Joan Sutherland / Hamlet / Ophelia's mad scene

[shantibel]

Pitiful when people feel they have to comment on the mannerisms and/or appearance of an opera singer, or feel that they know more about technique than these performers. These artists they gave immeasurable pleasure with their musicality. Joan was not competing in a beauty pageant! Not that she needs any defence - she lived a marvellously fulfilling life and was dearly loved and sincerely admired without being a glamour queen or so perfect that she never slipped up in performances!

[emma41093]

It's amazing to she how she recovered the phrase - a very hard thing to do. One note and it knocks the rest off too - she did soooooo well xxxxx

[rlee1976]

Magnificent! Yes, she messed up the scale runs... but only those 2 that you hear there, and comes right back on track. Her breath support was much heralded all throughout her career. While some may say that she focused too much on her head voice and didn't properly place her middle and lower voice and focus it more to be heard and balanced, I'd say she was pretty amazing. A true technician and artist. Her face and voice showed her intention, she didn't need grand gestures.

[emma41093]

Aww I love how Bonynge comforts her at  9:24 !!!!

[missduck9]

Lovely, even with the little trouble she has near the end. We may never see an artist like this again in our lifetime...Rest in peace, dear Joan Sutherland.

[JuillHope17]

8:04 is where it happens to those who don't want to spend the whole video waiting for this stretch of barely 10 seconds like i did.

[iriisblue]

Does anyone have a recording of her only assumption of the role for the Canadian Opera in 1983? Critics reported at the time that her mad scene stopped the show with a mid-performance standing ovation.

[sour7lemon]

That mess up really threw off the rest of the aria... She messed up words right after she got back on track with the melody, and at the end section said "Pour toi je peur", meaning for you i am afraid, instead of Pour toi je meur, for you i die!!

[Dous88]

where are the screw ups? i really dont know. not very educated in opera

[coryisawake]

@Dous88 8:08 she goes out of key and manages to return.

[WANK83]

Thank you for posting this little bijou ! Dame Sutherland WAS born for this role. Her powerful singing voice thrills me through time and space.

Regards from France

[velazquez2009]

terrible, artificial, unsensitive and unemotional singing.

[Hako2004]

As are your comments.

[kgarmaker123]

She has only one or two manerisms that i find irritating.. She sings like she is on her tip toes all the time.. trying to reach the notes, and she has no trouble reaching them..LOL.and I dont like the thing she does with her jaw when she hits a high note.. NOt necessary.

[jmahlon]

lol..mkay. I'm quite sure she knows more about singing than you do.

[kgarmaker123]

Whatever! They are mannerisms, and they do not make her or any other female voice sing better. They are stupid.

[Richiesutherland]

And you, my friend, are a bit too harsh and judgmental in your criticisms! If you subtracted the mannerisms of various prima donnas (hmm... I know a Greek one who wrapped her arms around herself constantly and then paddled her hands out to the sides--totally meaningless gestures, by the way) you would have the boring singers of today. I think JS knew how to sing high notes, and if she had to put her jaw in a certain way, I doubt it was for mannered effect.

[kgarmaker123]

The mannerisms I am talking about, ultimately lead to vocal tension and .. down the road to vocal issues. For instance, even though joan does not do this, have you noticed soprano s who sing out of the side of their mouth/ or seem to be unable to sing a high note without turning their head? This is usually a sign that they are having problems and sure enough within five years they are usually not singing .... I am harsh on facial mannerisms for sure. They generally are not good for the voice.

[Hako2004]

Of course, and she should have perfect stage craft, posture, hair and make-up as well.....and look like Angelina Jolie. Also, she should not blink more that once every four seconds, or open her mouth too wide, or gesture too much. Oh yes, and the high note should look easy as well, and sound perfect. That isn't too much to ask.

[Homoclassicus]

@kgarmaker123 How do you know it's not necessary? Sutherland could hit a high note with more projection, steadiness and dynamics than ALL coloratura sopranos who got to have their voices recorded (yes, I mean all of them, though other sopranos had nearly perfect high notes, but never with the same size and projection). It's difficult to know it's not necessary when Sutherland was the only one who sang such great High C's or D's and btw sang them till she was 63.

[kgarmaker123]

@Homoclassicus The hell she did. Thats all I will say on the matter.

[biggayal51]

She sang this magnificently in an early recording. She's a bit past her prime here and she does make a mistake on some runs.

Nevertheless she is still La Stupenda.

Fabulous! And no one has ever been able to trill like her!

[kgarmaker123]

She had 20 fabulous years! In the limelight, and she stunned the operatic world too.. She does a great job with this.

[iriisblue]

I saw her live, one week before this concert, in Philadelphia at the Academy of Music, an acoustically equisite theatre. She was a vocal miracle that night. Never heard anything like it in my life. All I can say is If you only know her through recordings and television, then you do not know her.

[MAPIAKALLAS]

what happen to her on 6:30 she did a mistake she stop and she interpolated all those notes it was usesless but she is la Stupenda right... brava.

[Richiesutherland]

What happened was, and she did this on a couple of other occasions at least, she forgot that the upward run is tonal, not chromatic. She sings a chromatic run and it lands her a third below the pitch. She realized it, but it takes her a few moments to figure out how to correct it. Still, it's an amazing performance.

[killerbunny123123]

wow this was in 1979?? she didnt change (much)..... well the "off-pitch" part is not very noticable, she was VERY VERY good I loved her....i didnt like much her trills though

[xospongeox]

SHE WENT TO MY SCHOOL! I am in the sporting house named after her and spend most of my time in the ubuilding named after her. I LOVE YOU DJS!

[belcunto]

yeeesss... A fellow ozzie i DO love our Dame joan... however in this performace i beieve she lacks the cognitive emotional perspicacity of a convincing Ophelia.... yeeeeessss... i TOO know what i'm talking about...

[davsm114]

whats with the entire flat section at 805

[harpguy18]

wheres the mess up?

[RossiniSoprano]

I love how she smiles right before she sings the first real coloratura section....such enjoyment for us and her! And that trill! I wish they would do 'pale e blonde' slower, though. That little walk she does in the messed up part is her moving towards Bonynge, hoping he can help! There is a video out there of the two of them rehearsing this aria at the piano, and she has trouble there, too. It must just be one of those spots.

We love you Joan! Please get well soon! :-)

[domi2020]

What's with bonynge's quick exit? Was he upset with sutherland that she had faltered in the last passages???

[sour7lemon]

He didn't even look at her when the Aria ended, and barely acknowledged her performance when he walked off! Cold!

[Nater389]

They keep it professional.

[belcunto]

He owes everyone an apology for his shit, ho! Souljah girl tellem!!

[brividokaldo]

i love you, joan.

[ioSonoCallas]

Drôle de coupure: "Hamlet est mon époux, et je suis Ophélie. -Un doux serment nous lie, il m'a donné son coeur en échange du mien, et si quelqu'un vous dit qu'il me fuit et m'oublie, qu'il me fuit et m'oublie, n'en croyez rien! Non Hamlet est mon époux, et moi je suis Ophélie.- S'il trahissait sa foi..." Je ne vois pas l'interêt de cette coupure! Cela dit bravo Dame Joan!

[meltzerboy]

It is interesting that when I heard this aria in the theater, it was not the off-pitch part I noticed, but rather the catch in her voice during the "Partagez-vous ces fleurs..." section. The tone also, as I recall, sounded much more brilliant. BTW, Melba, also at age 52, was criticized for her faulty intonation in the Ophelie Mad Scene during a concert performance in 1913. The Ophelie curse perhaps!

[midas45]

The lack of sound quality is probably due to having recorded this performance 'off the air' ... I was living in the suburbs of Boston, MA and was picking up the signal on an antenna in our attic ! I was amazed I got it as well a I did. I bought the VCR especially for this performance.

[g420730a]

Apparent that Joan forgot her lines and her mind wondering! But she coped it well and recovered quickly. Human made mistake. Compared to her recital in 1969 in Toronto, she also made a mistake at the entrace of an aria and she even claped hands and shaked head to mock herself. It just make her so real as an ordinary person. On this aria, with such a mistake, it is not perfect but certainly not bad. As Richard said "her worse perforance was not bad and her good performance was just outstanding!".

[raymzi]

ooohh..i can sense the bashers will have a field day

[BeauTenor]

Wow....I've NEVER seen Sutherland do that. Ever.

However, that's the best dress I've ever seen her in. Usually her style left me...underwhelmed.

[Jabe88]

Aww poor thing!

how she walked while getting off pitch... it was so cute

[Hako2004]

As I recall now, Sutherland described the experience as "horrendous". The arc-lit auditorium made it possible for her to clearly make out the faces of many fellow singers....and several opera managers as well. It seemed like a televised audition. She was totally unnerved and asked to have the lights dimmed before returning to stage.....I think "demanded" might be more accurate.

[midas45]

I was going to mention this in response to your first post. Both of them were unnerved and it was obvious watching the "brindisi" that they were "frightened". When they got back stage after the first number they demanded the conditions be corrected. I still think it's a great example of how a real pro reacts to this kind of adversity. I'd've fainted dead away ! :-)

[Hako2004]

This performance, like a few others in the late 70's, was a nerve-fest for Dame Joan. Her voice was out of sorts, her bad memory was worse than usual due to nerves. She even skipped high notes she would easily take years later in the same piece. She didn't look confident at all approaching that final scale to the high note. She looked so much more relaxed in the later performances.....March of 81'...same location with Horne and Pavarotti for example.

[hisimperialmajesty]

She recovers so well. You can barely even tell anything goes wrong.