Joan Sutherland - Tornami a vagheggiar - Alcina - 1965

[SilasSmith1]

I heard her live in concert twice later in her career. She was breath-taking. The size of her voice and the ease with which she sang coloratura is unmatched today. I will never forget her high e flats at the end of the Puritani and Lucia Mad Scenes. It made the concert hall shake.

[missmusicgirl2011]

Oh my gosh. She was glorious!!!

[belcunto]

And if she said no, i'd rather not ...?

[onemoreterm]

Simply glorious.

 I never knew how many Dame Joan videos were on YouTube until today so I'm checking them all out.

+ RIP Dame Joan +

[fabrizietto1980]

Uncomparable! we'll miss her!

[RoyKa2010]

Viva Dame Joan!

5 étoiles!

[dinacarina88]

Stupendous

[highbaritone]

Let us not forget that that this is the opera in which the Italians dubbed her "La Stupenda". In her time she embellished more than was customary and sang with a voice much bigger than the norm for this repertoire. She and Sills let the way for the rest to follow.

[ZBpopelka]

Here is the text: Tornami a vagheggiar, te solo vuol' amar quest'anima fedel,

caro mio bene. Gia ti donai il mio cor; fido sara il mio amor; mai ti saro crudel, cara mia speme.

[acitipo]

Fantastica!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

La voz clarisima, bellisimo timbre inigualable, y fue la mas grande para mi ,porque canto casi 50 años!!!!! signo clrisimo de lo bueno que era, y no como otras que a los 50 años no cantaban ni " La Cucaracha".

[Medea59]

ABSOLUT PERFEKT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[killerbunny123123]

she cut out all the coloraturas.....and the accappela at the end....this aria is so boring sung this way

[eyesk8er]

@killerbunny123123 Surely, you jest. I don't know what you were expecting but this is definitely not boring. It's brilliant!! Except for other performances by Dame Joan herself, you've never ever again hear the equal of this by another singer .

[killerbunny123123]

@eyesk8er well what truly is boring and what isnt is a rather personal opinion wouldn't you agree? I don't think people can decide what is boring for others or what isnt....personally im used to listening to variations of this aria, enriched by the soprano's personal coloraturas....so watching such a plain interpretation....of course i dont question the technique of the world's 2nd best soprano of all times....but i still find this too plain and monotone.

[eyesk8er]

@killerbunny123123 Your point is well taken. In a senior So please explain why it's necessary to leave a comment knowing that the vast majority of viewers here are fans who'll just find your comments annoying. I often surf around but if I don't like the singer I feel that it serves no point leaving a negative comment. I notice that many people disagree with me. Is this a result of the excessive cell phone talking & texting or am I just out of touch?

[eyesk8er]

@eyesk8er I should also say that sometimes I see critiques from music teachers, professional singers & other who musically knowledgeable but I don't consider these as negative comments because that attempt to inform the young musicians. But this does not apply to Dame Joan as she is retired and so all of her performances, good & bad, are history

[killerbunny123123]

@eyesk8er

well, my dear eyesk8er, the reason i comment even when i know people will disagree with me, is plainly because i don't mind :) When i see something that i like, i feel the need to express my thoughts through commenting, if it's something i dislike, the same happens. I think that commenting is a right that everyone has. Nonetheless, when I am not satisfied and i feel that Dame Sutherland could have done much more with her skills than that, who could truly say to me that I'm wrong? :)

[schaunard1]

Danielle de Niese should learn from Dame Joan......

[gibraltarrr]

Richard was absolutely gorgeous

[wattever333]

isn't he of maori descendance? I read that somewhere long ago.

[meltzerboy]

According to Joan Sutherland, her husband comes from Huguenot lineage.

[benjaminvox]

i've never been a fan of dame joan's singing, but this is simply flawless. gorgeous.

[DivoLaurent]

Beautiful early performance from Dame Joan... I love how she really commits to every melodic nuance she takes in the da capo section. True artistry!

[Heartlessiceboy]

It is very interesting...cause first was the small no vibrato voices, or the bel canto divas singing baroque like traviatta,but now we now that the baroque music was performed according to the singer habilty,so if the voice was huge was huge if the voice was little was little,so Joan Sutherland's performances r really more historically corrects that Emma Kirby's

[mjmacmtenor]

Handel and Sutherland were a perfect match. His music displays her technical skill and coloratura but also explores the warmth of the middle voice (as opposed to some bel canto which "sits" higher). Also, the often "instrumental" quality suits Sutherland (who care if you can understand the words or not?). Those who thing that Baroque opera is all about light bright voices with no vibrato (sorry Emma Kirkby, etc.) should take note of the voluptuous sound of Sutherland (and Te Kanawa) in Handel.

[meltzerboy]

Very accomplished and beautiful singing. No other soprano sings Handel with such brilliance.

[CurzonRoad]

@meltzerboy

G-r-e-a-t !

Thanks to coloraturafan2 for posting, and to Nate for sharing!

[meltzerboy]

No doubt about it, this is golden-age singing!

[streich13]

What a privilege to roll back the years and listen to Joan Sutherland in her prime. Thank you for posting.