opera prima donna and uomo

Where would grand opera be without coloraturas who erupt? After all, they radiate excitement, spread magnetism, and stimulate argument. In the off-kiltered, microcosmic reality of opera, a singers skewed ego is usually considered as indispensable as seats for the patrons  Who could possibly conceive imagine a diva without eccentricities and a temper, or a male counterpart, the divo without bravado added to the list? …

“Prima Donna” does not always denote the female of the species.The operatic chronique scandaleuse knows many stories of the temperamental primo uomo. Not only tenors- though tenors seem to have a peculiar fscination for women,gland specialists, and Freudians- but also baritones and bassos.

---Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev was notoriously temperamental Interviewing the stars has usually been a pleasure, too, because despite their diva-ish reputations they are often very down-to-earth people. Placido Domingo, for instance, was more excited about telling me of a goal he had scored for Herbert von Karajan’s football team in Salzburg than about singing with the great German maestro. And the much-loved Welsh bass-baritone Sir Geraint Evans provided me with some fascinating insights into how he created his inimitable portrayals. The waddle of his corpulently padded Falstaff was, he said, based on watching one of his sons toddling about in a nappy. I did not always have such amiable relations with the notoriously temperamental Rudolf Nureyev. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2020032/Opera-critic-David-Gilliard-retires-Daily-Mail-reflects-40-thrilling-years.html#ixzz2krakpnH2 Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook ---

—Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev was notoriously temperamental
…Interviewing the stars has usually been a pleasure, too, because despite their diva-ish reputations they are often very down-to-earth people.
Placido Domingo, for instance, was more excited about telling me of a goal he had scored for Herbert von Karajan’s football team in Salzburg than about singing with the great German maestro.

I did not always have such amiable relations with the notoriously temperamental Rudolf Nureyev.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2020032/Opera-critic-David-Gilliard-retires-Daily-Mail-reflects-40-thrilling-years.html#ixzz2krakpnH2
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

In the late 1950’s Boris Christoff, during a Don Carlos rehearsal at the Rome Opera in which he sang the part of King Philip, got into an argument with the tenor and drew his stage sword against Don Carlos, who drew his sword- a fine climax that would have pleased Maestro Verdi.

Kathlenn Battle (1994)...What's unusual about Battle is that she apparently cares about nothing but herself. Stories abound about her -- and most, including those reported below, are true. * When she sang at President Clinton's inaugural ball, she turned away the limousine sent to her hotel because it was too small. When an acceptably large limousine came, and hurried so that she would not be late, she used the car phone to call her manager in New York to make him call the limousine service so that they would radio the driver and tell him to slow down. * Early in her career when she was singing Susanna in a Met production of Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro," she used to arrive early and lock Carol Vaness, who had top billing as the Countess, out of her dressing room because it was larger than Battle's. * In her recital at Meyerhoff Hall last month, she repeatedly humiliated her accompanist by stopping on several occasions while pretending she had not yet achieved the mood necessary to begin singing....click image for source...

Kathlenn Battle (1994)…What’s unusual about Battle is that she apparently cares about nothing but herself.
Stories abound about her — and most, including those reported below, are true.
* When she sang at President Clinton’s inaugural ball, she turned away the limousine sent to her hotel because it was too small. When an acceptably large limousine came, and hurried so that she would not be late, she used the car phone to call her manager in New York to make him call the limousine service so that they would radio the driver and tell him to slow down.
* Early in her career when she was singing Susanna in a Met production of Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro,” she used to arrive early and lock Carol Vaness, who had top billing as the Countess, out of her dressing room because it was larger than Battle’s.
* In her recital at Meyerhoff Hall last month, she repeatedly humiliated her accompanist by stopping on several occasions while pretending she had not yet achieved the mood necessary to begin singing….click image for source…

This is exactly the stuff grand opera is made of. And we should be grateful that prima donnas are still around. Life at the opera house will never be boring as long as great temperamental artists are alive and kicking:

(see link at end)…In a world of high drama, love stories don’t come much more extravagant than that of the tenor Roberto Alagna and the soprano Angela Gheorghui.

Their own tempestuous relationship is the stuff of the operas they sing.

They are now two of the highest paid and most sought after singers in the world, and this week they will sing together in an opera for the first time since they announced their split two years ago, here in London’s Covent Garden.

When their separation was announced two years

it was accompanied by an announcement that they would never sing together again. …

Their artistic antics off stage are as extravagant as their Diva-ish behaviour on-stage can be, and they are both famous for their temperamental outbursts.

She is sometimes known as Draculette because of her reported aversion to direct sunlight on her porcelain skin.

He is the only tenor to have stormed off the stage in La Scala while the orchestra was still playing after he was booed.

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