A Singer’s Notes by Keith Kibler 37: Risk and Ease: Cherubini's Medea at Glimmerglass, Handel's Orlando at Tanglewood

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Alexandra Deshorties as Medea with the Argonauts in The Glimmerglass Festival's 2011 production of Cherubini's Medea. Photo Julieta Cervantes.

Artists like Maria Callas and Vladimir Horowitz seemed to possess as part of their formidable arsenals a kind of palpable risk-taking. Could he actually play it that fast? Could she really get the high note? Alexandra Deshorties is one of these artists. Her performance in the title role of Glimmerglass Festival Opera's Medea was a real thrill-ride. She entered barely audible, and she made us listen. More than once it seemed like the role was a little much for her. But then it wasn't. Was this consciously done? Whatever it was, it made the first act of the opera riveting, not just the end. If a word doesn't make a beautiful sound, she doesn't compel her voice to make a beautiful sound. Her way of gesturing, equally unpredictable, produced visible responses in the audience members around me. In short, this is my kind of singer.

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