I have a disc that I especially love: it's a collection of songs by Ravel, Berg, Mahler, and Webern...and a Handel cantata. The singer is the Israeli contralto Mira Zakai.
Ms. Zakai had a big international career, winging with the great orchestras of Berlin, New York, Israel, Chicago, Paris, London, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Zurich, Vienna, Montreal, Toronto, and Washington DC. She worked with such eminent conductors as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Luciano Berio, Gary Bertini, Sergiu Comissiona, Michel Corboz, Colin Davis, Christoph Eschenbach, Carlo Maria Giulini, Rafael Kubelík, Eduardo Mata, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, and Georg Solti. She also appeared in opera, singing such roles as Prince Orlovsky, Ulrica, and Erda.
A few years ago, while I was playing the above-mentioned CD, I found myself wondering where Ms. Zakai was and what she was doing. I soon found online that she was teaching in Israel; and I also found an e-mail address for her. So I sent her a message, telling her of my high regard for her singing. Later in the day, I received a very gracious and kind reply from her.
Yesterday, I began listening to the CD again, and again I found it so intriguing: her manipulation of the vibrato and her lovely dynamic shadings are captivating. I felt genuinely sad when I found that she had passed away in 2019.
Quite a few of her recordings may be heard on YouTube; her haunting singing of "Au cimetière" from Hector Berlioz's Les Nuits d'Ete is particularly moving for me. Listen to it here.
~ Oberon