Agnes Baltsa - Carmen - Seguidille

[stagelirica]

My favorite mexo!

Sexy, magic, greek serena!!!

[MastersoftheOpera]

Grace Bumbry & Agnes Baltsa are my favorite Carmens. They have solid technique, passion and fire in the voice. Their Carmens are true to the spirit of the opera and the Prosper Merimee novella. They are untamed, independent, strong and devil may care/insensitive Carmens. That's how she's supposed to be!

[mariasarda]

Beau mezzo lyrique !

[moghedien13]

hmmm. i dunno why, but i just dont feel this is her best. i think she is trayin to channel edith piaf a but too much lol.

[georgii101]

wow! she's great!

[obuntovolt]

wau, oir a esa mujer a sido realmente impresionante, es grandiosa

[LaMostraESopra]

While this particular video isn't my favourite, I think Agnes absolutely sings the best Seguidille.

[karlakarolla]

i love she

[solensegunda]

Hubo atrevidos que discutieron a Caruso y no van a discutir a Agnes? Una de las mejores "Carmen" que pisaron un escenario; por favor...

[francornell]

ojalá q todos los que postiaron que apesta esta versión cantaran con suerte un tercio de como ella lo hace ¬¬...estoltos

[Drelnis]

lol she's on the Met in this role, and Met ain't stupe.

[Dymension]

Her biggest problem vocally is that it's all chest. I think at last count she had about 3 notes left in head voice...

[CzarDodon]

Yes chest voice can be exciting but you have to have something else, what ever happened to mixed voice? she just chests the lot, anything below those three notes are full on in your face chest notes.

[wwonka2]

What are you talking about? it's not "all chest." at all. She takes pure chest only up to f# above middle C (maybe G) and the remaining notes up to the C# above are in voix mixte, which is more head than chest. It sounds like "chest" to the average listener because she maintains the broad palatal vowels and moderate brightness. The long middle register and the weight of her voix mixte are precisely what true mezzo voices are built for. She can be a bit vulgar yeah, but I love it.

[Dymension]

Not during this performance it's not. I'm talking about 2008. This video is at least 20 years old. Also, I'm not your "average" listener. I've studied and taught voice for over 25 years and I sing with the Chicago Symphony. That said, she is one of my desert island mezzos. Especially singing Cenerentola and stuff like that...

[LaMostraESopra]

Hahah definitely true, but I think that's what makes her unique, and what makes me absolutely love her Carmen. She sounds like a nightclub singer! It's just such an unexpected sound for the role, and I think it really works. But her head voice is totally stunning as well, like find the clip of her singing this with Carreras from the video ... her A# fantastic.

[Dymension]

Absolutely. I've always found her final scene from Carmen on fire. The best in those explosive high notes! Another one I like in the final scene of Carmen is the young Obratzsova, circa 1978 from Vienna with Domingo...

[smiljianic]

not as good as expected

[Dominicano1197]

this fucking sucks...Callas does it way better.

[barrosarts]

This is REALLY TERRIBLE!!!! what a painful diction!

the first sentence?????? what language is she saying??? is she re-writing Bizet???

[AluCardGr]

bravo ''sakis arabatzis tenor''

[Njamh]

Juass

Tiene orquesta.. pero va a su bola... mira que la mujer canta bien..pero aquí creo que no está en su mejor momento. La seguidilla que hace con Carreras le da 20.000 vueltas a esta.

[gadsy]

Es cierto. Tengo esa versión en VHS y es mucho mejor. Igual su interpretación actoral con Carreras, como de enojada, no me gusta. Prefiero las Cármenes seductoras y juguetonas de otras cantantes.

Es cierto, esta versión no es buena. Pensé que me iba a encontrar con una similar a la del VHS.

[hillevifan]

I love her acting at the end

[Njamh]

This seguidille sucks..xD She's much better in the other video where she sings with José Carreras

[tallamande]

i dont like her at all

[poohbearnikki]

Um, what is with her face? And her voice? I mean, she's not THAT great...

[creidhe]

I don't think she's the best mezzo soprano alive...but I like her...

[drea6681]

am I the only one who happens to think she is terrible?

[rikochan9]

uh...here here.

[davit1982]

no, you're not alone... She's disastrous :( as Carmen she's more or less ok, but you should have heard her Dalila :( OMG! She has no voice at all :( Her lower range is catastrophic! This performance is also terrible!

[singspieler]

Greatest mezzo alive today!!

[almaviva06]

you can't imagine how much I agree with you!...

[LaBelleHelene]

so do I...

[ypofero86]

As do I, she's the best!

[sennahj]

I've got Carmen on dvd, and her singing is so great!