Eileen Farrell, where are you when we need you?

As I was driving to spend the afternoon with my friend Phyllis today, the car radio suddenly presented me with one of today's most famous DIVAS singing a Duke Ellington song. And by SINGING, I mean slaughtering. I had to shut off the radio! This particular Diva (who shall remain nameless) has issued this kind of recording in the past with equally unsuccessful results. It is a caricature of how an opera singer sings a popular song.

I asked Phyllis if she, when she used to sing Cole Porter songs, did anything unusual when moving from art song and opera to 'pop'. She told me that she just invested herself in the words and sang the song. And very well, I might add.

That seems difficult to do for some of today's opera singers who insist on doing cross-over albums. Years ago Kiri Te Kanawa put out an album with Nelson Riddle that boggled the mind. In singing 'Blue Skies', I'm sure that she started singing very nicely in her usual range only to have Mr. Riddle say, 'Lower, Kiri, lower Kiri, lower', after which they took it down about a seventh, making her sound like Mel Torme.

Eileen Farrell was the singer who could bring this off in spades. She could sing the 'Immolation Scene' on Tuesday and 'I've got a right to sing the Blues' on Wednesday, and be totally convincing and glorious in both.

Lorraine was able to do this. Shortly before her death I suggested to her that she do this kind of album. We had just listened to Farrell singing Wagner and pop and I said to her, 'Honey you could do that superbly'. Well, life was cruel and she never got the chance to make that album, but it would have been spectacular.

I just saw Stephanie Blythe sing 'June is bustin' out all over' in the PBS NY Phil presentation of Carousel the other night. She also does a program dedicated to Kate Smith, who could have done opera if she had wanted. Stephanie was great.

Phyllis and I also talked about the current rage to bring little known middle European singers to this country ignoring our own very excellent American variety. Phyllis will be teaching again at Tanglewood this summer for the 50th season. She said she has had hundreds of fine young singers go through her class only to have a tough time getting hired.

'Made in the USA' should be the motto of US symphony conductors and opera producers. Not that we don't welcome Europeans and Asians, but let's give the home team some support!