7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
La Nera Callas, September 20, 2004
This review is from: I Never Walked Alone: The Autobiography of an American Singer (Hardcover)
Having read biographies of Sutherland and Caballe, I was happy to add Shirley Verrett's to the collection. Unlike some other opera memoirs, this is a very quick read. Verrett is not the kind to mince words, nor dramatize a situation. Sure, there were some details about certain stagings and colleagues that I would have liked to have learned more about, but the brevity of the writing allows you to read the entire book in just a couple of sittings.
Of all the stories she tells about relationships with other singers, most interesting of all is her "rivalry" with Grace Bumbry. Verrett hits it on the mark when she compares the much-hyped rivalry as being the equivalent of two black racehorses. It is an apt analogy, even if Verrett undermines the parallels between her career vis-a-vis Bumbry's. We're not just talking about two black opera singers. We are talking about two mezzos who often switched fachs, were as comfortable singing bel canto as they were singing Verdi, and whose signature roles overlapped (Eboli, Amneris, etc.) So, by default, controversy was bound to happen. In the end, they became friends, but the story of the rivalry is very compelling.
There are a couple of things that I don't like about this memoir. First, Verrett (and/or Mr. Brooks) has a bad habit of repeating information that you just read about a page or two earlier. The most blatant example is how she describes the increasing difficulty to pack opera houses. She mentions that even Joan Sutherland had trouble filling a house to capacity. Then, a couple of chapters later, she mentions that even Joan Sutherland had trouble filling a house to capacity(!)
Speaking of Sutherland, she also slights her in a paragraph where she gives her opinions of how critical acting is to a role, especially Norma. Verrett talks about how one critic faulted her diction when she sand Norma in San Fransisco. Verrett opines that the critic must have "another" soprano in mind that he preferred, which we understand is Sutherland, although Shirley never mentions her by name. Shirley declares that diction was this soprano's great weakness, and dismisses her acting ability by saying she acted "from the neck up". This is a valid point to make, but I am a Sutherlandphile, and feel that the Sutherland temperment was often underestimated.
All in all, this is a wonderful autobiography, of an artist hailed by the Italians as "La Nera Callas". She is very frank about the opportunities she let go by, including an exclusive contract with RCA. Funny how so many of the opera recordings we treasure were almost cast differently; if Verrett hadn't walked out on her contract, she would have recorded Preziosilla and Amneris opposite Leontyne Price, instead of Cossotto and Bumbry.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great career, great book, August 27, 2003
This review is from: I Never Walked Alone: The Autobiography of an American Singer (Hardcover)
Shirley Verrett's autobiography "I Never Walked Alone" (with Christopher Brooks) pretty much tells her life as she has seen it, and all I can say is, "Right on." She covers the highlights of her career and does not shy from admitting mistakes she made along the way and things she would have done differently. Now a teacher at the University of Michigan, she leaves the impression that she is writing her autobiography, at least in part as a cautionary tale for her students. Coming from a woman who had a spectacular career, that is pretty strong stuff. Having shared her remarkable gifts with the world, she need not apologize for any false step she may think she took along the way. She steps from the pages of this book as a woman who was always true to herself. What more can a person ask?
Miss Verrett, whom the Italians dubbed the black Callas, covers it all. She gives the details of her strict upbringing and the effect it had on her career, her first marriage and why it dissolved and the trials that faced her as a African American opera singer arriving on the scene just as members of race were crossing the color line at the Metropolitan Opera House (not to mention other major opera houses). With touching candor, she relates her struggles to become a mother and some of the problems she faced balacing child-rearing and a career, her battles with a mysterious illness that made singing difficult, and working through the hormonal changes that accompanied middle life. Throughout, she describes singers and conductors she admired and enjoyed as well as several she did not; she returns several times to her complicated relationship with Grace Bumbry (known in Germany as the black Venus), painting a wonderful picture of their catharsis.
Put this one in the must read category along with the recent biographies of Eileen Farrell and Astrid Varnay, two other outspoken and humorous divas who called it like they saw it.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Life Well Spent, August 3, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: I Never Walked Alone: The Autobiography of an American Singer (Hardcover)
Shirley Verrett's life experiences and career were enlightening on several fronts. I appreciated her candid discussion of her mistakes and triumphs. Not being an opera buff, I was able to relate to Verrett's story at a human level. The challenges she faced in juggling her active career with a relatively stable homelife was inspiring. I was also impressed with the directness with which she spoke about her failed first marriage. She gave up the material wealth to gain peace of mind and in doing so eventually met her soulmate to whom she has been married for forty years. I highly recommend this book for music lovers and non-music lovers alike. There are many life lessons to be gleaned here. This is more than the story of an American singer. It is a story that many women will be able to relate to at some level.
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