Anna's tribute to Abbado......wonderful....

Hello dear readers, I was fortunate enough to have met the exceptionally gifted Swedish contralto, Anna (Larsson)in 1992, at the Stockholm Opera High School. I distinctly remember people being surprised at my excitement over this vocal "find". In England we revere this very rare voice type, and have had some very fine singers in this range over the years. The problem these days is that either mezzo - soprano's are forced down artificially, or contralto's are "transported" up - why can't they simply be left alone to develop in their original range ??? With Anna, the potential was instantly recognisable, and mercifully her gifted, beloved singing teacher, Florence Duselius, understood that my breathing routine could benefit Anna, beyond what she herself could give her, as she knew what the consequence might be without it. (You notice how often the word "gift" is used in connection with talent - never abuse your gifts...just thank God you are blessed with them.... they do not make one any better than others, just luckier...be thankful .... So, Anna and I started breathing "seriously" (!) to develop her unique voice - I'd never heard one like it before, in life, or on recordings - and still haven't ! Then came the time when Anna sang wonderfully in the Nobel Prize concert in Stockholm City Hall - such a glittering occasion. Her colleagues were the golden voiced Hillevi (Martinpelto) soprano, Jonas Degerfield, tenor, and Peter Mattei, baritone - what a line-up, and all of whom I had met at the Operahogskolan, in Stockholm. In an excerpt from "Samson and Delilah" Anna sang ravishingly, and looked magnificent,in the beautiful aria "Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix" - graciously , seductively and slowly descending the grand staircase, never looking down (amazing), and with such charisma, flanked on either side by exotically adorned ,gorgeous young men, bare chested - oooh, it still takes my breath away -aaaah !! It was such an enchanting performance, and unbelievable in one so young - that "presence" quality cannot be taught - "either yo' godditt, or you ain't" as one American singer once said to me...! and, by George, she goddit !! and how !! Claudio (Abbado) saw the performance on t.v. and that's when it all "took off" as Anna explains in her blog - hence her sincerely touching and lovely tribute to him - God bless you Claudio....My first experience of meeting him was when K. te K. invited me to "pop over for tea" at her house in Surrey, on my way to London from Chichester Festival Theatre, Sussex, in the 1970's. When I arrived champagne was being served - at teatime !?? There were just seven of us present, and when I was ushed into the lounge - there was the illustrious - Claudio, wife and two children ! To say I was surprised would be the understatement of the decade the jaw dropped !! We had a lovely tea/champagne party, and later, when I ased Kiri why she had done that, she said "I just wanted to see the expression on your face - it was worth a million dollars...." Yes, she does have a wonderful sense of humour, quite "wicked" sometimes too... that was another fascinating experience for me... Now we all await Anna's "Delilah" at Operan next season in Stockholm - after Erda in Vienna, and Aix en Provence - such a versatile, enigmatic lady - you lucky Swedes - here's hoping we can see her on the boards in London soooooooooon.... k..p b.......g....love to you alllll...'speshly La La Larsson......