Tuesday, May 10, 2011

S.F. Opera Ring Cycle Cast Change: Fricka

Liarissa Diadkova out, for personal reasons; Elizabeth Bishop in.


Bishop covered the role in 1999, too, and stepped in for an indisposed Marjana Lipovsek. Janos Gereben had this to say about her at the time, though others who also posted to opera-l were less happy:

Luck was with SFO tonight: the last-minute illness of Marjana Lipovsek brough her cover to the stage, and Elizabeth Bishop stepped into the role of Fricka gloriously. Besides her exceptionally clear and strong vocal performance, Bishop also provided a far more restrained and believablewronged wife than the usual shrill portrayal.

11 comments:

Alex said...

She did Waltraute in our, um, set-less preview of the Zambello Gotterdammerung here in DC. I was into her.

Lisa Hirsch said...

Did you catch her Fricka in DC?

Alex said...

My records have Elena Zaremba as Fricka in the Walkure opening night here (which was 2007, sheesh). Not sure if there was a B cast...

For the record, I think Walkure might be the most successful of the 3 parts I saw. As a whole, the production seems like kind of a mess but there are definitely some successful and intriguing bits. Will be v. interested to hear what you think...

Lisa Hirsch said...

She might have subbed for Zaremba. But, yeah, curious how it will all work out.

Anonymous said...

I'm so disappointed. Every time I've seen Dyadkova I've found her thrilling: in Ruslan and Lyudmilla, Betrothal in a Monastery, Mazeppa, Suor Angelica. Great voice and acting, and a dynamite stage personality. Seeing her was one of the reasons I finally sprang for tickets.

Lisa Hirsch said...

Yeah - I saw her in all of her SF Opera appearances and she was very good, especially in Aida where she was the only soloists who sang well.

She was not in SF's Ruslan, however.

Anonymous said...

I saw her do Ruslan in New York, and of course she's on the DVD.

Lisa Hirsch said...

Aaaaaaah.

Which cycle are you coming up for?

Anonymous said...

Third cycle.

Anonymous said...

Third cycle.

Lisa Hirsch said...

Ah, you get Heidi and everything completely seasoned!

let's have lunch/dinner/something like that during your stay.