What Smells Like A Dozen Famous Sopranos And Is Red All Over?

One King's Lane is currently running an auction of Metropolitan Opera memorabilia. Perhaps the most interesting item among the lot is a costume worn by a curious collection of divas that have sung the role of Elizabeth of Valois with the company over the last three decades, beginning with its original wearer Renata Scotto. A nice bargain of operatic history for only $4,999US and Halloween is just around the corner! 

A full image of the dress after the jump and be sure to check the tags at the end of this post to see the list of singers to wear the garment.

Click on the image to enlarge. You will see a detail of the tags sewn into the costume that designate some of the singers who wore it over the years. You can see sopranos wearing it here and here. Also watch the dress in action here.

The Mystique of the Missing Russian Diva Voices

Every few years a soprano comes along from the Russian landscape that has a big and steely sound to take on the most challenging music of Giuseppe Verdi. She then is proclaimed the "Verdi soprano" for which the opera world has been impatiently waiting. Then after singing a few seasons at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala and Covent Garden, that artist slips into obscurity or suffers major vocal decline. Here are some examples:

Galina Gorchakova	Ljuba Kazarnovskaya
"Pace, pace mio Dio"	"Ecco l'orrido"
La Forza del Destino	Un Ballo in Maschera

Maria Guleghina	Marina Mescheriakova
"Santo di Patria"	"Tu che le vanità"
Attila	Don Carlo

And will this latest Russian export to be proclaimed the leading diva of Verdi be the next victim?

Marina Poplavskaya

"Mia madre aveva una povera ancella"

Otello