D'Amour...Miserere - Trovatore Contest - Joan Sutherland

[fll7181]

Joan never disappoints with singing anything, even towards the end of her career when you put into perspective how long she'd been using her voice. the acting on the other hand . . . at first, i did not care for it at all. but now, i find it enjoyable and comical because she has the same head-tilted back, wide-eyed surprised look whenever she's supposed to be expressive :) love my Joan!

[JOHNE65]

I saw this production as for the comments of lack of richness in the low notes obviously these people never heard sutherland live or are just use to the more dramatic sopranos hammering the low notes for dramatic effect this was and is beautifully sung leonora

[lydiaguarro]

Horrible. Escuchar a Calla o Caballé.

[Hako2004]

@lydiaguarro

Thanks, but we have already heard them. If you think this is horrible....please have your hearing checked .

[leprincebeaumont]

sublime! grandiosa! senza parole!!!

[EnglishOperaSingers]

How on earth could you miss out Plowright in this !!

[NEBESHIKU]

Painful to watch her try to go to the low notes and can't reach them, over stretching the thrills, 1/5

[tebaldicallas]

Wrong voice for this aria - her voice is too heavy and not clear enough and her

diction not great, still a great singer.

[Ariadne7710]

The biggest problem is that her low register is too weak and lacks depth and richness of tone. and in this piece there are a lot of low passages to ignore.On the other hand, the main issue with a lot of Sutherland singing is that she doesn't feel the role and because of this she sounds detached. She also has a tendency to over stretch the trills so that the rhythmic balance of the phrase is lost.

[StuartLou]

Though i hear Milanov, Price and Gencer in this aria- I love the way Sutherland sings it. Whatever she brings to it, it "get's to me".

[MIRAROUS]

Quien cantara Ahora La Tremenda Pena de Leonora? Gracias Dame Joan Tantos Grandes Momentos Libros. Buenas noches Que descanses.

[robertdonkers]

Wonderful singing. no tension anywhere

[robertdonkers]

Wonderful singing.



[Ahdren]

Joan had her niche in the coloratura roles. Unfortunately Joan's voice lacks a lot of love if she isn't in the middle of singing twiddles! Rita Hunter shared these performances with Joan in Sydney....Her Leonora was exquisite. There is a recording of it here on Youtube. Please listen and judge for yourself. In todays world Sondra Radvanovsky is Queen in this role

[vocalissimo1]

@Ahdren I attended one of Rita Hunter's dreadful Sydney performances as Leonora. She seemed to have no idea what bel canto singing was about, and encountered persistent difficulties with breathing and phrasing. Her sound was all wrong for the role.

[pursuahe]

The voice, a little light for the roll, but to this aria it's sings it wonderfully

[Ricocarrino1]

vergoti20`s brain and ears are full of shit.

[tonyhan0903]

4/2

[sole88markovic]

4/4

[velazquez2009]

terrible diction, weak topnotes and a terrible sense of phrasing. No no no to Sutherland.

[ponsoonty]

sincerity and heart in the vocal line

[tebza84]

my diva

love you la Stupenda

[metropolitan1966]

Brava!! A singing lesson in not only voice, but most, importantly STYLE!!! Leontyne, Birgit, and Joan are three of the best that I have ever heard. They knew HOW to SING, not just vocalize and scream. 5/5

[scarpia1965]

This ist t h e aria of Kabaivanska. Anyway - Sutherland is not bad.

[robertdonkers]

Ah no, not Kabaivanska surely. I love her and she does a good job but surely she is not the ultimate? Sutherland is quite amazing in this I think

[htshoward]

I am not a Sutherland fan, although I think her voice is a GREAT one. Her coloratura is par none, but I don't find Leonora good fit for her voice. Violetta, yes, but not Leonora. Still, very fine singing.

[benderpm]

Leontyne Price owns this aria in young age and in advance age...........!

[phylislg]

She's rather out of sorts here, which is quite a surprise. The legato is flawed, and the phrasing bumpy.

[spizzell1]

Her trills are second to none. She is fantastic. 5/5

[DB271986]

Boring, ugly ass. Perfect techniques don't accomplish art.

[tebza84]

how rude a thing to say about my La Stupenda

she's the best that ever was and for the record leanora is her aria hands down

[Simdaperce]

Very impressive considering her age. But she doesn't have the voice for the Miserere.

4/2.5

[Babs22h]

fabulous D..love the way she just touched it and slid back done... its not like she needs to rove she can dO it.. the TRILL was gorgeous... i didnt so much for the "cor" at the closing of D'AMOUR it sounded as if she were barely hanging on to it!.. but fabulous!

[lipera]

That's absolutely beautiful and well done...she is awesome!

[tebza84]

agreed

[Hako2004]

You think her technique is "excellent"....but give her singing a 3. Wow, I would hate to think what you would have given her if she hadn't sung well........0/0. I'll tell you what I don't like... people that judge these performances as though singing of this caliber were common-place. Trust me, it is not. Even with her limitations as an actress she deserved more than a "0". She could have simply stood in place and got that. I enjoyed the performance, and dismiss your score.

[eleanorgloria]

I just don't like Leonora for her. Though her technique is excellent (aside from her diction) she doesn't have the passion/emotion to give purpose and meaning to her powerhouse trills. Without the words, and the emotion it feels like an excercise in proper technique, instead of a heart wrenching performance which it ought to be. 3/0

[kotekalim]

WOW I waited so long to listen to this!!! Is the best soprano aria from Verdi... Sutherland is great! I love her vibrato and fits great this aria

[callasadmirer]

Sutherland is a worderful singer and performer. Especially considering her age at this performace, she is really very good. I would give her 4/4.

[Hako2004]

This was considered Verdi's Bel Canto opera by many, and is

therefore a good vehicle for Dame Joan. Her voice is not ideal for it, but she sings it very well nonetheless. 4.5/4.5

[meltzerboy]

Several critics said at the time Leonora was not Sutherland's role, but I disagree. Having heard her and Pavarotti perform Trovatore at the Met around 1985, I thought the production was quite awful but the singing magnificent. On the occasion I heard her, the audience went wild after the Miserere. She doesn't sound quite as good here at times, but still great. 4.5/5

[mrrk]

This was just not her role. She sings it better here than on her full recording of the opera, but that's not saying much. 2/1

[finners62]

the exposed high D or Dflat i think is written as an alternative in the score.

[coloraturafan]

I could be wrong, but I thought the orignal score had the high D?

[Hako2004]

No, I don't believe there is a D written in the score.

[irregularverb37]

@coloraturafan

It's a d-flat. A d would be a tritone above the tonic, which at this point in time wouldn't be a bad or forbidden thing, it just wouldn't make much sense since a raised 4'th scale degree would suggest a resolution all the way up to an e-flat.

[zuri2002]

@coloraturafan both of the scores i've seen have the D-flat. what most sopranos do is actually the ossia. i haven't listened to all of your selections yet, but could you tell me who among them aside from sutherland does the D-flat? callas did it in 1951 and anna moffo did it in her recording as well, so i was wondering who else did it as written. thanks! Ü

[sediziosevoci]

3/1

[olgamarga]

Like her,so much D´amour,4/4.5.

[FoggyRoad81]

I'm not surprised she was good in this as it's really in her wheelhouse. I would be itnersted to hear her take on the opening recetitave as I suspect it would've been suspect. But she sang Caro Nome well throughout her career, this is in the same vein.

[rawdonqueen]

I am amazed at how much she still has to bring to this role, and she looks wonderful too. 5/5

[ioSonoCallas]

Great Dame Joan. 4/4.5

[Laleyla]

Interesting. Here you find everything that Callas unjustly has been accused of. Wooble, shrill notes, "potato in the mouth", an ugly voice and so on. She doesn't even look good or act good. 1/1.

[Hako2004]

Even if Dame Sutherland was 90 and singing with a with a mouthful of nails she could touch Callas for ugly tones. You should have your hearing checked.....perhaps at a proctologist.

[timsuffolk]

THE most beautiful voice. 5/5

[hkqinlu]

I do not like her in this aria. Her voice is just not sutibal for this role~~~~A bad interprition regetly~~~

[cantorandopera]

Nothing exists in a vacuum and we know Sutherland was not in her vocal prime. this is somewhat out of her best repertoire, too. however imagine if you were there live,you couldn't be disappointed.Beauty of tone, musicality, trills to die for, and overall good characterization. Whatever shortcomings there are are very minute. 4.5/5

[drdre333]

I'm shocked/pleased that this is as good as it is, since I find Joan's singing in the 80's to be "saggy" unless in a rousing cabaletta. As always though, her high notes are so incredibly beautiful, middle voice full of color, trills and ornamenti perfectly executed. I also find her portrayal here to have quite a "realness" to it, though simple. By the way, that "exposed high D" is not written, I am pretty sure.

I love La Stupenda, so I feel a bit guilty about the honesty of my rating: 4/4.5

[fleville]

5/5

[patjan92]

4.5/4

[andreasscholl]

Joan never was real Verdian soprano, but a verry wonderfull singer that could almost sing everything!

(Pitty she did'nt sing more Strauss...)

Altough this is a verry pretty and true Leonora.

I give her 5/5.

Hail la Stupenda!!!!!

[saverioorlando]

Su pu0 dare un preemio alla carriera,ma qui fa pena!

[osvaldito55]

Sopranos half her age couldn't produce these sounds. It's nice to hear the aria as written, with perfect trills, and that exposed D almost always avoided by others. Beautifully done. 5/5

[dollartwenty]

At 57 there is no denying "our Joan" was not in as fine voice as earlier in her career. Nonetheless the voice waas still beautifully warm, her trills phenomenal and her high notes still had the power of enchantment. I saw every performance of this production in Sydney. The designs were silly but the singing was magical. Sempre La Stupenda!

[vergoti20]

Sutherland is the only dramatic soprano with coloratura and she was the only singer who remove the dust of Leonora/Trovatore score, singing it as it is written.The BEST Trovatore/Leonora

[velazquez2009]

you shouls be talking of Callas in this way! the 1953 scala performance finds Callas as a real dramatic coloratura. What is Sutherland doing her?

[vergoti20]

if I were talking of lousy '53 Scala trovatore I would be talking of a ruined soprano leggero (Callas)

[velazquez2009]

haha ha.

[MariadelMonaco]

@vergoti20

You are just a narrow-minded person with no taste at all! Clogged ears I guess, poor fool!

[Ricocarrino1]

You can not take seriously the nonsense of writing amoeba.