Joan Sutherland - 3 Contes d'Hoffmann Heroins - Olympia

[ApparoDei]

Im sorry but Im torn between being scared and trying hard not to laugh. She is not cut to play olympia in my opinion. I think the role belongs to beverly and natalie.

[StuartLou]

When i saw Sutherland do this at the Met. many moons ago- i was amazed. The best Olympia i'd ever seen/heard. This particular video is not very good. What i heard was. But- get six opera queens in a room and you'll get seven different opinions.

[MINAGELANCASTER]

BUENO UNAS DE MIS FAVITAS DIVAS SOPRANOS Y LA TESITURA SORPRENDENTE

[richard8114]

Espectacular..... una diva¡¡¡¡

[leprincebeaumont]

Ragazzi, ma chissenefrega se l'aria è abbassata di tono! Dame Joan è incredibile, sensazionale....la più grande Olympia di tutti i tempi. Ma la sentite? Grandiosa!

[jacktenor]

i think you all are pathetic...why cant you all just respect the singer and their unique individual instrument god has given them...??? every singer tries their best to sing an aria the best they can and with the inturptetation they feel....if you all are so incredibly judgemental, why dont you sing it note perfect on here and have everyone critisise you???? come on....all grow up and respect these people for their craft

[lawdocdc89]

Don't worry, slumberland is boring enough, you will sleep.

Dessay is fantastic, but perfection is Mesple.

[tenormcgee]

I love hearing her huge instrument resonate through the halls acoustics! The reverb sounds phenomenal, too!

[Kivimusic]

i hate transposed arias!!!!

[KrebSDani]

no parece ser un rol para sutherland

[Feodulova]

BRAVO!!!!!

[skitzo429]

very nice high D at the end, especially for her age. before i get a bunch of angry rebuttals, yes, this is a half step lower, its not a high Eb haha

[CrowPg]

It's amazing how she can sings that strongly, and yet right. Besides, when you look at her, it doesn't seem to be even a little bit complicated. But it is. Oh yes, it is. Maybe it lacks a little of colours though. Same thing for the orchestra. Too much forte, during the whole aria. I don't think that's her choice then. Anyway, she really is amazing.

[wotan10950]

Stupendous! You have to remember that Sutherland was 58 in 1984, and she could still sing with such a beautiful sound and fantastic technique. The standard score is in A-flat, but the Kaye edition shows that it was originally written in G. So although Joan seems to be transposing down a half-step, this is the key it was actually written in. And eight high-Ds are no joke either. She was called La Stupenda for a good reason.

[09scorpione]

She's GREAT! Absolute artist.

[mrlammermoor]

she looks like the misfit showgirl in "the producers"

[minkoss]

no she didn't!

[Baccalaureus79]

She was actually to old for the role then, and the tempo is too fast for my taste. It is, however, an astounding performance.

[bessejettis]

I wish that I could move my voice as fast as this! I am quite jealous!

[doremicde]

And I must say she is the one who made the "doll" in the better way, i think...

[doremicde]

What a bad quality...but it's so funny see dame joan to be so funny....XD

[liederkreisuk]

Sings like a prima donna

Acts like a housewife

[DazFromOz]

We are very lucky to have this video at all... the televised performance in Australia was cancelled due to an industrial strike, so I think this is the only video record of Sutherland as the Hoffman heroines around. And I have to say the costume looked a lot better on stage than it does on video!!

[minto4327]

How she managed to sing anything in the frock is marvelous, I don't want to make comaprisons as that is qutte unfair. This interpretation is quite simply superb given the parameters, and Joan was obviuosly enjoying every minute of it, and so did I

[handelfan610]

she flies through this piece like she's on fire! but i do like the melismas at a rapid rate.

[rmtenorlirico]

She loocks like a drag quenn!

[killerbunny123123]

what a scarry doll.......now I won't be able to sleep for the next months

[Brunildilla]

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!­

[MegaCawotte]

Mouahahaha xD

[iriisblue]

Please, people. Dither somewhere else about transpositions. One D natural from Sutherland is better than 12 E flats from Dessay. And here the Dame sings 5 high D's. And you're all missing the point. This is a dress. I have sung in many major professional opera productions, and few--very few principals--would sing out in full voice at a dress, especially a piece as demanding as this. This really is La Stupenda.

[sezgin86]

Sorry but Dessay hits high G in this role. You're missing that point, too. And she sings while jumping on the stage!!!

[iriisblue]

Sorry, no, it's an F that Dessay interpolates, and yeah, she stoops to stage schtick to cover up the fact that she's a mass-marketed run-of-the-mill leggiero. That apparently impresses you, and similar American Idol types. If she stood on her head and farted, I'm sure you would be brought to tears. BTW, did you catch her put-you-to-sleep Sonnambula at the Met? What a yawner.

[sezgin86]

I have Adobe Audition and it shows a high G. She is not a mass-marketed run-of-the-mill leggiero. But a very good actress. Anyway whatever I say you'll hate Natalie. Go on hating...

[skitzo429]

this role has no written high Gs, no role in any standard rep opera does.

[heisallbad]

The only written g''' is in a Mozart Concert Aria "Popoli di Tessalia" it comes twice in that aria. But in those days the pitch was lower...so today's singers have a harder time getting up there. Beverly Sills said, "Only dogs can hear those notes."

[skitzo429]

thats not exactly true, their are other written high Gs, the works theyre in just arent standard repertoire, Damrau sang a salieri opera in 2004 that had a high G. Popoli also isnt an opera, so its techncially really part of "the repertoire" either, its just a cocnert showpiece.

[baritonebynight]

Dessay is definately no La stupenda...but american idol type? I think not.

[heisallbad]

darling- it's a g.. look at the score.. third of an e-flat arpeggio.

[skitzo429]

like most of the roles sutherland sang in her 50s, this is in a lowered key, the vocal score's pitches are not what youre hearing

[MrStupendousluvforJo]

@skitzo429 You completely miss the point, though you are technically correct......but you miss the point....we say that you miss the forest for the trees.....but anyway, why is YOUR type : the Sour Puss never FAIR? What about the fact that the voice is executing trills and roulades and scales and all kinds of acrobatics WITH ACCURACY AND A "lilt" or RHYTHMIC PERFECTION AND FULLNESS(anchored) SOUND THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE for all the rest of the Opera singers ever recorded to MATCH....So THERE

[skitzo429]

youre wrong, dessay adds Gs (As well as a few Fs). shes far from a run of the mills singer, her voice type and upper extension only happen a handful fo times a century, mado robin and mady mesple are really the only others of the 20th century, netiher or whom were performing during dessays career

[iriisblue]

dessay could add high B's in alt and it wouldn't change the essentially pedestrian nature of her voice. as for singers often managing F and above in alt, you left off peters, moffo, sills, serra, devia, damrau, sieden and a throng of others.

btw, congrats on cramming 11 typos in a 56 word post. that only comes along a few times a century.

[skitzo429]

of those women only peters, serra, and sieden have Gs, and seiden is the only one to sing them well. Damrau has Gs, but shes not a leggiero at all. dessay being 'pedeestrian' is entirely subjective and in the realm of your opinion. Theres no discography of any of them singing about G, which dessay did regularly. no singer is perfect, peters had lackluster diction, serra sounds like a canary, deiva has no lower register, your opinion of dessays faults is meaningless to anyone else.

[iriisblue]

"pedeestrian." wow. you're amazing.

but you're right. no one sings about g's. usually it's about love, death, jealousy, youtube twats. that sort of thing.

[skitzo429]

And dont you have anything better to do than count typos? I love it when people feel the need to tack on irrelevent personal attacks when theyre arguing about music, does that make you feel superior? shove a cock in it you stupid cunt ; ) from the looks of your channel wall youre certainly a popular one arent you

[iriisblue]

i just love it when people compare channel walls to feel superior.

you go, girl!!

[MrStupendousluvforJo]

@skitzo429 its called a Soprano sfogato I disagree with you......SUTHERLAND AND CALLAS HAD THE RAREST OF THE SOPRANO VOICES.....THE TRU DRAMATIC COLORATURA....The Heaviest and the Highest....NOW; THE "PIP-SQUEAK" FREAK voices that can SQUEEL AND SCREAM AND STRAIN (though in all fairness they are not all forced....the two you described here N>D> and M.r. had the natural placement) BUT THE LITTLE GIRLS VOICE CAN BE DUPLICATED BY 1 Billion (or more) young girls accross the Globe)...so, so WHAT

[ChrisStockslager]

What's the rarest of all baritone / tenor voices, by any chance, that is if you know?

[emma41093]

@sezgin86 yes but generally Dessay has a poorer singing voice in my opinion.

[emma41093]

@sezgin86 plus Joan was what 57/58 years old here....

[FeelinMinnesota]

@sezgin86 And she can barely cut through a light orchestra and has had two surgeries in her chords before he 40's??

[FatLadySings310]

I commend her for singing this faster rather than slower as many more mature sopranos will do. Keeps it light, and avoids any wobble. Her staccatos are cute.

[dannymaestro]

This is (please listen) G major. The originally key is A flat major. Dame Joan sang all the parts in this production and her voice was in 1984 more fit to Giulietta than olympia why I think she is excused for the transponation. While it´s a very good performance as well. Remember that her voice really get old in the 80-is...

[Trackstar2000]

I thought the original key way A flat major. thats what was said.

[skitzo429]

though her technique is solid, she consistently performs this aria too fast for my taste, and being that she is a mechanical doll, i think it is better to sing the short stacatto notes evenly and mechanically, not with rubato.

[VirnAlfakyn]

Those who said that Dame Joan Could not Act has obviously never seen her as Olympia.

[widorfan]

tenore3 this song is orgianlly in E not Eb i have the full orchestral score and its extremly difficult to sing. and of course La stupenda sing it wonderfully. as aallyway. we love you joan

[skitzo429]

the song is in Ab, the high note is an Eb.

[highbaritone]

I waited for an hour for this opera. It didn't happen because there was a strike. They tried to do it just in concert, but they would not open the curtain. So this is it.

[Jabe88]

That's sad!

[JackSWolfe]

It's transposed down a half-step, which according to the latest critical edition may have been the original key anyway. (Luciana Serra on EMI sings it in D, and she was certainly capable of higher notes including Queen of the Night).

[tenore23]

and it is transposed like a 5th down! Damn!

[silvr94]

Only a minor second! (A semi-tone)

[lastupendaboy]

I remember from the Coloratura1 original site....this is from a dress rehearsal...the scheduled broadcast to follow didn't happen for some reason...A great and unique video glimpse at one of the beloved's wonderful roles!!!!!

[LaStupenda]

She embraced comic roles so wholeheartedly, and the voice was dead on. I'm surprised the applause was so tepid. Where was this?

[mxwhisper]

Shame the sound is not good. I saw her in this role several times and it was most unforgettable