Annick Massis - Ah non giunge - La Sonnambula - 2008

[bellini7verdi]

nada que ver con sutherland .....que fluia por el aria como si de una tormenta se tratara....atravesando los andes........jamas nadie podra cantar esto como sutherland...........porque hay que tener una voz......laringe.....y cuerdas vocales sutherlianas........y ese pronto de diva inenarrable.......de momento ......nadie puede hacer eso ni de cerca.......el belcanto........es tener el duende adecuado........y no todos ni todas tienen duende...........

[MrSwifts31]

A true dramatic coloratura soprano,something that we haven't (in my opinion) had since Sutherland!

[cmorgan22]

Doesn't sound like a particularly large voice...but who knows? Never heard her live.

[dutchtallguy]

Are there any good coloratura soprano's nowedays to fill the foodsteps of Sutherland, Sills, Gencer, Suliotis etc?

Of course! Listen to: Devia, Mosuc, Gruberova and Aliberti for once.

If these voices are of your tatse that is...

[dutchtallguy]

Hello guys, I thought these statements would address the performance of ms. Massis..... in stead of discussions about why one soprano is a favourite of one and not with others.... It is all about taste I believe regardless of age.... Well ms. Mattis, in my opinion, has a nice sound but it is not an interesting distinctive voice. Nevertheless she makes a statement by holding on to that final note.

[meltzerboy]

This performance by Massis is about as far removed from bel canto singing as can be (perhaps I'm slightly exaggerating, but not by much). It makes me long that much more for the era when Joan Sutherland tossed off the fiorature with ease, brilliance, and style, rather than screaming her way through it. Even lesser gifted leggieros of that period, such as Roberta Peters and Gianna d'Angelo, did a better job performing this music. For me, the state of coloratura singing today is mediocre at best.

[eradesso]

She does sound fatigued here but I've heard her many times before and always loved her.

I have to say though that I am amused by you, I remember you are a very avid Pons fan and honestly, she was the most hollow and shallow coloratura in the history of opera. And honestly, other than staccati and high notes what could she do?

Btw since you're such a fan of Bel Canto, aren't you aware that enunciating the text is a part of Bel Canto school? Sutherland didn't toss that off too well did she?

[meltzerboy]

I admit to not having heard Massis in the opera house, and sometimes a singer can sound different in live performance than on recording or even video. But it's not the tone I object to so much as a seemingly insufficient technique for such elaborate music, at least compared to Sutherland, Peters, Tetrazzini, Galli-Curci, and so on. This I feel is representative of many (not all) contemporary coloraturas. As to Pons, yes I admire her tone and style much of the time despite her technical deficits.

[eradesso]

Ok so we'll close Met, Scala and all the other theatres because there will never be another Sutherland, Callas and Galli Curci etc?

Let's take Dessay, she put Sutherland to rest with her Lakmé. She owns Olympia and Ophelie too. But if all people thought like you we would have never heard Dessay just because there was Sutherland a number of years before her? NO WAY!!!!!!!

[meltzerboy]

@eradesso I like Dessay's singing, especially her Ophelie and her Lakme. In more recent years--undoubtedly due to the sequelae of her throat problems and perhaps the surgery--she has lost some of her agility and high notes. But she continues to make the best of her declining vocal state.

[meltzerboy]

Also, Pons was the first opera singer I ever heard (on recording and television), so I have a sentimental attachment. You're also right about Sutherland's bad enunciation of the text and the fact that is an aspect of bel canto: it's something critics of Sutherland's singing never fail to point out. At the same time, however, there is such an abundance of technical command, lush, rich tone, and musicianship in her singing that one can still enjoy it. And this is one artist I HAVE heard live.

[eradesso]

And though I fully agree that the Bel Canto scene is lacking talents nowadays (in fact I have switched to Baroque) I find it sad is that there are too many old guys out there who are too busy dusting off LPs too discover great talents ending up making silly generalizations such as the one you did.

Underlining again, that you are a great Pons fan, who was less than mediocre at best.

[meltzerboy]

I might also say there are too many young guys out there who have little experience hearing many of the great singers of yesteryear, either on recording or in the theater, and therefore lack historical perspective. (But I won't say that, because I wouldn't want to insult a friend and it's simply not a polite comment.) I don't mind your disagreeing with me in the least, but let's try to keep our disagreement on this issue well-mannered and civil. My generalizations are based on informed opinion.

[eradesso]

I'm not sure what is going on with my Youtube, I get the comments via email but don't see them on here.

Anyway, if I didn't know older singers, how would I know/comment their shortcomings? :)

It's not my fault that I was born in 1980 and couldn't attend certain performances, but it is your fault to be alive now and miss certain talents just because you're afraid they might notch your memories of the past ;)

[meltzerboy]

@eradesso It's certainly not your fault being born in 1980; I wouldn't mind being 30 again! I hope I'm not missing talented singers, and have no fears they might "notch (my) memories of the past." Unfortunately, I haven't heard many. If another great singer does come along, you can be sure I'll be the first in line to attend their performances and buy their recordings.

[eradesso]

30? Who's 30??? I'm 21!! :)

[alithecrab]

@eradesso I'm 23, and I agree wholeheartedly and unreservedly with meltzerboy, so your vision of old guys and LPs is faulty. Personally, I think he's being a little kind on Massis and Dessay. I think you, eradesso, wildly misinterpret the spirit of meltzerboy's comments in saying that the Met etc. would be closed and artists like Dessay would never be heard if everyone were of the same opinion as he. Opera is and should be alive, but these bel canto operas have been sung better by other voices..

[alithecrab]

@eradesso ..The idea that those of us who appreciate better the performances of Sutherland etc. have our eyes closed to new talent is also faulty. I'm currently picking my jaw up off the ground after viewing on YT Rachele Gilmore's Olympia at the Met (have you heard it yet, eradesso?) If you think Dessay owns that role, you may have to think again. And your endless tirade against Pons is tiresome: she's no marvel, but her coloratura technique was more secure than that of her recent compatriots..

[alithecrab]

@eradesso Finally, yes, enunciation is part of bel canto, emphasised by some of the manuals of the Italian masters. In her early years, Sutherland's diction was exemplary. Certainly, I was not there to see her, but the recordings I've heard of her performances from 1948 to 1962 prove it (tell me, have you heard anything she recorded before 1959?)

However, bel canto is also about attacco, fioritura, legato, trilli etc. Sutherland and her generation had them, this current one largely does not..

[alithecrab]

@eradesso Now, I'm going a little far, and further than I normally would, particularly in baiting you and goading you on, principally because I like meltzerboy and you, eradesso, pissed me off with the tone of your replies to him. Don't take it personally. But, in future (and take the advice from someone who is within your own age group), do try and be nicer, particularly to your elders.

[LuciediLammermoor]

It definitely sounds like her. :-)

[tenore23]

Are we sure this is Massis? it doesn't sound like her and the soprano singing here seems to be of slightly bigger build.

[coloraturafan]

hahahha.. yeah, we are sure this is Massis, check out the other clip, you can see clearly it is

[semiramide1945]

I didn't realize she sings these bel canto operas. Though of course i've seen the postings from les Hugenots and Robert le diable. I still prefer Devia as Amina, but Annick really tackles this music brilliantly- thanks so much for posting this.

[sour7lemon]

Could we have act 1 finale too please?