Glad 67th birthday soprano Cheryl Studer.
On today in 1961 soprano Teresa Stich-Randall and tenor George Shirley made their Metropolitan Opera debuts in Cosi fan tutte.
Robert Sabin in Musical America:
Teresa Stich-Randall, who has acquired a formidable repute in Europe in addition to at house, eventually reached the stage of the Metropolitan on this efficiency. I don’t suppose that any singer would select the function of Fiordiligi for a debut, however Miss Stich-Randall sang it very fantastically certainly and proved herself a real Mozartean within the ensembles (that are all the time the acid take a look at in his operas).
The voice is curious. At occasions it appears artificially produced, as if she had been rigorously imitating the instrumental high quality of the good sopranos of the Golden Age on outdated phonograph recordings. Then once more, it appears to emerge unmannered and spontaneous. The excessive tones are terribly sensible; the decrease vary much less rounded and full. All sopranos have difficulties with Mozart’s unimaginable arias on this work, which had been written in a parodistic spirit, anyway. However lots of Miss Stich-Randall’s phrases had been of memorable silvery luster.
George Shirley made an sudden debut as Ferrando, substituting for Charles Anthony, who was indisposed. He confirmed the superb impression he had made earlier within the season with the New York Metropolis Opera. Here’s a delicate musician, an professional actor and an clever artist who approaches each task with style and resourceful approach. His voice is probably not sensational, however his artistry is.
