich Handel
Tornami a vagheggiar from Alcina (1685-1759)
  Zdes’ horocho Sergei Rachmaninov
Ne poi, krasavitsa, pri mne (1873-1943)


Villanelle Eva Dell’Acqua (1856-1930)
Après un Rêve Gabriel Faure (1845-1924)
L’heure Exquise Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947)

Ombre légère Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864)

Intermission

Oh, quante volte from I Capuletti e I Montecchi Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)


El Tra lala y el Punteado from Tonadillas Enrique Granados
El Majo Discreto (1864-1916)

Elegia eterna Enrique Granados

Maja y el Ruiseñor from Goyescas Enrique Granados

Canción de la Paloma Francisco Asenjo Barbieri
from El barberillo de Lavapiés (1823-1894)


Mi vida eres tú Ernesto Lecuona (1895-1963)
La Niña de Guatemala Eduardo Sanchez de Fuentes
La Volanta (1874-1944)
Corazón
El Clarín Gonzalo Roig

[Birdsall]

All of those choices in repertoire sound like good choices for her because even the coloratura pieces have a slower mood. I love the actual quality and sound of her voice, but I really think she is a lyric soprano who wants badly to be a "bel canto" coloratura, and her coloratura is pretty good but not effortless. I think it was smart to choose mostly baroque pieces as coloratura pieces. I would be interested in knowing how her Ombre legere  and tornami a vagheggiar were. I find that she is better at pianissimo or piano high notes and not very full or rounded on her forte high notes. She usually uses the Caballe trick in substituting a piano high note. When she does do a forte high note it sounds squeezed out and not full or rounded. Of course, the great Montserrat Caballe sort of had the same sort of issue, and she is one of the greatest singers of the 20th century.

But I hope she has worked on her high notes, because the raw talent is there. Her voice has a full, dark sound that I absolutely love for a soprano to have. I really think she should sing lyric roles and one day move into spinto roles if her voice grows. Personally, even though she can do coloratura, I don't think it is her best quality. Her best quality is in soft singing, sustained lines, coloring the voice.

[Birdsall]

I heard she sang "Depuis le jour" as her encore. Now that is an aria that I think she would be terrific at.....the gorgeous song "L'heure exquise" and "O quante volte" (Giulietta's aria) were probably exquisite too. All of those items are perfect for her voice.

I love the quality and sound of her voice. I just think she's in the wrong repertoire. I don't know why she wants to sing so much bel canto. Maybe it is the challenge.

[cubanmiamiboy]

BB...Gutierrez was definitely struggling at times with the high notes, although she has definitely been working in her upper registry.  One can tell that she's projecting her voice from down her diaphragm up and out with caution, instead of just attacking the note with plain throat. Her strongest point was the middle registry.  I would say she could excel way more in mezzo roles.  Her Ombre legere was delightful...she did all that fioritura exchange with the flute very well, but as I say..cautiously.  What I notice is that she WANTS to sing coloratura very badly, and is not shy about trying out loud.  I like that in a performer...she's not afraid of the challenge.

[Birdsall]

cubanmiamiboy, on 10 June 2012 - 04:25 PM, said:

BB...Gutierrez was definitely struggling at times with the high notes, although she has definitely been working in her upper registry.  One can tell that she's projecting her voice from down her diaphragm up and out with caution, instead of just attacking the note with plain throat. Her strongest point was the middle registry.  I would say she could excel way more in mezzo roles.  Her Ombre legere was delightful...she did all that fioritura exchange with the flute very well, but as I say..cautiously.  What I notice is that she WANTS to sing coloratura very badly, and is not shy about trying out loud.  I like that in a performer...she's not afraid of the challenge.

Yes, she seems to want to be a bel canto singer. I saw her for the first time years ago in Lakme in Sarasota, and I thought she was extraordinary. Back then her coloratura sounded great. Then, she happened to be singing in I Puritani when I was in Seattle, so I went to see her in that, and I thought she was wonderful. It was when I heard her in La Traviata and Lucia at Florida Grand Opera that I started to notice that the high notes did not seem to come easy to her and she was more cautious. If she can substitute a piano high note she will. Sometimes this is a very fine choice, but sometimes it is not the appropriate option.

She actually has wonderful pianissimo notes. So I think she should sing lyric roles and exploit the really good things about her voice. With the dark coloring in her voice she might eventually move to spinto roles, and spintos are getting rarer, so she would be in high demand. I think she started out as a coloratura and it probably came easy to her, but as her voice has grown and matured it has taken on a heavier and darker sound, and so the coloratura is not coming as easy as it once did.

The whole point of coloratura is that it should sound like the easiest thing in the world. If it doesn't sound easy and free it defeats the whole purpose.

But out of the crop of young singers I do ilke her. Don't get me wrong.

[canbelto]

This is really funny -- I saw Gutierrez's La Sonnambula video and this was my impression of her voice:

Quote

Eglise Gutierrez is the Amina and she has a dusky, warm lyric soprano that's very pleasant on the ears. It's a joy to hear a beautiful voice sing such beautiful music. She looks good too -- pretty in a wholesome, healthy, pink-cheeked way. Weaknesses: she also unfortunately has a thin, penny-whistle upper register that sounds completely disembodied from the rest of her voice.

It really is a beautiful voice, but the top register is problematic.

[Birdsall]

canbelto, on 13 June 2012 - 01:19 PM, said:

This is really funny -- I saw Gutierrez's La Sonnambula video and this was my impression of her voice:

Quote

Eglise Gutierrez is the Amina and she has a dusky, warm lyric soprano that's very pleasant on the ears. It's a joy to hear a beautiful voice sing such beautiful music. She looks good too -- pretty in a wholesome, healthy, pink-cheeked way. Weaknesses: she also unfortunately has a thin, penny-whistle upper register that sounds completely disembodied from the rest of her voice.

It really is a beautiful voice, but the top register is problematic.

Yes, a gorgeous voice. I totally agree with you though about her upper register. What's funny is that years ago when she was just starting out I heard an impressive Lakme in Sarasota with her. I think she sang it in NY also. She seemed more comfortable in the upper register back then, but the voice has grown darker and thicker to my ears. She exploited the pianissimi like Caballe in the Traviata, and the first act of Traviata I thought would have been her easiest, but it wasn't and she got better due to the role becoming more lyrical and then dramatic at the end. So that was the first time I noticed the problematic high notes. Then, her Lucia totally disappointed me, and I was convinced then that she was singing the wrong repertoire. I think she should be singing lyrical roles. Those roles would showcase her good points.