Grace Bumbry sings "O don fatale" from Verdi's Don Carlo

[TrevorDaniels]

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how it is done!!!!!!!

[ian1856]

Talk about putting the "grand" back in GRAND OPERA! Love Miss Bumbry. A great artist and such a lovely person.

[MuscleDaddyCMH]

oh my god I have NEVER heard her sing well until this.....thank god I can start to see why someone likes her.

[operachad]

I am not always Bumbry's biggest fan, but she sings the shit out of this aria! Brava! I love singers who go for broke and she always did. Not like these tiny voiced mannequins we have today.

Just for the record, I have listened to many versions and my favorites are (for different reasons):

Bumbry--Bravura singing & sexy

Verrett--Huge voice & sooooo Verdian

Troyanos--Mesmerizing. The live Met from 1980. Such a believable performance

Baltsa--Threw it all out there

BRAVI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mm9913]

@operachad well said, and Bumbry also eats the stage as did Callas!

[84812ful]

Great performance done with great vocal stability, BRAVA!!

[UrbanDanceParty]

Nice performance, but why did she scream out the high B....?

[a96577]

brava....ma il vento era voluto??

[matthieusarah]

@a96577 It is an open-air performance.

[olympicfreak678]

4:33 Wonderwoman to the rescue!

[00jimbo00]

@olympicfreak678 ajjajajajajajaja! es verdad!

[georgerannie]

I have to add that the wind lost--Grace won!!

[georgerannie]

Do it Grace--brava!!

[elainebmack]

I love the wind whipping her gown around, though it must be challenging to sing under those circumstances. With all due respect to other artists who have sung this role, she is the definitive Eboli, even though she is rather sharp in pitch. I have heard other singers do this to. It must be an acoustical adjustment of some sort, but it doesn't bother me at all. Brava!

[domi2020]

There are only 2 singers that does justice to this piece discounting Callas's rendition. Bumbry and Verrett. They will forever be the definitive Eboli both having tremendous success and impact. There was a time in the 60s and 70s that so many great singers were on the stage but that era seemed to have passed but hopefully the future will find such voices again.

[minkoss]

I can't stop listening to this

[opera75frfr]

Quelle soirée! Quel souvenir! Caballé, Aragall, Bruson, Estes et Bumbry. Le plus beau des don Carlos, avec le mistral de Provence qui s'invitait par brèves bourrasques. Un triomphe inimaginable- j'en frissonne encore et je me rappelle, avec mes voisins, avoir sangloté comme un enfant , tellement c'était beau.

[jomoses07]

love the wind!

[TommyHaegin]

Compare her "Oh-oh mia regina" at 1:50 and listen to the "-na" to understand why I detest Olga Borodina's rendition. This is just a matter of singer intelligence. Here she is in much better form than in that studio/TV concert production also available here. Grande Grace!!

[sillyboydeux]

First of all, she looks stunning; secondly she sings this for everything it's worth: upholding the great Verdi traditions. That smoldering chest voice is something to behold; I love the wandering and "lost in thought" attitude she takes. It's a perfect interpretation for the melodramma. I will never forget her El Cid performance at Carnegie Hall: U N B E L I E V A B L E!

[luigipavabartolotti]

la maggior parte dei dob dei mezzosoprani sono o stonati o calanti o addiritura urlati a scuarciagola,il resto è perfetto

[tenornmd]

Amazing performance, and she doesn't have to where that patch.

[Leonnidik]

nailed it.

[kmillard]

Her intonation sounds MUCH better here than in her Met production with Freni and Domingo the previous year. For some reason in that video, she was often QUITE sharp. Here the intonation is right on.

[owenboi66]

It's terrifying the way she hits those top notes with a real glottal attack. Very exciting though - and it doesn't seem to have done her any harm!

[JPD060486]

I have to say I prefer Verrett's gleaming, steady, brilliant version.

[operabug]

Oh, God, I wish i was there live to see her... She IS Eboli!!

[vincik80]

una delle poche artiste capaci di dare la giusta interpretazione alle due diverse arie di eboli.... grande bumbry....

[mariasarda]

Du sucre, du miel et du fiel... Le cocktail magique dans cette voix entre le soprano dramatique et le mezzo lyrique !!! FABULEUX !!!!

[DivaDeb1234]

I love the wind whipping in her garment!

I wonder if that bothered her by drying out her voice. It looked really great..

[owenboi66]

It's the open air. Look at Caballe's Casta Diva from Orange if you think Bumbry had problems!

[DivaDeb1234]

This aria is so difficult..!

I mean, seriously...it is!! LOL

Great Job by Bumbry!

[AmericanEvita]

Even late in her career (the 80's) she sounded great...she has a wonderfully exciting voice that always sounds heroic and grand...and this was her greatest aria and her signature one..she used it for "good luck" in auditions

[donatello1]

She sounds great..although, all her high notes seem to be a bit sharp!

[neronnenn]

Medium range mezzo....

[willthrillws]

I love love love Bumbry but at the end of this aria she is sooooooo sharp!!!!!!

[yes4albert]

And Bumbry would be the first to agree with you. She talked about singing sharp once in an interview, also citing Corelli, Rysanek and Nilsson as others who sometimes sang above the pitch. She said, "So, you see, I'm in good company." LOL!!!

[CONTESTAR]

Other than the Bflat at the end of the scale towards the end, I didn't think she is sharp at all. The overtones she sings with might be heard as sharp but they are most welcome in a theatre and never sound as in recordings who favor them, leaving out the warmer harmonic frequencies.

One thing that made me uneasy was her preoccupation to listen to her voice with the hand covering her ear often through the aria, a typical singer-practice-room thing, that looks worrying. Maybe due to the wind.

[RVP57]

I prefer to call it 'erring on the side of the angels'.

[mariasarda]

Quelle belle voix enveloppante et crémeuse ! A cheval entre Mezzo et Soprano, troublant !!!

[AGNOSFALTSOS]

SHE HAS THE VERDI VOICE

I LIKE IT

[mosthappyfella]

I was there th night of her Met debut. It was interesting. Polite applause after the veil song, which she did not impress with but by the scene with Carlo and Posa she had the audience in her hand.

[mangorepublic]

That OVATION! My goodness!

[LaBelleHelene]

FANTASTIC!!

Thanks...

[dare57]

one of the best at her best

[saverioorlando]

Good rendition,but not important.

[operachad]

I'm not Grace's biggest fan, but boy, oh boy do I wish I was there that night!

[fiercejarret]

Why don't singers sing like this anyomore?? This is how it's supposed to be done!! Bravissima!  Is this an outside Theater or was the wind for effect to make it look outsided?

[ariodante76]

Putsided is not a word!

[mosthappyfella]

It was the amphitheater in Orange I believe, the place that Caballe did that now legendary Norma, some of which is available here.

[courtneybaritone01]

that CAPE- I just love it every time i watch this

[nizammajid]

her voice is like a thunder..brava!!!!

[erin129]

whoa! Brava!

note to the powers that be: this is the kind of performance that sells out houses. however, voices like these come with equally strong (i.e. "difficult") and often quirky personalities. your move.

[FoggyRoad81]

Truer words have never been spoken. Let the divas reign!

[mm9913]

strong generalization. Bumbry was known for being a consumate artiste not a demanding diva. Her approach has always centered on preparation and performance not temperament and histrionics. Ah the voice was her statement.

[johngarner3]

I love it when Grace barks out the high notes

[BeauTenor]

oh HELL yes...

[courtneybaritone01]

Now THIS is an O Don Fatale! She is pretty awesome here!

[jeffchester]

Brava Grece!