Joan Sutherland - Tornami a vagheggiar - Alcina - 1983

[nostopsnopurgatory]

If Joan is playing Morgana in this production I'm curious who's playing Alcina...

[mariannamouse]

Not my favorite of hers. She seems to be persistently behind. However she is still...amazing. I tink Nathalie Dessay owns this nowadays.

[jmitchell002]

My vocal score (a 19th cent. reprint) has two versions of the recit before this aria, so that either Alcina or Morgana can sing it.

[iyamt]

We miss you miss Sutherland!

[vocalissimo1]

I love Joan's juicy singing of Handel! The sound is so full and sumptuous, compared with the so-called period voices. For such a substantial voice, it is yet a further miracle that Joan could throw of the ornaments with such prodigous flexibility and style. In his writing for the voice, Handel showed an extraordinary gift for melody and form. This is why so many singers love the Handelian repertoire, as challenging as it can be at times, and find it so rewarding to sing.

[OLIVCHEN77]

And I say It again:

Joan Sutherland ist one of the greatest Singers of all time.

With over 50 she sing this piece absolutely georgeous.

An I say it also again: Its wonderful to her this music with a Huge VOICE and not this half-breed itchysitchy Singers which are sing this music today!!!!

[JOHNE65]

this looks like the sydney production for the Australian opera beautifull cast in that production one of my best opera memories thanks for posting this.

[floridante2k]

To appreciate Joan one need to be in the theatre... She was in Toronto in the 80s for Anna bolena ... And the voice was a force of nature! Big beautiful and agile! And by then she sings with much more fire than her younger days. It was my first opera experience and what a way to initiate LOL

[operagirlify]

Does any one have the the text for this? I'd love to know what she's saying LOL :) thanks

[AgnesRegina]

@operagirlify The words are:

Tornami a vagheggiar! te solo vuol amar quest'anima fedel, caro mio bene.

Gia ti donai il mio cor; fido sera il mio amor, mai ti saro crudel, cara mia spene.

Or, in English: "Return to me with longing; this faithful soul wishes to love thee alone, my dear beloved. Already I have given thee my heart; my love will be faithful, never will I be cruel to thee, my dear hope!"

[operagirlify]

@AgnesRegina THANKS!!! 

[888HeRa888]

What's the highest note of this aria? It is only for coloraturas?

[ChrisStockslager]

@888HeRa888 In this version, which is in the original key, and the key by which most sopranos sing it, the highest note is a D in the final cadenza. However, Sutherland sang it half a step higher in the '60s, which would've made it an Eb. And yes, this aria is specifically for coloratura sopranos; and if you meant the note being only for coloraturas, well, it depends on the voice, but most soprano voices top out at about a C6.

[888HeRa888]

@ChrisStockslager Thanks;)

[Shahrdad]

What I love about her singing of Handel is that she actually SINGS the coloratura passages, rather than hammer out notes like a machine gun as people do today. Every note and trill is there perfectly, and it's all joined together into music rather than a collection of notes shot out at the listener at breakneck speed.

[rumpwrestler]

A great singer but just wrong for this Italian Baroque.....she's never on the beat. This is no Bartoli for sure.

[Hako2004]

@rumpwrestler

Never on beat? I would wait until Bartoli is 57 before making comparsions.

[jd7x7jd]

@rumpwrestler But it's fabulous to be able to hear every note above the orchestra. I love Joan, I don't care - I love her! :)

[ChaseSpace]

I'm doing this song for third year uni. I just died a little bit on the inside. She's just toooo goooooood >_<

[liedersanger1]

WHERE was this production please?

[marcebety]

precioso!!!!!

[Pharnaces1]

Joan Sutherland has gone away, but her voice and her soul are still with us!

she was elegant and magic! Joan,I miss you so much!

[mstrawson]

bye, bye La Stupenda!

[endeavourthelimits]

too bad for the poor quality of the recording sound & image

[ploplisphilin]

Rest in Peace, enchantress!

[essenciademusica]

a opera é muito sexy!

[saol67]

Une leçon de style, à mon humble avis. Joan forever.

Quant aux costumes, c'est de la crème chantilly. MDR !

[Ferdinand0880]

Que fastuosa version, que voce, que musica !!!

[bellini7verdi]

magnifica vozzz.con medios poderosisimos y agudos gordos.como solo ella era capaz de hacer.voz fluida....interpretada totalmente hasta el final....con gusto de verdadera cantante de opera.

[marioegorga]

The good old days of The Australian Opera...This was indeed a beautiful production ,directed by Robert Helpmann and sumptuous costumes by Michel Stennett..I was lucky to have seen this quite a few times..

I cant' believe that Opera Australia as its known today has decided to do another horrible production of Alcina when they had this one !!

[1923pars]

amazing!

[guizoctave]

Mon Dieu! Une pieuvre bleue criarde! Quand on beugle handel comme celà on reste sous la douche, ce qui irait bien à son deguisement poulpesque (Heureusement que la Sutherland ne peut plus chanter...)

[zimnaya]

@guizoctave Vous m'avez fait bien rire. Et combien vous avez raison aussi - non seulement ici mais c'est son mari, Richard Bonynge, qui exigeait qu'elle soit habillee 'en meringue'. Ca m'a toujours fait pense au moment dans 'Romeo & Juliet' quand la nourrice entre, habillee pareillement, et les jeunes hommes crient, 'Un navire! un navire!' De tout facon comment elle arrivait a bouger dans des telles creations est incroyable! Julien

[WJCairns]

I prefer the version she did in the 1950s, without the excessive ornamentation. There is little historical evidence to indicate exactly how Handel's singers interpreted this role, so why do we bother with all this "historical interpretation" stuff?

[bellini7verdi]

@WJCairns no conosco esa version y me gustaria mucho.....ponte en contacto conmigo por favor......1950 es una epoca de ella que me interesa mucho......los ornamentos no es lo importante en ella para mi.....sino su estilo de cantante suprema...........

[peejes]

Wow, really very good. I didn't know she sang Alcina this late either.

[ALEXISVASSILIEV]

Stupenda! Qui a fait déjà ces preuves et n'a pas besoin de nos commentaires... Bravissima! AV

[wattever333]

that was fun!

[zurriussII]

Just fantastic, as always.

[primohomme]

The wig is draggilicious. I guess Joan never cared about the intentions of the composer, taking another character's aria or singing whatever she feels like up an octave or completely rewritting the vocal line. At least she sang great 95% of times.

[baritonebynight]

Nope.....in Handel's time this aria was sometimes given to Alcina to sing vs Morgana depending on the singers.

[lastupendaboy]

Lovely set and costumes....Wish there were a video account of her earlier magic in this role;amazing still decades later!Is this REALLY a half step down?Seems the usual key to me...but haven't heard those early records for a while!

[ChrisStockslager]

@lastupendaboy I think it's because she sang it half a step up in the '60's, then took it down to the standard key when she got older.

[leoperarm]

OH WOW! I LOVE the staging! Pure magic! Such a shame that 'modern' stagers would prefer to see this opera taking place in a hawaiian beach than following Händel's original ideas :-/

Joan sings beautifully as always.^^

[vocalissimo1]

I agree absolutely. The whole staging is just beautiful, and Joan herself looks almost supernatural. So much opera is wrecked these days by ridiculous and self-indulgent directors who think they can improve somehow on great masterpieces.

[TheOperaBarbie]

Brava!

[DazFromOz]

Appearing here too is the great Australian mezzo Margreta Elkins, who died only recently. This production was directed by Robert Helpmann!! very Baroque and very lavish...

[operalover42]

BRAVO !!!

[goranandersson]

This was quite wonderful - original key or not. Is this available in its entirety? Thanks once again for posting rare material.

[jmsampietro]

J Sutherland en este " Tornami a vagheggiar " está mucho mejor, que en la interpretación de la "Reina de la Noche" , que también puede verse en Youtube..., en mi modesta opinión, claro.

[gibraltarrr]

I loooove the period costume... and Dame Joan of course :)

[Daniloveschoir]

Wow she really makes it sound easy! Other singers sound wonderful too, but she just makes it sound so free.

[paminaase]

Is this in the original tone ?

[sour7lemon]

No, this was taken down a half step.

[CountertenorJ]

This is the original key at period pitch.

[siglinde86]

Esto es un ejemplo para todos esos barrocos de ahora que hacen cantar con la voz atras y sin brillo, sin elegansia y desinflado. Para que aprendan esos desgraciados que el barroco no se canta como ellos piensan. INFELISES!!!

[beadlegirl921]

Lovely. Handel is best when its acted... badly. Hate the new modern interpretations. Brava!

[mrdoryun]

isn't this Morgana's aria? I don't understand why she's singing this because she's singing Alcina's aria ("Ah Mio Cor") in another video which seems to be from the same production... did she alternate between two roles?? wonderfully sung, in any case.

[spsp2sp3sp3dsp3d2]

This is Morgana's aria but Joan always appropriated it to Alcina because it would have been a horrible waste if she hadn't sung it herself.

[mrdoryun]

aha. good to know. thank you.

[juju1305]

which she does wonderfully. But it's still bad taste. The composer's works comes first, not the singer...

[Richiesutherland]

Wrong. Handel himself reassigned the aria to Alcina in later revivals.

[juju1305]

I did not know that. Well I take it back then.

But even under Handel's direction, it must have made little sense as far as the libretto is concerned.

[Richiesutherland]

The aria was given to Strada, the original Alcina, to placate her after the success of the Morgana, Mrs. Young! The recitative before it, "Tiranna gelosia dell'amato Ruggier tormenta il core" makes the aria refer perfectly to Ruggiero, Alcina's love and nothing n the text is specific to the character of Morgana. And with Joan Sutherland in the cast, would you really want someone else to sing it?

[juju1305]

I read about it in the meantime. Thanks for elevating my awareness on that :) With Sutherland in the cast, i'd give it to her.

But I love Fleming and dessay under Christie's direction in which dessay is a stunning morgana :)

[CountertenorJ]

@Richiesutherland I personally prefer the brighter and clearer Alcina of Emma Kirkby. Luckily the world and talent in opera is diverse so we can both have what we want.

[mxwhisper]

I saw this wonderful production in Sydney, it was directed by Sir Robert Helpmann. I loved the rolling ocean in the background.

Joans first appearance in the opera: she comes out of a giant clam shell!!!!

Unforgettable.

I still have the opera program for that night.

[hisimperialmajesty]

What I think is interesting is that Dame Joan's voice had become much "heavier" by this stage in her career than it had been, and yet it still maintained its flexibility and beauty. Brava La Stupenda!

[spsp2sp3sp3dsp3d2]

"La Stupenda" first performed this on stage in 1957. She's 57 years old here in '83 and she still sings this role well.

[lahire22]

and Magreta the same )))

[SueAnnNivens]

I love the set and the costumes!! And well, let´s not talk about Joan´s voice!!!!!

[operatube]

I love what she does at the end of the B section, 2:15 - 2:30!

[LaStupenda]

Thanks for pointing out the 2:15 embellishment.