Elizabeth Futral’s plush vocals portray bel canto madness

THE SONGBIRD: Elizabeth Futral was born in North Carolina in 1963, but grew up in Louisiana. She studied with the legendary Virginia Zeani and was a winner in the national Met Auditions in 1991. Her first big splash was as Lakmé in the New York City Opera production in 1994. I was living in NYC at the time, but sadly missed it. I did get to see her live in recital at the small Carnegie Hall venue in 1995. Futral has had a very active and adventurous career in opera houses and concert halls around the world. Her Met debut was Lucia in 1999. She has sung nearly all of the standard lyric-coloratura roles, as well as been in revivals of uncommon works (Rossini's "Matilde di Shabran," Meyerbeer's "L'etoile du nord," Halévy's "Le Juive," Berlioz's "Benvenuti Cellini") and premiered new works (Dun's "The First Emperor" at the Met, Previn's "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Brief Encounter," Laitman’s "Scarlett Letter," and Gordon's "Twenty-Seven" as Alice B. Toklas).
THE MUSIC: "I puritani" was Bellini's last opera. It premiered in Paris in January 1835, and Bellini died in September 1835 at the age of 33. It was tremendously successful and the opera was performed regularly throughout Europe and in New York until the early 1900s. It went mostly dormant until it caught the public's attention during the bel canto revival ignited by Maria Callas and carried forward by Joan Sutherland, Beverly Sills, Edita Gruberova, and others. Elvira is one of Bellini's most mentally delicate creatures and her mad scene is an elegant depiction of her fragile emotional state. The entire mad scene is very long (almost 20 minutes with no cuts), this performance was abridged slightly.

[@BrianJosephMorgan]

Brava!

[@Zuria-ph9mk]

Прекрасно!!! Напоминает Беверли Силз по тембру с легким вибрато, но более округлым звуком...