Joan Sutherland - Una voce poco fa (Studio Recording)

[raigekimaru]

sorry, didn't like it.

[primohomme]

@raigekimaru

She was way past her prime here, this is a rarity

But overall, I don't think it's bad at all :) I enjoy her even then

[Tosycyzkiewicy]

Primohomme, you have said: "Sutherland sang everything below F#4, up an octave. Same goes for Deutekom. " So, how it is possible that I hear here solid low notes below f#4 down to g#3? Who sang them?

[primohomme]

@Tosycyzkiewicy

In most cases they did skip the lower notes

And usually they never sang into the middle, the notes like D4-B4 were not thick

And you know damn well that is the truth.

Joan even had Richard re write passages of Anna Bolena in order for her to completely avoid dipping to the chest voice.

[ChrisStockslager]

@primohomme She's a soprano --- what were you expecting, Samuel Ramey in the lower register?

[primohomme]

@ChrisStockslager

No, but she did have a chest voice which she mostly chose not to use, even on roles which really needed use of chest voice, in order to preserve her top notes.

[ChrisStockslager]

@primohomme All singers have their shortcomings. Sutherland's were her diction and avoiding the lower areas of her voice. Compared to other operatic sopranos or any singers in any genre, those are pretty darn small shortcomings.

[bellini7verdi]

LA UNICA CANTANTE QUE ACOJONA OYENDOLA CANTAR DE JOVEN Y DE MAYOR...........TE DEJA COMO NUEVO ............

[suman2135]

joan sutherland makes impossible possible.the woman has the ability to sing any line!

[bellini7verdi]

ESTO NO TIENE CRITICA QUE PUEDA SER APORTADA O SOPORTADA........SIMPLEMENTE ROMPE TODOS LOS ESQUEMAS..........LA VOZ DE SUTHERLAND SERA LA LEYENDA PARA LOS RESTOS DE LA HISTORIA........Y CORRERAN RIOS DE TINTAS..........PORQUE LAS NUEVAS GENERACIONES........CASI NO SABRAN NI DEFINIR SU SONIDO....Y SEGUIRA AUMENTANDO SU MITO......HASTA QUE LA TIERRA SE DESTRUYA..................

[skitzo429]

Although this is a studio recording, and from what else Ive heard from this era or her career she never sounded this good live at 60, the way her lower chesty sound matured really had a nice quality ot it, that low G# is juicy, which she never would have sang when she was younger,

[primohomme]

@skitzo429

There's a few recordings in which she sings some good low notes, not contralto-like low notes as Callas, but some pretty decent ones, such as a cadenza that takes her down to Ab3 in the studio recording from 64 of "La Sonnambula" and her recital recording of Liszt' "Loreley" with a nice Bb3.

[skitzo429]

@primohomme Im not familiar. Some recordings she made when she was younger of lucrezia borgia have some not so satisfying low Bbs in the era desso at the end, Ive listened to some interviews with her where she said that she intentionally left her chest voice somewhat underdeveloped, but it seems by virtue of age alone it matured by itself somewhat.

[primohomme]

@skitzo429

That's true, generally speaking in the bel canto repertoire she did not use a strong chest voice even when it was needed in the Assoluta repertoire such as Norma, Lucrezia Borgia, etc.

There are a couple of recordings, perhaps 4 at the most, of her in her prime using a decently strong chest voice but she seemed to be scared of it

[Homoclassicus]

This is an amazing performance especially if you consider she was 59. The voice doesn't sound youthful for sure, but the strength, the vitality of her singing more than compensate for that. Few singers can convey so much energy to this aria as Sutherland here, and her singing sounds equally easy and steady from top to bottom (and here she sings some great low notes!). The wobble is apparent only in a few places. Mostly her voice sounds very healthy and beautiful.

[ChrisStockslager]

@Homoclassicus Agreed. I was surprised on how strong Sutherland's low notes are here. I daresay, only a few other sopranos like Callas had low notes with such body. Also, I always relish listening to Sutherland's 1977-1986-ish recordings, because while the voice isn't nearly as flexible as the previous two decades, it's amazing to here how she compensates by approaching phrases in a different way, and still making something stunning, whereas any other soprano at this age would've crashed and

[ChrisStockslager]

@Homoclassicus ...and burned. All that being said, though, imagine what a Sutherland studio recording of Una Voce Poco Fa would've sounded like in the early '70's or mid '60's!

[primohomme]

@ChrisStockslager

Most likely no low notes :P

I wish she had given other Rossini pieces a try though, perhaps some of the higher tessitura things of Armida, just to see how it might have turned out.

[strangeenchantedboy]

I have been waiting for someone to post this, one of the few recordings of hers that I have yet to find. Usually her late 80's Voice is questionable at times(i feel she should have kept to her French rep in the late 80's...., Esclarmonde etc) this isn't one of those times... she sounds gorgeous. Thanks.

P.S do you know if the Callas 61-62 test Recording of the Armida aria for EMI is more than a myth? has anyone heard it?

[primohomme]

@strangeenchantedboy

I hope it's a myth, I certainly wouldn't want to hear it. I worship Maria and her best was late 40's throughout the 50's, 1960 was the end of her prime.

"Armida" needs a singer in her prime, it's an assoluta role, requires a contralto voice as well as high soprano, Maria could not have done it justice by that time.

[HM0880]

The wobble is very apparent in the first half, but the second half is brilliant! Good stuff. Thanks for this. :)

[christiaandhooghe]

This is a very exciting version of the Rosina. One can hear she was vocaly splendid indeed, real Belcanto style.

I adore the album also being one of her last recordings.

(Talking pictures was the last, I think....)

But full force and technical in form for that matter.

Love the first aria on the disk with the glass harmonium.

Imagine these days it's Lucia official.

[ChrisStockslager]

Yay!!! Thank you soo much, Primohomme, and a Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays!