Watching and listening to my Mum and Alberto sing together was REALLY something to behold. It was the perfect representation of what "magic" is!

@horationelson57

5 ай бұрын

KZread's algorithms brought me here. Back in 1988 I owned a taxi cab and I remember picking up a lady from Bobbin Head rd, Turramurra, who informed me that Rita Hunter was her mother. Would that have been you, or perhaps your sister? I should be very intrigued if it were you. Cheers 🥂

@ritahunterlafavorita

5 ай бұрын

@@horationelson57 That would be me....her daughter and SPOT ON for Bobbin Head Road, Turramurra.

I have never forgotten the performances at the Coliseum. She was the finest Wagner soprano I ever heard in the flesh: the EMI recording does not do justice to the "ping" and power of her notes, but it does capture the sweetness of her timbre and superb technique, trills and all. A favourite moment was when she and Remedios each held a hand of Reggie Goodall aloft at the final curtain and then had to pull him back as he nearly swung into the orchestra pit. The complete cycle I saw had Raimund Herincx as Wotan, another fine artist. It is hard to believe that this is the company that the Arts Council are trying to destroy. I wish Rita were still here to sling her spear at them all.

Thank you for putting this up here! I miss my Mum everyday. I still, after 18 years, find it hard to listen to her sing. I can handle little bits here and there but that's my limit. I used to drive my Mother insane when Siegfried was on as I always loved hearing Alberto Remedios forge Notung. "Mummy can we PLEASE go see Alberto sing". I can count on one hand the amount of times this happened lol. But I was always on the side of the stage for this last scene. I remember feeling the electricity building in the audience throughout this scene. It always erupted in thunderous cheers, applause and feet stomping at ENO. I was a lucky kid.

@jasonhurd4379

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for sharing your memories of your mother with us. She was a magnificent artist, and her loss is keenly felt. I was never blessed to meet her in person, but the many tributes to and reminiscences of her which I have read agree that she was warm, friendly, generous and good. It is a great blessing that we have these recordings on KZread that preserve her art for our edification. Incidentally, I also love listening to Alberto Remedios! ☺

@LohengrinO

5 жыл бұрын

Indeed Electricity building up... it is extremely difficult to locate recordings of Rita Hunter and if I do so I will post more

@lungdoc

5 жыл бұрын

You were very lucky indeed and so are we when we listen to such a great singer

@DavidAndTheDog

5 жыл бұрын

Ms Curtis, thank you for leaving your personal reminiscences here. Your mother was one of the great, truly great, singers of her era, and a lovely human being, who left us with unforgettable memories of her performances. I know her fans can't miss her the way you do, but please know that she is missed and remembered.

@charlesdavis7087

4 жыл бұрын

Hi Mairwyn; You don't know me but I was a friend of Roland Brown. He told me so many wonderful stories about your mom. Blessings where ever you are. Charles Davis.

And as ever can you imagine what it was like to sit in an opera house and listen to that voice?! Rita was thrilling!

Absolutely fantastic High C. Plus a fully-supported, but feminine, middle voice that translates all the heroic weight into the upper register.

Chills. A big, sustained C6, or a B5 and even Bb5 can very often be more exciting than many (some times generic) Eb6's.

@LohengrinO

5 жыл бұрын

exactly because a C6 is usually the upper limit of a Dramatic Soprano and it is a big achievement to reach and sustain it and dramatic big high notes are always more thrilling than coloratura staccati... besides this is Wagner's C6

@jasonhurd4379

5 жыл бұрын

@@LohengrinO Hunter also sings a magnificent C6 at the end of the Götterdämmerung love duet ('Zu neuen Taten'). There are two recordings on KZread, one conducted by Goodall and the other (in German) by Mackerras.

@j.j.schlachtfeld9325

5 жыл бұрын

@@LohengrinO I completely agree. I mean, high staccati can be thrilling, especially when they're as clear as Ingeborg Hallstein's are, but the power of a dramatic moment being expressed through the sheer turbulence of a big voice is simply unparalleled.

Bring back memories of my teens when I first heard her on vinyl in Goodall’s Ring...

@jasonhurd4379

5 жыл бұрын

It came out on the Unicorn label when I was twelve. I heard it on radio broadcasts. Very exciting!

Rita Hunter was the real deal. And the greatest Turandot in history. Cheers.

I was fortunate to be there and will never forget it. The whole cast was stupendous but, being a Birkenhead lad, I was particularly gunning for neighbours Rita and Alberto and by God they delivered. You just don't get this bel canto approach to Wagner any more: I believe they were both students of Liverpool-based Edwin Francis who had Marchesi connections which might go some way to explain it. And I think they both deserve huge credit, being down to earth, working class, no nonsense Scousers, in triumphing over the snobbish and patronising opera establishment of their day.

@henrygingercat

3 жыл бұрын

@@jimbuxton2187 Thanks and they deserved it.

Ahhh wonderful Rita and Alberto!

Needed a bit of a pick me up today.....So I came here to hear some Motherly high notes to clear the dust in my brain!

Wow. This is truly terrific.

RIP Rita Hunter (born #otd in 1933) 🌷🌷🌷

Again, you surprise me. I have wanted to ask you if you like her. I first heard her at the ENO IN Trovatore and she filled the house with wonderful sound. Then in San Francisco when Cabielle cancelled a season Of Norma. Many years later Richard Bonynge brought her to Australia to live and work. She was a fantastic company member. We also got to hear some great concerts as well. She has a wonderful sense of humor. Thank you for posting. ❤️

@LohengrinO

5 жыл бұрын

Ι only recently learned about her from Jason Hurd... did some research and realized she is very interesting... I haven't formed my opinion yet... need to listen a lot and her recordings are not easy to find

@jasonhurd4379

5 жыл бұрын

@@LohengrinO Please do not give me any credit for this! You are an incredible encyclopedia of information about all things operatic, and so prominent an artist as Rita Hunter would not have escaped your notice for very long. You would certainly have discovered her sooner or later!

At the height of her career, Miss Hunter was a great singer and always a delight to hear. Her phenomenal technique and interpretative skills were evident right to the end of her performing career. By 1989, when she made recordings with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra for ABC Classics, she no longer had sufficient breath support for long phrases and the way she had to breathe more frequently is evident on these recordings. As the photographs show, Ms Hunter was always large framed, and obese in the last decades of her life. The fact that she was only 68 when she died may be related to declining health in those last years, and could also explain her decreasing breath support.

Goosebumps

Just wonderful. Thank you. I haven’t heard this opera for awhile. This video made me want to search it out again. In the end, for me, it is all about Wagner and Strauss.

@jasonhurd4379

5 жыл бұрын

This is actually my favorite of the Ring operas. So many great passages: the Forging Song, the Forest Murmurs, the Wotan/Alberich scene, the Alberich/Mime scene, the Wotan/Siegfried scene, and of course this duet. One of my most cherished memories is of seeing this at San Francisco in 1989 with Rene Kollo and Gwyneth Jones. Magnificent!

@powerliftingcentaur

5 жыл бұрын

Jason Hurd Gosh, I think I saw that there in 89, as well.

@jasonhurd4379

5 жыл бұрын

@@powerliftingcentaur It was the Lehnhoff production, where Brünnhilde's rock was modeled after a Colorado mountaintop.

@powerliftingcentaur

5 жыл бұрын

Jason Hurd Yes. God, that was a beautiful production. It should have been preserved. I think it was jettisoned for what they have now (which, I admit, is interesting).

@jasonhurd4379

5 жыл бұрын

@@powerliftingcentaur Haven't seen the current production (Zambello?). For various boring reasons, I've not been to a live opera performance since 2006. I sorely miss it.

What kind of sopran is that ?!?! It is superlative !!!!!!!!! Never heard before.l this name .....what a wonderful discovering ♥️♥️♥️♥️

Hunter was so underrated. I think it was a case of people thinking that, because she made it sound easy, that she must not have been working very hard. Her big, bright, lyrically-oriented sound had no equals; the only one who came close was Ursula Schröder-Feinen, and MAYBE Linda Esther Gray, but Hunter lasted far longer than either of those ladies. I'd give my right arm to hear a Wagner soprano today with such a steady emission, firm support, bright, forward timbre and no hint of a wobble. Poor Remedios was having a bad night evidently, but only the ghost of Melchior could have kept up with Hunter when she was on form. But surely that can't be Goodall conducting? This sounds far too theatrical and propulsive to have come from his baton. Thank you Lohengrin! She's redeemed herself from that tepid Sleepwalking Scene you gave us previously! ☺

@LohengrinO

5 жыл бұрын

Henry Holt the conductor

@jasonhurd4379

5 жыл бұрын

@@LohengrinO That explains it. Thanks!

@BellaFirenze

5 жыл бұрын

Beautifully written. Why can't everyone express an opinion in this manner? Mille grazie.

@jasonhurd4379

5 жыл бұрын

@@BellaFirenze You are very kind.

@henrygingercat

4 жыл бұрын

To be fair to any poor Siegfried in this opera, he's been singing his heart out for hours by this stage and is bound to sound a bit knackered especially compared to Brunhilde who's only recently awakened,

Merci Une trés grande artiste. 31 juillet à Seattle ?

Amazing, well done Rita, it’s so spot on, would be interested to see where/when this recording was as it’s not from the Chandos CD or the 1973 BBC Broadcast (definitely later) incredible climax to such an Act, one I’ve seen so many times while thinking; damn how is my Father (Alberto) still singing after what has gone on prior to this tonight, they together, smashed these parts which was hated by the Germans, because of the Bel Canto style in which they were trained (not to mention it would have been sacrilege for English Singers to perform this at Bayreuth) something Goodall heard & wanted for his Ring Cycle, there were times I thought Dad would have gone for the ‘C’ (unwritten for the Tenor) too, especially in the early years…

... Grazie mille Lohengrin!! É Richard Wagner? Ciao.. Elsa

@elsaasta5164

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you, caro Lohengrin0, per aver soddisfatto la mia piccolissima richiesta.... Good night... Elsa.

She is superb here. Like her colleague Birgit Nilsson, Miss Hunter had a great sense of humor. Behold... kzread.info/dash/bejne/mI6W18luZM6ZnrA.html

Ciao Jason.Che opera e'? Grazie!

@jasonhurd4379

5 жыл бұрын

Ciao, carissimo. Questo è di Siegfried di Richard Wagner. Il tenore è Alberto Remedios, e cantano in inglese.

what is the tenor supposed to sing in the climax of this scene? he's not supposed to match her in that high C, right?

@LohengrinO

4 жыл бұрын

havent heard any tenor attempting a C5 here...

@biancacastafiore8760

4 жыл бұрын

@@LohengrinO but what is written, do you know?

@rossmerchant8435

3 жыл бұрын

@@LohengrinO Bernd Aldenhoff at Bayreuth in 1951 for Karajan! I'm really curious if Wieland sanctioned it. Seems like a really bold liberty to take at the grand reopening

@rossmerchant8435

3 жыл бұрын

@@biancacastafiore8760 It's in the score like how he sings it here. Brünnhilde's high C is actually optional (she can take it an octave lower). Perhaps Wagner decided to have mercy on the tenor at this point after singing this killer of a role, since an optional one would probably become expected

¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤!!!!!!

Διάβολε, πολύ ψηλά για δραματική σοπράνο! Δεν είμαι ειδικός, αλλά αυτό το κατλαβαίνω ξι εγώ.

@aetion

5 жыл бұрын

Σ' ευχαριστώ για τις πληροφορίες. Θα κοιτάξω για όσες δεν έχω ήδη ακούσει. Να είσαι καλά.

Rita Hunter is a great singer for sure but she’s not a dramatic soprano. Flagstad, is much more suited to this role

@LohengrinO

5 жыл бұрын

with half of the high notes Wagner wrote not sung? no ty :D

@jasonhurd4379

5 жыл бұрын

Flagstad had a matronly, complacent approach that was ill-suited to Wagner's heroines. They all have a passionate inner fire that must be brought out by the singer, or the portrayal of the character will fail. Flagstad never did this, preferring to stand and deliver a series of identical-sounding, monochromatic notes in a hieratic fashion. I would never have believed she sang Kundry, had I not seen a still of her, in costume onstage in Parsifal. I can't think of two roles more unsuited to the bovine Flagstad than Isolde and Kundry. She should have specialised in Erda, whose steady, uninflected cantilena and cipher of a persona suited her perfectly.

@LohengrinO

5 жыл бұрын

@@jasonhurd4379 I don't mind she sounded all alike all the time because she had a special connection with introvert, metaphysical parts of Wagner's music... but I couldn't mind MORE for a singer who skips the high notes written by her signature composer... I mean, the opera world goes crazy if a flawless singer skips a trill (Serra) but forgives a singer skipping the written notes? I think that most of her fans (including Antonio Pappano) are absolutely clueless regarding her recordings (they haven't even heard them)

@jasonhurd4379

5 жыл бұрын

@@LohengrinO Hmmm...you may be right about her 'special' connection, but I still have my doubts. Hildegard Behrens, with that strange vocal technique and deeply flawed voice, yet was able to tap into the Ur-Weibliche aspects of Isolde and Brünnhilde and bring them to raw, quivering life in a way I never heard from Flagstad. Behrens may have been more overtly theatrical in these parts than Flagstad, but Wagner was a man of the theatre as well as being a metaphysician, and both aspects need to be explored to the full before a portrayal of one of his heroines can be called successful. Just my opinion. ☺

@LohengrinO

5 жыл бұрын

@@jasonhurd4379 Behrens was a BIG artist... but this is what I mean about Flagstad: kzread.info/dash/bejne/emyrysSbl8e2ZZM.html I don't think it is just the conductor here... endlessly she sings as if she is clinically depressed