Joan Sutherland - Lucia mad scene - 1960

[billcarr54]

Gosh, it must have been completely thrilling for those audiences to hear Lucia sung in a way they'd never heard it before ! I'm so glad I got to see her in this role, and I'm really glad for video/audio advances so we never have to do without her. Thanks very much for posting this.

[damianlfs]

Her diction is so distinctly better in the 1982 MET performance. And quite a number of habitual downward droopings here make some of the notes off pitch.

[TraVoiBelle]

La Lucia!

The only one Lucia for me is La Stupenda!

Do you know that the Mad Scene of Netrebko has twice more views? What's up, people? Watch this masterpiece of Dame Joan every day and share it everywhere - it's pure art!

[bellini7verdi]

MUCHO HABRA QUE ESCRIBIR DE ESTA VOZ..............CORRERAN RIOS DE TINTA.........MAS DE LO QUE SE HA ESCRITO.........CUANDO LAS NUEVAS GENERACIONES LA OIGAN SE QUEDARAN LOCOS........DE GUSTO..........Y SEGUIRAN ESCRIBIENDO DE ELLA Y SOBRE ELLA.........PORQUE ES EL PRODIGIO VOCAL DE TODOS LOS TIEMPOS..........JOAN SUTHERLAND.......EL CRECIMIENTO DE UNA VOZ EN 45 AÑOS.........DE VIDA LLENA DE MILAGROS SONOROS......

[Xmaggot93X]

man i have the worst hemorrhoids.

[AmericanEvita]

R.I.P. Joan Sutherland (1926 - 2010) the legendary Australian soprano. Her Lucia was one of the all time greatest. I love this rare footage. In 1960, she was just newly famous and her Lucia was making headlines. Here we can see why. It's the way that the Lucia Mad Scene should be sung and acted. Brava and sing with the angels Dame Joan.

[radwigs]

I have never seen or heard this version before and I am truly in awe! I knew La Stupenda was amazing but this is out of this world.

[tenorbear60]

Dame Joan - thank you for sharing your art with us!

[052Zion]

R.I.P her voice belong to the angels now....:-(

[j3nnyj1ll]

R.I.P.

[MarianParrott]

Requiem in pace Joan Sutherland 10/11/10

[thomastmwc]

RIP

[operacat1]

Thanx for this! It was the role in which she first shot to fame, of course!

[sacredmeow]

RIP

[thomastmwc]

6 people dislike it!? Cuz they are jealous...

[AminasDream]

Pure bel canto! Magnificent!!!

[manlyman80345]

I am madly in love with this woman, for so many reasons.

[ATsarIsBorn]

I've never seen a VIDEO of this so early in her career! Thank you thank you thank you, Coloraturafan!

I first saw her sing this live in 1970 (a Met Gala) and 1971 (full performance), but this (1960) is the Silver Voice (as I call it), which she lost in her Vocal Crisis of 62-63. The trills remained flawless with the Golden Voice (as I call it) which lasted into the late 70s, when the intonation became faulty and a bit drab. This is the ultimate.

[Richiesutherland]

Simply among the most amazing documents of a singer ever. The richness of tone (Alfin son tua) is astonishing, and then, of course, the flexibility is superhuman. I don't think there is a more amazing sound than her down-up-down-up arpeggios starting first on G and then on high Bb. A pianist could not play them with more accuracy, but the voice never sounds mechanical, always warm and round. Her portrayal is sad and full of pathos, even hampered as she is by the strange set. A miracle.

[gabriellecorinne]

OMG

No wonder everyone says Lucia belongs to Dame Joan.

[SamanthaVoce]

Ídola total !!!

La Stupenda!

I love her !!!

[katumsings]

Unbelievable tone and the size of the voice is ridiculous!!! Her acting is actually pretty well done too.

[webbersarahlover]

the greatest! :)

[divamuis]

Dear Lord, this woman can let the blood run hot and cold through your body ... at the same time!

Oh, if ever they could say there's a perfect Lucia, this must surely be IT.

Thank you for putting this on so we can enjoy it too!

[JeeRant]

I'm not really a Sutherland fan, but she's really quite wonderful here. As she aged, of course, her voice lost that youthful 'glow' and her middle register turned to mush, not to mention her diction problems and lack of acting skills.

But she was really spectacular in her younger years...I treasure her recording 'The Art of the Prima Donna', which was made around this time.

[espinaca79]

God...she was a phenomenom! Look at the expressioN!

[operachild]

They just did it better beck then.

[fastermx]

Isn't it stupid that flamers can even get themselves spewing on a video like this?

They're all inadequate personalities, blots in the world, and pitiable, except that they revel in their meanness.

I've heard Sutherland several times at Chicago's Lyric. To pair this phenomenal talent with that of Pavarotti is a treat of unimaginable rareness.

I'm so glad they were at the height of their careers when we had high fidelity to record them forever.

Gorgeous performance.

[SiEtIn1]

damn!

[samuraitaliano77]

Just listen to those cadenzas...... amazing.

[tonyvillecco]

Sheer greatness: no one can or will ever equal her:

[Gmurek11]

I love Montserrat Caballé's version better, but this one is great too!

[puppetoz]

How nice of you to say so

[lastupendaboy]

AMAZING!Does anyone know how to get the whole video/DVD????Like watching history...

[jondavwal]

This is post surgery. She had surgery during her run of Lucias at Covent Garden in 1959,  Her voice emerged rounder and better although her diction started to suffer. It's all detailed in her autobiography.

[yiudiumui]

that's the best e flat(is it?) ever heard

[domi2020]

Sorry to ask but is the beginning of the mad scene "il dolce suono" include in this telecast. Seems uncanny that they will just start at this juncture.

[domi2020]

I suppose opera is very subjective but having seen so many great sopranos acting in this role- she is the definitive Lucia. The way she moves and esp. when the flute obbligato comes flashing pass and she hears it only as a voice in her head- that's great theatre and great interpretation.

[nicevidbro]

i wanna clear something up. I DONT HATE HER. I just prefer other singers doing this role. Of course her voice is untouchable, but i dont feel her on this.

[puppetoz]

Well why bother coming in here then Idiot

[nicevidbro]

Ugh, you are so uneducated.

[puppetoz]

Another stupid comment from you. You certainly wrack them up!

[nicevidbro]

Certainly you are the stupid who cannot stand another opinion that doesn't match yours.

[puppetoz]

Correct! I don't suffer fools.

[nicevidbro]

There are a lot of comments floating around about what the music was MEANT to be.

Every singer does an interpretation. So unless your name is Gaetano Donizetti,

just sit back and enjoy the music. Or at least recognize that your claims of knowledge are purely preferential.

[nicevidbro]

alright, i decided to listen her interpretation, and i didnt like it. There are many better interpretations. I love Joan on other roles or performances, but after watching this i cannot understand how people say she was the best Lucia.

[meltzerboy]

I realize the date of the performance is of historical interest for Sutherland fans (of whom I am one), and that her voice changed in certain ways even between 1959 and 1961; but personally I don't care that much about the exact date. No one has sung Lucia's Mad Scene as well since this performance (not even Sutherland herself) and very few as well prior.

[domi2020]

Would it be possible to upload the beginning of it??? I have feeling that this might stem from 1960 as Sutherland is just starting to mush a vowels a little although this is hardly material when there is so much more to enjoy. Thanks again.

[domi2020]

OMG- this is amazing- definitely the version for the 1991 biography- recognise the same poses!!!. I didn't know it was part of a telecast special. Does it come complete starting with 'Il dolce Suono..' Rare as hens teeth- thank you so mcuh for sharing this with us.

[coloraturafan]

yes it was a complete mad scene

[formby2]

Hmm, I KNOW at least SOME of this but I don't think all of it. I knew the change of camera angle was coming up at around 5.50 and that she'd walk towards the camera, arm outstretched, but then I didn't recognise the end. Could be that a snippet was used in the 1990 BBC documentary - I recall there was a b/w mad scene clip that I hadn't managed to find in a fuller version elsewhere. If this is that, then bless you for filling another gap.

[coloraturafan]

hmmm, I was thinking at first that I had seen this somewhere before also. The first thing I thought was youtube, but after checking I didn't see it anywhere on here. Maybe it is the documentary you were speaking of.

[yglygl4545]

I can remember that a part of this clip was

posted. That posting's name was "Joan Sutherland Richard Bonynge Interview Part 5".

This scene was between Franco Zeffirelli's interview and someone's interview.

[MealyMouthedLeach]

@formby2 Use a colon not a dot.

[hotazzoperastud]

Is it me, or does it look like she is really acting the role? Of course the diction is much better and the voice is in prime shape. Everything just seems to be more natural here.

[VivaMariaCallas]

One word: stunning!

[Jabe88]

I think it is from 1960, since a few days after her Lucia breakthrough she had her surgery and remained somewhat "sick" and could not sing afterwards.

It took her weeks to recover and to start to sing again.

But maybe I am wrong.

Anyhow, it is true that her E flat is taken full voice and in scream-like tone.

She changed it to a more conventional one afterwards!

I would also love to see her spargi d'amaro pianto!

Thank you so much coloraturafan

[Jabe88]

Oh I also wanted to add that in 1959 (after the surgery), she recorded a great lucia, to which in a great extent resembles her covent garden recording (light voice, good vowel pronunciation, etc...).

Here, her voice has started to change (bigger, rounder, some loss in the clarity of the middle register), as well as she started loosing some of her diction/phrasing.

[coloraturafan]

Yes, I remember reading about the surgery... I am going on memory here, but I thought that she was still suffering from the problem at the time of her 1961 Rigoletto recording or maybe it was her Lucia? I can't remember anymore. I am going to have to listen to it again, but this sounds very much like the voice in 1961 to me.

[yglygl4545]

Could you upload this aria's cabaletta, "Spargi d'amoro"?

And I'd like to know how can I get this TV production.

[yglygl4545]

And I think it is filmed in 1959. Her E-flat is full.(In 1959, her debut lucia recording is much more similiar to this than 1961 version.

[coloraturafan]

Oh yes, and an interesting side note... Franco Zeffirelli is listed in the credits as her costume designer.

[yglygl4545]

coloraturafan, I love you!!!!! Wow! This mad scene is very very rare!!! Thanx!!!

[coloraturafan]

I have been racking my brain trying to figure out the year of this telecast? There is no date at all in the credits. The person who gave this to me told me it was right after her London Lucia, and that it was the first telecast she did. To my ears, she sounds similar to the 1961 Rigoletto for Decca, at least with the final notes. Any feedback would be great.

[actor001]

Its from 1959