Netania Davrath

Netania Davrath (Нетания Доврат) (12 August 1931 – 11 April 1987) was a Ukrainian-born Israeli soprano opera and concert singer.

Early life and study

In 1948, Davrath moved to Israel with her family. There, she studied in Jerusalem with Edith Boroschek. She subsequently studied in Düsseldorf and later at the Juilliard School in New York with Jennie Tourel, as well as in Italy.

Career

Davrath's repertoire included both opera and concert pieces. She collaborated with conductors Leonard Bernstein, John Barbirolli, Leopold Stokowski and Zubin Mehta and several orchestras: the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Opera Boston among others. She recorded ten discs under the Vanguard Classics label. Davrath was fluent in eight languages.

Her childhood years may have influenced her attraction to folk music – first in her native country Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union), then later in Israel. These influences are reflected in her performance style; a delicate tone, clarity of enunciation, and agility. Her early recording of Joseph Canteloube's Chants d'Auvergne is considered by many to be unsurpassed.

Her voice is tender, strong, nasal, arch, shy, abandoned, free from vibrato, pure and clean and distinctly un-operatic. She has that platinum quality of voice that is unsophisticated and girlishly innocent. Going by track record this is not something that can be taught. You either have it or you don't. Davrath's facility in eight languages undoubtedly aids her interpretations which are always intelligent and which do not give the impression of being phonetically acquired.

— Rob Barnett, music critic

External links

• Netania Davrath at AllMusic
• Rendition of Canteloube's "Baïlèro" on YouTube, from Chants d'Auvergne