# Anna Russell, off to Valhalla at 94 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2006, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-russell-off-to-valhalla-at-94/377383 "2006-10-22T00:04:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-russell-off-to-valhalla-at-94/377383/1 "2006-10-22T00:04:04Z")
[Obituary in the Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/20/obituaries/20russell.html?ref=obituaries). I’m not making this up you know - alas. Having studied Wagner’s Ring in 10th grade, I was quite ready for Anna when I discovered her in grad school. She lived in Yardley, PA for a while, so we got to see her twice at McCarter theater in Princeton during several of her farewell tours. One thing she did not on any of the three CDs of hers I own is a version of Nabucco, by Verdi I believe. She started by saying that it always got cancelled - turns out that the reason, according to her, was that a late scene involved Nabucco’s daughter putting on his crown, and companies discovered, during dress rehearsal, that it fell down right over her eyes. And its really really funny when you’ve lots and lots of money to be horrible to those with none. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-russell-off-to-valhalla-at-94/377383/2 "2006-10-22T00:19:07Z")
By one of those incredible coincidences that people make too much of, I just found her [autobiography](http://www.amazon.com/Not-Making-This-Know-Autobiography/dp/0826403646/sr=8-8/qid=1161476189/ref=pd_bbs_8/104-4746201-1595126?ie=UTF8&s=books) in a book sale yesterday. At $1.00, it was quite a bargain. Wonder if they would have charged more if they had known? ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-russell-off-to-valhalla-at-94/377383/3 "2006-10-22T00:47:44Z")
I have seen a little of one of Anna’s Farewell Tours on the Arts Channel – the one that plays bits and pieces of all kinds of art 24 hours a day. She was absolutely hysterical! I have one of her CDs set aside in my Save Until Later section at Amazon. What a great dame. But I’ve never heard her sing! Farewell, Anna. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-russell-off-to-valhalla-at-94/377383/4 "2006-10-22T01:17:34Z")
It’s been a long time since I saw her but when I did she only commented on _Nabucco_, not did it, saying that there were _three_ crown stitches in the space of a couple bars and nobody could find a mezzo-soprano and a couple tenors all with the same size head. She did do the generic Gilbert & Sullivan _and_ the Ring cycle. I remember thinking, “If real opera was like this, I’d watch it!” ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-russell-off-to-valhalla-at-94/377383/5 "2006-10-22T01:19:16Z")
Sigh. Crown **switches** not stitches, though I suspect stitching the crown on might solve the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buckler_of_Swashing)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-russell-off-to-valhalla-at-94/377383/6 "2006-10-22T01:21:59Z")
Wow. On the same day that I introduce her work to friend (who loved it) I discover that not only has she just died but she lived only a few hours drive away from me. Damn. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-russell-off-to-valhalla-at-94/377383/7 "2006-10-22T01:38:11Z")
…and he (Seigfried) immediately falls in love with her (Brunnhilde) because she’s the first woman he’s met that hes not related to! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-russell-off-to-valhalla-at-94/377383/8 "2006-10-22T04:31:45Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] …and he (Seigfried) immediately falls in love with her (Brunnhilde) because she’s the first woman he’s met that hes not related to! [/QUOTE] Not an Aunt - pronounced that wonderful Anna way. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-russell-off-to-valhalla-at-94/377383/9 "2006-10-23T14:45:43Z")
Let us not bemoan the loss of the opera world’s clown princess, for she managed one of the greatest coups a diva of her stature can achieve – she outlived her critics. Hats off (including the silly ones) to the divine Ms. Russell! ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-russell-off-to-valhalla-at-94/377383/10 "2006-10-23T17:21:08Z")
Farewell Ms. Russell. It was because of her that I took an interest in opera and for that I am forever grateful. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-russell-off-to-valhalla-at-94/377383/11 "2006-10-27T09:58:15Z")
Her version of Wagner’s ring is just as good as Bugs Bunny’s “What’s Opera Doc”. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-russell-off-to-valhalla-at-94/377383/12 "2006-10-27T12:11:58Z")
OOOOOOh… Never heard of her before but this sounds delightful. I think I’ll hop to the e-stores later and see what I can find ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-russell-off-to-valhalla-at-94/377383/13 "2006-10-28T00:39:02Z")
**Nava,** wait until you hear about the green torso in the living room. Farewell, Anna.