Sutherland/Sills ''So muss allein ich bleiben"(1980)

[ian1856]

I had the great honor of working with them both many times. Not only legendary singers, but delightful colleagues and lovely human beings. Such a loss on so many levels...but so nice to hear them together here. Thanks, AmorediPazzia!

[CaptFitzbattleaxe]

Two of the greatest sopranos of the century!

Sutherland later wrote of her experience with Sills that "We made such a good comedy pair we should have teamed up together." One can only imagine what backstage must have been like!

[RoOodOoOloOmeg]

This is a dream that came truth for me. The great ones together at the end on Sill's career.

[RaWrZzZz]

Sills may not have had the volume of Sutherland (Let's face it, did ANYONE?), but her voice was much sweeter. I just love her.

[ChrisStockslager]

@RaWrZzZz Bahahaha, Sutherland was simply a wall of sound when every other soprano was a canary!

[ChrisStockslager]

By any chance, AmoreddiPazzia, do you have any more of this recording with Sills and Sutherland? I'm sure we'd all love to hear more!

[baritonebynight]

I am a fan of both of these great singers and am deeply saddened that that Sills and Sutherland are now no longer with us.

[motardbear15]

@baritonebynight

Was e das new where I heard that Dame Joan was no more longer with us..As I was when dear Bervly died..Our two great "divas" of belcanto have left us..We are children with no more mothers...very sad....

[Hako2004]

Sutherland's instrument had the most desired qualities, including beauty of tone, but it was three things in particular, to me, that made it the rarest. The first was

the perfectly liquid trill, in all registers. The second was the unique bell-like quality of the notes above the C. The third was the spaciousness and sheer resonance of the tone. Her sound, compared with most sopranos, was a grand hall in a world of walk-in closets. Her instrument was utterly unique, like her physique.

[iriisblue]

@Hako2004 Love the metaphors! As for favorite attributes, I would say overtones. She never, NEVER sang loud. She projected and filled the acoustic with the richest display of tonal emission a spectrometer could measure. As for physique, not so unique. Look at the picture above. She and Sills were the same size.

[ChristophePhilippe]

@Hako2004 Excellent analysis.

[Tenorbravo]

Wonderful.

[bellini7verdi]

magnifica joan sutherland.no solo era la unica voz tambien tenia una educacion sencillamente humilde.jamas dijo nada de sus compañeras.al contrario.cosa que no se puede decir de algunas otras cantantes.que veian en ella algo indestructrible.por eso ella y monserrat caballe eran amigas.admiraban y respetaban.porque en el canto no se es mejor ni peor cuando se es grande.se da lomejor de si mismo.la opera no es una carrera por ser la mas de nada.sino en dar el alma

[Tenorbravo]

Excelente...interpretation...G­reat combination of voices....Sills and Sutherland...I miss them...

[Dymension]

Most of you don't know what you're talking about. Sills sang Roberto Devereux in 1974 with a 104 degree fever fighting cancer. The treatments and subsequent full hysterectomy really did her in. Additionally, those ladies who battle cancer often times undergo an anti-estrogen treatment to induce menopause, often prematurely which wreaks havoc with some women's voices....look up her life store.....

[iriisblue]

I attended the opening gala performance of this San Diego production. Sills & Sutherland made an unsually effective pairing. They sparred admirably on stage, but vocally, the evening was all Sutherland. During the intermission, the conversation was all about how dominating Sutherland's voice was and, certainly, that was true. This was Sills final engagement; at age 50 she was done. They had planned to alternate the roles originally, but Sills wisely decided to leave Rosalinda to her colleague.

[ChrisStockslager]

@iriisblue What was the Sutherland sound, compared with Sills', in terms of hearing it in the house?

[iriisblue]

@ChrisStockslager The difference was pronounced, and cannot be replicated on recordings. We sat in row 17 orchestra, and although the San Diego Opera House isn't the best acoustic, Sutherland's voice enveloped us--the sound was ubiquitous. Sills, on the other hand, sounded far away. Her voice came from the stage. It had enough volume, but was slender on overtone and did not bloom in the space. Acting wise, the two of them had excellent on stage chemistry.

[ChrisStockslager]

@iriisblue Oh, how I would kill to hear Sutherland live!

[iriisblue]

@ChrisStockslager I first heard DJS live at the Academy of Music in Philly, which, along with Carnegie Hall, is probably America's best acoustic space. She opened with two Haydn songs and, when she articulated her first trill, all the air went out of the theatre. It certainly taught me one thing: the measure of a great voice can only be judged in a live, acoustic performance. I have many of her recordings, studio and pirate, but nothing compares.

[ChrisStockslager]

@iriisblue Grr, you are so lucky!! Did you get to hear any of her famous Ebs?

[iriisblue]

@ChrisStockslager I saw her in concert, in Fledermaus, Norma (with Horne) and Anna Bolena. No E flats in those performances, but spectacular high D's, C sharps and C's. Her last act of Norma was not to be believed. While her in alt extension was probably the most opulent of any soprano ever, for me--in addition to the almost insolent technique--it was the inimitable, ravishing, womanly timbre of the middle voice that made her the prima donna assoluta of her era.

[jsmoir1]

This is the Ruth and Thomas Martin translation, first. Secondly, I saw this opera. It was AMAZING. Originally, the two ladies were to switch the roles, but scheduling conflicts mandated that Sills did Adele, and Suth did Rosalinda. Sills was the Carol Burnett of the opera stage- campy, funny, imbued with that 'Fanny Brice' schtick. Both women's voices shone in this show, each in her own "Fach." They also were so congenial, and deferential to each other. The show was FUNNY as hell, and a pleasure

[ericscam2]

The sound on this is so crappy it's hard to tell anything, but Sills has by far the more beautiful voice, sings with far greater emotion and moves your soul. Southerland had a much bigger, and, unfortunately "flutey" voice, and her dynamics are just plain weird. Sills is a better musician, over all.

[MastersoftheOpera]

How I wish I had seen this! I was born in 1980 so it was impossible. By 1980, Sills's voice was at its lowest decline and she retired that year. Sutherland sang well into the mid 1980's. Both had excellent voices. Sills had been singing since she was a little girl during the Depression '30's so by '80 it had been years.. Sutherland had a bigger voice because she was originally trained to sing Wagner. No matter who you like, both are marvelous singers the likes of which we will never hear again.

[daphnebeloved]

This trio is predominantely sung by sutherland, but we can hear 2:58 a distinctive timbre of sills, but then the high notes are sung by sutherland in trio, this is why her voice my appear louder( higher notes, more frequences)Sills had well projected voice and technique...Sutherland, well,she has a huge voice.

[ChrisStockslager]

Sad, I can hear Sutherland pretty clearly, but I can't identify Sills at all. :(

[Greatfan]

May I say something ? Sills technique was absolutely fabulous. Her technique was achieved since her mother contacted Stelle Liebling in New York when Beverly was just...7 !!! She studied with her till she was 41 and that was because Mrs Liebling died at 90 or so...Sills was a fantastic actress too and a great intelligence OK, but Sutherland's technique was flawless too and had THE voice. Sutherland's voice was riper, bigger and glorious. However she could be boring occasionally.

[ATsarIsBorn]

@Greatfan

Sills had a terrible technique. She was often around rather than on the note, and after about 1972 rarely on the pitch. She had to retreat to comic parts like Adele -- and then she dropped the opening burst of coloratura. It was often embarrassing. I've never heard a Liebling pupil who knew how to sing.

And yes, I often heard both these ladies.

[Greatfan]

Do you think so ? I have ears too and know when something is sharp or flat. I heard her in person 3 times in 1968, 10 and 72 and she NEVER, ever , sang off pitch. Listen to her rendering of coloratura Linda di Chamounix, it is gorgeous. It is THE VOICE to blame, the voice was naturally wiry, a bit thin. Sometimes she crooned a bit, as if taking the note from below, but not for technical reasons. I think she was an excellent technician !

[ATsarIsBorn]

That's a good response, but I heard her many, many times from 1966 to the end, and was puzzled and irritated by her from the Antonia on. Your description of her technique may be the proper analysis of my problem.

True the pitch problems were mostly after 1972, but by the time of her Met debut she was very rarely reliable and I gave up attending any performance she was in.

Sutherland, of course, was often below the pitch from 1980 on -- but she was much older then.

[Greatfan]

I do not choose any of these great ladies, I love them both. For ripe tone, richness of sound and homogeneity I choose Sutherland, for a bit more of dramma ( though sometimes she overacted ) I choose Sills. Sills is a good voice with a wonderful vocal production that allowed her to sing since she was 7 or 10 ( as a wonder girl, a prodigy actress ) Till she was 50. She sang a lot of all kind of roles. Sutherland on the other hand has a first rate diva voice.

[kgarmaker123]

@ATsarIsBorn What a bunch of lies! She was not often near the pitch .. LOL.. And she did not retreat to comic parts. either.. Do you call Pamira in Assedio comic? That came late in her operatic life.. She debuted at the met in it! This is stupid.

[bjorlingfan]

ATsarIsBorn, I am sure Beverly would have been irreversably mortified to know you didn't like her voice. She must have "retreated" very early in her career, she was singing Fledermaus and Merry Widow in the 50's and Marie in the 60's. Could I wee-wee on your parade and ask who the failed singers that Estelle Liebling churned out are? I am dying to listen to more failed singers to find out what they sound like.

[petelovesbevsills]

@bjorlingfan Please would you let me know who these failed singers are as soon as ATsarIsBorn, whoever he might be when he is at home, gives you the list! If they are as phenomenal as Beverly we are in for a musical feast of singing that we could not have imagined existed!!! Many thanks in advance!!!

[wotan10950]

Sills & Sutherland were not friends in the ordinary sense -- they admired and respected each other, but they were not in same social circles. There was certainly a competitive spirit (in the good sense) between them because they sang the same repertoire. Sills was undoubtedly a great artist, combining voice and drama in a unique way, but from a strictly vocal point of view, Sutherland's was a voice that only comes once in a century, if that.

[timsuffolk]

Someone who was attending this wrote elsewhere on youtube that Sutherlands voice was about x3 louder than Sills and that was what everyone was talking about at the interval

[AmericanEvita]

I know this sounds like it can only come from a Sills fan, but Sill's voice also was one that came once a century...I've heard dozens of sopranos and no soprano can even closely emulate Sills...she is in a class all her own and she's magnificent...

[leprincebeaumont]

Non nascondo la mia predilezione per la Sutherland, che considero la più grande cantante di tutti i tempi. Non solo per la voce stupenda o per la tecnica portentosa; ma proprio per l'eleganza e l'intelligenza delle sue interpretazioni. Anche la Sills fu fenomenale, soprattutto per i mille colori che riusciva a ottenere da una voce non bella né ampia, ma resa magica da una tecnica magnifica. La Sills non aveva però il gusto irreprensibile della Sutherland: paragonate i rispettivi DA TEMPESTE !

[swanningaround]

Note that Sills is one of the "100 Greatest Singers" and Sutherland not. I personally think that Sutherland is as good as Sills.

[nclysander]

Well, that's just one person's list. Sutherland was an incredible vocalist, that's for sure, and that is probably enough to put her in the top 100 (maybe). The things that Sills fans thinks makes HER special is that, along with the vocalism, she was incredibly good at probing into and communicating character. Ultimately your preference - or lack thereof- will be based on what you think opera is "about", and how important drama is.

[scotsw12]

Sutherland is number 2 on the BBC's top sopranos of all time, Maria C being number 1. I can't think of a rational list being compiled without JS being at the very top, or close to it!

[nclysander]

Like I mentioned before, it's a matter of personal taste. If I were to compile such a list from vocalism alone, Sutherland would indeed be near the top, but she is not one of my favorites, and certainly she did not convey all the dramatic possibilities of her roles.

[scotsw12]

I am amazed anyone could come up with a list of 100 sopranos and exclude Sutherland. With such an obvious exclusion it would be very hard to take seriously.

[nclysander]

Oh! If I were making a list of 100 sopranos, she would definitely be included.  The list that started this conversation in the first place, however, included singers of all the voice types. (And, of course, I didn't make it.)

[Cramnella]

If I was making a list of one soprano, Dame Joan would be there. She turned me from a hater of vocal music to a lover of opera. One of a kind, she.

[Jabe88]

she is now included in the list...

100 singers list is now complete

[vocalissimo1]

È chiaro che il pubblico sta godendo della rappresentazione. Due grandi voci, due grandi signore. Molti ringraziamenti, AmorediPazzia!

[hisimperialmajesty]

And the beauty is, they were such good friends in real life, unlike so many other prima donnas.

[AiTaiwandeRen]

This is the first that I've heard of their being friends. They were cordial, but I don't think that they had a whole lot of contact outside of their San Diego Opera appearances in 1980.

What's your source for this information?

[JDOopera76]

Well put ;)

[RossiniSoprano]

What the poster is probably referring to is the fact that neither ever said anything uncomplimentary about the others' singing, though they sang the same fach. I know I've read several comments from Bubbles where she says really great stuff about Sutherland.

[Jabe88]

AWESOME... thanks!