Maria Guleghina: how NOT to sing (Met, 7 Nov 2009)

[Matt75003]

I am not a fan of Ms. Guleghina's, quite the opposite in fact, but I actually think that she sounds rather good here. This is a killer aria, and more than one singer has found it way beyond her means: Caballé, Sutherland (imho), Callas in her complete 1957 recording of the opera… Guleghina is clearly better than most of them, especially considering that this is a live performance. If you want to hear a bad Turandot, listen to Katia Ricciarelli in the Karajan recording.

[wmennisny]

As with nearly all music critics, they spend so much time PICKING AT THE MUSIC that they lose site entirely of the BEAUTY of it. What's the best way to read music critiques? DON'T READ THEM AT ALL. If you listen to a piece and you LIKE it, then it is a good piece, period. Having a discussion about a person like this soprano with SO MUCH TALENT and dissecting it is not only a waste of time, but a crime against creativity in general. If this piece doesn't move you to tears, STICK TO WAGNER!

[quequitoAR]

I'm not particularly fan of Ms. Gulehina, since i've not heard so much of her. There are so many others Turandots out there who can't sing a 10 % of this. I've heard MANY of them here at Buenos Aires (some famous ones; you'd be surprised...) Her high notes are wide-opened, yes, and also in "l'orgolio di tanta purità" she almost cracked the highest note. Come on, people, it's live, it's one the most difficult opening scenes for a role in the history of opera... be reasonable...

[sttar1982]

horrible

[superjfbm]

i love the clarity of the colors and the general video recording...

[8Goldie]

Do you know how difficult is for dramatic soprano to sing that high notes?! I don't blame her, all her registers are great (looove her middle register, she sounds like bow from chello or kontrabass :)

[ViardotVSGrisi]

a great instrument mismanaged. Ive heard this mess several times at the MET. Loud and coarse.

[asdfopera]

guleghina may not be the greatest turandot. this aria exposes all flaws. guuleghina has flaws, but in the right roles, such as abigaille she's fantastic. the net should have filmed her abigaille this season instead of this turandot!

[vocalissimo1]

Visually spectacular - vocally disastrous.

[AdrienneDafcik]

I am a long time Guleghina fan. I have a few of her CDs, seen her perform in video on here, in full length operas on DVD, and live a few times. The depth & resonance that Ms. Guleghina's voice conveys is unique &downright glorious. Is she perfect? Absolutely not- and she's all the more interesting & captivating because of it. She is a dynamic & tireless singing actress. Our favorite sopranos of all time were all flawed & we love them because of it. They convey humanity. Btw, she is 50 here.

[atlantyss75]

Mais pour qui se prend ce brividokaldo ??? Apparemment il n'a jamais entendu un vrai chanteur de sa vie avec ses posts de critique. Cette soprano est PARFAITE! Je ne vois pas où il entend un craquement? aucun cri, sa voix est parfaitement placée..

Va te laver les oreilles,prends des cours de chant et retire tes posts sans intérêt !

[lawyer4817]

anyway know where i can watch this whole performance?

[OperaLover79]

@lawyer4817 : It's been released on DVD.... am sure you can buy it at the MEt opera shop or on Amazon

[simisimi9]

AWFUUUUUUL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[flicfan416]

I'd also like to point out that Guleghina performs Abigaille ALL THE TIME, which cannot be good for the voice, which clearly shows here. Too bad, I saw her a few times at the Met earlier this decade and she was quite exceptional, especially as Tosca.

[flicfan416]

I was at the performance four days after this one (or something like that, it was nov 09). Guleghina was terrible, Licitra (RIP) made calaf seem like the most difficult part ever written, dragging every. last. note. Maija Kovalevska was a pitchy wobbly liu and she shouldn't be singing at the Met. I don't need to go on, but Timur sucked too

[LordMgls]

I really hope one day all singers can sing as bad as this.

I do notice every of those things @brividokaldo wrote, but it only sounds so bad because 'metropolitaners' are used to very high standards. One the other hand, you can have bad singers around there - and you approve of them since they can sing loud. Giordani is an example. And no, I'm not a musician.

[tenoregermania]

There wasn't really all that much wrong with it. It is hard to hit those high notes you know. The Tenor was good in the end, helped her pull it off.

[munequitodeebano1]

I am sorry to disagree with you. This is the first time I listen to this woman and she does not do all those things all the contrary she sings beautifully. My favorite Turandot will always be Birgit Nilsson but this soprano is great too.

[joshwee29]

oh man she's going to lose that voice

[RADAMES1983]

Guleghina is a very good singer and musician. I've hear her live as well as her recordings.

Very good nature, technique, color and charisma.

Gelousy is a bad feeling. Control yourself guys...

[ferrykalos]

It is a real lesson of how not sing! Let's talk about that "nessun m'avrà" at3:49? Please...

[RADAMES1983]

@ferrykalos

Oh babe... Sad that you are not singing in the Met?....

:(

I'll buy you a toy :)

[asdfopera]

i tried to find this at target last week. ;)

[Drelnis]

I really want to see Figlio del cielo, padre augusto. Can someone please put it up? :)

[ChenChiuYu]

@Drelnis She sings Figlio de cielo very badly. She can't reach the High C for 2 times.

[ThePavafan]

no it is true. this in questa reggia isn't good. but the tenor is awesome

[iriisblue]

Listening to what passes for singing on the Met Stage these days is sort of like watching bee colonies collapse.

[Operafiend22]

To be fair, Marcello Giordani sounded equally as bad if not worse as Calaf

[AfroPoli]

The worst thing about this is still the cheesy staging. Who is the culprit? Zeffirelli? It looks like his handwriting...

[DaveDanuve]

@AfroPoli Sì, è una vecchia produzione di Zeffirelli, registrata in video anche con Domingo/Marton. Praticamente la Turandot degli orrori.

Yes it's an old production by Zeffirelli, recorded to video with Domingo/Marton as well. The Turandot of horrors, basically.

[AfroPoli]

The sound recordings made by the Met are insufferable. Artificial sound, over-articulated, compressed, amplified. It's a shame.

[vocalissimo1]

The middle voice has an interesting and attractive quality, but the technique is just not there to support the kind of vocal line required in this role. Too much singing from below, too little polished phrasing, and too much forced vocalisation. Painful to listen to in places. How does stuff like this end up on the stage of the Met? It's particularly sad when the big vocal moments have to be rushed through because of the inadequacy of the voices.

[gustopheles]

Yeah, not to be a hater, but that is a sad B natural.

[GoldenAgeSunshine]

Well Guleghina is certainly not perfect, but she's by far much superior to many current or past Turandots! I believe her singing has much more pathos and humanity than some of the high-voltage big caliber Turandots of the past such as Borkh and Nilsson.

[31122051]

TUTTE VOCI FUORI REPERTORIO !!!

Dico io : ma come diavolo si può mettere un tenore lirico-leggero come M. Giordani a cantare un ruolo da tenore eroico-drammatico ???

Merli, Del Monaco, Corelli, Nikolov, Barioni, Bartolini, Bonisolli, Cecchele ( giovane ), Giacomini, Martinucci / La Turner, la Cigna, la Borkh, la Nilsson, la Udovich, la Dimitrova, la Marton ... Queste sì che erano VERE GRANDI VOCI DRAMMATICHE !

[wolfgang731]

As a rule, I'm not a Guleghina fan but I'm also not one to bash artists. Everything aside, she's simply not cut out for Turandot. She seems uncomfortable and somewhat overwhelmed. I applaud her efforts and appreciate her commitment to the role because I feel they are evident. She is a great Norma, Abigalle, Amelia (both Ballo & Boccanegra) and most of the dramatic Verdi roles but if she insists on singing Turandot she will wreck her voice. As a final note, I've heard far worse Turandot's.

[MrLupo23]

After Dimitrova we cannot accept voices in such a condition. :-((((

[mascagny]

oooh!!! so frustrating!!!!!!! the version of carreras and maazel stays the best!!!

[JasminaH79]

She approaches every note from the bottom and carries her weight up. I wish this weren't the case because I do think this is an exceptional throat.

[markgraysondumas]

She's the sister in song of Marton, Behrens and Villazon.

[MAPIAKALLAS]

oh gosh as much as i like her she sonds terrible here poor thing bad bad what was that note it was not a c far from it bad.

[barroso68]

ok! maybe was not her best day! but i still think that She is Great!

And i really hope that "all you so intolerant people" are amazing professionals in your jobs and never had failures.

[TreblesBasses]

Wow!!!

[classicalgal14]

Thought she was an AMAZING Turandot ;D

[anastasia7536]

You guys never heard Joan Sutherland singing TURANDOT ? trully it is a very difficult part but however....Joan was THE BEST !

[MrLupo23]

She's going to sing this at La Scala...

Does she know they are going to kick her out if she sings like this?

I'm sorry for her..

[basselyrique]

This is still OK, you should have heard her in Verona this summer...

[MrLupo23]

@basselyrique Was she so crappy???

I love Dimitrova's Turandot... There is a recording of her in Verona with Gasdia as Liü. The best Turandot I've ever seen.

[titoo7584]

The only thing that i find funny here is her hat, she looks like the queen of marschmallows ^_^

[theflyingkid1]

I agree with MsChilbilmil. Maria does have a good voice, you may not enjoy it due to personal prefrence. But if she had a "bad" voice she would not be preforming at the MET or around the world,and be as successful as she is. And it seems that you(Brividokaldo) take pleasure in pointing out all the bad in opera singers.....they're human, they make mistakes. So if you don't enjoy the singing at least enjoy all the effort that got put into making this preformance.

[MsChilbilmil]

by the way, you should give this post the title: "HOW NOT TO RECORD GREAT VOICES!"

[MsChilbilmil]

This seems to be the unofficial "guleghina-hate-club" - how interesting to see that people actually have time to waste and write such horrible things about the best drammatic soprano of (almost) all times! La Guleghina is a great Turandot, because she DOES NOT scream but sings with emotion and beauty and fear and is vulnerable at times when the music demands it, how do some not hear this?

[sievep]

@MsChilbilmil Have you heard her perform this live?

[MsChilbilmil]

@sievep

yes I have, that is why i do not understand some of these hatefull comments.

[silvr94]

@MsChilbilmil hateful with one "L"!!!!!!

[Giovannilinverno]

Still I have the utmost respect for these singers, Guleghina included. Nowadays they have to sing far more performances than singers had to and far more productions as well. Opera directors and agents contribute to the decline of some of these wonderful voices by demanding too much of them. I'm afraid it's easier and cheaper for them to just hire another -eva, -ov, -enko, -ic or any other young singer when the previous one has blown out than to properly invest in adequate planning and training.

[bajulum]

vos critiques sont outrancières. Certes tout ça est un peu poussif, parfois un peu crié, mais les voix sont belles et puissantes. ça reste tout a fait honorable et je ne vois pas ce qu'on reproche à Giordani dans cet extrait.

[11792654]

dayumm she is strugglingg

[Bubbete1]

niente da fare...TURANDOT è vissuta nella persona di Ghena Dimitrova!!! unica e inarrivabile Principessa di Gelo

[sour7lemon]

I cant decide who is worse..... giordani or guleghina...

[MrCtblade]

@sour7lemon giordani....

[MrLupo23]

Please GOD make her stop!! PLEASEEE DO NOT COME TO LA SCALA!!! They will boo u!!!!!!!

[andeseagle]

stop being so negative, brividokaldo: you surely aren't a singer, or you're just very insensitive.

[borstain]

She's not out of voice. .. this is her real voice. Her other recordings show the same. Turandot is just too heavy for her. Turandot needs a true powerfull dramatic soprano voice with color.

She's a nice singer, but she's miles away from what Turandot requires.

[tommyopera]

her acting was terrible as well.

[jm960]

The harp playing is good!

[TheOperaLirica]

She is very good!!!

This time you lost.

[Drelnis]

Soprano after soprano, the Met really need to pick the right prima donnas for its productions :P

[Conductorprod92]

I would really like to see this in whole. I wanna know why turandot wasn't shown on tv.

[Prickler32]

It's not the best performance I've seen but it is certainly not as bad as you make it sound. If you can have half the career she has had, then you can talk!

[operaboi1992]

Haha, she's sooo flat. Her Italian is pretty bad, too.

[Ammillcare]

BRAVISSIMO!! Very stronge!!

[figliadibolena]

Well, first of all, she is NEVER singing the correct vowel which affects her pitch and the freedom of her sound, and her wobble is OUT of control. Anything above a G is being screamed on approximate pitch. Sad.

[RoOodOoOloOmeg]

@figliadibolena I think that this aria has never alowed a soprano to sing comfortably. even for callas and nilsson, they both had to gave their highest and painful notes.

[merefoix]

@RoOodOoOloOmeg Lindstrom, the second cast Turandot, did it well. Sutherland (on rec only, of course) was orgasmic. Farrell was good too, and (amazingly) very nuanced. I think it's a matter of husbanding your forces well.

[RoOodOoOloOmeg]

@merefoix well, yeah, they both did it well. actually when I was listening to Lindstrom's I thought was Guleghina, becfause I didn't see the names of those who were acting.

amm sutherland has a little light voice for it, I mean, Turandot is normally a heavier voice. anyway, of course she did it well.

[Giovannilinverno]

Everyone can have an off day. This was clearly one for her. I heard her do much better in this same production. What annoyed me much more were Giordano's incredibly ugly low notes. And he does this ALL the time. Just listen to the beginning of his Nessun dorma for example.

[sievep]

@Giovannilinverno Unfortunately this was not an off day for her, that really is how she sings it . . .I sat through an entire rehearsal process and performances with her screaming out the wrong notes on and off stage . . .

[Giovannilinverno]

@sievep I watched a performance of Turandot with her on TV this summer. It was recorded at the Arena in Verona this July. Here too she seemed to scream more than sing and she clearly didn't feel comfortable.

[operaticoentusiasta]

Although it's true she was struggling with this aria instead of dominating it maybe it was due to her precarious and evasive technique. Still...it wasn't that bad. I've heard worse Turandots whose top were simply an embarrassment.

[asdfopera]

I like it. If you want to hear flaws you will hear flaws no matter what.

[ginlemon29]

Fa rimpiangere addirittura la Turandot della Ricciarelli!

[MrLupo23]

@ginlemon29 ahahhaha

[fcomartinez20]

Maybe her voice is not at its best shape, but definitely I don't think she sings bad.

[mekarts2]

After seeing her Valencia recording, I expected better, but .... what can you do? What I do not understand is why they changed the costume (she's missing the 3 riddles on her back - the 6 scrolls, actually; also the thing on her head looks less ornamented than the one on the old recording with Marton)

[Alethedancer]

mamma mia che mal di pancia!!!!

[bladezone1]

I have heard worse!!

[rogernldw]

@bladezone1  Where , When, Who?

[billthaxton]

She keeps raising her shoulders when she breathes in. That is a singing no-no by ANY standard. Only someone like Lanza could get away with that without the voice being affected.

[niallguinan]

Awful!