Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Female Baritone

Elena Obraztsova survived the siege of Leningrad as a young girl and managed to become number four of five on this impromptu list of unique and beautiful singers. She also became one the first Russian singers to emerge from behind the Iron Curtain to international fame.

She was evacuated during the battle across the frozen Lake Ladoga. During the maneuver, two other trucks broke through the ice and sank. Elena’s grandmother died of hunger during the trip.

Obraztsova’s parents weren’t impressed with her voice and her father is rumored to have thought it to be an ugly sound. They tried to sway Elena toward technical school but she failed to be accepted. She applied to music school and was one of three students to be accepted out of 100 that applied.

The range of Obraztsova’s voice defies reason. Her bottom notes aren’t just masculine sounding, they are downright baritonal. Her top notes are full and exciting. She is equally effective singing the contralto-ish Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix from Samson to the soprano killer Vissi d’arte from Tosca.

In my opinion, it is in the role of Santuzza from Cavalleria Rusticana that Obraztsova is unsurpassed. Her voice appeared to be formed for this role in the womb. She also had enough life experience to bring the dispossessed Sicilian Santuzza into full blooded life on the stage.

Once again, this is a voice that we never forget or confuse with other singers after we’ve heard it. Elena Obraztsova had a "freak of nature" voice. It was deep as deep can go, huge and dramatic but always warm and beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJX0b9ZChYk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MPnbpa4Sss&feature=relmfu

Complete film of Cavalleria with Obraztsova and Domingo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6UTvydx9K0

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Tyler Farr, Blue Water Film Festival, Mustache Bash

Events March 21-March 23, 2024

Elena Obraztsova survived the siege of Leningrad as a young girl and managed to become number four of five on this impromptu list of unique and beautiful singers. She also became one the first Russian singers to emerge from behind the Iron Curtain to international fame.

She was evacuated during the battle across the frozen Lake Ladoga. During the maneuver, two other trucks broke through the ice and sank. Elena’s grandmother died of hunger during the trip.

Obraztsova’s parents weren’t impressed with her voice and her father is rumored to have thought it to be an ugly sound. They tried to sway Elena toward technical school but she failed to be accepted. She applied to music school and was one of three students to be accepted out of 100 that applied.

The range of Obraztsova’s voice defies reason. Her bottom notes aren’t just masculine sounding, they are downright baritonal. Her top notes are full and exciting. She is equally effective singing the contralto-ish Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix from Samson to the soprano killer Vissi d’arte from Tosca.

In my opinion, it is in the role of Santuzza from Cavalleria Rusticana that Obraztsova is unsurpassed. Her voice appeared to be formed for this role in the womb. She also had enough life experience to bring the dispossessed Sicilian Santuzza into full blooded life on the stage.

Once again, this is a voice that we never forget or confuse with other singers after we’ve heard it. Elena Obraztsova had a "freak of nature" voice. It was deep as deep can go, huge and dramatic but always warm and beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJX0b9ZChYk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MPnbpa4Sss&feature=relmfu

Complete film of Cavalleria with Obraztsova and Domingo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6UTvydx9K0

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.