Gwyneth Jones "In questa reggia" Turandot

[billcarr54]

BTW, there is a video of Ms Jones and Catherine Malfitano singing Mahagonny that is very worthwhile for fans. Jones' voice is much diminished but still very expressive and suitable to the role.

[billcarr54]

this was wonderful thanks much.

[MariaCaIIas]

I had the great luck to hear her live many times in the late eighties and throughout the nineties when the voice could still pull out some performances with stability of tone and the tour-de-force quality that made her legendary....

I feel blessed I had this opportunity......

I have never experienced something similar ever since...

[coryisawake]

quel grido!

[gordonlennox1]

great performance indeed. I saw her in the 80th in a variety of Wagnerian and Strauss roles. But the one that rivaled her as Turandot " was Gena Dimitrova who I saw live in the arena di Verona. The arena was a hard place to fill with one voice and I have never since heard a Turandot quite like her. Monumental. You should check her out online. There is a youtube clip with her from that time and place and role.

[MariaCaIIas]

@gordonlennox1 I have heard both ladies in Turandot live and GJ was by no means rivaled by the great GD...

each one held her own with the part... In pure decibel force (for whatever value this might have) Jones was somewhat stronger throughout in the performances I saw...

[31122051]

BRAVA. 

[htshoward]

I have always been awed by her presence and her voice to a degree, but that wobble can become grating to the ear. HOWEVER, I think she sounds GREAT here!

[htshoward]

I have always been awed by her presence and her voice to a degree, but that wobble can become grating to the ear.

[belcunto]

People often mystically revere 'in questa reggia' as a monumental, taxing aria - but it really isn't that difficult to sing. You don't HAVE to have a big voice - you just have to sound angry. No, i'm not just a 25 year-old youtube talking outta my ass... i'm a 25 year old London man and i've sung this in falsetto: i'm not begging you to check out my page, but it's there if you want to see that i'm not some coward bitching anonymously.

[AudreyN]

@belcunto Perhaps not for a man singing in falsetto, but for a woman singing full voice, this aria is basically riding the upper passagio almost the entire time. THAT is why it is so taxing - not the volume, but just the tessitura is godawful hard.

[albafango]

@belcunto honey are you for real ? rather taking the p..s

[belcunto]

@albafango no i'm for real. hehe no one's called me 'honey' before

[mariasarda]

On m'a dit qu'elle était mezzo à la base. Est-ce vrai ?

[CONTESTAR]

@mariasarda c'est vrai. Elle a commencé sa carrière professionnelle comme mezzo et elle a changé de "Fach" deux années plus tard...

[sievep]

This is a fantastic video . . .it really allows you to focus on the voice, and it's spectacular.

[raywong]

Really incomparable live performance of this most taxing of arias! And she sings Calaf's phrase every time, a feat that cannot be replicated by any singer who's less gifted and endowed in terms of stamina, volume and vocal control. Definitely the best of the best, as shown clearly from this live clip.

[Pooky15000]

Gwyneth Jones surely is one of the leading dramatic sopranos of the last century - this is an excellent rendition. Her voice needs a big auditorium to be truly appreciated, I saw her life once in Fellbach in 2005 and will never forget the sheer force and beauty of her voice - the deep register had mostly faded away, but wow! What dramatic power in the top register!!

[Hako2004]

All voices have limits and short-comings, and all must grow old. Some problems are in artistic choices or technical decisions. Gwyneth had a rare voice, no one can argue that, it was a huge and steely instrument the likes of which occur a few times in a century. I've been amazed by her instrument, and by her sheer presence on the operatic stage. She did scoop quite a bit. But it's remarkable that the only glaring flaw was the wobble, considering what she asked of her vocal cords.

[jocmuc]

i never enjoyed this voice very much, but in this

video she is really not bad

[skyeomania]

Gwyneth is fantastic here, as always. Never been a Turandot like hers and never will ...

[vojta80]

We should all feel more humility against the artists like that. She have sung so many roles in high level for decades! Even if she went over her nature sometimes probably,she did what she did!

[Keikobadspeaks]

Whatever arguments used by Jones' detractors, they can't eclipse the fact she has taken on the heaviest dramatic roles in the big houses for decades. Despite the existence of an erratic vibrato, unlike certain others, Jones's top range remains intact and the longevity of her career attests to her exceptional vocal resources. Her performance of the dramatic soprano role of the Queen of Hearts in Unsuk Chin's Alice in Wonderland in 2007 is described as "sensational" by Opera News' reviewer.

[spbsalon]

What for to sing, if the voice shakes?

[Rastignac2008]

Incomparable! The amount of tone and the stamina she commands is second to none.

[Royalorgans]

If you like gwenyth Joans,. You would love Birgit Nilsson and Joan sutherland singing Turandot

[Chrysothemis]

I watched this performance obsessively as a kid, and I haven't seen it since the VHS tape crapped out on me. It's just as dementedly wonderful as I remembered. Thanks for posting!

[alecs1976]

she has a terrible wobble and pitch problems

[reydogoloyugo23]

My friend, excuse me to mention that Gwyneth Jones is a Dramatic Soprano, that is the voice for the Turandot role. A dramatic soprano is heavier than other sopranos like lyric and coloratura.

[alecs1976]

that is exactly the misunderstanding about her voice, she never was a dramatic soprano, she was a lirico-spinto but pushed herself into dramatic roles, because she had a dramatic soul inside her.

[BeauTenor]

I don't know where you got that from. There was never a MORE dramatic voice around...

[alecs1976]

maybe there was never anyone around who more wanted to be a dramatic soprano than she did....she certainly is a pushed dramatic!

[BeauTenor]

Again, I'm not sure why you'd say that. She doesn't have to push her voice. It's truly a huge instrument, so big that it was at times unwieldy, which is why she could be a bit uneven. She was incredibly loud.

[alecs1976]

she made a huge sound, that was not there originally, that's why the vibrato is out of control and uneven. she sounds strident and is very often off pitch!

[BeauTenor]

Was not there originally? HUH? What crackpot source did you get THAT information from? If you don't have that kind of a voice to begin with, there's no making one up out of thin air. Her voice was ALWAYS huge. Listen to her Medea from 1967 or 68, or her Leonore from 1969. You can't manufacture a voie that big. it's impossible; and if she overpushed it, she'd have no voice left (which incidentally, she DOES, at age 71).

[alecs1976]

the "crackpot source" as you call it, is the voice itself. it's been pushed over its limits for too long and so the vibrato has gotten out of proportion, which results in a wobble and severe pitch-problems. and in that video she is only 49...

I have the recording with her as Leonore...and I find it aweful! for the same reasons as mentioned above

[BeauTenor]

You must have never seen her live. The experience was totally different. As far as the Fidelio fron 69...she sounded incredible. Maybe the problem is with you...cheers.

[alecs1976]

in fact I have heard her live 1998 in salzburg where she sang "starke scheite" in a concert. the impression was not any different....also due to the fact that she was 15 older then.

[paulprocopolis]

Having followed this interesting discussion my own feeling is that the truth lies somewhere in between. For my money GJ was a true dramatic soprano and her young recordings are pretty spectacular. What I do think is that at some point in the 1970s she began to lose it, developed an ungainly wobble accompanied by unattractive scooping, and, as you rightly point out, her pitch became unsteady - as I once witnessed in a particularly grim Ortrud (to Mattila's divine Elsa).

[alecs1976]

In the 1970s she was in her mid thirties... when you start loosing it already at that young age then you have either sung too heavy repertoire too soon, or you've never had the voice for dramatic roles in the first place.

[paulprocopolis]

... or you've just misused the vocal resources.

[BeauTenor]

Funny, isn't it, how one can have "misused the vocal resources" and still have had such a stellar, respected, 40 year career...

[Wraithmist]

A very balanced view. I am a admirer of Gwyneth, and I've seen her "live" some fifteen times. Nevertheless, I "see with both eyes". I also witnessed a "grim Ortrud" - ROH 1997, and it was painful to hear and sad to behold. Two things I wish had happened for her are:-

- she hadn't had the "whiplash" injury that she once spoke about on BBC Radio (circa 1982);

- more coaching from Reginald Goodall, especially his dicta "more bel canto, less can belto" dictum;

-

[Wraithmist]

Oops, pressed "Post" by accident, left a couple of typos in.

Reggie Goodall also often used to say "too much metal in the voice, dear". He coached her in her very early days in the ROH ensemble as then was (in lesser roles such as Norns, Rhinemaidens and Valkyries), but I don't think they worked together much later on. If they had, we might have had a voice combining the Gwyneth power with the purity and focus of (e.g.) Dame Anne Evans - or even of Nilsson.

[skyeomania]

Gwyneth is wonderful. The power of her voice, her diction, and these unrivalled shining high notes. Not to speak of Gwyneth´s sensuality and beauty.

Thank you for posting this!!!

[CONTESTAR]

I was just discovering opera when this was broadcast and I was haunted by the power of this performance which I taped and watched countless times. It became an obsession for me to hear Gwyneth in this aria live!

My prayers were answered only three years later!

I was in heaven!

[Wotan123456789]

The conductor should be arrested for this performance.

[maurowyss]

Grossartige Jones!!!

[aelarian]

Onegin65 thank you so much for this. I recorded the whole broadcast from the Arena but lost it when a relationship ended. I still remember the 'quality street' purple dress though! As for the detractors who have previously commented....do any of you have her looks beauty talent power stage presence or voice? Need I say more?

[dragig00]

elle chante très bien malgré un vibrato dans sa voix , j,aime Mme Jones bravo

[jmcosins]

n'est pas Nilsson qui veut.

Jones is not Jones and lost her voice too early singing Turandot, Elektra and many others. She was so a good singer before!!

[raywong]

No, she hasn't lost her voice early. As reported by critics, she is still a formidable singer in her 70s, as can be seen in her portrayal of the dramatic soprano role of the Queen of Hearts in Munich last year, where she had a triumph.

[jmcosins]

Glad to learn that. Despite what i sais, i do love Lady Jones.

I am just sorry for any choices in her career.

[BeauTenor]

I agree. Jones didn't take on Turandot or Elektra until the mid 80's. She was famous for the wobble and the unevenness (which I think was not nearly as bad as some claimed) WELL before that.

[BeauTenor]

parsifalus just posted her singing In questa reggia in 2007....you should go check it out.

[mrrk]

Ouch , the voice is all over the place.

[BeauTenor]

FABULOUS. As usual. But what a moron or a conductor. I guess he never got the memo that you follow the SINGER, not the other way around. She wants to be more expansive in spots (which is perfect in this music), and the damn fool just rushes off without her like an amateur.

[yes4albert]

You're right. He robs the piece of its elasticity and excitement, Jones' great singing not withstanding. The crest of those phrases should be like the pop of fireworks...you watch it go up and then there's that split second of anticipation before the burst. But, Brava Gwyneth!!!

[greve]

This is really all too recognizable. Poor Jones who can't expand because of this conductor. Would have been fabulous - as it is now - still magnificent from her!

[secabun]

This lady had a great and beautiful voice, but to sing a wrong repertory , here at 48 years old she look a very disagreeable vibrato

[BGSourgas]

she sang beautifully in her early days