Rita Hunter
It is now nearly four years since the operatic world lost one of its great characters with the untimely death of Rita Hunter. Rita Hunter was a very large lady with a voice and personality to match.
I first saw Rita as Leonora in Verdi's "Il Trovatore" at the Theatre Royal Newcastle in 1971 or 72 and was overwhelmed by the size of her voice and her control of it. Then I discovered her in Wagner.
To me she still is Bruennhilde, the central female character in the Ring cycle, because it was through her and Reginald Goodall that I first really got to know the Ring. I can still vividly remember a performance of "Twilight of the Gods" at English National Opera in 1977 during which she just poured glorious sound into the theatre. I have never heard power singing to better it.
Someone who never heard her asked me to describe what made Rita a 'major' singer. I could name three things.
Firstly, the sheer size of the voice. She could fill a big theatre like the London Coliseum with no trouble at all, and by fill I really mean fill, not just be audible. In smaller theatres such as the Theatre Royal the size of her voice was overwhelming.
Secondly the roundness and warmth of the voice. Even when singing the heaviest parts she never lost the focus of her voice or her roundness of tone. Other super-power sopranos I have heard (Birgit Nilsson, Gwyneth Jones) had something of a cutting edge to the voice that projected it across the orchestra. Rita's voice rode the orchestra without that edge.
Thirdly her attack on high notes. She could hit exposed and difficult high notes without (as some do) approaching them from below or (as others do) hitting them in a slightly timid fashion and then either tuning them in or then opening the voice out. With Rita it was - bang - and you were there, no messing.
Rita's greatest performance on CD is as Bruennhilde in Wagner's "Twilight of the Gods" conducted by Goodall. Another excellent recording is last year's Opera Rara issue of what was originally a BBC recording of Verdi's original "Macbeth".
A recording for which I have a personal soft spot and would recommend to anyone is a live recording of the wonderful recital she gave at Wyndhams Theatre in 1977. This was a very special occasion, at which I was actaully present. No Wagner, but some operatic favourites (including Butterfly and Mimi) were interspersed with Ivor Novello, Haydn Wood and Oscar Strauss. The whole thing is quite charming. You will not find this CD in the shops but it is available on the internet via http://members.iinet.net.au/~tallpoppies/
I first saw Rita as Leonora in Verdi's "Il Trovatore" at the Theatre Royal Newcastle in 1971 or 72 and was overwhelmed by the size of her voice and her control of it. Then I discovered her in Wagner.
To me she still is Bruennhilde, the central female character in the Ring cycle, because it was through her and Reginald Goodall that I first really got to know the Ring. I can still vividly remember a performance of "Twilight of the Gods" at English National Opera in 1977 during which she just poured glorious sound into the theatre. I have never heard power singing to better it.
Someone who never heard her asked me to describe what made Rita a 'major' singer. I could name three things.
Firstly, the sheer size of the voice. She could fill a big theatre like the London Coliseum with no trouble at all, and by fill I really mean fill, not just be audible. In smaller theatres such as the Theatre Royal the size of her voice was overwhelming.
Secondly the roundness and warmth of the voice. Even when singing the heaviest parts she never lost the focus of her voice or her roundness of tone. Other super-power sopranos I have heard (Birgit Nilsson, Gwyneth Jones) had something of a cutting edge to the voice that projected it across the orchestra. Rita's voice rode the orchestra without that edge.
Thirdly her attack on high notes. She could hit exposed and difficult high notes without (as some do) approaching them from below or (as others do) hitting them in a slightly timid fashion and then either tuning them in or then opening the voice out. With Rita it was - bang - and you were there, no messing.
Rita's greatest performance on CD is as Bruennhilde in Wagner's "Twilight of the Gods" conducted by Goodall. Another excellent recording is last year's Opera Rara issue of what was originally a BBC recording of Verdi's original "Macbeth".
A recording for which I have a personal soft spot and would recommend to anyone is a live recording of the wonderful recital she gave at Wyndhams Theatre in 1977. This was a very special occasion, at which I was actaully present. No Wagner, but some operatic favourites (including Butterfly and Mimi) were interspersed with Ivor Novello, Haydn Wood and Oscar Strauss. The whole thing is quite charming. You will not find this CD in the shops but it is available on the internet via http://members.iinet.net.au/~tallpoppies/
posted by Alnwickian at 8:17 pm
1 Comments:
Thanks for your comment!
I listen again and again to the recital from Wyndhams, which shows off so many of Rita's wonderful qualities.
And just yesterday I was listening to her Bruennhilde in Goetterdaemmerung. There is one phrase in the opening scene which she sings with such huge sound and yet such warm womanly tone - it is fantastic!
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