Among the marvels of the euro-satellite feeds, Arté has a special place in Opera Chic's heart (same for Mezzo, another OC fave).
It's a French-German channel of such awesomeness that we often pass out with joy just leafing through the program schedule. A few hours ago, for example, they have broadcast a sweet documentary on Voci Verdiane, the contest for young Verdian singers that takes place in Busseto.
The winner of the 2006 contest shown in the documentary feature -- president of the jury the marvelous Leyla Gencer, who nowadays nearing 80 looks, quite sweetly, like a brunette Nancy Reagan -- was soprano Takesha Meshé Kizart (which is, by the way, a great name for a character in a spy novel -- like a Mata Hari-esque soprano stealing Soviet secrets during a Moscow engagement in the early 1950s -- OC is actually writing that novel, New York book people and/or agents are free to inquire by email). Anyway: OC was quite impressed by the big voice and her precise linea di canto and her obvious affinity for the Verdi material, the beautiful prayer of "Tu Che Le Vanità" from Don Carlos (not to mention the general bodily hawtness), and also by the big brass ovarie$ it took to tackle a classic Callas aria in Verdi's theater in Busseto, of all places. That fact alone is worth an A+
During the documentary, TMK explained, quite shyly, that she's Muddy Waters's grand niece.
OC's wish for the young soprano is that, in a few years, people will say that a certain bluesman from many years ago is actually related to the great Takesha Meshé Kizart.