Talk:Risë Stevens

Umlaut
It seems to me that the title of this article should be Risë Stevens (with the umlaut) and that the redirect should be from Rise Stevens (without the unlaut). ForDorothy 13:25, 29 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Go for it. Wahkeenah 14:32, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

That's correct - she did spell her name 'Risë'. Except isn't the umlaut a diaeresis? (An umlaut is used in German over an 'a', 'o' or 'u' where an 'e' has been left out; a diaeresis is used in French to signify that a vowel is to be pronounced separately (as in 'naïve', 'Noël'), and it is this use that is seen here (and that is often extended into English, in fact - as here or in the surname 'Brontë', for example). CW 15 April 2006 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.159.81.113 (talk • contribs) 212.159.81.113 (UTC)

Julian rocks del Monaco anecdote
I've read a story that during a broadcast performance of Carmen from the Met in the 1950s, Mario del Monaco (José) held her arm so tightly that she could be heard saying under her breath "You're breaking my arm". And he did. Apparently, the bone could be heard snapping in the broadcast. Is this true? -- JackofOz (talk) 06:22, 14 October 2008 (UTC)
 * No, it was Giuseppe di Stefano who broke her arm. It was a Met broadcast of Carmen on January 21, 1956. Her cry of "Put my arm down!" can clearly be heard on the tape of the broadcast. NewYork1956 (talk) 21:56, 20 November 2008 (UTC)
 * OK, wrong guy. But did he actually, literally, break her arm, or was that a bit of hyperbole?  --  JackofOz (talk) 22:02, 20 November 2008 (UTC)
 * What happened is that Stevens had sprained her arm while playing tennis and then during the third act of the performance Di Stefano twisted the arm just enough that it (yes, literally) broke. NewYork1956 (talk) 05:35, 21 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks. --  JackofOz (talk) 19:43, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

Pronunciation
Can't tell if the pronunciation was supposed to be "REE-sa" or "RISS-a". — kwami (talk) 21:27, 29 April 2010 (UTC)
 * I've always heard it said as if it were (more or less) "REE-za", with the emphasis on the first syllable. Ondewelle (talk) 18:24, 10 March 2011 (UTC)
 * My parents named me for her and they always pronounced it REE-sa, as do I. Most opera buffs recognize this as her name. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.172.133.217 (talk) 02:03, 24 March 2011 (UTC)