Aida's Brothers and Sisters: Black Voices in Opera Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Buy this great dvd, I did and am extremely pleased. I bought the videocassette recording before the dvd became available and now have both in my library. You won't regret it!!
The writer (and he/she receives my applause) of this magnificent editorial is unaware of an earlier well known (recorded in history) opera singer whose name was Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield. This diva was born in Natchez, Mississippi 1809; before Sissieretta Jones who was so eloquently written of by the Editor. There were many others, male and female, before and later who didn't receive the deserved recognition in history.
Please read the following about Ms. Greenfield:
The story of the black struggle for a place in the American sun began not with the significant in-roads made in jazz, sports, or politics in the 20th century. Its real start came with a singer who was born a slave in the South nearly 40 years before the outbreak of the Civil War. Her name was Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield; she crowned her career with a command performance before Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace.
Elizabeth was born in Natchez, Mississippi 1809 and was reared in Philadelphia by "a Quaker lady named Greenfield" whose name she adopted. After Ms. Greenfield's death in 1844, Elizabeth moved to Buffalo, New York. Seven years later she appeared before the Buffalo Musical Association at Corinthian Hall. She began singing to packed houses "... of respectable, cultured and fashionable people", observed the Buffalo Press, and was critically acclaimed for her vocal artistry. She frequently performed before government officials, heads of state, and visiting dignitaries in Boston and New York.
In 1853, Elizabeth went to Europe with the aid of Harriet Beecher Stowe. She was befriended by the Duchess of Sutherland who arranged many concerts patronized by royalty. May, 1854 she gave a command performance at Buckingham Palace for Queen Victoria and was accompanied by Her Majesty's royal organist and composer, Sir George Smart.
Elizabeth returned to the United States July, 1854; and, as usual, was well received by audiences and critics alike. She received favorable reviews from newspapers that were pro-slavery. As so appropriately stated by the Provincial Freeman, a black antislavery press, "...not a few gentlemen and ladies conquered their prejudices and made call upon the gifted vocalist during the few days she stayed in their midst".
After the Civil War she settled in Philadelphia and opened a voice studio. In 1866 she and her students performed at the National Hall, "Festival of the Friends of Freedom", sponsored by the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. Elizabeth Taylor-Greenfield received world-wide acclaim as a most gifted vocalist with an "astonishing" range easily embracing 27 notes, which represents 3 octaves plus. She passed away in 1876 at the age of 67. AFRO-American Almanac
There is so much history left out by mistake, intentionally, lost, etc. I could go on and on...

Click Here to see more reviews about: Aida's Brothers and Sisters: Black Voices in Opera

Intriguing documentary about black singers of classical musicset against the background of black emancipation in politicsand society in the US.Think of today's top operatic voices, and black owners of them are aslikely to come into the list as white ones: Willard White, Jessye Normanand Kathleen Battle to name only three. We know it wasn't always thus- Paul Robeson's struggles to be recognised as a great singer, instead ofa black singer, went on for many decades.But this programme reveals just how hard the journey to acceptance ofAmerica's black singers has been. It opens with one of the greatest voices ofthe 20th century: Marian Anderson and a clip of her magnifi cent performanceof Ave Maria. The film offers newsreel footage from her landmark 1939concert at the Lincoln Memorial, which was held after the Daughters of theAmerican Revolution denied her access to their Constitution Hall venue.But the black tradition of classical singing goes back even further: BeforeLeontye Price, Jessye Norman and even before Marian Anderson, SissierettaJones was arguably the greatest black performer of 19th century America andcertainly the first great black diva. Sissieretta Jones , the Black Patti, anallusion to Italian-American primadonna Adelina Patti, performed before four American presidents, mesmerized critics and audiences alikeand was so successful that at one concert in New Jersey 1,000 visitors had to be turned away.The film Aida's Brothers and Sisters intends to focus the viewer's gaze particularly on the black classic and also on the fascinatingmixed forms that have developed from the confrontation of white and black music in the last hundred years. The encounter with thepowerful personalities of the singers and their music will reveal the humour, the lust for life, and the spiritual depth of black culture,and will perhaps add a dash of colour to a white fin de siècle culture that is in danger of contracting anaemia.A fascinating documentary with historical and contemporary film and video records of performances by Leontyne Price, Simon Estes,Grace Bumbry, Reri Grist and many others.

Get 10% OFF

Click here for more information about Aida's Brothers and Sisters: Black Voices in Opera