Joan Sutherland as Lucrezia Borgia in 1989

[GoldenAgeSunshine]

I've already posted a comment on this performance, I was there too. It was simply mesmerazing and stunning: I will never forget the concert! Who can today sing this gruelling role (apart from Devia with another vocality)? The Slovak soprano (whom I love, but who should now refrain from singing the role). DJS was a true drammatico-coloratura or sfogato: she will NEVER be replaced, never. Those who criticize and those who have never heard her life should burn in Hell.

[vocalissimo1]

There are many things that matter in opera, but few count as much as nailing the big note we are all waiting for. This can be the moment that takes us into another realm. Thanks to Joan, many millions worldwide have been able to make that trip on a regular basis. And doesn't the present recording take us about as high as you can go?

[Ariadne7710]

Sutherland had a stupendous voice and immene agility.However let us be objecctive. During the 60s anid 70s she was in glorious voice and sang many coloratura roles beautifully. In the 80s she transposed most roles down. Interpretation was of secorndary importance. She just sang. To me (having heard them both live) she was the perfect actobat, while Callas was the perfect ballerina. Singing with technical perfection was of primary importance Sutherland. To Callas creating the role was all!

[fullbuck50]

Incredible, and not just the last note, but the whole painful journey leading up to it. This You Tube education in all things Sutherland just doesn't quit and this is the latest fantastic new chapter. Six months ago I thought of JS as a great technician only. This, like many other posts, has opened up my thinking. It seems she had to connect to a character and, unfortunately often didn't. But when she did, as with Lucrezia, it's all there. Thank you Homoclassicus for the continuing education.

[OLIVCHEN77]

BRAVA E STUPENDA

[OLIVCHEN77]

BRVA E STUPENDAQQQQQ

[magicmonkichi]

BRAVA~! I love how the applause starts the moment she stops singing.

[vocalissimo1]

@magicmonkichi Yes, the applause and the HYSTERIA, the likes of which very few other singers have ever been able to elicit to this extent.

[lastupendaboy]

@magicmonkichi Her performances were so overwhelming,leading gradually to the final extraordinary moment that it was impossible,even for the Joan HATERS in the audience,not to be uplifted....Felt in your head,gut...Impossible not to scream immediately!I've never experienced anything like it...sort of a spiritual experience felt along with thousands at once,tho totally human(EXTRA-human!)...

[Bluejeans0701]

Was Dame Joan really almost 63? Her voice did not change and it sounded like what we would have heard in her recordings she released in the 60s.

[CaptFitzbattleaxe]

Was *not* expecting that D at the end. WOW.

It's amazing how well she preserved her voice.

[OperaDanceHall]

Sublime the voice from " La Stupenda"" 1926 -2010 Thanks for al your records ....

[StCorentin]

I attended this performance.

It's the only time I heard Dame Joan. Great moment.. She formed a couple with Alfredo Kraus, a fantastic couple with sovereign voices, despite they are at the end of their carreer. The atmosphere was indescribable.

Now she has joined the heavenly concert.

[FraSarn]

Just Divine. We are going to miss you, Dame Joan "La Stupenda".

[opera75frfr]

J'ai eu la chance d'être là ce jour-là: rien que les applaudissements à son entrée, après tant d'années d'absence, étaient un spectacle en soi. La voix bien sûr n'est plus tout à fait la même, mais encore étourdissante, avec des aigus renversants. Et puis à côté d'elle notre Dupouy, SPLENDIDE, et Kraus, Kraus, Kraus pour qui cette musique semble avoir été écrite. J'en ai encore les larmes aux yeux et les sanglots dans la voix.

[lubovchicherina]

it is fantastic even inspite of transposition. sutherland forever



[bellini7verdi]

la mas grandeeeeeeeee como siempreeeeeeeeeeeeeeee oleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee .oleeeeeeeeeee

[leprincebeaumont]

la più grande di tutte; anche a 63 anni! Grazie, Dame Joan!

[preppybeast6293]

donizetti is such a great composer. every opera is so musically different than his next. its so incredible.

[MrStupendousluvforJo]

I'm weeping as i type this..........I am absolutely .....i DON'T HAVE THE WORDS.....She is just THE GREATEST SINGER OF OUR TIME....maybe ANY TIME

[belcunto]

i just woke my family playing this... they are so pissed with me but i am SOOO glad to have found this!

[lastupendaboy]

How did she get revenge over the Paris public(critics?)...I don't know the history....but this is a fitting last performance for her there no matter what.The last impression....that laser beam Db!

[NotNellie]

The question is, did you have a career like this though???? You say you sang major roles? Oh? Where? (The shower does not count as a venue). Would you like to supply us with some reviews? Or perhaps recordings made by you - in your prime naturally? We look forward to any or all of the above mentioned.

[raigekimaru]

lol, Dama Joan is too epic for this recording =P

[opera75frfr]

Nous étions là ce soir là. Kraus divin, intact, Dupouy magique et injustement disparue, et Sutherland certes vieillie mais conservant cette magie qui est l'apanage des grandes. Délire génral, frénésie et coeur serré de savoir que nous assistions à une fin d'é.poque

[MrStupendousluvforJo]

The greatest VOICE in the universe still at 63! I like you guys who wrote the comments above...YOU UNDERSTAND HER GREATNESS! (that bitch who commented on the "pitch pipe thing can go straight to Hell)

[iriisblue]

@MrStupendousluvforJo I agree. It makes one long for the days when a woman who dared cheer for Callas at a Tebaldi concert could be dragged out of the theatre by patrons and beaten unconscious in the lobby.

[TheWisemonkey8]

@MrStupendousluvforJo it is true! However, it is a very funny comment! Every time I read this I must say I laugh out aloud! HA!

[steve170259]

I was there that night and I can tell you all that she was singing like an angel. It was a big occasion and she awed Paris. She was the greatest and we all wish her well now she's back on her feet after the accident. I have a tape of the whole thing. Unbelievable performance (but I was there, so know it was true!)

[Drelnis]

Is this not in Eb major? A shame how she has to transpose it down, she could still sing an awesome D in the mid 80s, but again she already had 2 Lucrezia DVDs, so the legacy is conserved :)

[bubjar]

Absoluletly breathtaking! What an fantastic artist.

[leprincebeaumont]

Sensazionale!!! Joan, sei l'incomparabile!!!

[spirumbo]

I was in the audience, that night. I don't know what t do but than God for this historical opportunity. Decca, or anybodyelse, should release this performance which, by the way, included Alfredo Kraus, Michele Pertusi and Martine Du Puy. Notice that the glorious Piero de Palma had a standing ovation, too, at the final calls!

[ChrisStockslager]

Holy crap! With that last Db at the end, I am convinced that Joan Sutherland is an alien. That's the only way to explain how huge, loud, and long that note was. It's better than most sopranos could do in their 20s, let alone 60s. Does anyone have any more arias from this performance, by any chance?

[thomastmwc]

Hw can I resist her

[scotsw12]

incredible!!!!!!!!!!!

[GoldenAgeSunshine]

I was there (Théâtre des Champs Elysées), concert version and this was AMAZING. She was dressed in a long green concert gown and proceeded to give a SPLENDID rendition of this gruelling role. Kraus and Dupuy were in the cast. Magical performance, unforgettable!

[bubjar]

Well Sutherland was known among other things for how long her voice kept in shape. A 63 year old woman singing that aria is just amazing. Shows her incredible self-discipline and respect for her art. One of the greatest, no doubt.

[Richiesutherland]

How I envy you for being there! For Joan's final Borgias, she apparently only sang the "ornamented verse" of the final aria. I believe this is because, with the transposition, it took the first verse into contralto territory (low Ab). It may have been a stamina thing, but I think it has more to do with her having to negotiate extremely low coloratura in that key, whereas the ornaments took her into her best area. And there's still the payoff of her final note!

[GoldenAgeSunshine]

Thanks. I think you are right about the 1st verse of the cabaletta. Well, considering the maestria, supremacy and pathos of the whole rendition, who cares? The Paris concert performance was a miracle from beginning to end, no less. She was in superb shape and took revenge over the Paris public in a brilliant way. A true belcanto feast in the grandest golden age tradition. Bless her! Kind rgds to you.

[sutherlandfan]

Does this performance exist on video?

Brava Sutherland!!!!!!!

[Homoclassicus]

No. There is another Lucrezia from 1989 at the Liceu of Barcelona, but she wasn't as impressive as in this one (IMO)...

[FraSarn]

What can we say more? Just DIVINA!

[KILLERADVICE]

A great voice !

[hisimperialmajesty]

My picth-pipe indicates that the final note is a D...am I mistaken?

[Jabe88]

I am thinking that this bootleg recording is playing faster, hence the half step upwards...

or she really sang it higher than her Liceu performance which was a few days earlier!

[spsp2sp3sp3dsp3d2]

Simply amazing. This is from a concert performance (not a fully staged production) about 7 months before she retired. I didn't know this recording existed. Thank you, Homoclassicus.

[iValkure]

Wow amazing, this was only one year before she retired form singing! She was one rare soprano who had those high notes at her disposal and abundantly too like Edita.They will be remembered for that for many years I am sure.

[iosonmedea]

She just could not cut it any more!

[UrsulanChild]

That last note is so-o-o-o-o HUGE!!!!  Amazing to get that much core in such an extremely high note. Most sopranos are kinda thin on a High-D...not Joan

[saverioorlando]

To Ildivino86:perfectly observed!

[gwright199]

holy crappola -- was she really 63 when she recorded this?? The voice and last note are awe-inspiring...

[soothed]

Homoclassicus - thank you for posting this. I have never heard this '89 Paris performance before. It is simply staggering; so edgy, so malevolent. I even like the steely quality of the final note. I especially enjoyed the audience reaction - and Paris audiences can be destructive; but they do know a vocal miracle when they hear it. Is this performance on DVD? Tape? CD? I thought I had most of Sutherland's performances (commercial and pirated) but I do not have this one - Aaaargh!!!

[albertogrilo]

Sutherland with 63. Amazing. The laste note is not the usual E flat, but is a D only half tone lower. It's so big...

[KaminaOne]

You are ever so right. The sheer size of those extreme high notes still amazes us.

[ypsiboi05]

She sounds fantastic! I am seriously impressed. I hope I sound that good when I am 63!!! My goodness!

[timsuffolk]

What was so amazing was that her voice lost none of its power as it soared higher and higher. Of course there are other sopranos who can hit the high notes but they sound either weak or strained.

[ioSonoCallas]

17 juin 1989, Paris, théatre des Champs-élysées. J'y étais, souvenir grandiose et inoubliable!

[Hako2004]

As near as I know, Dame Joan never sang any role more than a tone below the original key.....and then only when time,(and thirty-five years of singing) had taken some toll. There are too many uninformed statements about the "key" or embellishments in these Bel Canto operas. A singer should perform a piece in the original key when comfortable, otherwise choose the nearest comfortable key. Many singers transpose, even in their prime....the great Pavarotti did this in his forties.

[63Attila]

Riccard699

Why so nasty?\\

Peace 63Attila

[midlochblidloch]

!!!!RESPECT!!!!

[iriisblue]

This would have made Flagstad kneel. By the way, Sutherland NEVER sounded like a canary. And if you want scary, just listen to Anderson, Devia, Fleming, Dessay or any other comers try this at 63. They wouldn't dare.

[lastupidissimo]

If you watch her autobiographical video 'La Stupenda' you will see that the Dame herself observes the 'canaryness' of her voice in bel canto music.

As for Anderson and co. i will indeed have to wait until they do turn 63 before i can say with certainty whether they dared to attempt this role at that age. It's only fair to them.

[Iareto]

Devia actually might try it...0.0...as for everything else you said, I totally agree!

[lastupidissimo]

Wow!! I like this better than the 1980 Covent Garden that's is also floating aroud here somewhere. Her notes aren't as clear and her voice is deeper... maybe it's been transposed down, but she's used these changes to her advantage and i think her lucrezia character has changed for the beteer, too. It's less canary and more scary. Some other roles just don't sound right sung by a 60 years old: Ophelie, for example.

[Homoclassicus]

Interestingly, Ophélie is actually one of the few "girlish" roles I think that still sounded quite wonderful in Sutherland's late voice. Her 1985 performance is still impressive and very moving. However, I agree that in roles like Lucia or Elvira the aged tones of her voice were much more audible than in Lucrezia or Athalia.

[MadonnaImperia]

@lastupidissimo It was indeed transposed down a whole tone. But I still find it a very impressive performance!

[emma41093]

@lastupidissimo Definitely transposed down.

[scotsw12]

This is an incredible recording. I saw JS the year before in Anna Bolena, she was incredible. The power, flexibility and utter beauty of her voice was still there. For someone her age she is nothing short of miraculous in this recording. The applause at the end of this is so merited, I almost joined in! I think she gave it everything she could muster in this performance and what a result, no one can surpass her.

[riccardo699]

It IS incredible, but keep in mind that it's transposed down a full tone, as she did with Bolena in both the first and final scenes.....

[Jabe88]

I so wish i wasn't born in 1988 :(

I can only try to imagine how the note filled the auditorium and dazzled the audience...

[riccardo699]

Dear Jabe88: I saw her in her earlier years in Lucia, Maria Stuarda, Puritani, Sonnambula, Traviata, Merry Widow, Semiramide: it was truly stupendous. It was amazing how huge the instrument was, yet how beautiful the legato was. And the coloratura was to die for. Audiences truly went crazy, as you can hear in this (even though her it is transposed down a full tone).

[Jabe88]

Oh how I envy you!

My only hope now is a time machine! lol

[riccardo699]

Listen to the recording of her singing the same cabaletta in Spain: that night, she took it all the way down to C natural (obviously, on "good" nights she sang it in one key, and on "bad" nights, she sang it in another. She was utterly magnificent, but I think when you have to transpose it down a third of an octave, you should stop singing and role and find something else!!!!

[63Attila]

Get a life and shut your pitch pipe.

When these operas were written, singers sang them in the most comfortable keys

[63Attila]

I was agrgressive and acerbic not horribly vicious. What's with you? Beside you should have understood my most important point was not about you or your pitch pipe but about singers lee way allowed by composers as to singing keys. Peace.

[iriisblue]

The final note is a D-flat in Paris as it is in Spain. BTW, when Carol Vaness debuted as all four heroines in the Tales of Hoffmann at the Met (the first singer to attempt it since Sutherland) the entire Olympia act was down a major third. That was NOT after 40 years on stage.

[meltzerboy]

I'm working on it and will let you know when it is completed!

[Jabe88]

Is it done yet? lol

[meltzerboy]

Almost, I'm just fine tuning a portion of the mechanism. I would say in about another month.

[MrStupendousluvforJo]

i can hardley wait to get more of your gems!

[ChrisStockslager]

Is what done yet?

[lastupendaboy]

This is amazing...right at the end of her carrer....The mike can't handle the size and overtones of this amazing,unique voice...AND to think that she never stopped singing these difficult roles all over the world consistently until her retirement.Brava Joan...and thanks for sharing this rarity!

[timsuffolk]

Amazing, what a trooper, awe inspiring. Thankyou so much for putting this clip on here!

[Richiesutherland]

Thank you Homoclassicus, for this staggering performance from the very end of Dame Joan's performing career--yes, one of the very best late Sutherland performances I have heard. Rather a miracle, wasn't she?

[meltzerboy]

It's a pity that Sutherland's final performance at the Met (a recital at age 62 with Richard at the piano) was not recorded. I was there, and to this day I can still hear it in my mind. She was in superb form, singing a wide range of material, songs and arias, for about two hours without an intermission. Her breath control was astonishing that evening and her florid agility recalled the young Sutherland. All in all, it was a vocal feast--an night to remember!

[Richiesutherland]

Fabulous! In her final Borgias, Joan only sang one verse of "Era desso", because it was transposed. The first verse would have taken her into low contralto land. A fantastic performance, the tone rich and full, the coloratura dazzling. And what a fighter she was--the final enormous high note starts out tight, but how she masters it, giving the audience a thrill with its power and clarity. People have sung past 63, but not in this rep with this quality!

[Iareto]

Unbelievable. I did not think anyone over the age of 55 could sing this well.

[Jabe88]

omfg!

[belcantoBR]

Love it! But what you say does not make sense: how can one "sing only the da capo"?

[Homoclassicus]

I meant she sings only the second part with all the ornamentations she used to do for the "da capo" of that aria. The verses are repeated again, but with relatively free embellishments.

That's the part she sings here, and she does it wonderfully.

[espinaca79]

Terrific! It gave me goosebumps!

[mdancer01]

fantastic

i simply love her

she is the best coloratura soprano of the 20th cwntury

[sutherlandfan]

Fantastic!!!Amazing!!! She was so great in this role and in this day she was blessed bu the gods of music.What a high note at the end, so powerful.The audience went crazy.

[ariodante76]

Oh My God, that final high note just gets bigger and bigger! The aria has been transposed down, and the repeat cut, but the roulades are superlative! There can no question that Joanie was a first-class diva, of the highest merit. I love you, Sutherland!

[Cramnella]

I saw her live in her last "Norma" and "The Merry Widow" in 1989 and can report that she sounded better live than on records of the same time.

[OperaBR]

Sutherland is still great at 63. IMO her final top note is thrilling, its amazing power and incisiveness was very well captured by this live recording. And she still has complete command over the coloratura, which still sounds clean and accurate, and the expression is excellent. I'm sure this was one of her best late performance! Thanks a lot for this video.

[meltzerboy]

Contrary to common belief, Sutherland's performances toward the end of her career were usually not bad at all regarding breath control and intonation, though some were faulty. This one is definitely spot on; the dramatic expression and coloratura are very much intact and the final high note a beauty. When Sutherland was in good voice, she was incomparable.

[tklogan11809]

this is STUPENDOUS.