Agnes Baltsa "Nacqui all'affanno" La Cenerentola

[ryker25]

The audience at the end is deafening. Still be far my favourite performance of this area, ever (and better than her own 1987 performance).

[sirenadellopera]

Perfection in every way.

[Rospaint]

I like von Otter very much ( von Stade - just a bit less ) , and as for Agnes Baltsa... I think as a stage performer she`s got the most unique quality - the great vitality + the DISTANCE between her and the audience. Actually she`s always somewhere UP there, in the World of Art . You hardly could imagine her in everyday life. (It`s so easy - with almost all the other Divas!) And - with that musicality and that unique timbre... She`s a great living symbol of singing theatre for me!

me.

[philipc67]

She is fantastic, remember she was only 35 in 1979 and at the start of her major international career. The coloratura is accurate, the voice powerful and expressive, the high notes explosive. Baltsa became a tremendous stage performer, think of her Carmen, Octavian, Eboli, Amneris, Santuzza, Elizabeth I, Charlotte, Isabella, Klytemnaestra, I think even Kundry! Two other singers compare here, von Otter and von Stade. The hysterical, vulgar , show-off Bartoli does not even enter the discussion.

[istonemind]

@philipc67

I agree and disagree. Baltsa is musically purer, but Bartoli is more lively. Both are very good. von Otter is much better than von Stade. The latter's voice is too weak, too dry and too thin and often too steely. Neither v comes close to either B.

[Tibudina]

que maravilloso canta esta mujer por dios!

[Cipri1001]

@Tibudina impresionante!!

[vsuberc]

Very pretty. Her coloratura is a lot lighter than Bartoli's, which makes it sound more like ornamentation than actual defined notes. I'm not sure about Rossini's intention for the coloratura parts, but I think I prefer the way Bartoli accentuates every note - gives the aria a nice energy and power that it lacks here for some reason. But Baltsa definitely has a gorgeous color to her voice and much more presentable than Bartoli who distorts her face too much when she sings.

[mocmus]

I videotaped this perfmrnace as one of my very first when VCR's first hit the market. I still have the tape!! I play this video to voice students to look at her amazing technique. Her breath support and control are textbook. She's so pretty, too!

[olyv1]

Wonderful performance !!! Bravissimo !!!

[killerbunny123123]

OMG.........!!! I regret every day of my past not knowing the name or voice of this woman!! No word is enough to describe her!

[Rospaint]

@killerbunny123123 I say the same - very often. 

[frankundkatrin]

Sie ist einfach eine Göttin!!

[Rospaint]

@frankundkatrin - Das is richtig!

[rodrigououo]

the best Cenerentola ever!!! brava



[kigomin1972]

Thank you Agnes!

[cafiarelli]

Que Maravillosa la Batsza!!!!! La amo!!!!!!!!!!

[Kapellmeister35]

She really was one of the greatest bel canto mezzos.

[Rospaint]

Dostoevski`s words - "beauty will save our world" - that`s about her. She`s perfection. 

[italomelomane]

Il finale è strepitoso Brava !

[mariloly38]

BRAVA



[almardienta]

Agnes, I love you!!!

[JPD060486]

I've never heard those downward scales sung so legato before.

[katievidal]

wonderful ¡¡¡

[MastersoftheOpera]

This is fabulous. Baltsa has a beautiful and grand Rossini voice. I don't play favorites and like several singers in Cenerentola - Berganza, Bartoli, Van Stade, Vivica Genaux. Baltsa sang this with great flair and technique here. It's a Vienna State Opera concert from 1979 and her voice was absolutely fantastic at that time, as it was through the 1980's. Baltsa is an amazing dramatic-lyric-mezzo.

[eternaldarkfaery666]

definitivamente .. WOW!!

[napqueen98]

I love early Baltsa; it's just fabulous, fabulous singing.

[Yasminimani]

Just beautiful!

[Aperlini]

eccezzionale bellissimo brava brava

[Dtenor87]

This is the kind of performance you SCREAM!! " BRAVA!! ENCORE!!!!" AMAZING!!!

[MarcuCezar]

the best ..ever..

[znamoperu]

30 years ago this was! She was in such a powerful and beautiful voice! I always come back to this performance with joy. It is by far the best rendition of the aria!!!

[33blueberries]

Agreed.

[opera7bubbles]

I think what I like most about this performance--other than the fact that the coloratura is literally effortless and completely different from Bartoli's h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h machine gun garbage--is that she's not afraid to just rail out those low notes. Wonderful performance :)

[edgarbiervliet]

What is it with Greece that produces these psicy female voices. Like Callas, Elena Suliotis, Agnes Baltsa. They all have that certain spicy sort of voice. Not just sweet sounding but with a particular edge to the sound that seems so Greek.

[Lindow]

Please! To say Bartoli is better! This is utter perfection, absolutely unsurpassed. And sung with that big voice which is much more difficult to control than a small voice like Bartoli's!

[Parparim61]

I like her, I just wish she would move a little more. She seems really stiff.

[MariaCaIIas]

@Parparim61 But that is exactly what I adore about her... that she does NOT move!

She is actually influenced by her favourite director J.P.Ponnelle (not to mention Callas) who insisted that less is more!

[jackarturo2904]

YES,Bartoli is better, Bartoli is the best, but Baltsa make a good job

[operalover42]

Bartoli ???

Better ????

Ah ah ah !!! Are you crazy ?

Bartoli is only mumbling !!!!

[emalag999]

Bartoli better?.. Don't be childish! Bartoli is not good at bel canto.. Have you heard her in a bel canto opera? I like her singing Vivaldi, but that's a lot different!

[albafango]

@emalag999 might I suggest you listen to a little more Bartoli singing bel canto ? she is sublime. La Baltsa in her day was equally without a peer....

[tehen162]

@albafango Bartoli had aspirated coloraturas and half a voice than Baltsa.This performance is fantastic.

[jackarturo2904]

Bartoli is better

[haraberger]

bartoli doesn't sing, she mumbles

[stefeinos]

She is from Greece. She has won the Maria Callas Competition ........and that tells something......

[Yakinton]

Simply fantastic! The best Cenerentola i evert saw or heard. Great voice, control and expression, even in a concert stance.

30 years have passed and nothing i heard since then even comes close.

[MarquisDePosa53]

Without question, she is the finest Cenerentola, Rossini would have be proud

[Babs22h]

bartoli

[daitati]

Grateful and priviledged to have seen and heard this - thank you

[WloScielaneve]

Simply the best!

[mozartianissimo]

Uma das maiores cantoras do século XX!

Perfeita a sua interpretação!

Bravissima!

[DrKsdA]

Exceptional! (I notice, among others, her serenity while singing in this tempo the coloraturas) And this kind of response in Vienna Staatsoper...certainly justified. Thank you for posting this!

[CONTESTAR]

A Dream. It cannot be true.

[33blueberries]

Ah, I just keep coming back to this. Honestly, the best version I've ever heard.

[longlifeluke]

orchestra ottima, e ottimo il controllo della Baltsa!

[796824]

Listen to CONCHITA SUPERVIA sing this

[Dogaradodia]

Certified Intergalactic! Wow, what full-bodied voice! I was enthralled! Really enjoyed it.

[Vanchy58]

Fabulosa Agnes Balza sin duda una de las grandes mezzos del siglo XX

[arturo8402]

This recording makes me happy!!

[imprication]

Agreed: my favorite version on YouTube. As a singer, I can't help notice her PERFECTLY formed vowels: just beautiful.

[tehen162]

This is my favourite rendition. Fantastic to hear this with heavier voice than usual yet with amazing coloraturas. Brava!

[dalida45]

Grande agnes baltsa

you and cecilia bartoli your are the number 1

I love your

[operafan85]

Not the only one whose voice was destroyed by heavy roles...

[CONTESTAR]

40 year on stage and counting.... she is still around singing everything from belcanto to character... why people use clichés for the sake of saying something...

Can't you just enjoy and be grateful that she existed!?

[Rihards3001]

I can heard it more and more...Amazing!!!Thank you very much!Is it possible to get on DVD or CD recording??

[tenore88]

E' rozza nel senso che non c'è un minimo di dolcezza in quello che canta...solo voce buttata fuori con grande perizia ma senza un minimo di segno espressivo...

[tenore88]

Grandissima artista!! e pure grande tecnica! Ma che cavolo perchè è così rozza!!!!

[ucci123]

perchè rozza???

[harryvederci]

I was in the orchestra of Lyric Opera of Chicago when she sang Cenerentola with us around 1982 or so. I will never forget those performances. The whole orchestra was madly in love with her! I tried to memorize my part, I couldn't take my eyes off of her. What an unbeliveable stage presence and a voice like no other, Craig

[zizeus]

Terrific fantastico, the best ever heard so far .

[micioamilano]

When I finished watching this wonderful video I finally understood why La Baltsa became such a famous singer..she was just perfect and the thing that I found the most marvelous is that she was relax when she sang the coloratura and transmitted that sense of ease with her voice..peccato!

[Diva2themax]

Love it!!! Best version i've heard

[watchstone]

This is the way this aria is supposed to be sung!

[jocmuc]

wieso lamentieren, was sie wann und zur falschen zeit gesungen hat.

baltsa ist einfach sensationell und unanfechtbar. ja, sie hat die stimme ruiniert´, ja sie hat nicht immer die richtigen rollen zur richtigen zeit gesungen.

aber sie hat uns unglaubliche stunden beschert und ist eine grosse und glaubwürdige künstlerin.

ich liebe sie sehr!!!

[diogo2505]

Brava!

[ryker25]

This recording is the best rendition of the aria I have ever heard. I also agree with Fraederik's comments below on the 1979 and 1987 comparison.

Love the way she brought down the house at the end.

[33blueberries]

Totally agree. Well, haven't listened to the '87 but definitely the best rendition I've heard.

[leoperarm]

I'll post some of it when I get it! ;)

[leoperarm]

I have posted the Non piu Mesta!

[Fraederik]

I wished she'd recorded Cenerentola in 79, and not eight years later, when she had sung too much too heavy roles. In the recording she doesn't sound as young as here and her coloraturas aren't as easy... Such a shame... This is great indeed!

[CzarDodon]

She would have been an ideal star of the Rossini revival that was taking place at this time, alongside Valentini-Terrani. All her later singing is seriously flawed. Pity a thousand times pity.

It was truly shameful, Karajan led her to Eboli and Amneris where she started opening her low notes in a very vulgar fashion a poor imitation of the Verdian mezzo. The voice became three diffrent voices: screams on top, an empty middle register, and a bottom worthy of a fishmonger.

[wotansings]

Bon sang! Pourquoi a-t-elle chanté tant de chose en dehors de sa voix? C'est superbe ça, Bartoli rentre alla casa, voilà, on peut chanter ce repertoire sans mimiques idiotes et vulgarité. Quelle classe, quelle grâce, wow, j'en suis encoure tout retourné.

[makoto174]

I was quite surprised to hear her sing Rossini's

roles, and I am convinced that she has the technique

to sing Rossinian ornamentations. But her voice quality

suits Rossini's male characters, Arsace, Tancredi, etc.

A pity that she should'nt have left any recording of

these roles.

[Montieldebanne]

Cet extrait est absolument extraordinaire.

Exécution parfaite. Interprétation rayonnante, digne, fière et humble à la fois. Et une voix... Oh my god ! La caresse divine dans l'aigüe et la colère maternelle dans le grave.

Et de surcroît, le visage de cette femme est d'une incroyable beauté quand elle chante, ce qui est assez rare.

[rrgallo]

What´s the reson for the gala evening?

[micioamilano]

this is absolutely AMAZING!!! she was wonderfull! I never heard the young Baltsa sing!

[timopragod]

Such an incredible voice! I was at the LOC when she made her Debut in "Cenerentola".. When we had our first rehearsal of this "rondo" we were all AMAZED at this woman! It just came pouring out. And you should hear her when she "marked" it.... just as incredible.. even smoother vocally... She was so unique!

[midlochblidloch]

this is unbelievable.

[Njamh]

Bravíssima!!!!!!!!!! one of the bests videos I have ever seen from her!

[tehen162]

What a perfect rendition: beautiful coloratura,legato, powerful voice, fantastic!

[VivaMariaCallas]

What a phenomenal singer....

[g420730a]

It is so great to see a young Baltsa's performance. Her signing is always exciting. A great mezzo. She is at her prime in this performance. Just love her!

[Tsaraslondon]

Fabulous! After she took on heavier roles the breaks in her registers began to be noiceable, though she was never less than exciting! Here her scale is absolutely even, her legato superb. She never sings in London anymore and I miss her.

[CONTESTAR]

If there was ever an impecable interpretation of this aria, this is it!

The joy of Cinderella's unexpected happiness, the spectacular vocal fireworks, the legato singing in the slow passages in pure style of the belcanto era and a robust sound... What can one ask more!?

By the way, heard her recently and she's a hell of a singer! The conductor enjoys a great career too.

[AnnElliot]

she was amazing!

[CONTESTAR]

This is too good to be true. I like singers who use the core of the voice... the "squilo". When they have a legato and a heart as this one... heaven...

[Glenmed]

An absolute gem and, for me, the definitive rendition. Singer, conductor, orchestra, venue, sound reproduction all perfect. Agnes's voice, attack and accuracy were matched by her wonderfully controlled posture throughout. Thank you to her and to Oneguin65.

[fortunata1]

Thank you for posting all the video of this Viennese event. I was there myself and so you can imagine how pleased I am!

[OperaHeaven]

She is incredible. Thankyou O65 for this video.

[EmilyGreene1984]

Wow, that was absolutely beautiful. Now we can hear the entire aria, and not just the more familiar latter half of the aria. And the conductor Miguel is definitely seems like one of the finest conductors I've ever seen. He's so considerate of Agnes' interpretation, he keeps his eye on her and tailors it perfectly to her voice. And I noticed while she sang, he was mouthing the words. And Agnes was phenomenal, she is a great inspiration to me. Thank you so much for uploading the entire aria.