I am thrilled to see this aria of hers on video. She recorded it in the 60's. For anyone who doubts Joan's LIVE abilities in the 80's..look at the Covent Garden Lucrezia Borgia from 1980 or '83...not to be believed. I saw her do Lucia at the MET in '86 at 60 years old, which was phenomenal as well.
Sutherland absolutely had an amazing instrument....but that most certainly was NOT "about it". There are great natural instruments that crop up, some never get far because the singer didn't have the technique or artist sensitivity to make the most of it. Sutherland is unfairly dismissed as just an "instrument", but she had the ability to color her tone and shape a phrase that is often over-looked. What about timing & tempo? She sang florid music that required an instinct for both.
Well said. Any artist of this stature is a target for the peanut gallery. I would also add that soundbyte dilettantes harp on the "can't act" refrain, although no such remarks surface in discussions about Price, Caballe, Nilsson, Flagstad, Freni and others who deployed far less stagecraft in their performances than Sutherland.
I hate all this comparison business to other singers, they all have their faults, you either like the individual voice or you do not, some of the venomous comments here are both misguided and somewhat hateful for whatever reason. I happen to love Joans voice, and I love others too, but I don't think this is the right forum to ventilate some of the misguided and inaccurate opinions expressed here.
Sutherland chose? Pfft Sutherland didn't even go to the loo if the hubby didn't say so.
Joan 31 years of carreer but for some odd reason Callas is the most widely known soprano in the history of opera. You draw your conclusions Richiesutherland
And for that matter 31 years spent singing in a language unknown to mankind. That's why she never clicked with the Italian audience, and that's a conclusion drawn.
And you eradesso are not familiar with Italian...La Stupenda means the stupendous one...in Italian, which is what they were speaking in Venice in the 1960's when opera goers there gave JS this name. It's while since Latin was widely spoken (other than at churches) in Italy!
oh yes I'm not familiar with Italian. You're right scotsw12 shame on me.
UGH I am Italian you silly goose and unlike you and another mate of yours I'm aware that my own language is based on 2 other languages: ancient greek and latin. And it's from a latin word indeed that the italian word "stupenda" comes from. I was saying its etymology as opposed to Callas being called la Divina.
I thought the issue here was your translation into English was the issue here, a language also derived, in part, from Latin, and the translation is the stupendous one?
You are something else....I am sorry I was wrong to call you an a------ I sincerely apologize...but you are dead WRONG! Joan Sutherland was born into this world to SING God, gave her A LOT in terms of her physical (heroic) stature and well...she has that FACE and that glorious BODY made for singing Birgit nillsson who in my opinion is the 2nd greatest Singer..in terms of sheer vocal power and again that born from GOD body made for producing SOUND No more space to tie in the rest .
@xafnndapp Its the warp speed! Its so super-inhumanly FAST she cracks it like a whip! Try it yourself and see! Not joking....tri it yourself.....Its the merging of mind and body into a perfect execution of that "simple scale" but I understand your point ....its just it SEEMS simple but is NOT.
@Hako2004 I heard her in 1988, Anna Bolena at Covent Garden, but by then she had very little left apart from still brilliant high notes. She used to execute fantastic scales up the late 70s from her recordings, nothing super-inhumanity after then.
@xafnndapp You might think it's a simple scale, and yes, it is a simple scale. However, nobody can sing a simple scale with such a technique like Joan Sutherland's. Especially when you take into consideration the long career she'd had at this point in her lifetime: having traveled all over the world on countless airplane flights... repeated jet lags... and still having to keep healthy... Soooo, I don't think it's only a simple scale after all.
@nilsuthor Yes,she had a great technique, yes it's stunning that at her age she could still sing accurate (but slower than before, of course) brilliant coloratura.
But I heard better from her and other sopranos, anyway. That's my point. I stillm don't see or hear anything special in that scale
Joan Sutherland was the greatest bel canto singer of the 20th century. Even if you adore Tetrazzini, Sembrich, Galli-Curci or Ponselle, most experts agree there was no one who paralleled this artist's achievement. Te Kanawa, Pavarotti and Horne all said she was the greatest ever, Nilsson regarded her as the greatest coloratura she'd ever heard, and London/Decca dubbed her the voice of the century in 1973, well before some of her greatest triumphs. The mantle La Stupenda came early.
This is quite debatable. The four names you have mentioned--Tetrazzini, Sembrich, Galli-Curci, and Ponselle--happen to be four of the greatest sopranos ever to have recorded. Sembrich is primarily a nineteenth-century singer although her career lasted into the twentieth century. She is a legend, a rival and protegee of Adelina Patti's, with an identical technique according to Herman Klein. Tetrazzini was a rival of Melba's, who had an extraordinary career in the early twentieth century.
Galli-Curci was a rival of Tetrazzini's and Hempel's; she too had a voice with a unique timbre and a florid technique that was astonishing. Ponselle--not a coloratura--was one of the greatest dramatic sopranos with regard to richness of voice, seamless registers, as well as sheer power. She was a rival of Rethberg's and Muzio's and a phenomenal singer. All of these sopranos are legends, and Sutherland I believe is worthy of their group; but I would not single out any of them as THE best.
At this level of excellence, it's almost like trying to choose the greatest composer of all time--Bach, Mozart, or Beethoven? As far as the statements of the singers you mention, they were Sutherland's friends and colleagues so of course they are going to praise her highly. Besides, the other four sopranos are from the past and memories do fade. This in no way denigrates Sutherland, whose singing I have always admired. She is certainly one of the very greatest sopranos.
I enjoy reading your remarks, especially refreshing here in what is generally a pool of nitwits. I said originally that Sutherland was the greatest "bel canto" singer of the 20th century, and I'll stick by it, with all due respect to the other legends you rightly acknowledge.
One of the very greatest Sopranos? One of...ONE? Look, I've been taking note of different peoples comments on this opera "fanatic" site (sites) and I find your particular comments to be intellegent and, quite frankly, I know this subject very very well...I'm not bragging, I just DO (though I am NOT GOD so I am NOT saying that I am THE authority....I just have my PhD in Stupendology, not to be confused with the word...STUPIDITY please) lol Anyway, i digress...Who in your opinion is better?
It's dangerous and difficult to say THE best in any topic. My personal favorite female singer and the one I consider the greatest natural singer among women is Galli-Curci. That's my opinion; you apparently disagree, and are entitled to your opinion. Ultimately, it's a matter of likes (or loves) and dislikes (or hatred) regarding singers' voices. Also, singing has many parts, and no one singer excels in everything, even G-C, even Sutherland; what one can do well, the other might not be able to.
The entire concert is available on CD. A better question is when will it be available on DVD. Someone clearly has the video of this magnificent concert
I believe that if you included all of Maria's early roles, including roles that she performed just two times, the count would be close to forty. I believe Sutherland ended up with fifty-six or so Included in those roles, well over one hundred performances of Norma, and many, many Lucia's as well. These sopranos were, to me, the most important and influential sopranos of the last century.....for entirely different reasons.
Just for the sake of clarity and accuracy, Dame Joan's operatic career began in 1952, and ended in 1990. Nearly forty years.
Also, she sang fifty-some roles on stage. I'm not sure how many roles Maria sang, I would guess less than thirty, and over the course of a much shorter career.
No. She sang the Christmas oratorio in Sydney Town hall in Dec. of 1946. In 1947 she sang Dido at the Lyceum club in Sydney. But she and Richard consider her performances in the '40s "student performances". Her professional career began in the 50's....as far as Bonynges are concerned.
I love this aria. There are some singers I really wish had recorded the opera, or at least this aria. I can only imagine what Moffo would have made of it at the time she recorded her amazing Luisa Miller. I think Caballe was a good choice for the complete aria. And I think that Diana Damrau would be great in this.
OH! Joan was just the greatest coloratura EVER!!!! How I miss her. We really had the Golden age of singing then and today we have the Tin age.. no one compares with her!!!!
It's so good to hear all the trills sung, especially since this was written for Jenny Lind, whose trills were her pride and joy. Really too bad Joan didn't record the complete opera at the same time as she did this scene for the Command Performance album. She's phenomenal, and even better than here (also 15 or so years younger!)
But do remember that THIS clip is from Lincoln Center LIVE in 1980. It is astonishing. Unfortunately, her studio recording was postponed, due to Pavarotti's slovenly lack of professionalism, and he was replaced by Bonisolli. A few years too late for Joan, thanks Luciano! Same thing happened with her Stuarda, second Norma and Adriana recordings, due to Mr. P. not learning his roles. And yes, I wish she had recorded the role in the 60s or 70s, perhaps with Bergonzi.
The score of I masnadieri contains refined, delicate bel canto coupled with youthful and unharnessed Verdi rigour. With a sinister story by Schiller, this opera exemplifies Romanticism at its core. There are many finely artistic subtleties that are necessary for it to really come to life. THANK YOU Dame Joan for sharing the "art" of this uniquely beautiful Verdi piece. You UNDERSTAND it. You are one of the greatest artists to ever live. WE LOVE YOU.
My friend you hit the nail on the HEAD! And you are absolutely right right right : WE DO LOVE YOU DAME JOAN WE LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU AND THANK YOU FOR ALL THE FINE AND OUTSTANDING WORK YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND GAVE THE WORLD...WE LOVE YOU BOTH!!!! George Prentice and Elvira Mattucci (Grandson and Grandma (age 94)
She's amazing, it's a real miracle to sing with such complete command of the voice and the music at 55! Fortunately, we can't hear in this performance the wobble that appeared in her middle, and the voice is amazingly youthful, rounded and rich. Her coloratura is simply unbeatable and, above all, extremely musical and stylish. Sutherland hardly disappoints us. ;-)
As Joan got later into her career, I always felt that the cabaletta's really urged her to rise to the occasion and do her best singing. Sometimes I feel she got a little lazy with the slower or more legato things.
La cabaletta è tutta un fiorire di trilli meravigliosamente eseguiti. L'ultimo, interminabile, è a dir poco sublime. La Sutherland è davvero insuperabile.
I remember hearing Sutherland perform this aria in concert at Brooklyn College with Bonygne at the piano, and although there was no amplification on stage, her voice seemed to contain a built-in microphone; it was really electric! As far as trills are concerned, yes Sutherland is a mistress, and one would have to go all the way back to Melba and Kurz to find her equal or superior.
Its in Italian....Verdi or course. She sings with a score because of her memory. She was prone to lapses of memory, in part because she sang so many roles. As she grew older, she relied on the score or a prompter to help her stay on track.
In a virtuosic career of unparalleled artistic consistency, I'm reluctant to point out "bests." However, if I had to, this would be close to the top. Considering that it is studio-quality flawless, and live, makes the performance almost unbelievable. Lyric, dramatic, scrupulous and big. Jenny Lind could have only dreamed.
The Sutherland trill was like a sound from nature, and no one can claim to match her. Many sopranos can trill....in places. Most only in the upper middle voice, or high area. Some only in the lower area. Dame Joan could warble like a bird on a low C or on the High C.....and all points between. No one today, or in recent memory, can do that.
It is a pity that Natalie Dessay, an otherwise gifted soprano, has lost her trill (if she ever possessed one). Speaking of Sutherland, I just love how her and Bonynge always used fast tempi for the cabalettas (or cabalette, if you want). It made her fireworks all the more dazzling.
Sutherland had a very big voice, she should have sung Aìda in the '80s, or even Forza (though Forza was a little heavy for her), but yes Aìda and Luisa Miller ! instead of awful Caballè whose voice was very little for that repertory
Callas sang very few performances of Armida, Kundry and Brunnhilde (note spelling), not many Forza Leonoras and Giocondas either and mostly in the beginning of her quite short career. Callas was unique, but frankly, lots of people have sung diverse repertoire (e.g. Caballé, Gencer). Callas sang what was offered her in her early years, not what she chose. Joan sang what was right for her voice. Callas-about 16 years of stardom. Joan-31 years. Draw your own conclusions.
Really? She would make a ridiculous Marie, from Fille. She didn't sing Mozart well either in my opinion. She couldn't sing an F, so any role with the high F was out...including Madame Hertz which Joan sang. And Dame Joan tried for years to find the time to do Gioconda, which she could easily have done. Joan did sing some Wagner in the early years, but moved into Bel Canto. There were many roles that weren't suitable for Maria.....almost all after age 35, because her voice was gone.
Given the constraints of poor memory, and failing voice, Dame Joan chose a role that was short and quite familiar. The last thing she wanted was to be on stage all evening...she simply didn't have the stamina anymore. As for leaps from a parapet.....forget about it.
Dame Joan stopped singing and ended her career in 1989/90 but the voice was all there!.The voice remained huge and intact till the end (1990).She should have sung Aìda and Gioconda in late '80s, Un ballo in maschera and Tosca too in late '80s.I would have given to her all these roles
Dame Joan retired for reason...her voice couldn't do it anymore, which is what she has said. By 1990 even the high C was getting thread-bare. Her stamina was an issue too. Aida was never one of her roles, and she never did Gioconda. She isn't a Verdi soprano, but sang some Verdi roles very well. La Traviata, I Masnadieri, Il Trovatore ( Verdi's bel canto opera) and Gilda were great vehicles for her. Her final role in Huguenots was a short role, which she transposed to a lower key.
Hako2004, get your facts straight. Sutherland learned, covered and performed AIDA at Covent Garden. And she could "do it" in 1990, including Norma, Anna Bolena (incredibly long and difficult parts), and Huguenots. She couldn't, however, do it as magnificently and to the exacting standard she placed on herself and the public expected.
@moreno2394 I agree with you.....She herself mentioned "La Vestale" (Spontini) and I would very mush like to have heared her sing the "Jo-Ho-To-Jo-" from Walkure on record....say in 1974-5 or so....don't you think that would have been good?
Thanks for this great post. I remember this performance. Final high C in this aria is huge....fills the auditorium. It cannot be appreciated fully on youtube unfortunately.
I am thrilled to see this aria of hers on video. She recorded it in the 60's. For anyone who doubts Joan's LIVE abilities in the 80's..look at the Covent Garden Lucrezia Borgia from 1980 or '83...not to be believed. I saw her do Lucia at the MET in '86 at 60 years old, which was phenomenal as well.
Indeed..la più grande cantante di tutti tempi.
canpete1 5 months ago
4:16-4:19 - Her vocal agility was a bloody scandal!
BZBlaner 6 months ago
@BZBlaner
The whole thing is amazing
In the cavatina one can hear some wobble in the middle voice, but in the cabaletta her agility is incredible
primohomme 6 months ago
Enorme cantante que agilidad para los años siempre fue LA MEJOR!!!!
Que suerte que tuvimos de verla!!!
acitipo 11 months ago
I like Joan, but truly I prefer Caballe's Tu del/Carlo vive
nickbigd 1 year ago
@nickbigd And Katia Ricciarelli
robertdonkers 6 months ago
@nickbigd
No trill.
Hako2004 5 months ago
La più grande cantante di tutti i tempi!
leprincebeaumont 1 year ago 5
what language is this?...
xafnndapp 2 years ago
@xafnndapp Italian, stupid!!!
elprimoespinosa 1 year ago
@elprimoespinosa Hey, tontito. Todo parece a parte que italiano...
xafnndapp 1 year ago
hahaha you all are an operistic tallier
cantanteporsiempre 2 years ago
STUPENDA!!!
LMBS7 2 years ago
Sutherland absolutely had an amazing instrument....but that most certainly was NOT "about it". There are great natural instruments that crop up, some never get far because the singer didn't have the technique or artist sensitivity to make the most of it. Sutherland is unfairly dismissed as just an "instrument", but she had the ability to color her tone and shape a phrase that is often over-looked. What about timing & tempo? She sang florid music that required an instinct for both.
Hako2004 2 years ago
Well said. Any artist of this stature is a target for the peanut gallery. I would also add that soundbyte dilettantes harp on the "can't act" refrain, although no such remarks surface in discussions about Price, Caballe, Nilsson, Flagstad, Freni and others who deployed far less stagecraft in their performances than Sutherland.
iriisblue 2 years ago
You know what irisblue, You ar Godamned RIGHT!
MrStupendousluvforJo 2 years ago
I kind of thought so. Nice handle, btw.
iriisblue 2 years ago
WATCH 416 to 421 and then tell me that isn't THE PHENOMINON OF VOICE
MrStupendousluvforJo 2 years ago
I hate all this comparison business to other singers, they all have their faults, you either like the individual voice or you do not, some of the venomous comments here are both misguided and somewhat hateful for whatever reason. I happen to love Joans voice, and I love others too, but I don't think this is the right forum to ventilate some of the misguided and inaccurate opinions expressed here.
minto4327 2 years ago
Sutherland chose? Pfft Sutherland didn't even go to the loo if the hubby didn't say so.
Joan 31 years of carreer but for some odd reason Callas is the most widely known soprano in the history of opera. You draw your conclusions Richiesutherland
And for that matter 31 years spent singing in a language unknown to mankind. That's why she never clicked with the Italian audience, and that's a conclusion drawn.
eradesso 2 years ago
then why did they christen her La Stupenda?
dollartwenty 2 years ago
Apparently you're not very familiar with latin.
Sutherland was called La Stupenda which basically means "rich with light"
Callas on the other hand was La Divina: which means: belonging to god.
Sutherland had an amazing instrument but that is about it. She was just technically stupenda and not 100% of the time anyway.
eradesso 2 years ago
and apparently you don't undersdtand that "La Stupenda" is Italian and not Latin.
Stupenda is the feminine form of stupendo and means a woman who is wonderful, fabulous or stunning.
dollartwenty 2 years ago
And you eradesso are not familiar with Italian...La Stupenda means the stupendous one...in Italian, which is what they were speaking in Venice in the 1960's when opera goers there gave JS this name. It's while since Latin was widely spoken (other than at churches) in Italy!
scotsw12 2 years ago
oh yes I'm not familiar with Italian. You're right scotsw12 shame on me.
UGH I am Italian you silly goose and unlike you and another mate of yours I'm aware that my own language is based on 2 other languages: ancient greek and latin. And it's from a latin word indeed that the italian word "stupenda" comes from. I was saying its etymology as opposed to Callas being called la Divina.
eradesso 2 years ago
I thought the issue here was your translation into English was the issue here, a language also derived, in part, from Latin, and the translation is the stupendous one?
scotsw12 2 years ago
You are something else....I am sorry I was wrong to call you an a------ I sincerely apologize...but you are dead WRONG! Joan Sutherland was born into this world to SING God, gave her A LOT in terms of her physical (heroic) stature and well...she has that FACE and that glorious BODY made for singing Birgit nillsson who in my opinion is the 2nd greatest Singer..in terms of sheer vocal power and again that born from GOD body made for producing SOUND No more space to tie in the rest .
MrStupendousluvforJo 2 years ago
I do love Sutherland, for her vocal executions - nothing more nothing less.
eradesso 2 years ago
WATCH 416 to 421 and tell me that isnt THE GREATEST OF ALL THE OPERA SINGERS
MrStupendousluvforJo 2 years ago
I've heard more impressive things from Joan. To me the winner always is the cadenza trill in Linda di Chamounix :)
eradesso 2 years ago
@MrStupendousluvforJo Are you joking?...
The greatest of all....for that simple scale?...
xafnndapp 2 years ago
@xafnndapp Its the warp speed! Its so super-inhumanly FAST she cracks it like a whip! Try it yourself and see! Not joking....tri it yourself.....Its the merging of mind and body into a perfect execution of that "simple scale" but I understand your point ....its just it SEEMS simple but is NOT.
MrStupendousluvforJo 2 years ago
uhm...
Sorry, I don't find anything super-inhuman in that scale. I heard from her and from few others much much more impressive things.
xafnndapp 2 years ago
@xafnndapp
When and where did you hear her? Or are you making comparisons from recordings only?
Hako2004 9 months ago
@Hako2004 I heard her in 1988, Anna Bolena at Covent Garden, but by then she had very little left apart from still brilliant high notes. She used to execute fantastic scales up the late 70s from her recordings, nothing super-inhumanity after then.
xafnndapp 9 months ago
@xafnndapp You might think it's a simple scale, and yes, it is a simple scale. However, nobody can sing a simple scale with such a technique like Joan Sutherland's. Especially when you take into consideration the long career she'd had at this point in her lifetime: having traveled all over the world on countless airplane flights... repeated jet lags... and still having to keep healthy... Soooo, I don't think it's only a simple scale after all.
nilsuthor 1 year ago 6
@nilsuthor Yes,she had a great technique, yes it's stunning that at her age she could still sing accurate (but slower than before, of course) brilliant coloratura.
But I heard better from her and other sopranos, anyway. That's my point. I stillm don't see or hear anything special in that scale
xafnndapp 1 year ago
Joan Sutherland was the greatest bel canto singer of the 20th century. Even if you adore Tetrazzini, Sembrich, Galli-Curci or Ponselle, most experts agree there was no one who paralleled this artist's achievement. Te Kanawa, Pavarotti and Horne all said she was the greatest ever, Nilsson regarded her as the greatest coloratura she'd ever heard, and London/Decca dubbed her the voice of the century in 1973, well before some of her greatest triumphs. The mantle La Stupenda came early.
iriisblue 2 years ago
This is quite debatable. The four names you have mentioned--Tetrazzini, Sembrich, Galli-Curci, and Ponselle--happen to be four of the greatest sopranos ever to have recorded. Sembrich is primarily a nineteenth-century singer although her career lasted into the twentieth century. She is a legend, a rival and protegee of Adelina Patti's, with an identical technique according to Herman Klein. Tetrazzini was a rival of Melba's, who had an extraordinary career in the early twentieth century.
meltzerboy 2 years ago
Galli-Curci was a rival of Tetrazzini's and Hempel's; she too had a voice with a unique timbre and a florid technique that was astonishing. Ponselle--not a coloratura--was one of the greatest dramatic sopranos with regard to richness of voice, seamless registers, as well as sheer power. She was a rival of Rethberg's and Muzio's and a phenomenal singer. All of these sopranos are legends, and Sutherland I believe is worthy of their group; but I would not single out any of them as THE best.
meltzerboy 2 years ago
At this level of excellence, it's almost like trying to choose the greatest composer of all time--Bach, Mozart, or Beethoven? As far as the statements of the singers you mention, they were Sutherland's friends and colleagues so of course they are going to praise her highly. Besides, the other four sopranos are from the past and memories do fade. This in no way denigrates Sutherland, whose singing I have always admired. She is certainly one of the very greatest sopranos.
meltzerboy 2 years ago
I enjoy reading your remarks, especially refreshing here in what is generally a pool of nitwits. I said originally that Sutherland was the greatest "bel canto" singer of the 20th century, and I'll stick by it, with all due respect to the other legends you rightly acknowledge.
iriisblue 2 years ago
Fair enough, and thanks for the compliment.
meltzerboy 2 years ago
is that you richard?
tombwomb 2 years ago
One of the very greatest Sopranos? One of...ONE? Look, I've been taking note of different peoples comments on this opera "fanatic" site (sites) and I find your particular comments to be intellegent and, quite frankly, I know this subject very very well...I'm not bragging, I just DO (though I am NOT GOD so I am NOT saying that I am THE authority....I just have my PhD in Stupendology, not to be confused with the word...STUPIDITY please) lol Anyway, i digress...Who in your opinion is better?
MrStupendousluvforJo 2 years ago
It's dangerous and difficult to say THE best in any topic. My personal favorite female singer and the one I consider the greatest natural singer among women is Galli-Curci. That's my opinion; you apparently disagree, and are entitled to your opinion. Ultimately, it's a matter of likes (or loves) and dislikes (or hatred) regarding singers' voices. Also, singing has many parts, and no one singer excels in everything, even G-C, even Sutherland; what one can do well, the other might not be able to.
meltzerboy 2 years ago
Comment removed
MrStupendousluvforJo 2 years ago
An outstanding performance, if not THE outstanding performance. When will they put this on CD?!!!
DCFunBud 3 years ago
The entire concert is available on CD. A better question is when will it be available on DVD. Someone clearly has the video of this magnificent concert
petercubit 2 years ago
I believe that if you included all of Maria's early roles, including roles that she performed just two times, the count would be close to forty. I believe Sutherland ended up with fifty-six or so Included in those roles, well over one hundred performances of Norma, and many, many Lucia's as well. These sopranos were, to me, the most important and influential sopranos of the last century.....for entirely different reasons.
Hako2004 3 years ago
Just for the sake of clarity and accuracy, Dame Joan's operatic career began in 1952, and ended in 1990. Nearly forty years.
Also, she sang fifty-some roles on stage. I'm not sure how many roles Maria sang, I would guess less than thirty, and over the course of a much shorter career.
Hako2004 3 years ago
Her Covent Garden career began in 1952. She began singing professionally in 1948.
iriisblue 3 years ago
is the number of roles the measure to a good carreer now? pfft
eradesso 2 years ago
No. She sang the Christmas oratorio in Sydney Town hall in Dec. of 1946. In 1947 she sang Dido at the Lyceum club in Sydney. But she and Richard consider her performances in the '40s "student performances". Her professional career began in the 50's....as far as Bonynges are concerned.
Hako2004 2 years ago
Caballe 149 roles
kincsem1 2 years ago
VERY, very well put "Richiesutherland" - I feel sorry for those ignorant enough to believe La Divina had any sort of superior voice...
1stTelmar 3 years ago
well then. what is there to be said? I sat silent for a good while after and all i could think was holy crap! haha loved every min!
magicmonkichi 4 years ago
I love this aria. There are some singers I really wish had recorded the opera, or at least this aria. I can only imagine what Moffo would have made of it at the time she recorded her amazing Luisa Miller. I think Caballe was a good choice for the complete aria. And I think that Diana Damrau would be great in this.
sschimel 4 years ago
OH! Joan was just the greatest coloratura EVER!!!! How I miss her. We really had the Golden age of singing then and today we have the Tin age.. no one compares with her!!!!
petelovesbevsills 4 years ago
haha, such true about the Tin age!)
janick1ultramarine 4 years ago
It's so good to hear all the trills sung, especially since this was written for Jenny Lind, whose trills were her pride and joy. Really too bad Joan didn't record the complete opera at the same time as she did this scene for the Command Performance album. She's phenomenal, and even better than here (also 15 or so years younger!)
Shahrdad 4 years ago
But do remember that THIS clip is from Lincoln Center LIVE in 1980. It is astonishing. Unfortunately, her studio recording was postponed, due to Pavarotti's slovenly lack of professionalism, and he was replaced by Bonisolli. A few years too late for Joan, thanks Luciano! Same thing happened with her Stuarda, second Norma and Adriana recordings, due to Mr. P. not learning his roles. And yes, I wish she had recorded the role in the 60s or 70s, perhaps with Bergonzi.
Richiesutherland 4 years ago
Listen to the high note in the Paris Lucrezia posted on youtube, just a year before she retired, some note!
timsuffolk 4 years ago
The score of I masnadieri contains refined, delicate bel canto coupled with youthful and unharnessed Verdi rigour. With a sinister story by Schiller, this opera exemplifies Romanticism at its core. There are many finely artistic subtleties that are necessary for it to really come to life. THANK YOU Dame Joan for sharing the "art" of this uniquely beautiful Verdi piece. You UNDERSTAND it. You are one of the greatest artists to ever live. WE LOVE YOU.
alliwanttodoisgogogo 4 years ago
My friend you hit the nail on the HEAD! And you are absolutely right right right : WE DO LOVE YOU DAME JOAN WE LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU AND THANK YOU FOR ALL THE FINE AND OUTSTANDING WORK YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND GAVE THE WORLD...WE LOVE YOU BOTH!!!! George Prentice and Elvira Mattucci (Grandson and Grandma (age 94)
MrStupendousluvforJo 2 years ago
spectacular!
duaname 4 years ago
fantastica...grandiosa...un mito
Grupner 4 years ago
She's amazing, it's a real miracle to sing with such complete command of the voice and the music at 55! Fortunately, we can't hear in this performance the wobble that appeared in her middle, and the voice is amazingly youthful, rounded and rich. Her coloratura is simply unbeatable and, above all, extremely musical and stylish. Sutherland hardly disappoints us. ;-)
OperaBR 4 years ago
As Joan got later into her career, I always felt that the cabaletta's really urged her to rise to the occasion and do her best singing. Sometimes I feel she got a little lazy with the slower or more legato things.
drdre333 4 years ago
Appunto quella ho ascoltato, e se quelli sono trilli Joan Sutherland sono io.
anfiosso 4 years ago
Non riesco a capire anfiosso. Io sento, chiaramente, due note che si alternano rapidamente. Questo e' un trillo, no?
sutherland9 4 years ago
La cabaletta è tutta un fiorire di trilli meravigliosamente eseguiti. L'ultimo, interminabile, è a dir poco sublime. La Sutherland è davvero insuperabile.
tobiagorrio 4 years ago
I remember hearing Sutherland perform this aria in concert at Brooklyn College with Bonygne at the piano, and although there was no amplification on stage, her voice seemed to contain a built-in microphone; it was really electric! As far as trills are concerned, yes Sutherland is a mistress, and one would have to go all the way back to Melba and Kurz to find her equal or superior.
meltzerboy 4 years ago
Strano, perché trilli qui non ne ho sentiti.
anfiosso 4 years ago
Ascolta un altra volta la cabaletta!
DuHoldeKunst 4 years ago
Its in Italian....Verdi or course. She sings with a score because of her memory. She was prone to lapses of memory, in part because she sang so many roles. As she grew older, she relied on the score or a prompter to help her stay on track.
Hako2004 4 years ago
Brava!
hisimperialmajesty 4 years ago
An avalanche of stupendous sound. Does anyone know what language she performed this in?
mildman43 4 years ago
She is incredible but, why doesn't she sing without a score, the text and the music are always the same...
foropera 4 years ago
one of the best!
remus
remrom2 4 years ago
Joan is the Queen of all Soprano's
Royalorgans 4 years ago
In a virtuosic career of unparalleled artistic consistency, I'm reluctant to point out "bests." However, if I had to, this would be close to the top. Considering that it is studio-quality flawless, and live, makes the performance almost unbelievable. Lyric, dramatic, scrupulous and big. Jenny Lind could have only dreamed.
clearandsunny 4 years ago
The Sutherland trill was like a sound from nature, and no one can claim to match her. Many sopranos can trill....in places. Most only in the upper middle voice, or high area. Some only in the lower area. Dame Joan could warble like a bird on a low C or on the High C.....and all points between. No one today, or in recent memory, can do that.
Hako2004 4 years ago
It is a pity that Natalie Dessay, an otherwise gifted soprano, has lost her trill (if she ever possessed one). Speaking of Sutherland, I just love how her and Bonynge always used fast tempi for the cabalettas (or cabalette, if you want). It made her fireworks all the more dazzling.
ariodante76 4 years ago
astonishingly beautiful as always
brividokaldo 4 years ago
good god...and I should learn to spell SHOULD.
BeauTenor 5 years ago
hehehe...this made me SMILE. What INCREDIBLE singing! She shuld have done more Verdi.
BeauTenor 5 years ago
Sutherland had a very big voice, she should have sung Aìda in the '80s, or even Forza (though Forza was a little heavy for her), but yes Aìda and Luisa Miller ! instead of awful Caballè whose voice was very little for that repertory
moreno2394 4 years ago
Joan could have sung anything she wanted, including Forza. She had the voice for it.
BeauTenor 4 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
She didn't sang Armida, Parsifal, Brunnilde, Forza, La Gioconda because she couldn't.She is nothing compared with divina Maria
mangiatutti 4 years ago
Callas sang very few performances of Armida, Kundry and Brunnhilde (note spelling), not many Forza Leonoras and Giocondas either and mostly in the beginning of her quite short career. Callas was unique, but frankly, lots of people have sung diverse repertoire (e.g. Caballé, Gencer). Callas sang what was offered her in her early years, not what she chose. Joan sang what was right for her voice. Callas-about 16 years of stardom. Joan-31 years. Draw your own conclusions.
Richiesutherland 4 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
The only one who could sing what she wanted is Maria and not Sutherland.
Maria has a perfect voice
mangiatutti 4 years ago
hehehehehe!!!!!!!!! Most amusing and funny
timsuffolk 4 years ago
Really? She would make a ridiculous Marie, from Fille. She didn't sing Mozart well either in my opinion. She couldn't sing an F, so any role with the high F was out...including Madame Hertz which Joan sang. And Dame Joan tried for years to find the time to do Gioconda, which she could easily have done. Joan did sing some Wagner in the early years, but moved into Bel Canto. There were many roles that weren't suitable for Maria.....almost all after age 35, because her voice was gone.
Hako2004 3 years ago
I think Joan shouldn't have chosen Gli Ugonotti for her definitive farewell in 1990.She should have sung Aìda for her farewell or even Tosca
moreno2394 4 years ago
Given the constraints of poor memory, and failing voice, Dame Joan chose a role that was short and quite familiar. The last thing she wanted was to be on stage all evening...she simply didn't have the stamina anymore. As for leaps from a parapet.....forget about it.
Hako2004 3 years ago
Dame Joan stopped singing and ended her career in 1989/90 but the voice was all there!.The voice remained huge and intact till the end (1990).She should have sung Aìda and Gioconda in late '80s, Un ballo in maschera and Tosca too in late '80s.I would have given to her all these roles
moreno2394 3 years ago
Dame Joan retired for reason...her voice couldn't do it anymore, which is what she has said. By 1990 even the high C was getting thread-bare. Her stamina was an issue too. Aida was never one of her roles, and she never did Gioconda. She isn't a Verdi soprano, but sang some Verdi roles very well. La Traviata, I Masnadieri, Il Trovatore ( Verdi's bel canto opera) and Gilda were great vehicles for her. Her final role in Huguenots was a short role, which she transposed to a lower key.
Hako2004 3 years ago
Hako2004, get your facts straight. Sutherland learned, covered and performed AIDA at Covent Garden. And she could "do it" in 1990, including Norma, Anna Bolena (incredibly long and difficult parts), and Huguenots. She couldn't, however, do it as magnificently and to the exacting standard she placed on herself and the public expected.
iriisblue 3 years ago
Yes, she did cover the role.....once was it? On a tour? It was
never one of her roles, she only the under-study.
Hako2004 2 years ago
@moreno2394 I agree with you.....She herself mentioned "La Vestale" (Spontini) and I would very mush like to have heared her sing the "Jo-Ho-To-Jo-" from Walkure on record....say in 1974-5 or so....don't you think that would have been good?
MrStupendousluvforJo 2 years ago
Bravissima. Well, Selma Kurz's trill is good enough for me...lol...
FABRIZIO82 5 years ago
It still amazes me how perfect her trill was.
angelus2002 5 years ago
You are right no one can trill like Joan did,may be an Australian thing Nellie Melba was also famous for her trill !.
mariogorga 5 years ago
Sills had an INCREDIBLE trill too...
BeauTenor 4 years ago
Thanks for this great post. I remember this performance. Final high C in this aria is huge....fills the auditorium. It cannot be appreciated fully on youtube unfortunately.
Hako2004 5 years ago