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  • I'm just speechless!!!! Callas sings this with such a color, strength and great power. I also adore Dessay and Dahl.

  • I also like Elena Mosuc & Elizabeth Vidal, their voices are so soft and clear in the high notes.. But I like the compilation ^^

  • Excellent Breathe control-amazing coloratura-full of colors-rich voice-Hot E flat.............MARIA CALLAS!!!!!!Sutherland is also very amazing!!

  • Im not trying to be a "la Divina" obsessed fan. But I do have to say. Maria gives the most color, and emotions when singing. There are so many different sounds to the voice in just that 15 second clip of her vs all the other women.

  • No one, ever, had that dazzling bell-like tone of Sutherland.

  • :( No Damrau?

  • why you didnt put Gruberova in the list she is my favorite doing this aria

  • Dame does it best!!!

  • Dessaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa­aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! But Diva Sutherland is also great!!!!!!

  • Tracy Dahl's version is absolutely incredible. I LOVE her voice soooo much

  • When I was listening this, I had some douts (one or another), but Natalie just swept these 9 incredible previos singer at the end. She's not just a singer, she's a music fairy.

  • I'm between Dessay and Sutherland. Dessay has so much control, but the immense size of Sutherland's voice and how she could move it is so hard to overlook. Though, there is one sour note in almost all these recordings. (4:54 for sutherland, for example). But Dessay at 8:48 really hits the note right in the middle.

    Most on the high Eb also seem to choke off the end of it, but Dessay seems to sing it like there's no problem. I just wish her coloratura was a little more crispy like Dame Joan

  • don't joke people!!! callas forever!!!!

  • Wow, did you guys hear that version by Sutherland?  I wept, it was so beautiful.

  • SUMI JO was live too and she is the best... by the way natalie's last part was wonderful. but sumi is the best soprano ever !

  • '1.platz.---Joan Sutherland!!!!!!!!!

  • Callas is the only one that can give all the artistic depth and nuance that Delibes intended with her technical perfection and not just and empty mechanical vocalize excersice like many of the others.

  • @NEBESHIKU callas? oh my god! callas was perfect in her heavy roles. but i think even in many light colotura role. she was not the best. too dramatical..

  • @icylakepaxphile well if you want an empty display of tasteless coloratura fireworks to try to hide an insipide interpretation, then Callas is not for you; Callas is the one for you if you want to hear the coloratura have dramatic and artistic meaning as it shows what the composer wanted giving you acces to the sublime.

  • @NEBESHIKU thank you your reply whether it's positive one or negative one ;). i fully respect your opinion. but i can not help saying that this piece was not made for dramatical voice. because the charactoristics of French coloratura piece in 19th centuries is not to deliever dramatical feelings, but for the showcase for coloratura technique. this kind of tradition started from Grand Opera in early 19th centuries. so i can say Clément Philibert Léo Delibes the composer's thaught must be totally

  • @NEBESHIKU different from la divina's interpretation. frankly to say, callas's interpretation is the very mis-interpretation. even though i've got over 30 Callas CDs and i'm her fan too, but i think that she didn't know french coloatura tradition so well.

  • @icylakepaxphile that just proves that you can have many cd's and know nothing of music. Any way, that's your opinion and it's wrong, but hey, you are the one who has to live with it.

  • @NEBESHIKU thank you but you forgot one thing. proper taste for opera comes from studying. not only frommere and shallow feeling which can be fluctuate by untrained ears. that's opera. and that's it. ^^

  • @icylakepaxphile ... and that explains your taste...

  • 1.- Dame Joan Sutherland

    2.- Dessay

    3.- Sumi "The Robot" Jo

  • Despite all my admiration for Callas, I must admit that Sutherland clearly owns this battle.

  • @SilverCircle71 I wonder how many takes Sutherland had to sing to get one right, on the other hand Callas sang live, so Callas swips the floor with Sutherland.

  • They're all great, but no one touches Gruberova in this aria.

  • Natalie Dessay of course. She makes it so magical.

  • UMMMMMMM SUTHERLAND?!? IS THERE ANY QUESTION AT ALL? and yes i like the Damrau version as well. I enjoy Sumi but i feel like shes too much of a showboater. Just my opinion. Sumis Una Voce Poco Fa is AWESOME, not traditional but Just as good as anything else concert wise.

  • 1 - Sutherland

    2 - Dessay

    3 - Pons

    These three manage to keep it rich and human during the high notes.

  • they all have wonderfull voices, they all have the quality for lakme (except callas perhaps, and jo, whom i prefer as a traviata), but only sutherland and the last two sing faithfully what's written ( e.g. the last note of every phrase which is also a staccato, not long) or make interesting phrases. I don't really like it when someone takes it very quickly if they cant sing all notes clearly or destroy the musicality.

  • 1- Sutherland

    2- Sumi Jo

    3- Nathalie Dessay

    On this performance, Sutherland is... perfect. But I think Sumi Jo is the best ever.

  • My vote for the top three performances:

    1. Amelita Galli-Curci

    2. Sumi Jo

    3. Lily Pons

    My vote reflects only a decision for the best performance of the Bell Song from among the sopranos presented us in this video. My favorite soprano, irrespective this video and the Bell Song, is Sylvia Sass. Among sopranos who still perform today, my favorite is Sumi Jo.

  • I dont know how you would describe it in musical/technical terms but it is as though Dame Joan is more relaxed with this than the others. She owns the space and fills it!Great expression without unnecessary use of force or tension.The french sopranos across the ages also seem to put in a good performance, currently N dessay and P Petibon do exceptionally well.

  • Joan and Natalie own this piece.

  • ... good thing that Florence Foster Jenkins wasn't in this mix, she would of obliterated the other washed-up sopranos! JAJAJAJAJAJA Really, the only one that stands a chance next to Callas is Sutherland. They must be in heaven crying because there are only shity class F sopranos today like Netrebko and Gheorghiu.

  • I find Tetrazzini nice and very interesting to listen to, considering how old her recording must be. I wish it were in higher quality!

    In my opinion Sutherland is the best, her voice control and technique are so perfect and far by anyone else... and I just love her thrills.

    But Callas is great too, it's quite strange to hear a dramatic soprano with a so large and powerful voice like hers able to sing an aria like this, but she did it wonderfully.

    I also like Dessay and Sumi Jo.

  • People should remember that later recordings - with up to date and improved recording techniques will always appear better. This isn't necessarily the case of course. Sutherland and Callas are the best in my opinion

  • Nine viciously strangled cats... Then comes Natalie and shows them how it's done.

  • Yes, Sutherland is the only one who got it ALL right. Pitch inaccuracies are rampant in some of the older singers but at least Tetrazzini and Galli-Curci do not have high E's that pierce like a knife. Some of the singers sound downright aggressive at times like Sumi Jo. What fire Mesplé and Robin were running from in their roulades is a mystery. It is a pity that most of Callas' rendering is missing because her character, la jeune hindoue (in Italian), actually has expression.

  • I quite agree with you regarding older singers (but are old recordings helping her?)

    I put on top Sutherland for the pure technical performance (I also do for the Air des bijoux by Gounod, at least by her first recording before 1960)

    But I love Nathalie Dessay for the spirit she adds to the piece, and I put her on the overall top.

  • Dessay all the way

  • Y DESPUES DE ESTO PASO DE DECIR NADA MAS........A ESCUCHAR OPERA.....QUE ES LO MEJOR QUE PODEMOS HACER TODOS.........OPERA OPERA Y OPERA.......Y CADA CUAL QUE SE QUEDE CON LA DIVA QUE MAS LE GUSTE............QUE SEPAN QUE SEGUN QUE DIVA LES GUSTE........SEREIS RETRATADOS..........Y YO DESDE LUEGO SOY ESTRATOSFERICO COMO JOAN SUTHERLAND...........EL UNIVERSO ES MIO........EL QUE QUIERA QUE SE QUEDE EN LA TIERRA........Y QUE ME CONTESTEN LOQUE QUIERAN.......O DIGAN LA TONTERIA QUE QUIERAN....

  • @bellini7verdi AMEN!!!!

  • discutir ahora la naturalidad de cada cual me parece absurdo.....la naturalidad la tiene quien la tiene que tener y ver otra cosa es.....mejor ni decirlo.....faltaba mas....estoy por encima de todos los conceptos....hay cosas que solo los oidos pueden apreciar..y ..a escuchar opera......como yo me la he escuchado....y que yo sepa...hasta estos momentos...joan sutherland es la voz suprema....de todos los tiempos...para otros detalles.....seria cuestion de estar en otra situacion..y no en esta.

  • 1. Mady Mesplé (best overall, would have made a great Lakmé on stage)

    2. Joan Sutherland (awesome sounds, as always)

    3. Maria Callas (sheer personality and real power on the E that most sopranos lack)

  • A good list but why no Patricia Petibon?

  • i don't want to compare sutherland to callas.. i love the both of them in different ways, callas' emotion, vocal power and amazing musicality. sutherland's Ringing voice, amazing coloratura and trills and pure tone...

    the best opera singers!!! may they rest in peace! they are both singin together with pavarotti and di stefano

  • la divina! la stupenda!!

  • BUENO......ESTA ARIA Y MUCHAS MAS........POR SUPUESTO........CASI TODA LA OPERA ES SUYA...............UN PRIVILEGIO DE PRINCIPESCA VOZ....QUE LE VAMOS A HACER....ASI ES LA VIDA CHE........Y CHESES VARIOS.......

  • ESTA ARIA ES DE JOAN SUTHERLAND.......UNICA E INDISCUTIBLEMENTE..........JAJ­AJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA......CUALQ­UIER OTRO COMENTARIO ES IRRISORIO Y FALTO DE TOTAL OIDO........SI ACASO SE LA PERMITO A MARIA CALLAS......PERO A LAS DEMAS COMO QUE MEJOR VUELVAN A NACER E INTENTAR APRENDER A SER MAS NATURALES.......

  • @bellini7verdi

    Concuerdo en que la gran Joan Sutherland es insuperable, por su habilidad en la coloratura y dulzura; sin embargo si se trata de naturalidad y expresion, es Natalie Dessay (mi favorita en este personaje) quien sobresale, por la sutileza, a diferencia de otras expuestas, quienes parecen corretear las notas exageradamente. Maria Callas, mi soprano preferida, es magnifica como en la mayoria de los papeles que abordó, pero a diferencia de muchos otros roles, el suyo no es el mejor.

  • I liked the second one the best. She had the most distinctive sounding one. Then the one with Callas, Sutherland, or the last one were pretty good.

  • Well I was sure I was going to choose Sutherland, exact chromatics and shimmering trills, by far the closest to an actual trill from a piano (etc) But then Mespie had the most graceful ends to the notes, which is difficult to not have them sound chopped or screamed, esp. But Dessay had the best dynamics... so, in the end I guess my favorite is still Sutherland. Thanks for posting!

  • Mesple. Sutherland. Tetrazzini and Dessay tied for 3rd.  Honorable mention to Dahl and Jo and Galli-Curci.

  • Boemi has it right!

    Mady Mesple IS Lakme!

  • 1. Mady Mesplé

    2. Mady Mesplé

    3. Mady Mesplé

  • Doesn't anybody listen well to tetrazzini's version. The way she moves her voice around is simple breathtaking. But anyways, here is my fave.

    1. Tetrazzini

    2. Sutherland

    3. Maria Callas

  • @ApparoDei  Yes Tetrazzini is breathtaking.....Early recordings would not do her justice.

  • Natalie Dessay

    Maria Callas (que no puede cantar ella?!!!!!!!!)

  • Sutherland and Callas are compelling. Both had big voices, but Sutherland had a huge voice, so more remarkable she could move it the way she did with such grace and fleetness. No one can better Callas at making music. Compelling.

  • i love the way that last note from dessay is almost pianissimo then builds

  • Thank you for the video. Wooo, I guess we should listen the whole aria to have a better judge, but in this video, for me: Dessay, Dahl, Joan Sutherland, Mesplé and Callas.

  • Joan Sutherland

    Natalie Dessay

    Maria Callas

  • 1) Sutherland (perfect precision and completely natural placement)

    2) Tetrazzini (another real dramatic coloratura)

    3) Dessay (what pianismo wow)

    4) Pons

    aside from that , they were all good except Callas. don't get me wrong, I practically worship La Divina, but she was not coloratura soprano. to me, she will always be Tosca, Gioconda or even Eboli. Callas was meant to play fiery, dramatic women, not damsels amd priestesses

  • I don't really think there is any singer, living or dead, who can compare to the effortless ease with which Natalie Dessay navigates coloratura passages. Her pitch is dead-on, every note, every time, and there seems to be no technical challenge she cannot meet. Her voice is TRULY an instrument...a flutist couldn't play these runs with any more clarity than she sings them, and she has an astounding amount of control! Her crescendi give me chills. For me, she clearly wins this, w/Sutherland #2.

  • I hate to tell you this rosinir, but Tracy Dahl has the technique. It's just as good as Joan Sutherland's. Sutherland is also a deeper coloratura than Dahl. But anyone who hears Tracy sing knows that she has the technical command and the notes. You cannot compare two voices like that.

  • Callas, Sutherland and Dahl definitely won this one. Personally, I think Callas' tone is the best, especially for the last note. Compared to her high E, everyone else's sounds like a shrill. Sumi Jo's last note tapered off at the end and she could no longer sustain it while using vibrato. lol Looks like Callas is the only one that could truly handle that range of singing. I did like Dessay's control, though! Perfection! :)

  • Yes, Joan is wonderful, but you must agree that on the last note she went off the deep end, so no, she is not the greatest in this particular contest, let´s not be blinded by our fanaticism, shall we?

  • i vote for tetrazzini!

  • When young Sutherland sang this aria it sounded like Divine Play.....a "leela". The pure joyous delivery of a bird. To ordinary sopranos it just sounded like hard work.

  • Natalie Dessay, Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland

  • todas bellas voces pero ninguna con la fuerza de la JOAN SUTHERLAND que simplemte era indiscutiblemente unica y con el poder de la PRIMA DONNA ABSOLUTA

  • @bellini7verdi ESCUCHENLAS BIEN PARA QUE VEAN LA REALIDAD.DE DONDE FALLAN Y DONDE SUTHERLAND GOBIERNA EN TODOS LOS SENTIDOS.

  • Tracy Dahl, Dame Joan Sutherland, Maria Callas and Mado Robin are the top four for me, truly coloratura...

  • greaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!

  • I was a boy treble in Westminster Cathedral choir and LOVED trying to sing this! Now, I am a Baritone and well... I can't sing this! Papagano here I come LOL.... THANK YOU again for posting and putting this together... SO much fun!

  • Callas's is the best! And after her, Joan Sutherland. They are the best singers of the 20th century, and probably no one dissagrees.

  • for people who really know Lakme, critics always recommend the one done by Mady Mesple, she's a truly french coloratura soprano, Mady has played Lakme all through her life. her voice fit the character the best, voice like a girl, sing like a bird. feel bad that not much people know about her, unless you really into opera world... anyway, love you Mady~!

  • @ChiangTino I totally agree, should be far more famous! Hers is my favourite, as is her Ophelie.

  • ah ... Joan. My hero. Unless you have sung this song, I don't think you may fairly judge. There are things she does which happen naturally for Dame Sutherland. Amazing.

  • Just remember.. Callas version was LIVE.. Sutherland's and Mesple's were in the studio... where much can be done with the final product. I vote for Callas, hands down. and for that reason..

  • Comment removed

  • La Stupenda!

  • Joan!

  • Anyone knows where i can heard diana damrau in this aria? if there is a video or not.... ?

  • @fandelocp there is, wonderful, except she held the final high E for a bit too long! used to be on youtube, but it must have gone... but there definitely is one!

  • @fandelocp there's a new one, but for me is just worth hearing for information, is nnot that good.

  • NATALIE DESSAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the better soprano of the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! then Sutherland (she has a wonderful vibrato!) , but i hate sumi jo!!!!! I don't like her voice... In this aria, the better i've ever heard is really dessay!!!

  • Natalie Dessay owns this song although I thought Tracy Dahl's interpretation was lovely and her voice really suited the music. Dessay for win though

  • I think Sutherland does win this one. Her voice has perfect agility, wonderful clarity, and doesn't punch any notes that shouldn't be accented. Mesple was very nice, but not as sparkling. With Callas - I love Callas, but what makes her amazing is how her voice has an almost inhuman resonance to it, which definitely doesn't come out in this recording. I liked Dessay. Nice, but not Sutherland.

  • @AdvocateToTheAccuser Yes but I think it is amazing that Callas can do this aria in the first place... I mean she could also sing Brunhilde!!! And the scales are cleanest in her rendition, in my opinion, as well as the last high E, which I think is more in tune and better sustained (and definitely more powerful) than Sutherland's. My favourite is Mady's!

  • Natalie is the best! But I already knew that.

  • Wow- Joan Sutherland, Sumi Jo and Natalie Dessay- Definitely!

  • primo posto senza dubbio per la Callas... che per quanto non fosse un soprano di coloratura riesce ad eseguire perfettamente l'aria...e soprattutto con quella voce inconfondibile che va dritta al cuore...semplicemente meravigliosa! secondo posto per la magnifica sumi jo!

  • mado robin, lily pons and ofcourse Natalie dessay the best!

  • La Stupenda!

  • Sutherland by far.

  • There are some good sopranos, but just one Lakmé - Dessay...

  • @caper772 I completely agree! Her voice is the prettiest and most agile and dynamic.

  • the best is SUTHERLAND! OF COURSE! she's so wonderful. I can always rely on Sumi Jo, however, to give some of the cleanest coloratura, and although I'm not normally a big fan of Dessay, she also stood out to me. I wish she'd quit her huge acting obsession, and focus on the music, she has the goods to be an incredible soprano.

  • @saxamaphoneguy1 but acting is an essential part of singing. u need to express the emotion through your voice. ur basically acting through your voice

  • Dessay and Sutherland are tied for the best imo. I have always adored their voices. Sumi Jo was lovely too-- although her high E was kind of thin and lacked vibrato. As for Ms. Callas, well, that goes without saying. Wonderful actress, as a singer, the most overrated I've known. It sounds like she is hitting wrong notes in her recording.

  • Sutherland is by far the greatest here,how anyone would put Sumi Jo ( or anybody else)above her is beyond me!

  • AMEN!

  • what????

    Sumi Jo number 1 beyond shadow of a doubt. There is just no comparisson !!!

    Brava Sumi Jo !!

  • all are good for the aria, but i hate it when they do it TOO fast...the music is ruined, the singer cant sing all the notes clearly, and it sounds too hasty. dessay is my favourite here, also because the result is very clear.

  • 1. Mesple

    1. (tied) Jo

    1. (tied) Sutherland

    Well, I'd go on, but I think you get my drift.

  • 1) Natalie Dessay

    2) Joan Sutherland

    3) Mady Mesplé

  • grande la Sutherland!!!!

  • I think it has to do with where the real tessatura of the voice is. Joan Southerland sounded like a real bell. Natalie Dessay had a nice interpretation. You gotta love Lily Pons. What an outfit. What a character.

  • To me Dessay owns the role period and when I say role I mean the full role not just this aria. So:

    1) Dessay

    2) Mesplé (audio quality here isn't the best but she was an amazing Lakmé, tie with Dessay)

    3) Sutherland

    4) Callas

    5) Pons

  • Dessay mil veces por sobre todas las demás

  • 1. Lily Pons (of course)

    2. Amelita Galli-Curci

    3. Dame Joan

    They are all very good.

  • 1. Sumi Jo

    2. Joan Sutherland

    3. Lily Pons

    It's really subjective, and they're all wonderful. It's nice to be able to compare great singers so immediately. It is difficult, given the recording techniques of their day, to tell whether Tetrazzini or Galli-Curci had the vocal richness of Jo or Sutherland. Probably they did.

  • 1 callas

    2 dessay

    3 sumi jo

  • Très intéressant et par certains côtés cruel (!) d'avoir toutes ces interprétations à la suite les unes des autres. Et en meme temps chacune est unique... Et les plus faibles techniquement font peut etre passer autre chose...

  • 1 Sumi Jo

    2 Callas

    3 Southerland

  • To my ears, Joan Sutherland is the only one to sing this aria with complete, absolute technical command. The others have the notes but not the command...

  • Amen!

  • @rosinlr listen better to natalie dessay.... :-) i like sutherland too....

  • JOANNNN SUTHERLAND rocks my life!!!!!! the greatest... love her!!!!! this contest just proves it. EVERYONE should also check out the diana damrau version of this aria. its really worth listening to.

  • i have to admit i am a bit biased because i absolutely love sumi jo...but i definitely prefer her in other songs compared to some of the singers here. ive never liked dessay much but i admit she was probably my fav in this one

  • Mado Robin....hmm...I'm wondering how extensive was her training...her interpretation is quite rough in comparison to the others...

  • Wow times 10!

  • WOW !!!!!!!!!!!

  • Beautiful! Thank you for posting this! The Bell Song is one of my favorite songs ever, and to hear so many different voices sing it is wonderful!

  • Sutherland was the most beautiful altogether... Dessay the effortless, Sumi Jo the loveliest voice... Pons really good too, and Tetrazzini was superb too...

    My opinion anyway.

  • In my opinion Joan Sutherland has the most beautiful tones. Always sweet, never sharp.

    Natalie Dessay is a pleasant surprise !

    Hans NL

  • On se rend bien compte que plus le temps passe, plus le niveau baisse...

  • N'importe quoi mon pauvre, voilà bien du pessimisme typique à la française!

  • All of them are extraordunary artists!!!! Wow!!!! I guess I am happy to be a tenor (it is almost impossible to sing this kind of coloratura for any human voice!!!)

    I liked very much specially Pons, Callas and Sutherland (also Sumy Jo was great).Bravooo!!!...thank you so much for this!!!!!

  • Thank you for your comment doremicde. When I said "Her Majesty Queen Joan Sutherland" I wasn't referring to the aria, but to Dame Joan herself. To me she IS worthy of being called Queen Joan Sutherland. I find her voice sheer perfection. I know most people have a favourite singer, and she happens to be mine. I was lucky enough to meet her once, and she is a lovely lady.

  • I'm gonna have to say Dessay, Sutherland and Pons were the best

  • "Callas", simplemente la mejor, por algo sigue siendo "La DIVINA"

  • I had to smile when I heard the Lily Pons version, it seems as if she just wants to get the whole thing, over and done with as quickly as possible. Even Maria Callas was caught on a good day. My favourite has to be Her Majesty Queen Joan Sutherland. I still think she is the greatest singer of them all. Is it my imagination, or does Mado Robin get a couple of notes off key?

  • I don't agree with you. I saw Dame Joan in a video-it's in the play list near the comments, it's called "Joan Sutherland - Bell Song from Lakmé"- I saw good technique but I didn't find her majesty. I think in lakme she pointed on grace, but surely not on majesty. Are you talking about the picture???

  • 1 Sumi Jo

    2  Mady Mesplé

    3 Joan Sutherland

  • Sumi jo is the best

  • Lily Pons, even more super than Sutherland. The fastest woman -_- wasnt she......

  • WHERE IS " LA DE ANDRADE " ??? lololllllll

  • Florence Foster Jenkins ne figure pas dans ce montage, et c'est évident que sinon, le choix sera vite fait, compte tenu que son art, sa voix, son style et son charisme sont supérieurs à tout ce que l'on a pu entendre.

  • Impressive. Makes one dream of finding the voice which can combine the different qualities of each of the ten:

    beauty

    effet de cloches

    in tune

    a real trill

    good articulation

    style

    Tenor 003, one does not need to be a coloratura soprano in order to evaluate their performances or technique!

    You for instance are not a soprano...

    I don't think Lily Pons was trying to sing a semitone higher and rather too fast; sometimes sound engineers did strange things to cram airs on to on side of 78s

  • que trino el de Sutherland!!!

  • Tetrazzini sounds like Sutherland.. interesting!

  • some of these tempos are crazy rushed

  • Dessay and Callas forever!

  • Mado Robin Wins!!! her voice is exemption tonality and strong vocal power

  • Comment removed

  • 1. Luisa Tetrazzini- weak interpretation, no trill

    2. Amelita Galli-Curci- kinda ok..bad ending

    3. Lily Pons-too fast

    4. Mado Robin- weird vibrato

    5. Maria Callas- awesome!

    6. Dame Joan Sutherland- tied with callas

    7. Mady Mesplé- who is this girl??

    8. Sumi Jo-- kinda weird

    9. Tracy Dahl--it was ok

    10. Natalie Dessay---2nd place after callas and sutherland

  • Comment removed

  • Avant de juger le travaille des plus grande cantatrices du monde!! serai tu capable de chanter ses notes de colorautre? non je ne pense pas alors je vais te le dire frenchement :) FERME TA SALE GEULE !!! :D

  • Love Luisa Tetrazzini and Maria Callas...two of my favorites!

  • Aunque no me resulta particularmente grata esta aria, para mi las q mejor suenan

    1. Mady Mesplé

    2. Sumi Jo

    3. Joan Sutherland

  • There are some disappointing ones here but most have astonishing technique. Dessay has such flawless pitch across here range. Mesplé is a favorite too.

  • Fun to listen to, but I vote for Joan, she has the most control, polish, and of course a surreal trill unmatched. Ms. Dessay is my second, but a distant one.

  • Joan sutherland is the best

  • The best nº 7. Mady Mesplé

    The worst nº 3. Lily Pons

  • Thanks for posting this -- one of my favorite arias, and it's fun to hear all these performances together! My favorite is Sutherland... such a sound on every note, and the only one with a real trill...

    Sumi Jo does a great job, except the last note... I performed this with her in Amsterdam -- you should have seen her dangly earrings sparkle as she sang the coloratura!

  • love this aria!!! all the singers are amazing but I prefer Sumi Jo, she sounds so clear!!!!

  • dessay wins. callas strains the ending note(a lot) and mado robin had really unattractive vibrato.

  • I wish someone would do Lakme Battle Royale:The Flower Duet ?????

    PLEASE lol.

    I know nothing about opera, but I'd very much like to hear several good versions of that song, sung by the best in the opera world.

  • I don't mean to be rude but Tetrazzini, Galli-Curci, Mado Robin and Mesple don't really compare to the other six rather impressive singers. Of the other six each have their pros and cons but the four I've listed really seem to be lacking.

  • it also depends on the recordings, i have a different callas recording which sounds amazing.

    but this one goes to dessay who is BY FAR the most effortless and musical. Sutherland of course a close second, her version is very delicate.

  • Maria has a tendency to flat more, but she does have a heavier voice. I do do like her slower vibrato at the end. :)

  • It's interesting and wonderful to see how everyone's top favorites are different - a proof that we should not judge music with a clear-cut grading system and start flaming each other just because you have a different opinion. ;)

    I myself consider how clear and accurate each note is heard pretty highly so it's Dessay - Sutherland - Callas.

    Galli-Curci was also very nice except for the rushed trill at the end.

  • Sutherland, all the others scream or sing too fast.

  • I agree I think Sutherland is the best especially if you listen to the whole aria!

  • Good grief, soprano voices are not all about the high notes or I should say who sings the highest notes. What is the matter with some of you. ? It is wonderful is it not ,to critique? Now get out in front of an audience and SING!

  • 7 was my fave... 5 my least fave

  • Does anyone but me notice that of the ten.. four are french? Must be something to do with the language.

  • CALLAS RULES!!!

  • My favorites are Galli-Curci,Callas and Sutherland. While Mady Mesple is the worst.

  • As a Sutherland fan I am going to go for..... Mesple for completness. Sutherland in 2nd place because of those stacatto-esque notes. Callas is OK but that last note is just horrid.

  • Mady Mesple - infallibile.

    La Callas always with an insight and ever changing colours.