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From: EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) on 18 Oct 2007 13:59 David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*) wrote: > EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) <evgmsop(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > > >>David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*) wrote: >>>I would take his comments with a pinch of salt, myself. (I wonder why he >>>felt the need to change his name from Joseph van Damme?) >> >>IIRC, his voice teacher's advice, in the early days of his career. "Jose" >>is a diminutive of Joseph (and was always his nickname), dropping the >>final "me" of "van Damme" allowed his name to fit on a marquee more >>readily. > > > Oh, come _on_! You don't think performers think about such things? (We're talking the pre-computerized late 1950's, 1960's, when info on theater marquees was still hand-set, using a finite number of letter sizes.) Quite a few "stage names" were created with that precept in mind - i.e. "the bigger the better" - not just opera singers'. > >>(It's >>certainly better than "Jose Damiant" which was the name he >>used when he was seventeen and his first singing jobs were >>in non-operatic venues!) > > His original name was fine. But obviously he (or his advisors) did not think so! (Remember, the man was only twenty when he signed his first contract with the Paris Opera - young people don't always exercise mature judgment, and tend to accept the opinions of their mentors.) > >>> A Met gig is >>>highly prized... >> >>Less so, I think, when one has already achieved >>international fame - especially if the fame came BEFORE the >>Met's imprimatur. > > Again, what is your source for this? Any number of professional singers who have had perfectly satisfactory careers - financially and artistically - without even setting foot on our shores! (Beverly Sills was doing just fine without the Met - according to rumor, it was they who came to her, hat in hand.)
From: Hatunen on 18 Oct 2007 14:11 On Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:59:07 -0700, "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" <evgmsop(a)earthlink.net> wrote: >You don't think performers think about such things? (We're >talking the pre-computerized late 1950's, 1960's, when info >on theater marquees was still hand-set, using a finite >number of letter sizes.) Quite a few "stage names" were >created with that precept in mind - i.e. "the bigger the >better" - not just opera singers'. One wonders why Arnold Dorsey chose the professional name "Englebert Humperdinck", especially since the name was already sort of famous. -- ************* DAVE HATUNEN (hatunen(a)cox.net) ************* * Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow * * My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *
From: d4g4h4 on 18 Oct 2007 14:24 EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) <evgmsop(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*) wrote: > > EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) <evgmsop(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > > > > > >>David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*) wrote: > > >>>I would take his comments with a pinch of salt, myself. (I wonder why he > >>>felt the need to change his name from Joseph van Damme?) > >> > >>IIRC, his voice teacher's advice, in the early days of his career. "Jose" > >>is a diminutive of Joseph (and was always his nickname), dropping the > >>final "me" of "van Damme" allowed his name to fit on a marquee more > >>readily. > > > > > > Oh, come _on_! > > You don't think performers think about such things? If there name was Joseph van Dammedammedammedamme, maybe. > (We're > talking the pre-computerized late 1950's, 1960's, when info > on theater marquees was still hand-set, using a finite > number of letter sizes.) Quite a few "stage names" were > created with that precept in mind - i.e. "the bigger the > better" - not just opera singers'. > > > >>(It's > >>certainly better than "Jose Damiant" which was the name he > >>used when he was seventeen and his first singing jobs were > >>in non-operatic venues!) > > > > His original name was fine. > > But obviously he (or his advisors) did not think so! Manifestly- I suspect the name was changed to make it more 'exotic.' > (Remember, the man was only twenty when he signed his first > contract with the Paris Opera - young people don't always > exercise mature judgment, and tend to accept the opinions of > their mentors.) I agree. > > > >>> A Met gig is > >>>highly prized... > >> > >>Less so, I think, when one has already achieved > >>international fame - especially if the fame came BEFORE the > >>Met's imprimatur. > > > > Again, what is your source for this? > > Any number of professional singers who have had perfectly > satisfactory careers - financially and artistically - > without even setting foot on our shores! (Beverly Sills was > doing just fine without the Met - according to rumor, it was > they who came to her, hat in hand.) Not every world class singer will sing everywhere, but I reject your suggestion that the Met isn't one of the defining world class notions, and you haven't provided evidence that it doesn't pay as well as other opera houses. -- (*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate http://www.davidhorne.net - real address on website "He can't be as stupid as he looks, but nevertheless he probably is quite a stupid man." Richard Dawkins on Pres. Bush"
From: Go Fig on 18 Oct 2007 19:05 In article <ff86tu01veg(a)news2.newsguy.com>, Divamanque <evgmsop(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > >>> A Met gig is > >>>highly prized... > >> > >>Less so, I think, when one has already achieved > >>international fame - especially if the fame came BEFORE the > >>Met's imprimatur. > > > > Again, what is your source for this? > > Any number of professional singers who have had perfectly > satisfactory careers - financially and artistically - > without even setting foot on our shores! (Beverly Sills was > doing just fine without the Met - according to rumor, it was > they who came to her, hat in hand.) That it what you have to do to get talent... in any field. Quite a history for opera at the Met.... http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/history/ (an example) > Following his first professional appearance in 1961, Pavarotti made his > Met debut on November 23, 1968, as Rodolfo in La Boh�me opposite > Mirella Freni. By the time he gave his farewell performance on March > 13, 2004, as Cavaradossi in Tosca, he had sung with the company in 378 > performances, more than anywhere else in the world. .... he did it in the jet-age, others have been doing it since the steamship era. jay Thu Oct 18, 2007 mailto:gofig(a)mac.com
From: EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) on 19 Oct 2007 00:50
Hatunen wrote: > On Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:59:07 -0700, > "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" <evgmsop(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > > >>You don't think performers think about such things? (We're >>talking the pre-computerized late 1950's, 1960's, when info >>on theater marquees was still hand-set, using a finite >>number of letter sizes.) Quite a few "stage names" were >>created with that precept in mind - i.e. "the bigger the >>better" - not just opera singers'. > > > One wonders why Arnold Dorsey chose the professional name > "Englebert Humperdinck", especially since the name was already > sort of famous. You answered your own question, I think! ;-) > |