Fiorenza Cossotto - Don Carlo - O Don Fatale

[larukulupin]

Bravaaa! I also REALLY enjoy Shirley Verrett's...

[MrDarknesslover]

woa una soprano dramatica de verdad!

[raigekimaru]

@MrDarknesslover

actually, I agree with you. the lower range is there, but there is a feeling of "wow this is low" when she gets to the high part of the aria, it's like her voice says "finally now comes the fun part". her top range opens up easily and the the top notes don't sound high for her at all. she sounds like she could sing the second half of the aria 20 times and still have it be easy. I think she's a lirico spinto soprano in disguise =D

[cantanteporsiempre]

@MrDarknesslover  mezzosoprano

[MrDarknesslover]

@cantanteporsiempre Mezzosoprano es Elina Garança! para mi ella parece una soprano que decidió cantar como mezzo!! es mi apreciaron personal! AMO SU VOZ!! UNA DE LAS MAS GRANDES DE LA HISTORIA!!

[ezayi]

@MrDarknesslover Elina es una soprano coloratura al lado de Fiorenza.

[MrDarknesslover]

@ezayi JAMAS! ESCUCHA y COMPARAS LOS COLORES! te daras cuenta que Elina tiene una Voz Mucho mas obscura!

[ezayi]

@MrDarknesslover Oye... tienes que ir a revisarte los oídos!

[MrDarknesslover]

@ezayi hahahaha aquí la gente siempre es lo mismo todo se lo toman a pecho!! tu dices que debo revisarme los oidos? yo te digo que revises tu actitud! que de hecho no es nada musical! La Voz de Elina Garança es mucho mas gorda que la de FiorenzaCassotto solo compáralas! es mi apreciación personal NADIE DEBE OFENDERSE POR ELLO! y luego responde!

[ezayi]

@MrDarknesslover Alguna vez la escuchaste en vivo? ESTOY SEGURO QUE NO. Y te atreves a opinar como si lo hubieras hecho. Obviamente has estado escuchando discos porque, por la brutalidad que dices, NUNCA escuchaste a esta señora EN PERSONA. La voz de Galina, oscura, muy bonita y no niego que me guste, si las comparas en vivo, lo cual NUNCA PODRÁS HACER, suena como pajarito al lado del vozarrón dramático que tenía Fiorenza Cosotto. Punto!

[MrDarknesslover]

@ezayi por que en estos forum la personas son tan Bucefalas Y Balurdas! siempre tratando de ofender a los demás!.Opino que no existe ser más pobre e ignorante que aquel que cree que sus verdades son absolutas y se encarga de calumniar a quienes no pensamos igual. Pero lo más lamentable es cuando ese(a) gran poseedor(a) de lo absoluto siembra tan horrible semilla en mentes jóvenes. Eso, pienso, le convierte en un ser ignominios

[luwaig1]

stupenda



[a96577]

meravigliosa

[cmmenah]

Astounding and moving. Great voice at all ends.

[mcmulj00]

@cmmenah

TRULY!!!!

[draparks]

now THAT is a Verdi Mezzo!

[Babs22h]

her performance lacks a bite or passion...i usually look for in this aria...its sounds pretty but the drama of the moment doesnt come across to me... i really like shirley verrett's version or agnes balsta or tatiana troyanos...they really get into the aria

[immortellino]

BRAVOOO!!!

[raymondfredenucci]

Grande e bellissima voce ! je ne connais pas cette grande cantatrice , grazie internet et youtube ,

[bridrice]

...drama on and off stage. It just doesn't get any better!

[TommyHaegin]

Well it is not difficult to distinguish the great from the good singers, is it... what a beautiful rendition. I also like her courage to take it rather slower overall. And note how she does not need to take a final breath before the last note. Ask a mezzo how hard that is to do... Fiorenza, sei grande!!

[immortellino]

@TommyHaegin Yes, Cossotto is brilliant, one of the best mezzos in vocal history. Regarding to breath in the end...hm... it is not so difficult if you look better what Verdi wrote ... and how COssotto sings. THen it comes authomaticly.

[TommyHaegin]

@immortellino, not many mezzo's seem to agree with you as most do need to take a breather there... :-)

[iriisblue]

@TommyHaegin Not difficult at all. Cossotto did manage the final "lo salvero!" like few, although the totality of her assumption was what was so superb. I have her performing Eboli live from the Met in 1972. She rips this aria apart and brings the house down.

[bridrice]

In the '80s at a performance of Adriana Lecouvreur, Cossotto upstaged Scotto in the big duet in the second act. At one point, where the Princess has a very dramatic solo line, scotto throws down her fan right in front of Cossotto with a loud thump. At the curtain call, they wouldn't go on stage together, and there was a big physical fight backstage, which one could hear from the audience. More like "The Women", I think.

[bridrice]

Does anyone remember the very public spat Cossotto had with Scotto over a performance of Adriana l. at San Francisco opera. Dive fights! It's why we love opera.

[operamusicfan]

No, do tell :D

[Jeanne90275]

@bridrice No, but I remember the episode with Scotto and Pavarotti in San Francisco during 'Gioconda!' That one (unfortunately for Scotto) was caught

on tape by the TV crew who were there to interview Pavarotti. Oh...the drama

of it all:)

[bodiloto]

La Simionato,La Nicolai ecc...

[luigipavabartolotti]

qui la cossotto era in gran forma,acuti integri e non rovinati come nel trovatore,voce molto pura e cristallina,rimane una delle migliori interpreti con la simionato,bravissima

[mupawi]

Fiori, I am missing you!!!!!

[87ludovica]

BRAVAAAAA!!!!!!

[796824]

Splendid. EBE STIGNANI and Cossotto

[marcobenve]

la voce di mezzo soprano piu' bella del 900.un colore unico,ottima tecnica,acuti buoni,fraseggio splendido.

[Brunildilla]

5/5

Wonderful!!

[7inga7]

She sang every season at the Lyric Opera of Chicago until she retired. What a great voice and what a great lady!

[Nemorino11]

Perfezione del canto, fantastica , unica !!!!!

[Jeanne90275]

A fabulous performance! I"m assuming this was

on Italian TV. Anyone know when it was filmed?

[mariasarda]

Plus sombre que Simionato, mais sur la même ligne. Superbe !!!!

[Lavenderose47]

Brava! Quel' bella voce!

[neronnenn]

Sto ascoltando tutti i don fatale, per il momento fra Simionato e Cossotto non ho dubbi, molto meglio Giulietta...

[malamutet]

Bravissima, come semppre.

[cantanteporsiempre]

woo Cosotto sounds more like a light mezzo here, more like a soprano. this is interesting

[AmatureComposer]

mmm...

Cossotto was a kind of soprano in my opinion.

You see? Mezzos tend to be either high altos or low sopranos, and Cossotto was of the second type. That enabled her to be a successful Santuzza, Marchesa, Lady Macbeth, Adalgisa etc. She was still singing Santuzza in 1986 - 30 years after her professional career has begun and 20 years after her celebrated studio recording under Karajan.

[cantanteporsiempre]

yes, that´s why is better be a high mezzo, vivaaaaaaaaa!!! lol

[cenodus]

Pain and fury! So difficult to achieve in this aria - Cossotto is Amazing!!

[DivaDeb1234]

10 from me....

I liked the 1975 and this one too...

[olauu]

Cossotto The Great. Gorgeous.The best.

[operaoaf]

Wow!!! What secure notes, creamy timbre and abundant colors.

[1813verdi]

Phantastisch. Eine der ganz großen Sängerdarstellerinnen. Ich habe sie in allen großen Verdipartien erlebt. Cossotto for ever.

[Zerbinetta2000]

When she did her last Tour in Germany and Nederlan , from '95 untill 2002 , she used to get a Standing Ovation aat the end of each Song she did . Unbelieveble...she was over 70 years old but still in good shape and marvellous.One of the best Singer of this Century ! Brava Fiorenza !!!

[Zerbinetta2000]

Believe it or not from '95 'till 2002 she did a lot of Concerts all over Germany,with Orchestra.She sung at Musik Halle of Hamburg,at Frankfurter Alte Oper,at Munchener Philarmonie,at Konzertgebouw in Amsterdam and in Berlin-I was ther helping the Management and I can tell you she was "terrific" in the sense of one of the best Singer of the World . She used to sing Adriana"Acerba voluttà"-Samson et Dalila with a high B flat at the end-Duet form II° Act of Trovatore with Manrico.

[marioj34]

Cossoto needs the public to give the best of it even here it is studio and of playback. To have seen it and have heard several times on scene.... it one is crowned voice and what a character!

[looksee26]

what?

[sonqualnave]

heheh cossotto is a great singer! that's sure! , but she is really not talented for lip-synching! hahahha....she doesnt even try to make it real... funny :-)

[222mozart]

excellent, indeed !

not to slow.

[nqqa]

excelentttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SDCmorg]

Tempo is too slow indeed. Takes all the genuine hysteria out of it (sounds too deliberate for me at this slow a tempo). She copes well, tho.

[Granvela]

Me gustaría saber a qué tipo de persona le da por colgar estos videos. Gracias

[paddymusic]

it'S very slow!

[ariodante76]

Left me kind of cold. Cossotto killed as Azucena, but I can't abide with her Eboli. Maybe it's because she operates on one gear only. The very best essayers of this role know to channel the myriad emotions.

[operaoaf]

Cossotto is fabulous in the upper range of the voice. It is clear, powerful and steady. However, I do agree with the previous posters who feel that there is a lack of emotional force and drama. This is a disgraced and self-loathing princess lamenting fer fate and coming to a life changing decision. Perhaps she could deliver the pathos a little more expressively by making the suffering sound more visceral since this is Verdi after all.

[LittlePasserotto]

brava!! great voice...

[waterfordwinstons]

Nice Very Nice....... but i Love the way Verrett does it better sory

[latinworldexplorer]

bravissima

[Elisabetta611]

Those were the days!

[art724]

The only one of those mentioned that I saw in person was Bumbry. However, my favorite in the role is Verrett. Just a matter of personal taste.

[AmatureComposer]

When was it recorded?

Cossotto sings extremely well, and looks fine too, but somehow there is less energy (yet no less volume) than we are used to with her.

[Dymension]

The live version from around 1968 with Caballe and Domingo from Verona is not to be believed!

[xafnndapp]

The main problem is that the recording (only the audio, because RAI taped those programs in the 70s) is too early in her carreer related to what she will become.

Her best as Verdi mezzo is definitely around the early 70s, and live!

[owenboi66]

I disagree. She doesn't have to chew the scenery or pull the music out of shape to convey the character. She's just more subtle than a lot of mezzos. She trusts the music, and she has the vocal aparatus to deliver it. I think there's a lot of heart here, and a lot going on behind the eyes. "Still on the page"? All I can say is, I wish more singers would stick to what's on the page!

[InformedListener]

I don't hear the outright self-hate in the singing that so characterizes this aria. Too sedate. Still on the page.  Cossotto has a great voice. Plush, superb control, great diction, etc. Yet, I'm still waiting to hear the "bad girl" come to reckoning with her wicked ways. It's not that she can't do it. A coaching with Shirley would bring it out. HAHAHAHA

[benderpm]

A great singer!

[egrosz]

What a great dramatic opera! Viva Verdi! Viva Cossotto!I love Olga Borodina also!Nazdorove!

[royalbattle]

Italianate bite or not Verrett is simply better in every respect than Cossotto. I find Cossotto who I think is a wonderful singer to be at times very distant with character and Verdi's mezzos are very dramatic and here is where Verrett has no equal and let us not even talk about Verrett's top. Verrett is very much in the character and boy can she SING. Cossotto is second....well cause Simonata is great as well.

[dinacarina88]

Oh my god this is so incredible.

Tragic, and beautiful and so exciting!

[Orfeus80]

Thanks so much for posting this. I dislike the mezzo voice but Cossotto is one of the few who has captivated me since the first time I heard her. Her Eboli has no equals and it's such a joy to watch her sing it. She should have recorded it with Tebaldi and Bergonzi.

[courtneybaritone01]

Her Eboli has no equals????? Are you sure about that? Try her contemporaries Grace Bumbry and Shirley Verrett who were singing circles around Fiorenza around this time. Giulietta Simionato also had a great Don Fatale

[Orfeus80]

Yes I've tried them so I'm sure about my opinion. All extremely well sung and I'd run to see them singing the role today but compared to Cossotto, the first two lack the Italian bite so natural to Cossotto (and Simionato). I prefer Cossotto to Simionato on pure vocal terms, the former had a richer, more even, stronger voice.

[royalbattle]

Yeah I would agree with you ESPECIALLY VERRETT. GOD what a voice. Check out her version on it here on Youtube and also her live recording with Corelli and Januwitz. I don't know what is this natural italiante bite that people are talking about. Singing Italian is not the same as speaking Italian. Opera is about beautiful singing and conveying the drama. Verrett had is all.

[tjaphrodite]

I would have to agree Bumbry, brava

[senilangakali]

There are many great eboli's and singing is definitely not mad competition...so there is no singing circles around others...the voice is a fragile and organic instrument and singers choose repertoires according to how long they would like to preserve their voices which allows us to enjoy their art over a long time.

[tanynzh]

why you dislike the mezzo voice?