Joan Sutherland - Lucrezia Borgia - 1972

[ilrimpianto]

the world's best soprano! 

[LaBartoliLover]

Does anyone know the words to this aria

[MrChrya]

The voice in this scena reminds me of a great 747 sitting on the tarmac - impossible to imagine it ever taking off let alone soaring. And when it does, we are GOBSMACKED !!! Brava Joan - thanks for soooo much.

[lastupendaboy]

Please explain,you 8 creatures that vote negatively for this video,what EXACTLY offends you:?I can't begin to imagine....except that ultimate excellence somehow offends(which maybe it could???)....Please explain....!

[Fegen]

Splendid! Couldn't have been any better. Two Thumbs Up!

[lastupendaboy]

Magnificence with legs!!!Unbeatable,destroys me every time...

[vocalissimo1]

Sutherland was able to bring out the big vocal guns when needed and in a way that very few could match. Certainly, there is no-one around today in the same league. The fullness of tone, agility, unwavering stamina and stratospheric brilliance were amongst the many hallmarks of her unforgettable singing. Evviva la stupenda!

[Cuteo05]

I love Sutherland so much, she is a Goddess!

[Paddy818]

Stupendous!

[unclealand]

I'm very glad opera most certainly does get better than this. The opera is not very interesting, and Sutherland was so much better in anything else.

[raigekimaru]

@unclealand

fair enough

[lucillekellogg1]

Amazing!

[theromanpraetorian]

WOW EXTREME RANGE!!! From Bb3 Eb6 !!!!!!! OMG!

[will1074]

...e anche lei non c'è più....

[OperaDanceHall]

Thanks for all youre records "" La Stupenda"" whit your coloatura voice and all the Handel opera's... I remember yuour kises in Amsterdan by Rodelinda......

[coralarch]

Poor Lucrezia- I doubt that she was anywhere as evil as history has portrayed her.

[belcunto]

RIP Dame Joan Sutherland, and god bless you.

In the 1950's Maria Callas reopened the doors for the belcanto reportoire, but you sustained it for the next 30 years. Trills, scales, a soaring range, evenness of tone and a perfect legato line - your ubiquitous voice with it's agility and pearl timbre was perhaps not the most versatile - but where you stayed within your dramatic coloratura court you were incomparable; you were La Stupenda, the stupendous one.

[raigekimaru]

...sob, goodbye La Stupenda. I guess God couldn't bear to be without your voice any longer

[mimidu1]

R.I.P. Dame Joan Sutherland (1926-2010)

[chrisscruzzz]

This is so beautiful! Joan's voice is so mellifluous, the death seen at the end could have been better but still 5/5!!

[PapagenoHannover]

Eien wahre Königin mit stimmlicher Würde und Tiefe.

[vonFalkenstein77]

As my favourite soprano Dame Joan said: nowadays it´s the producers opera not the composers´. Thanks for sharing. That´s the real thing *****

[PapagenoHannover]

Schön!!!!

[vonFalkenstein77]

@PapagenoHannover

So ist es, schade daß die Sutherland in deutschen Landen so wenig Beachtung fand und findet...

[PapagenoHannover]

@vonFalkenstein77 - Nö, hier finden heutzutage Dieter Bohlen und völlig halbgare Göhren Beachtung, wie eine Lena Meyer Tunichtgut Beachtung. Nicht mal Diane Damrau wird beachtet. Deutschland ist was die Mehrheit betrifft kulturell vollkommen degeneriert. Selbst eine Klobürste hat besseren Geschmack und mehr Bildung,

[operalover42]

So great !!!

[necrogoddess]

completamente increíble, rico!!!!!!!!!!!

[barneswriter]

I saw here in this role at Covent Garden. It was amazing. Daffodils raining down on her at the curtain call and a long long ovation.

[drunkandangry]

I literally stood up and clapped when this clip was over (looking like a retard I'm sure but I don't care b/c it is for Dame Joan Sutherland!)

[htshoward]

Joan was known for her coloratura facility, but I am just not "feeling' it here.

[flicfan416]

Joan Sutherland is a perfect example of the product of natural talent with serious study. She certainly cannot only be accredited with a divine vocal gift, as she was above all an incredibly serious musician and artist.

[raigekimaru]

wonderful performance, but the costume designer should be fired. that dress totally makes her look fat.

[TheWisemonkey8]

Great post 'CF'. When do you go to see La Devia? I hope you will post somthing from the performance! I send you my kind and war regards,

[muhziah]

Beautiful, perfect.

[MastersoftheOpera]

Marvelous. She was the greatest Lucrezia, she breathed life into the role, her technique is flawless and she owned that role. Love it.

[acitipo]

Aqui la Stupenda en toda la plenitud de su hermosisima voz!!!!!

Vila la reina!!!!!!!!!!!

[lastupendaboy]

True,worked tremendously hard,AND calmly....until the very end.But htere was a GREAT gift and potentila there that she was wise enuf to recognize and work in the right way.She could have sung anything,but happy that she sang these roles that noone the,before or since can do regularly in great theatres like she did.Stupendasluv,you are too funny....Tremendous regards to you!

[InterpolatingMadman]

Joan's high E-flat should be counted as a wonder of the modern world. NO ONE did it like she did -- for 40 years or so of singing. And here, I just love the perforce nature of the roulades of the "sul mio colpo. . ." sections, especially the interpolations in the second strophe. Go, Joanie!!

[JoanNilson]

This is simply PHENOMENAL!  A technique to take your breath away - and high notes that NO ONE can equal!

[dionysosin2012]

I think her voice is amazing in this piece - much better than Renee Fleming (whose studion version is pretty decent, despite some of the awful live versions I've seen on Youtube), but doesn't her diction seem a little weird in some places? The way she says "une luce" (though I'm not exactly familiar with Italian for instance)?

Sometimes, not just in this piece, her "Britishness" seems to get in her way when it comes to acting and pronunciation.

[raigekimaru]

@dionysosin2012

I think I know what you mean. Joan is very classy and has a rather low key and charming personality. I think it gave her trouble in portraying the more dramatic, grittier characters as has little to relate to them with.

[raigekimaru]

part of this aria sounds almost like a march for some reason.

[raigekimaru]

a true sfogato soprano aria. a soprano really needs everything. a strong lower register, immense agility, thrilling high notes, extreme dramatic capability, and flawless technique and vocal balance. this is the kind of epic music Dame Joan was made to sing.

[Richiesutherland]

Coloraturafan, bless you, once again! In all my years as a Joan lover, I have never seen this before--it sounds as if it is from British TV? Yes, those runs go from low Bb to high C. Tremendous dramatic thrust, brilliant technique, full of pathos and anger, and both a great low Bb (con esso e morto!) and high Eb. Not just stupendous, but incomparable.

[MrStupendousluvforJo]

I believe that this aria/cabaletta is probably THE hardest thing ANY Soprano EVER had to F------ sing in any era and in any place and time....think about it.......This is trill and roulade HELL From the "Basement" of the Voice to the absolute (Beyond High C) Super-TOP Voice This lady is the ULTIMATE and wee were VERY VERY fortunate to be able to have her Super Technique and If you think that Sound....I am wrong....go try and sing this Son-of-a B---

[monstrinho1976]

Could agree more! I am the the most faithful fan and admirer of Dame Joan, and yes, nobody sings this like. Viva La Stupenda!

[raigekimaru]

it's not because she's fortunate. it's because she worked her ass off.

[ChrisMagoo99]

@raigekimaru so true, so true

[MrStpendouslvforjo]

@raigekimaru Brava!!!!!! You took the words right out of my Mouth!!!!!!!! Plus....God gifted her supremely!! Did you ever notice the similarity b etween Birgit Nillsson's Jaw and Sutherlands?? They had big, square faces...(im not cutting them down....I couldnt love them more exactely like they were) BUT......its like to get that sound...THAT POWER AND RANGE.....you had to be ....well.......STRONG LOOKING!! or STRONGLY BUILT!! Either way.....Im stupified by her greatness!!

[lastupendaboy]

Haven't heard this for a while....dear GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!Bless her....I saw her live on TV in the Wales World singer competition giving the first prize(I was in Europe)...Legs recovered,thankfully,but she looks not so great....

[ChrisStockslager]

How so? She is 82, ya know. :)

[dt195k2]

Brilliant coloratura, brilliant trillls, brilliant final top note, strong notes in the lower register, excellent dramatic elements. Thrilling from start to finish! Thanks for posting this.

[Fossing1]

Brilliant La Stupenda!

[Fossing1]

Perfect, brilliant. She is amazing.

[darjiaethera]

Brilliant

[rootedinfaith3]

Lol wow this is such a large range to execute within the song.

[zehtesko]

The definition of perfection. She was drawed by God for singing.

[Eiswirth]

Brilliant! No one is better.

[leprincebeaumont]

Senza parole! Grandiosa, elegantissima e fluidissima nell'emissione e nel virtuosismo: magnifica Joan! E le variazioni sono sempre bellissime: grande Ricky!

[mbraunsdcs]

Her voice is amazing, despite the ridiculous costume. :)

[usao57]

Enfin la voix que l'on aime à entendre dans cet air et ceci sans rien perdre des aigus qui sont dans cet extrait insolents et d'une puissance rare. Une voix dramatique pour un air dramatique, et non ce que l'on entend généralement.Sans concurrence, pour moi, dans cet air, comme dans beacoup d'ailleurs, mais n'est-elle pas " The Voice of the century "...

[enfava]

My God!!!! This is really perfection.

She was not surely a good actress but no many sopranos managed to perform this aria like her.

[FraSarn]

Divina. Nothing else to say. I am about to cry, I can't get over it!

[tphowle]

perfection!

[Laeliapurpurata]

Why's this skilled bitch always in a hurry.

[Jabe88]

I think it's her husband who has always in a hurry!

[Jabe88]

who was*

[yodavidnavarro]

Her control on her dramatic soprano voice is breathtaking!

[elsa425]

Sills sang a couple of performances of Lucrezia Borgia at the New York City Opera in the mid-1970s. That season was cut short by a strike, and the opera was never revived. I was lucky enough to hear one of the performances, and she was riveting, as always.

[BenPookyXCore]

Joan Sutherland, she is the best out there, her and Sarah Brightman are the best (in my opinion)

[Iareto]

Sarah Brightman you say? How interesting.

[LittleLotte7793]

Sarah is a wonderful singer. Perhaps not operatically, but there is no doubt she is very talented.

[coloraturafan]

Well Andrew Lloyd Weber certainly liked her ;)

[scotsw12]

yes, her "I lost my heart to a starship trooper" is right up there with the best of them! Still, each to their own!!

[kingromeraso]

@LittleLotte7793 Of course Sarah is a wonderful singer. She is more than that. The inconvenient is that some people think that soprano and opera are the same thing, of course they are not. Sarah B is not an opera singer by any close, but she is a wonderful soprano. Her voice has changed, If im not wrong, she used to be a Lyric Coloratura soprano, and now she is a soubrette.

[tenor220]

@kingromeraso That makes no sense. A soubrette may progress to a lyric or lyric coloratura, but for a coloratura to become a soubrette just defies vocal logic

[keriah17]

@LittleLotte7793 not operatically? are u kidding me? it's called a dramatic coloratura soprano but i'm guessing someone like you who don't know about opera doesnt know what that mean

[pckermit]

Who is sarah?

[Loismustdie26]

@pckermit Sarah Brightman, though I'm not sure why she's being brought up here.

[kingromeraso]

@BenPookyXCore Of course, but its always difficult to establish who are the best sopranos out there. Sarah definitely is not the best, but she has the most sweet gorgeous voices ever, so I truly appreciate her very much.

[tenor220]

@BenPookyXCore That is just awful, to even mention Sarah in the same sentence as Joan is an insult to her artistry and talent.

[mozartianissimo]

Simplesmente a perfeição sobre a face da Terra! Sutherland é única!

[LittleLotte7793]

Joan is one of my three favorite opera singers of all time. Such a powerful and commanding voice with dramatic talent.

[DessayBestActress]

How are the other two?

[LittleLotte7793]

Oh. Tough call. Sumi Jo is definately up there. And then probably Kiri Ti Kanawa. I think thats how you spell her name. She does great lyric and borderline mezzo roles.

[SENAFOREVER]

I love to compare her version with Caballé's, they are both so musical, creative and gorgeous...

[lizabluebird]

wiki here

[lokitrix]

Is there such thing as a coloratura boy soprano?

[riccardo699]

Does anyone know if Sills ever sang Lucrezia Borgia? If so, when and are there any recordings available???? It was proabably too heavy for her.

[milamalias]

Sills sung lucrezia in 1976. I have the record, she sings the first cabaletta as caballé did on RCA 1965. Its very good. The record is not available for sale...

[LittleLotte7793]

Not exactly. There are countertenors, though.

[iMegaphone]

Perhaps one of the castrati?

[lhrlyc]

@lokitrix look up QUEEN OF THE NIGHT ROBIN SCHOLZ

[phirtes]

Magnificent!

[dreuan]

it simply does not get any better than this!

[OperaGIRL777]

wikipedia

[dopey85xxx]

nice!

[boobahbri]

wikkipedia!

[kingofheartsxyz]

Wikipedia Rocks :D

[naters81]

the soprano page. it is awesome. check out all the voice type pages. they are great!

[naters81]

Just out of curiosity. How many of you are here because of wikipedia?

[Jabe88]

Wikipedia lead you here?

which page was it?

[naters81]

the soprano page. it is awesome. check out all the voice type pages. they are great!

[losingmymind18]

Wikipedia yes indeed

[Eiswirth]

Magnificent! Without question the greatest soprano voice of all time.

pje

[riccardogrande699]

Accord. Not only the greatest soprano of all time, but her at her absolute best. This was at the time of her first Maria Stuarda, which was equally spectacular.

[meltzerboy]

Magnificent singing in all respects! Lucrezia was one of Sutherland's very finest roles and one she retained in her repertory until the end of her career. In certain ways, she sings it even better later on. Those low notes (and, of course, the high ones too and the coloratura) never fail to amaze me.

[actor001]

As always thankyou coloraturafan for your excellent taste

[vitroz]

Her voice reminds me of Sebastian Moppel

[bubbilius]

In spite of Sutherlands unarguable technical prowess, it always seems to me that she has a little difficulty in places singing this phenomenal difficult aria. Her rendition from 1980 in Covent Garden is an exception. Renee Fleming sings the aria in a breathtaking manner on her album "Bel Canto".

[rareopera]

You must be joking!

[bubjar]

How so?

[63Attila]

Thanks . I wish I saw on stage in this role. I think this role, Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda are often not considered wheh evaluating her. She was magnificent in them.

[mll20829]

Would you upload this TV production's Lucia scene??(Spargi d'amaro)

[domi2020]

Wow- rare as hens teeth- is this part of the BBC profile with Bernard Levin that features among other notables- Te Kanawa, Verrett and Caballe to name a few??? Thanks so much.!!! Amazing footage.

[coloraturafan]

Yes, this is in fact part of the BBC series Profiles in Music, with Bernard Levin. Verrett, Caballe, Sills, Nilsson, Bumbry and the list goes on.

[FraSarn]

Hi, thanks so much for this post. She is just DIVINA. Is there a way to get the whole opera as dvd or VHS?

[Operaphile]

Oh god! I love her in this role. She is so haunting!!!! As much as i love the Caballe and Kraus recording, Sutherland is still the supreme Borgia!!! Oh to be able to breath like Dame Joan :)

[agnellodei]

Increible!!

[tklogan11809]

La Fantastica.

[sutherlandfan]

A very rare video.She was astonishing!!!Brava dame Joan

[g420730a]

Very interesting! Joan's debute performance on Lucrezia Borgia was indeed in 1972. If this was taped in the same year, it would be very much close to be like seeing her debute performance in this opera. Her live performance of the same opera in 1977 taped in Sydey Opera House is also fantastic, but this one being so close to her debute is just special.

[coloraturafan]

This broadcast was done with an interview, and each scene is brought up in the interview before the opera scene. Anyway, in the interview Sutherland speaks of this role and wanting to do it more. She says she has performed this one time, and not in a major theater. She said she wanted to perform this and Maria Stuarda in major theaters. So this is indeed, very close to her debute in this role.

[g420730a]

Joan's Borgia debut was in Vancouver in 1972. She must be referring to that performance. She and Richard were wise to select smaller theaters to try out new roles and practice it before going to grand opera houses. She also debuted in Norma (the role of Norma) in 1963 in Vancouver and first tried Anna Bolena and Hamlet in Toronto (seem to be fond of trying new roles in Cananda).  Regarding the interview, could you also upload them? I think all joan's fans would die to see it.

[Hako2004]

One of her best roles, and one that, from the musical stand-point, could have been written for her. The low notes are rarely mentioned, but they have a fantastic quality. Thank you coloratura fan, for this one, and all the many others.

[Cramnella]

Spectacular! Lucrezia is my favorite role for Sutherland's voice and this is the earliest performance of it I've seen. Thank you so much!

[Jabe88]

Did she sing Lucia's mad scene on this occasion?

[AmorediPazzia]

Oh my...Thank you for this!!! And please..Would you upload this TV production's Lucia scene??(Spargi d'amaro)

[lastupendaboy]

COME ON...this is outrageous...Look at the amazing breath control.Truly stupendous!!!Thanks Coloraturafan(AGAIN!)....

[hisimperialmajesty]

Bravissima! The only thing that I would say is that while her voice was not so good as it is here, Dame Joan had the "look" of somwhat wizend villainess during the 80's. She still looks very young here.

[soothed]

Have been searching for ages for this. Saw La Stupenda several times in this role; it suits her voice placement almost better than "Lucia" Superb! Many thanks Coloraturafan.

[magicmonkichi]

Doesn't get much better than this.

Thanks Coloraturafan, i don't know where you come up with all these clips. But keep'em comin! :-)

[Jabe88]

OMG OMG OMG!

Coloraturafan, you are awesome!

[liecrona]

.. è sempre la splendida regina del belcanto... non si smentisce mai... SUPERBA!

[albertogrilo]

Brava...