Lily Pons - Bell Song

[GOLDswizz]

This reminds me of Snow White.

[smejia20]

1)Yma sumac

2)Mado Robin

3) Lily Pons

4)Erna Sack

[LacrimaLunaMortua]

@smejia20 Hell yeah! Yma Sumac's the best!! I'd also give her the very first place

[Felixclassic]

@LacrimaLunaMortua I've always loved this piece, it haunts me like a benign spirit.

[SuperLuckydream]

Brilliant! Many thanks for posting.

[paulostroff99]

Sensational. As good as any ever recorded of this awesome aria. TY v for posting.

[ponsl1]

:D my great-great grandmother

[oliban78]

esta aria es la que oye Mildred Pierce(Kate Winslet) en la escena final del capitulo 4 de la temporada 1 en HBO?

[PiercedxXxCrystal]

@oliban78 This song is in the show Mildred Pierce. It's the first time Mildred hears Veda's voice on the radio. Amazing!

[hypnosimos]

@PiercedxXxCrystal thanks for this information!

[PiercedxXxCrystal]

@hypnosimos No Problem! This song single-handedly brought me to love Opera. And Mildred Pierce was an amazing Mini-Series. It's a great book too :) xXx

[HappyHounde]

wow !!!!!!!

[ViZaRD2010]

Desde muy chica, en una radio a valvulas ponía mi madre en el tocadisco a Lily Pons. Su voz se irradiaba por toda la casa, era una sensacón tan hermosa que la recuerdo cada vez que la vuelvo a escuchar. Piel de gallina y ojos con mucha emoción eso es lo que produce su formidable voz.

[Montanarus]

Recuerdo esta grabación en un simple rca victor en 45 rpm. Siempre se me refirió a Lily Pons como una diva dentro de las coloratura, y después, con el tiempo descubrí otras (de la misma época) que tenían otros méritos, quizá más impresionantes como coloratura...mamá (dentro de su ignorancia quizá, porque no me consta) decía que las cuerdas vocales de Lily estaban expuestas no sé en dónde en Nueva York .De todas maneras y manteniendo mi ignorancia en el tema, no me parece Lily Pons de las mejores

[mauriciomille]

no one above her and callas

[Devotedlamb19]

Lily is certainly very fast and her tone is angelic. I wonder if Beverly Sills could move as quickly or even faster. Her tone was even better than Pons in my opinion.

[soruca73]

la note la plus aigûe que j'ai entendu chanter par une femme :c'est la française Mado Robin qui l'a produite. C'était du "cristal ". On peut l'entendre sur You Tube

[maxreger100]

There's a gentleness in her voice lacking in most coloratura divas. Also she uses vocal color brilliantly and she's a terrific musician.

Others are more note and pitch perfect but, like @Chutson353, I'll take Pons.

[irischuchi]

No ha habido otra igual...nadie la puede superar....incrible!!!!!!!

[SakuraPath]

I think it sounds beautiful. :)

[Sebizzar]

@SakuraPath LoL it's funny xD

[EmeraldSky33]

I like Ingeborg Hallstein's version best, but this is gorgeous. :-)

[1931JC]

This was my first record in 1941. It was the real start of love for Opera that has lasted to my 80th year. Thank you Lily and thanks for the posting.

[madalaomaria]

Instrumento de Deus. Voz de um anjo.

[yllodnkcor]

It's too bad she doesn't sing it slowler....

[mauriciomille]

it is true?, that the woman can reach higher notes than the voice men?, in the min. 1.00 sounds like a flute... so high... with note could be?... thanks a lot

[manthasagittarius]

@mauriciomille Yes, that note is definitely her singing. Not all women can reach notes like that -- and there are some who could, but never try. Lots of women could probably scream that high, though. It's more about what kind of tone you achieve, really. I have heard men who are trained high tenors reach a soprano high C or higher in falsetto, but what can they do with it really?

[mauriciomille]

@manthasagittarius thats really amazing, i think few human bean can do that, pavarotti could do that??? as high as her???, i dont thinks so... nor in nessun dorma, nor a marechiare, etc.

[Dtenor87]

@mauriciomille please take the time to look up voice types. COmparing a Tenor and Soprano is like a fighter jet and a commercial airliner. It makes no sense!! Can a soprano sing as low as a tenor?? seriously? do sopranos have the brilliance of tenors in a specific area reserved to TENORS?? and why would a Tenor need to singa s high as a Soprano?

[kerkie]

@mauriciomille It sure is - Lily Pons was known as a sfogato soprano. Sfogato sopranos are characterized as having the ability to sing above high F6 with ease. To be a true Sfogato, the upper notes should sound as effortless as the lower ones, such as the note Ms. Pons hit at 1:00. It was smooth. . . like buttah :).

[mauriciomille]

@kerkie Ok.... em... tenors can not do that isnt??... does tenors can sing #F notes?,..or only #C's??? its what distinguish between tenors and sopranos? ofcourse the voice too what's distinguish, thanks...Pavarotti could do that what she could do in this video??

[mauriciomille]

does lily beats joan sutherland?....

[preppybeast6293]

@mauriciomille no.

[gelsus2]

Why do the sopranos always marry the conductor? For example: Pons/Kostalanez ,

Sotherland / Bonning, etc.

[Republicrat74]

When I was first becoming aware of opera in the early 1940's, with my mother listening to the Met Radio broadcast on Saturday afternoons, Lily Pons was a favorite of the public. When she sang at a free concert in Chicago's Grant Park in 1944 more than 500,000 people attended.

This recording of the Bell Song was a best selling single on 12" 78 rpm records.

[Chutson353]

As a general rule I don't think Pons was the best coluratura (as compared to, say, Tetrazzini, Galli-Curci, Battle etc.) but I do think that her interpretation of this piece IS the best - how that works out I don't know but that's my opinion and I'm stickin' to it.

[pbassat]

@Chutson353 Have you heard Mady Mesple in the Bell Song?

[yllodnkcor]

@pbassat I like mesple too. I think she gives more exoticism et power, maybe because her breath is longer : she does not chop the introduction, it just goes fluently

[josemagus]

@Chutson353 Lily's crisp staccato notes in the high register make your comparisons sound like bleeting sheep. Learn your coluratura!

[Chutson353]

@josemagus you are certainly entitled to your opinion but I do not see why you find it necessary to express it in emotionally charged insults. I would be much more appreciative of a well articulated comparison of the singers in question.

[blessedalcuin]

@Chutson353 I agree; I would rather listen to her performance of this aria than anyone else's.

[morinoroba]

Great !

[dramageek1120]

oh. my.gosh! that's amazing! I'm a singer, so i know how hard this song is. she skips all over the place and her voice doesn't break between registers once. she really sounds like a bell. i'm still in awe. 0_0

[18Glova]

superlativa.

[raythespian]

Pons was a great star and a huge attraction. I saw her whenever she, and conductor/husband Andre Kostelanetz, came to Robin Hood Dell, then the summer home of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

[MrMingand]

Sorry for my english. It's a version without emotion. The only one soprano coloratura for this Opéra is the UNIQUE Mado Robin. You can hear this complete Opéra with her in 2 versions : 1952 (recorded in London) et 1955 (with a different cast) recorded in Paris. Enjoy it! It's really magic! Bye

[MissLillyHiggins3]

mm... I must admit that you're right, but Lily Pons has a magnific voice and you can deny it. BUT!!! Mado Robin made the BEST version of A Voce Un Poco Fa. No one can do it better. Sorry for my english, it's terrible.

[Funwit23]

@MissLillyHiggins3 I think you meant Una Voce Poco Fa...right?

[Tenorore]

Gracis a estos videos he podido escuchar finalmente a esta famosa soprono de coloratura, lo encuentro maravilloso, aunque la música en si es muy hermosa, ella no desmerece en nada, lo hace más bello a{un. gracias.

[EdmundStAustell]

Yes, her technical prowess is spectacular. The high E's are almost unbelievable; however, I think it is an error to dwell exclusively on her superb technique. She has a real musical and stylistic grasp of French operatic style. Delibes is one of the greatest masters of melody of the 19th century, and the beauty of his melodic invention, when coupled with his long and elegant phrases, requires a delicate and sophisticated touch that not all singers possess. Pons did, as did Galli-Curci.

[meltzerboy]

@EdmundStAustell Well said, and I completely agree, Edmund. I would add Bidu Sayao as a delicate and sophisticated interpreter of French music.

[EdmundStAustell]

@meltzerboy And you would be absolutely right, my friend. All of which reminds me that I really need to put up a Sayao piece. Thanks for the prod:)

[meltzerboy]

@EdmundStAustell Are you taking requests? I'd love to hear her beautiful rendition of "Adieu, notre petite table" from Manon. It is so elegant and moving.

[EdmundStAustell]

@meltzerboy I'll certainly take a look.

[silviamarian]

Gracias por hacernos disfrutar de estos maravillosos videos interpretados por estas divas insuperables!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!

[ogoperasinger]

she has so much ease with the coloratura but I personally feel that just because she could do it that fast meant she HAD to. Dessay is much more sensitive, Pons seems to speed everything up just to show how fast she can do it, fast isn't always better. she just flies through it and doesn't let the music sing for itself.

[oleander1684]

i agree; faster doesn't necessarily mean better, and i also like dessay's sensitivity more. but one has to remember that at that time, drama wasn't valued as much as vocal gymnastics was. i'd like to think that she'd take it a little slower if she were alive today!

[ChrisStockslager]

Exactly. It's not as if she did it on purpose to annoy people. Jeez, before Callas and Sutherland got a hold of "Lucia," it was just another 'showing off' role, post-1800s.

[erroldoyle]

The only other coloratura soprano I heard sing this as well was Amelita Galli-Curci, who happened to be my father's favorite opera singer during her long reign at the Met. It's a tie between Galli-Curci and Pons as to which one does the better trills and the better mingling of voice with bells so accurately. Sutherland doesn't even come close.

[eugenelohks]

Well I thnk it's unfair just to dismiss Sutherland like that... could Pons sing Wagner?

[erroldoyle]

Aren't you changing the subject? Who's talking about Wagner? Get real.

[Aetion]

Thanks, vivianluna, for this posting. Lily Pons, one of the best lyric coloraturas, is fantastic.

By accident, tonight I am going to see a film with her, "I dream too much". Costaring Henry Fonda.

[pdxtran]

Wow, I'd heard that Lily Pons was a fantastic coloratura, but I'd never heard an actual recording. Believe me, most singers would not be able to hit those notes so precisely or so rapidly--or even hit them at all.

[organdude44]

Pons was unique. They say she ALWAYS sold out the Met. Thank you for this posting.

[neoceratodus]

Her voice was so effortless and clear..even Sutherland, among the greatest coloraturas ever to have lived, doesn't have the fluent ease with which Pons attacked the kind of vocal exercise that is Lakme's Bell Song. Just wonderful

[meltzerboy]

I agree. Much as I love Sutherland's singing, and Galli-Curci's as well, to my mind, ear, and eye, Pons will always be associated with the Bell Song as well as the role of Lakme.

[operalover41]

Thanks so much for sharing this exquisite voice and song

[gomongio]

I'm sorry but...

what says the libretto in this aria?

It's incredible!

[maldoror26]

Where goes the young Indian girl,

daughter of the pariahs,

When the moon it plays,

On the tall mimosa trees?

She runs over the moss

And she doesn't remember_

That everywhere is shunned

The child of the pariahs;

Past the pink laurels,

Dreaming of sweet things, Ah!

[maldoror26]

She passes without noise And smiles(laughs) at the night. Over there in the forest more dark, Who is the traveller, lost? AAll around him The eyes shine in the shadows, He wanders on bewildered and lost! The wild beasts roar with pleasure, They go to pounce(jump) on their prey, The young girl runs up And braves their fury:

[maldoror26]

She has in her hand the wand

Where tinkle the bells of the enchanter!

The stranger looks at her,

She stands dazzled.

He is more beautiful than all the Rahjas!

He will blush, if he realizes(knows) that he owes

His life to the daughter of pariahs.

But he, lulling her to sleep in a dream,

He transports her to heaven,

And telling her: 'your place is there!'

[maldoror26]

It was Vishnu, son of Brahma!

Since that day in the depths of the forest,

The traveller may sometimes hear

The faint sound of the wand

Where tinkle the bells of the enchanter!

[Aetion]

Thanks for the translation.

[mariagalvany]

Lily Pons sings this piece cristal clear with

clean trills and exquiste high notes.

Lovely

[schattensand]

Love it. She sang it her whole life and was so beautiful, so fitting for this. The angelic

coloraturas surpas the big voices in this aria.

[oggieguy]

Bravo. So clear and her tone and trills are fantastic.

[Quiteashtrudel]

Yes, she owns the bell song... That's it!

[SilentApprentice]

amazing, clear as a bell and no strain at all.

[macciboma]

Ottima coloratura soprano brano difficile.

Grazie Callasdimitrova di avermelo accennato.

[wkylem]

Great but not better than Ruth Welting !

[Largo64]

I've just been comparing this with the clip of Sumi Jo singing the same aria. Lily sings the bells faster, which makes them a little more sprightly, but Sumi Jo has a bigger, richer voice. I never thought I'd hear anyone sing the Bell Song better than Pons, but I think Sumi Jo does. I love them both!

[singinciaran]

Her trills are superb!!

[hybiscus246]

I heard this sung by her in Washington, D.C. at Constitution Hall when I was a child and I still remember how beautiful it was. I am now in my 70's. A real delight to hear it again!!

[nepenthean]

@hybiscus246 wow, that is awesome!

[moghedien13]

This is the only song where i feel she is actually invoking someone in the beginning. The vocalise actually sounds liek a prayer without any drama, like a monotone gregoirian chant, but beautiful, lol. And i like the fast speed. Its very easy to get bored with this song.

[rollsroyce59]

Have you heard the M. Callas of this ..you want to talk about drama ... This is much crisper . IMHO this is better than anyone that has reccorded this aria to date.

[artdanks]

Oh....and....her coloratura is MUCH cleaner in this recording.

[artdanks]

I used to have an old glass 78 RPM recording of this. Don't know what year it was...but never cared much for it. BUT...I like this one MUCH much better! She sounds too plastic in the other one. And if I remember correctly, it was even faster than this one, off pitch at times, and no real trill to speak of. This is SO much better!

[midlochblidloch]

the tempo is too fast for her, she can't sing the runs. but it's a nice performance.

[babydrane]

very delightful!!

[unclealand]

Lovely, but she runs through parts of it so fast, we wonder if perhaps she had to pee.

[jetit]

Lol...you are funny. but remember Recording speeds where much faster back then.

[unclealand]

I saw her on an old Ed Sullivan show video, and she does sing those parts that fast. It's odd.

[monkeebat]

That's how it was written, most coloratura sopranos can't move that fast. It depends on her vibratto (when she's holding a note and how he voice "wavers") and it's something completely natural, in other words it depends completely on what her vocal chords are built like.

I like Joan Sutherland's version, but it's nowhere as clear or as precise, and believe me, as a trained soprano - that stuff is damn hard.

[unclealand]

I completely understand what a vibrato is. I can even completely spell it correctly. No one thinks it's a piece of cake to sing The Bell Song, and though Lily Pons sings the hell out of it here, I've never heard anyone do those trills quite as rapidly. Completely.

[erzbet07]

My introduction to Miss Pons was her singing this aria in I DREAM TOO MUCH. She was stunning! I was floored. Such a voice in such a petite singer. Glad Lily was caught on film singing this..if only her films were on TV again. Thanks for sharing on YOU TUBE!

[europelove]

the original. the best way to sing this. perfection.

[cadesmal]

This is just awesome! Thanks for putting this up!

[musKS53]

Thanks for sharing this wonderful singing with us!!

[cuncinews]

Thx for putting this up, i loved it.

[meltzerboy]

This is Pons' second recording of the Bell Song, made in December 1930, one month before her Met debut, and IMO one of her two best renditions, along with the 1940 live performance. She has been criticized for singing the bells too fast; but I like the brisk tempi, and the whole performance is done with great flair and charm.