Joan Sutherland sings The Bohemian Girl (vaimusic.com)

[Eiswirth1]

Exquisitely beautiful. IMO the greatest voice of all time.

[musicloversingable]

Refined, elegant, beautiful. Where is such singing now?

[Randomhall1]

I love this - Dame Joan is perfection ;)

[mstrsims2]

Early Joan Sutherland like this is perfection! Thanks for posting

[JeeRant]

I'm sorry, Joan, I couldn't hear you over your massive headgear.

[mountainsong100]

Jesse Norman is a conceited unpleasant woman. Completely self absorbed. She will never have the great career that Joan had.

[elisepoetry1603]

Wonderful, thank you for sharing

[gustavtube1]

XXX Factor . Was she really 80 when she performed this?

'Look at my works ye mighty and despair'

Better when she was younger, but ........

[jjmmcc1949]

Excellent, but go to Jesse Norman's rendition & compare.

[kavallan]

whats with her jaw??? Jaw like a front end loader!

[harold9619]

@kavallan  Perhaps she had no choice in jaws...

[precint13]

what a wonderful interpretation, such a simple, soft and elegant way to sing.

It's quite useless to compare sometimes. Singers touch us for different reasons and in different ways.

Sutherland had an amazing technique, a poor actor's play but she could sing the emotion and that's all that matters really.

[petelovesbevsills]

My father adored the way Joan sang this. RIP Joan, we have lost yet another singing sensation.

[PIPZZZ02]

Dame Joan Sutherland 1926-2010 RIP.

Yes, we loved you.

[stingabe]

what a gorgeous man!

[REBECCAtheSOPRANO]

What a lovely dress for a lovely woman.

[Mr064Alex]

Cet aria a été utilisé au cinéma dans "Dragonwyck" (Le château du dragon) de Mankiewicz (1947), dans une très belle scène avec Gene Tierney et Vincent Price. Extrait sur You tube à "Dragonwyck".

[Eiswirth1]

Too beautiful for words!

[Tenorgeiger]

Where the hell did she get that dreadful wig???

[qklq42]

How is it possebly that this great performer with such an anormous voice kan make het voice soooo small. It's beautiful ! It's more: its heaven

ly !

[billyguns2]

Richard was so cute!

[peejes]

I loves me some Dame Joan, but that is one giant tranny wig!

[magicmonkichi]

dahling that isn't a wig~ ^_^

[fifthdaughter]

Wow, she's very good. And beautiful too!

[anyotherbizniz]

Now that is a marvellous version of the song. How could anyone listen to the appalling folky Enya-style versions?

[Gwenke33]

I guess because there are differences in taste. To me this sounds exremely artificial. The 'folky' versions sound natural and fulll of emotion. It's just taste, though, nothing to get upset about.

[rmm413d]

Gwenke, you do realize that this is an aria from an actual opera? It is not supposed to sound "folky," but operatic. Sutherland sings it authentically. But of course as you say, in the end which version people prefer is a matter of taste.

[serpechia]

Get yer hand off that piano!!!!!!! Naughty opera singer.

[schef123]

Personally I love Jessye Norman's version this make me uncomfortable for some reason but I love Joan Sutherland!!

[betises93]

mediocre tres mediocre prefere version jessye norman

[lalagonegaga]

Is that her real hair? O.o Sorry, even the absolutely perfect singing couldn't divert my attention from the thing on her head. :)

[wattever333]

everybody wore wigs then. it was a big industry.

[BenazirRokira1993]

@lalagonegaga It's probably partly her hair and part hair piece. If you look closely you can see some of the ringlets are a slightly different shade of red, maybe they are the hair piece. Lots of people wore hair pieces at this time. My grandma had one.

[Bahia82]

Sorry but I dont get all the hype, espeically after watching jessye norman version, this sounds like ameatur hour, lol

[peejes]

Jessye Norman's version is indeed very beautiful

[Babs22h]

LOL AT Amateur hour comment

[CharlotteinWeimar]

Bahia82 There is no hype and your comment does you no credit, Joan's voice was huge yet with dazzling agility. This recording gives no idea of her physical vocal quality but does show the beautiful floating line. Try listening through better speakers, she's worth it.

[vocalissimo1]

Joan's ability to float such a ravishing vocal line is an object lesson to all singers in breath control and support. The ease of production, beauty of tone and shaping of line are all superlative. Notice how Richard never plays for Joan with the lid fully closed (in this case it is fully open!) as her full tone always carries effortlessly over the piano (and any sized orchestra, for that matter).

[BlackMagic1943]

Very good, but obviously very old too. I met Richard Bonying, the pianist here, in September 2005 and he doesn't look that good now!

[Jabe88]

this is from 1969

[LaMostraESopra]

Hahaha no surprises there!

[uniqueattack]

I'd still do him and so would you! LOL!

[pinkdogavenger]

I saw "Dame Joan" perform live many time with my father. She was by far, his favourite diva! I have also met her in person, and believe me, her beautiful personality matched her gorgeous voice! I have always loved this song since I was a child because it reminds me of my Dad. Happy Fathers' Day to all the wonderful dads out there!

[lskarin]

Dame Joan is a wonderful Sheila (Aussie slang). I saw her on a PBS interview with either Dick Cavett or Charlie Rose and she was so down-to-earth and dismissed entirely the notion that she is a dominant soprano in the world. The work that requires is immense and it is great her husband is a great musician too.

[SopranoKayla1992]

I LOVE opera music. This just doesn't seem the right song for it. I like Enya's version better.

[Iandaoperaman]

Enya's version is lovely - simple and affecting. But this is how you would hear it in the opera house and you can't get much better than Joan!

[freddyqueer]

One of the most beautiful arias! I only wish that the last voice I hear before my passing will be Joan´s!

[paminaase]

There's a huge different...

Callas can act but Sutherland can sing!!!!

I think that Callas should have learnt something from her!

[eyesk8er]

@paminaase You do know that most of Callas' career came before Joan Sutherland was known, don't you? Ms. Sutherland & her husband studied & learned (not learnt) much from studying the style & technique of Callas & they and other leading singers & musicologists acknowledge Callas' contributions to opera. Anyone can make wild, uninformed claims about their favorite performer, but backing up those claims is another matter. Incidentally, I love both Callas & Sutherland.

[MadonnaImperia]

@eyesk8er How wonderful to see an intelligent posting on this site :) I think what you have written is spot on.

[65attila]

@paminaase

Thank you for your admirable reality check. Calls wears thin on me

with the screeching, uneveness and hooting.

Joan as pure singer is one of the immortals.

[musicredshoes]

@paminaase How can you say that Callas has lessons to learn with Sutherland?

I am a huge Sutherland fan, But there are some roles where Callas fits better, and other ones that seem to be made for Joan's voice. Callas had such a versatile voice that, from opera seria (and Wagner roles, etc) to the ones who made her famous (bel canto), etc, she could adapt perfectly to each kind of role. It wasn't only acting. Her vocal ornaments were amazingly criative, But in a different style than Sutherland.

[emma41093]

@paminaase here, here

[Mbellanca33]

@paminaase Blasphemy!! How dare you say such a thing. Maria Callas had one of the most beautifully expressive voices in all of opera. It's hard to understand and may not be appreciated by all, but no way can you say she couldn't sing.

[marinasings]

oh, if only to have been there...

[Matt75003]

As Lord Harewood recalls, Callas once heard Sutherland rehearse this aria at Covent Garden for a gala concert in 1958. La Divina stopped to listen, raised one eyebrow, and said: "She has learnt very well to copy from me." Sutherland was delighted when Lord Harewood told her this.

[yiudiumui]

screw callas..bitch with the most ugly voice

[Homoclassicus]

Are you crazy? Sutherland herself admired Callas a lot. When Callas became famous, she wasn't glamorous nor beautiful. So what made her such a great Opera diva? Of course, voice, technique and acting. It's undeaniable. Sutherland and Callas were the supreme coloratura sopranos of the 20th century.

[ChrisStockslager]

I thought Callas was beautiful. :)

[stingabe]

awesome voice; wished I had seen her live!

[donzan9]

I've listened to and vocalized with Joan since

a teenager (now 67). The Bohemian Girl opera, sadly..is not found for sale anywhere. It appears not to even be on video, and this is very disappointing for those who have opera collections. Opera and other classical music has the ability to create healing endorphins in the body, unlike much of today's harsh, brash and/or boring composings. Thank God for Joan and others

like her, because my long term clinical depression has left!

[Dhbrydon]

Shame , that nowhere can the delightful Arias of Balfe can be found, I know that there are some old Count MacCormick recordings

[lskarin]

This may not be much help, but the 1936 Laurel and Hardy movie of the same name should be available somewhere. And this aria was done very well by a woman named (I believe) Julie Bishop.

Good Luck.

[donzan9]

Want to thank you for this recommendation. We bought it and loved it!

[Nhlvrnfla]

I thank God that I am here on this earth at the same time as Joan Sutherland.

I only hope in my afterlife, I will be blessed enough to hear her sing as one of the Angels.

A sweeter sound was never heard, this side of Heaven.

I cherish the sound of her.

[tiadechicho]

absolutely brilliant!

[sschimel]

I am ashamed to admit that it took me 20 years of listening to opera to appreciate Dame Joan. I love her performance of this piece. There is, though, a very different recording of it by another protege of Bonynge's, Sumi Jo, that is completely different and equally lovely.

[Dhbrydon]

Magnificent, NO ONE ever sang Balfe like this, she has made this her own, I would love to hear the other arias from this delightful opera.

[zurriuss]

Oh, Dame Sutherland is so beautiful here! I love this woman, her voice, her apparance and her humanity! Dame Joan Sutherland, I wold be happy to see you in my country, Georgia.

[camandrula]

hace un montón de años que escucho a joan sutherland y cada vez me gusta más

[meltzerboy]

No one else sings this piece in as beautiful a fashion as Sutherland. I heard her sing it at her farewell concert performance at the Met, when she was 62, also with Bonygne at the piano.

She sang it just as brilliantly then as she does here.

[idbwuas]

This version of the song has not been surpassed it sends shivers down your spine! The study of the audiences faces is brilliant too, thank you so much.

[duncster1]

beautiful

[Royalorgans]

Joan is the Queen of Sopranos

[cabelleto]

agreat to hear this chestnut from The Bohemian Girl. Wish it were produced more; lots of good music.