Lydia Lipkowska, "Una voce poco fa", Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia (rec. 1912)

[Katerinaeurope]

Thank you for posting!I love her voice and her technique so much!

[SuperLuckydream]

Thank you as always, dear Tim, for this genuine rarity!

[gmmix]

Many thanks for the excellent biographical sketch you've provided, which adds much to the totality of one's appreciation of a video. She certainly was a fine coloratura who made her mark in an era of legendary sopranos.

[Randidan]

A lovely and talented (obviously) soprano who also sang at the Boston Opera, during Russell's fabulous years (see Quaintance Eaton's book). Her Columbia records, made at that time, are not hard to come by, but these Gramophone Co. discs done a little later(?) in Russia are next to impossible to find, showing up only occasionally on expensive dealers' lists... First time I've heard this one. Thanx for posting it.

[AulicExclusiva]

An exceptionally beautiful voice, an elegant musician, too, with plenty of technique. Her abbellimenti are excessive but fun, and certainly more musical than the usual frog march we hear nowadays.

She was married to the famous barytone, Georges Baklanoff.

[younglemeshevist]

I totally agree, she was fabulous. Thanks for the video. Recordings of artists of Imperial theaters are rare even in Russia.

[basenjidiva]

A beautiful and very distinctive rendition of this aria. Wonderfu vocal flexibility, and a clear, bell-like sound. Very delicate and lovely.

Thank you for this splendid posting, Tim.

[mayatatyana1]

Tim, exquisite voice! Thank you. Maya

[EdmundStAustell]

My, she IS good, isn't she? Those cadenzas fall at a precipitous rate, and are very well articulated along the way. A very elegant presentation, also, as she restrains herself a fair bit in sections that are now characteristically made much of, sometimes with infelicitous results, stylistically.

[aaronsande]

Lovely voice, but I was initially upset at the slow tempo. Rossini demanded great coloratura and flexibility from the singers of his works, and slowing the tempo can defeat much of that intention.

However, she added more to her fioraturae here than is heard in performances today, which easily makes up for the tempo. No doubt she had more than enough flexibility in the final analysis! =D