Regnava nel silenzio ... Quando Rapito / Joan Sutherland

[uwecEK2010]

The Queen of Bel Canto for a great reason...however, I still found her 2-measure early entrance during the cantabile almost as interesting as the announcer's pronunciation of the Italian titles : )

[dudddis]

so much solemnity, she was great...

[sbenard1]

Joan Sutherland, RIP! Thanks for the great music!

[domi2020]

Nothing wrong with making mistakes..loads of divas have done it in the past. Dame Kiri, Caballe but it doesn't detracts from what is still a sensational performance at 53 years old when she sang this. Singing live is difficult no matter how many times you have sung it. Scooping?? try Leontyne Price! or Renee Fleming!

[iriisblue]

@domi2020 Scooping? Try Gruberova. She's sung 1/2 of her career under pitch.

[domi2020]

@iriisblue True. I was never a fan of Gruberova. She had a peculiar nasal quality to her singing but still she had stunning agility.

[CallasAfrica]

I like the old joan more that the young joan. . The old joan might not be a vocal phenomenon as the young joan but she has much more emotion and she's very touching where as the young joan is vocaly dazzling but a bit boring. . .

[MrStpendouslvforjo]

@CallasAfrica I entirely agree

[thomastmwc]

how old was she?? Just want to listen to today's so called coloraturas sing this. Sutherland rocksssss

[MrStupendousluvforJo]

@thomastmwc She is the Glory of all the World

[iriisblue]

@thomastmwc Sutherland was 53 in this performance. Looking forward to Dessay and Netrebko singing Lucia at 53. Oh, wait. That'll never happen.

[ChrisStockslager]

@iriisblue I'm sure Dessay will try and miss every second note, since she's already performing the role and missing every fourth one.

[MrStupendousluvforJo]

I thank you Midas45 I love this....I wonder what she says to her husband? lol She is like a National monument...That high D is so good! I love this clip....

[edgarbiervliet]

Indeed how she managed that mistake. Very pro indeed. Remember reading in her Bio how this was a very difficult performance for her. As she was standing there with the lights on on the audience she could se all the faces of who is who in opera world. It felt like some sort of horrible audition. Indeed that must be incredibly difficult to concentrate under such conditions

[Houndentenor1998]

I love the way she handles the mistake. That's the sign of a real pro.

I'd love to know what year this was performed.

[iriisblue]

@Houndentenor1998 1979. It was part of the history-making three concert series televised from Lincoln center 1979 - 1981. Sort of a nice FU to the Met who didn't hear her again until 1982.

[minto4327]

I take on board some of the vicious barbed comments here, but you can find fault with any singer if you want to, I think the audience response says it all. If you don't like Sutherland then don't listen to her. Viva, Viva, La Stupenda

[timsuffolk]

Here, here!!

[omtara]

This can't compare to the Angel Taormina version, sorry to say. ;)

[taorminangel]

True, Dame Joan scoops quite a bit and aspirates some of her high notes. Furthermore, her interpretation lacks the cuckoo clock effect needed in the cabaletta, not to mention the chimpanzees in the cadenza. Lovely, though.

[omtara]

Haha!

[MAPIAKALLAS]

chimpanzees lol lovely she is great but she did some mistakes but brava lol chimpanzees

[LaMostraESopra]

Hahahah I've watched this a thousand times, but I always crack up at the narrator's pronunciation of "Regnava nel silenzio ... Quando rapito in estasi" at the beginning

[musoph21]

love the perfomance..but too much scooping and at times i felt like her counting was too slow in the beginning.

[liszt91]

La migliore Lucia in assoluto...la grandissima Joan Sutherland!!!!!!!

[sour7lemon]

Very lovely, why didnt they have Marilyn Horne sing the section for Alisa? Shes a mezzo, she was there! Would have made it that much special.

[operamusicfan]

Because it's too much to ask her to stand there the whole time and sing for 2 seconds.

[saverioorlando]

Intelligent singer! a bit criminal orchestra,but she wins.The voice seems tired,but the higher register is stupendous.

[highbaritone]

Thank you so much for these clips. These have never been released as the trio recital has. Maybe because of a couple of mistakes. WHO CARES!!!!! THANKS AGAIN

[decotodd]

thanks so much for posting -- I've not seen it since 1979!

[midas45]

you're welcome ... I'm gald to fainally be able to share these special moments.

[nikolaimedtner]

i love Joan, thanks for uploading this!

[drdre333]

She recovered EXCELLENTLY! What composure!

[Hako2004]

Thank you so much midas45 for this treasure. Your effort will bring many of Dame Joan's fans a great deal of happiness.....including me:)

[hisimperialmajesty]

That guy in the fourth row back refuesed to clap...jerk. Haha. Anyway, lovely performance, especially this late in her career.

[andreasscholl]

At 2.03m there goes someething wrong, she responds so funny!!!

Making darker chesty colour...ha ha!

[formby2]

This is what I was referring to in my earlier message. She forgot to wait for the couple of orchestral bars that introduce the next verse and instead came in straight away at 1:51 singing over the intro. You can hear a slight musical clash, hence my 'Owch!'. She then pauses a few bars while the orchestra plays as written and rejoins them at the right bit at 2.03. She's only human and mistakes DO happen. Another singer might have been completely thrown, panicked and lost it, but not our Joan!

[AmorediPazzia]

Oh my God.... I love this!!! Thank you!!

[midas45]

It really pleases me that you all are enjoying these excerpts .... I've been enjoying them privately for the past 29 years ... I'm delighted to be able to share them, at last.

[emma41093]

@midas45 Thank you x

[formby2]

Owch!! Still, a good recovery, and as usual an otherwise fabulous performance. I could listen to Joan singing this over and over. No one can sing this as thrillingly as Joan. (Anyone lip read - I'd love to know what she said to Rikki at the end)

[g420730a]

Again, thank you very much for recovering this video. This is a treasure to Joan's fans. In her Biography, we all know that this concert was video taped and such a video must exist and now it appears! Just wonderful!