Land of Hope and Glory - Dame Clara Butt

[2trans90it]

Dear hawkmoon03111951;

Spelling, dear boy; no better now than it was then. Talk about her incredibly powerful voice, not about what you find to object to about "politics".

[XnagarekidaX]

I shall express my immaturity and childishness by pointing out the lady's surname, which is directly related to the posterior of any living being not pertaining to plants.

[666lainey1]

Hardly a great nation 100 years ago. where working class children were sent to school with no shoes on there feet.shared outside toilet with about four other families , had nothing provided to eat at school. and got an orange for christmas. i think we have slightly improved since then.

[Teddyb1939]

My 78 rpm record must be 100 years old then. Almost unbelievable. You are right Britain did have purpose & belief in those days, we were a great nation. Sadly things have changed, we have had too many self seeking,rubbish leaders, making terrible decisions that make us a laughing stock around the world.

[susannahmcdnld]

One hundred years ago! That is a haunting voice - most unusual by modern operatic standards. A lovely lady. I've asked my students to look for this clip so I hope they find it interesting.

[colw1983]

Dame Clara was my mother's second cousin. Mum was born in 1909 and was named Rosa Elizabeth Butt, and she met Clara several times. I was born after Clara's death and would have loved to have met her too, but I feel very proud to have such a beautiful and well known lady as one of my family. Shirley Williams.

[Bfrankadrian1]

The REAL British National Anthem

[shieldsguy]

Very haunting voice a great contalto ive read about she had a brilliant career she was very saught after

[TheCourtwick]

brokenneckygor: Hahn was a homophobic, who later had an affair with marcel proust.

'une voix hypocrite'

[chodetaculous]

hahahaha her name is butt

[AulicExclusiva]

Sir Thomas Beecham said that, "on a clear day, you could hear her clear across the English channel".

[BrokenneckYgor]

@AulicExclusiva "The men heard what they reported as an angelic yet warlike voice rising above the whine of the shells. I have reason to believe it was the voice of Dame Clara Butt carrying over the Channel to Picardy." ---Memoirs of Sir John French

[AulicExclusiva]

@BrokenneckYgor In his Diary, Reynaldo Hahn calls hers "une voix obscène".

[Zva26]

I'd have loved to hear what she'd have done with such great contralto roles as Erda, Ulrica in "Ballo", and Orfeo. This was a REAL true contralto and they're the rarest voices around.

[MDBellamy]

Not so much bel canto as can belto!! Mind you, it's a superb recording for its time. And she really does hit those very lowest notes squarely. Enjoyable. Thanks for posting this!