Joan Sutherland - Spargi d'amaro pianto - 1960

[Hako2004]

After the nit-picking about acting and diction, one fact stands unassailable....her singing voice, her instrument, was the greatest ever heard.

[ChrisStockslager]

@Hako2004 In any genre. I have a theory Sutherland could've sang any genre she wanted and still have been an incredible .

[billcarr54]

Does anyone know is this available commercially ? I'd love to have it.

[soultrading]

Viva La Stupenda <3

The world will never again see the like of her. Rest in peace, Joanie.

[fake99123456]

R.I.P

[jasmyntje3]

2 days ago she deid, whe will mis her !!!!!!! O yes she wash the BEST.

[eflaspo]

Merely the highest level of achievement possible.

[radwigs]

Now that I have heard this and the other clip from this broadcast this role will always belong to La Stupenda! I can't think of anyone else who could touch this!

[jaydeenyc]

R.I.P. Joan.

[Eklegein]

Maravillosa!!!

[tneprescintr]

I'm still waiting: a Lucia de Lammermoor movie with someone that looks and acts like callas and has sutherland's pitch and agility. Because Moffo's filmed lucia, though musically good, is a joke. Can you imagine: a filmed Lucia just as strong as Losey's Don Giovanni?

I hope i can live to see this.

[operamagnus]

From what I have read I don't think Callas would have made a good actress in a movie of Lucia had she acted as she did on stage. I read she usually didn't do all that much on stage, it was more her presence than her movements that captivated. Sutherland moved much more on stage, Callas said she would never run around or fall on stage as Sutherland did in the mad scene from Lucia.

[tneprescintr]

I think she would. Screen acting requires much less movement then stage, it must be more subtle. And i don't think Lucia MUST fall and run in stage. It may have worked with Sutherland in the early days but i honestly prefer a more self centered Lucia. Have you seen Pasollini's Medea?

[operamagnus]

You might be right. I just pictured her as being somewhat theatrical, with few but grand gestures on stage, which I don't think would be all that good in a filmed Lucia.

I haven't seen Medea, so I might wrong, of course :)

[tneprescintr]

Oh, i highly recommend it. Callas fans or not. It's not just a good movie but the only opportunity callas had to show how great of an actress she was. =)

[velazquez2009]

@operamagnus and darling Callas in right!~Suggestion and imagination are the highest in art!

[gustavox1985]

Oh man! Thanks God for microphones and cams. Just perfect!

[richard8114]

esto si es una verdadera joya que espectacular poder ver videos de este tipo¡¡¡¡¡

[Windgrace]

Her acting is awful, but vocally she was so amazing! I still prefer the voice of Dessay, but that's just personal preference.

[liszt91]

Non capisci un cazzo!!!!! La Sutherland è la migliore in assoluto!!!!!!! Ficcatelo in testa!!!!!!!!!

[LeNozze44]

As much as I love Dessay, and believe me I LOVE Dessay, Sutherland owned this role. I'm not a huge Sutherland fan, but come on...this is incredible. The first time I heard this, it floored me.

Brava, La Stupenda!

[velazquez2009]

@LeNozze44 the acting of sutherland I dislike very much alas, very overacted and ridiculous! But voice enough...o la la. Too mechanical to my taste.

[demondiva77]

shame she never had an equally great stage director as she had in her husband-conductor. LESS IS MORE! i find it funny though how she tries to do "Callas gestures" but ruines them immediately with her over-"acting! still, a fabulous singer! try to listen to callas' lucia of 1952, that is true madness! with her final e-flat you just know that this girl passed into another dimension! chills me everytime!

[AmorediPazzia]

She had a great director like Franco Zeffirelli.(Lucia debut in 1959, Lucia at paris in 1960 and Alcina in 1960 and so on..)

[Jaydoggy531]

Comey, she has every right to an opinion. Sutherland has be criticized for her acting before it's nothing new. and personally though I absolutely love her VOCAL acting, and her voice too, I'm not a fan of her stage acting.

[AmorediPazzia]

Well..She sings high note more fast than Joan, but power of E-flat is incomparable to Joan's.

[Jabe88]

You've got to be kidding!

[VirnAlfakyn]

The only reason that Dame Joan does not go right into it is because she does not scoop the note... Where as Luba does... the scoop i find makes for a sloppy ending for this aria, Vs. the clear cut E-flat ending of Dame Joan.

Edita Gruberova often overused the scoop and I could see Luba doing the same.

As for Luba's voice being more powerful... Dame Joan could compare with a Wagnerian Soprano, I however cannot say the same for Luba.

[ChrisStockslager]

Yeah. I realize that Joan is much more talented. Just curious: what exactly does a Wagnerian Soprano mean? (Something to do with Richard Wagner's era???)

[VirnAlfakyn]

No not his era, but with his music, Wagnerian Sopranos often sing his peices... hence the name, and they have exceptionally large voice, they can project themselves over a very large orchestra, and the other singers that they sing with.

[Frufrucucu]

She was studying to become a Wagnerian soprano after one of her favourite singers when Bonynge advised her to focus on bel canto repertoire since coloratira came easily to her. That's why she has a larger voice than the normal coloratura. Also, her e-flat was also larger than the normal coloratura (Except for Callas, who has the biggest e-flat on earth!)

Listen to her Turandot and you will know what I'm talking about when I say Wagnerian greatness...

[alemerent]

As a very new opera fan (I'm 21, mind you), can someone please explain to me WHY Joan is considered THE best Lucia? I find her diction to be, at times, laughably flawed, and she's clearly not the greatest of actors. Yes, her voice has some clearly divine moments (that section from 2:11 to the e-flat is perfection)... but if you ask me, Sills shined more, as an actress (clearly!) and dare I say vocalist (!) more so than Sutherland. And please don't be condescending in your answers, either.

[lahire22]

the answer one - listen to more music)) voice Sills lyrical and in role Lucia it is absolutely inapplicable... There Is no dramatic painting, an expressiveness.

[Richiesutherland]

You can have little idea of what her voice sounded like in the theatre. It was three-dimensional--it surrounded, enveloped you. She was INCOMPARABLE at sustaining the mood of doom and terror surrounding Lucia. Sills: aggressive, for me, too much the gutsy American chick, the voice was often spread and tremulous, if very fleet. Joan was immensely sympathetic. Sills, a fine performer, played a nagging Mad Scene. Joan's runs were like pearls, her high notes like giant diamonds. Unearthly.

[operaboy81]

While there are other great Lucia's, this is vocal perfection

[63Attila]

The trill on the high note is magnificent along with everything else. Dame Joan, thank you.

[Lohengrin]

it will never seize to amaze me the perfection with which she sings the line that begins at 2'11'' of this clip. This is one of the most difficult lines in the coloratura repertoire. The final Eflat is also fantastic

[timsuffolk]

THE Lucia!

[FABRIZIO82]

La Stupenda forever.

[Bzopera]

This is why, to me, she will always be the best Lucia! Viva La Stupenda!

[raymzi]

nd this is how it's done!!! i was so disappointed that night at the met....

[meltzerboy]

Rare footage of the premier Lucia of the latter half of the 20th century. Thanks coloraturafan.

I always find Sutherland's high trill here amazing, and don't think any other soprano pulls it off so well (if even attempted).

[domi2020]

This gives us just a glimpse at her sensational 1959 debut. She is of fresher voice and of better diction than the version with Bell's telephone hour. AMazing footage!!!

[CharlotteinWeimar]

I heard her second night in 1959! Wherever did you find this marvellous clip? Is it an in-house film? Her voice was so large and sweet and true, and the whole production visually and dramatically stunning.

[operamagnus]

I love how easy this kind of singing was to Joan! She sings it faster than most other sopranos, and makes it sound so much easier! Vocal perfection.

[GavinLyKW]

Wowowow!!!!! This is simply vocal perfection. The runs and the trills are so effortless and accurate and beautiful!

It was a sin for all recording companies not to have recorded everything Sutherland then cared to sing!

[actor001]

Thankyou very much

[yglygl4545]

Oh, She start to sing this aria speedly!

1960,1961 is right..