Ruth Ann Swenson, soprano

[Lance]

I've been reading up on soprano Ruth Ann Swenson, who appeared so many times at the Metropolitan Opera but apparently felt she wasn't "liked" by then manager Peter Gelb. I see she had a bout with cancer but is hopefully over all that phase. In the meantime, I'm not hearing much about her these days, and she doesn't seem to be recording. Anybody know what's going on with her? I have some of her recordings, but, in truth, there were not all that many.

Here's an article that appeared in 2007 that provides an interesting read:

http://www.operatoday.com/content/2007/ ... _rampa.php

[Rach3]

I heard a couple of her Met broadcasts, and have one of her cd's , but find little current on the Internet, no posts since 2016 on what appears to have been a Facebook page she and her baritone husband once had for a vocal studio:

https://www.facebook.com/Ruth-Ann-Swens ... 628976747/

[maestrob]

Interesting article Lance, thank-you.

As for Ruth Ann Swenson, I have an arias album, which is superbly done, and the Gounod Romeo et Juliette with Domingo, which includes the poison aria, while Freni/Corelli does not, altho Freni could have easily sung the aria. Naturally, I prefer the Swenson/Domingo, as Corelli's French is a disaster, and his voice was simply not made for French opera (His Faust with Joan Sutherland is, IMHO, equally disastrous.).

After that sharply negative complaint in the NYT, Swenson retired from view, and I've not heard of her since. A fine voice, but little depth of feeling, I'd say. Still, I admire her Juliette. The MET often encourages singers of a certain age who are singing well to retire for no good reason.