Gaetano Donizetti - Rosmonda d'Inghilterra - "Perche non ho" (Beverly Sills)

[CaptFitzbattleaxe]

How did we get Sills and Sutherland in the same century? Two lovely accounts of this aria.

[lginpdx]

Sill's trill could be described as being more like a warble. Very distinct and bewitching.

[aragall77]

I am a Sutherland fan.

But this is just perfect.

[DonRolini]

I love this!

[MastersoftheOpera]

Bel canto was Sills strongest repertoire. She just happened to perform @ the same time as the bigger crowd-magnets Sutherland and Caballe who sang the same stuff around the same time only with bigger voices..though Sills was not equipped with the big voices of her predecessor Maria Callas, she did have some of Callas acting skills. Sills was an expressive singer who used her voice to bring out the dramatic aspects of her roles. She had a warm, beautiful voice and lots of stamina.

[talmadge1926]

i appreciate your comment. Donizetti wrote for the voice of Fanny Persiani and temporary accounts of her voice are more or less identical with the description you give here of Sills. Voices such as Callas, Caballe and Sutherland would not have been understood or appreciated in this type of role ( and even today they are sometimes misplaced) and I think Sills is very much underated and often dismissed as lightweight.

[talmadge1926]

In my humble opinion Beverly Sills was the last exponent of the grand coloratura style of the 19th century brought into the 20th by Tetrazzini and Galli Curci. Fast, light and in firm control her trills were spectacular and her top notes absolute showstoppers. The footlights became a little dimmer when she died.

[asdfopera]

I posted the Yvonne Kenny version if anyone wants to hear that one. Someone should post the Lella Cuberli version because I'd like to hear that one. This is such a beautiful music. I don't really care about comparing the sopranos because I think Sills, Sutherland, and Fleming all sing it very well on their own and making comparisons only spoils enjoying the music.

[outofthebag]

This Sutherland/Sills thing is like comparing apples and oranges. They shared the same affinity for the bel canto canon and each was well suited for this music but they were gifted in different ways. That's why it's so great to hear both of their interpretaions. Sutherland's voice was so startling grand and opulent - Sills' so sensual, beautiful and moving. Both A pluses. Lella Cuberli has a lovely version too, a little Sills, a little Sutherland creeping into her haunting dark soprano.

[dks880]

Very quite beautiful

[LeonoraPasiniani]

Great!

[sschimel]

The biggest difference to me between Sills and Sutherland, and I love them both, is that Sills always sounded sweeter to me, while Sutherland sounded formidable. And Sills always did have that smile in her voice that someone else mentioned. And that trill is perfection.

[FoggyRoad81]

There is a wonderful smile in her voice that is just great to hear.

[leoperarm]

I love this aria! Lots of times better than 'Regnava'!

[stingabe]

ech313, you should hear Joan Sutherland's thrills. Simply breath-taking.

[ech313]

how on EARTH does she trill like that?!?! i want to be her!!!!

[hotvicaronamyl]

Thanks for posting this LindoroRossini; Sills in great voice here. I have another two versions of this - one by Renee Fleming and another by Lella Cuberli: both fantastic.

[Mozmike]

I love them both! Thank goodness we had an embarrassment of riches with these 2 being able to serve up such glorious singing! The more the merrier!!!!!

[benderpm]

Sills in my book had the prettier singing voice. Her trill I loved more than Sutherland; Sills embellishments I adored more so than Sutherland's. Overall, I found Sills more pleasing to my ear and more attractive to my eye.

[beefnotfish]

say what you want...singing like this is so amazingly cool! her top notes are so lilting...and i think the trills( or whatever they are) great! having seen both live (at the ends of their careers) ...there was no comparison - Bev made everyone smile and Joan was a bit scary,both vocally AND physically. And she transposed her Lucia mad scene down to D flat!!!!!

[63Attila]

Wo. Joan transposed when she was approaching 60. Sills retired at 51 and the 5 years before were not vocally her best.

Joan never scared me. She thrilled, awed and entertained me. Go you sleep with lights on.

[meltzerboy]

One more point of comparison. Sills surpasses Sutherland in high piano singing, while Sutherland's high notes taken forte or mezzaforte are less shrill than Sills'.

[meltzerboy]

Sills in her prime vs. Sutherland in her prime! How lucky we are to be able to hear them both. If comparisons must be made, I'd say Sills' voice sounds "warmer and more human with its vibrato," while Sutherland's sounds "more instrumental and perfect with less vibrato." I prefer Sutherland's trill, which is an honest and beautiful one, whereas Sills' trill is somewhat fluttery. The sheer richness of Sutherland's tone surpasses Sills' more shallow (or less rich), yet more expressive, tone.

[Tenorboy29307]

It is Sills all the way for me as glorious as Joan was. You know, Sills did have a trill that was a bit different, but that is why I like it. It is almost birdlike...like a warbling kind of thing. Unique and just so beautiful if you ask me.

[Jabe88]

I don't know why I think her trill is weird (though certainly beautifully done)... it's like the same sound/note on and off and not two. Am I right?

[plwsdyg]

I prefer this clip of Sill's more than that that of Joan's

[CoreyLeig]

This aria as sung by Sills is what great singing is all about, glorious interpretation, smooth sound, thrilling, unsurpassed trills, incredible pianissimos, God, the list goes on and on. Brava, Sills, no one can touch you in this aria, not even Sutherland, great as she was.

[petelovesbevsills]

Beverly, Beverly, Beverly all the way! Thank you for reminding me to listen to this agin on the actual recording!!!!!! Bravo LindoroRossini and thanks for all the effort you put into these clips.

[godivapaw]

Again, Beverly gets the prize for first place on this aria! Her voice is so smooth in this aria. I just love the fact that she sounds so effortless! And breath for DAYS!!!! No one has ever been able to trill like she was able to in her life. You could say that it was a patented trill!

[thespis148]

Stupendous!

I love Sutherland, but she could not match the Sills trill demonstrated in this recording. This is truly remarkable singing.

[thespis148]

The top of her voice is glorious, and sounds like hers may never may heard again. Sills is an ideal Lucia.

[operamagnus]

One of the best Sills recordings of a Donizetti aria (in my opinion), though I don't like her trills, which aren't even true trills. A trill consists of two seperate notes rapidly sung after one another, Sills repeats one note... Great nevertheless.

[doperasinger]

Ahhhh.....this is when the voice was fresh and unharmed by Roberto Devereaux...

[clearandsunny]

Vintage Sills. I saw her live 2x. She did often overdue the high notes (often making her climaxes anti-climatic--and here the mid-cabaletta D is strained), and slower passage work sometimes had suspect intonation, but with a singer of this caliber, these are minor distractions. There isn't a coloratura today, including Jo, who could do this so impressively.

[tamerlano]

Beautiful in it's filigreed delicacy -- and those TRILLS! My god, she was really great in this kind of music.

[drdre333]

What I don't like off the bat is the balance in sound on this recording. Sills is recorded too close, so that there are parts in which the sound becomes harsh, and her voice wasn't that way. Allowing for this, it's a nicely sung piece. Shockingly though, there is some coloratura in there that is a bit sloppy!

[Operaphile]

Yes, when I first heard the aria on the Opera Rara set with Fleming it didn't do much for me, but when I heard it, especially the cabaletta, on Sutherland's "Voice of the Century" disc I was blown away!!! I just kept playing it over and over. Sutherland has the luxurious and oppulent full voice and power, but Sills gives such wonderful sustained high pp singing. Both are wonderful in their own ways!!! Thank you LindoroRossini - you just keep delighting us with more and more!!!

[godivapaw]

If you have the high notes and trills, use them I say. I love beverly's interpretation, as well as Joan's. They are both different and interesting, but my hat tips to Beverly in this one.

[operadm]

I'm mostly a Sutherland fan, but this early Sills is a wonderful rendition where her personality comes through. She and Joan both display wonderful technique in these postings. Thank you LindoroRossini!

[godivapaw]

Just listen to those TRILLS!!!!