Elisabeth Schwarzkopf sings The Merry Widow (vaimusic.com)

[Famfriass]

this woman has a very beautiful voice.

[VariationsOnNoTheme]

Yes! I agree! The moment Elisabeth Schwarzkopf sings, she disappears, and nothing but her role as the interpretor or the composer remains. What I mean is that she places her magnificent artistry in a subservient manner to the credit of the composer.

[4kirsten]

Very interesting to have the image. I am surprised how much she works with her lips and mouth. Of course, glorious voice. Her recording of Richard Strauss' 4 last songs is sublime.

[LJUVINGO]

I love her!

[thefreedomlass]

Great voice!!!

[rzurel1]

One of my all-time favorites - since I could hear!!!

[Phantor48]

She gets the grace note on the final high note -- something not many singers are able to do!!!

[tiquelover]

Absolutely wonderful! First saw her in 1964 at the Met (the old one) in the Merry Widow and have been a fan eversince.

[zombiegirl000]

amazing singer lovely ..i want to hug her lol

[bcmertler]

nefis



[wishiwas1901]

Lizzy Schwarzkopf is a great singer! But Lily Elsie could have knocked her for six and had every man swooning in their seats...all hopelessly in love...and they would have actually gone home understanding what she was singing!! Never-the-less, a great performance by Lizzie!

[Rattywotin]

I'm sure the wig department from Rosenkavalier will be knocking on her door!! but she's ok nevertheless

[tazoetrekey]

18 don't love opera... It's stupid !!!

[alradart]

Although she is not singing it in the right key (should be G major, not F major) nevertheless a great performance.

[goldenthroat86]

A small, yet ugly voice.

[MusicVocalism]

@goldenthroat86 Considering she is a legend your opinion really doesn't matter ;D

[gallantentry]

perfect!

[shakespeareish]

me encanta esta soprano

[shakespeareish]

me encanta esta soprano

[icylakepaxphile]

really lack of breath. wonderful singer though. if she was not 'madame EMI' she could make that wonderful success?

[Lee1230]

I finally found you!!! The most gorgeous melody, beautifully presented by Ms. Schwarzkopf, thank you Franz Lehar.

[musicloveBH]

the note at the end blew me away!

[beckyw100]

She was marvelous!

[ezayi]

Transposed???... oh come on. What a mediocrity!

[Napoleontas]

So beautiful and elegant , even at that age

[isonne2]

Sung in the original language by the beautiful Elisabeth is the only way to appreciate the feeling and sound of this aria. My favourite arrangement. Sends tingles down my spine.

[mikeyr224]

Just beautiful!!!!!

[lamiacuffietta]

i love her singing.... I never could fall inlove with her as I have heard many things of her politically that I do not agree with. lovely singing

[rogharm]

i really enjoyed her performance. i like the performances from the past. somehow the arrangements sometimes are better than current musical arrangements. but not always true. love voice of firestone clips. great show. ROGHARM

[SHICOFF1]

FANTASTIC INTELLIGENT SINGER, JUST BEAUTIFUL LYRIC VOICE, SANG WITH GREAT BEAUTY IN EVERY WAY.

[The99Gambo]

She was wonderful, particularly in the non-Italian roles. And exceptionally beautiful as a young woman.

[paulostroff99]

A pleasant operetta performer. TY for posting.

[necessarydiva]

not a fan, sorry

[LuluNantaise]

Definitely in love with her ;-)

[ingriddoppler]

Wonderful rendition of this aria~ Ms Schwarzkopf was a great and elegant performer, wonderful in Mozart and Strauss as well as in operettas.

Thank you @Kievest for sharing.

[Tenorbravo]

After I had the opportunity to listen Ms. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf singing the Vilja Song from The Merry ........the only sentence that came out of my mouth was:...I am SPECCHLESS. What a FANTASTIC interpreation...She is MAGNIFIQUE, ORIGINAL AND UNIQUE...Thank you so much for sharing this video clip.

[55werther]

Que artista esquisita, que Maestra del fraseo. Realmente uno viendola, com-

prende, el porque de sugran fama.

[MiCompre]

No one to touch her, in her day and you will need to go a long way to find a better voice today. There are some who come close, but ES was the 'Boss'.

As for her name.. Well I guess it's ubiquitous enough in Germany. The direct translation into English isn't very complimentary but that's pure accident!

MC

[TheSmokeymtnman]

Her son is our famous Amercian General- She sings beutifully.

[Deliverfromevil]

@TheSmokeymtnman Fascinating notion but not correct according to wikipedia, used to buy her records years ago, now can see her too!

[Bazzito52]

@TheSmokeymtnman

Sorry, but that's wrong. Norman Schwartzkpof's mother was named Ruth, and lived in Trenton, N.J. His father, also a U.S. Army general, was the lead investigator for the Lindbergh kidnapping when he headed the state police of New Jersey.

[kgarmaker123]

WOW.. impressive, especially that last B.. with the crescendo and decrescendo... VERY impressive.

[emeboteerf]

@kgarmaker123 Except that this is a whole step down from the original key, so it would be an A.

[grebel82]

@kgarmaker123 amazing....

[MrSkylark1]

She is an example for all singers to keep the tone focused exactly as that of the violin.

Her last concert of Hugo Wolf Songs at Carnegie Hall drew Leontyne Price in that small audience. The Silver Rose was presented at the conclusion. What a gracious lady

to just an admirer of her artistry.

[qklq42]

A had no special attention for this soprano, until....I haerd her performance of La Damnation de Faust from august 26, 1950 in Luzern, Switserland, under Wilhelm Furtwängler. Yes, in German, but it was a very great surprise. Her great aria *D'amour fardente flamme" (in German "Mein Herz kennt keine Ruh) raised that evening up as a diamond , in that concerthall. She is defenitely a great performer. Moreover, she has a beautiful and clear voice.

[TheUgreenagreen]

i love the 'gasp; kranker...that's is a good thing that makes her unique!

[waynebrasler]

She certainly  was gorgeous and had the most interesting eyes and mouth in opera! She's like a whole movie by herself!

[corellipavarotti]

My god, the control that woman had!!!

[Richiesutherland]

It's interesting, there are ways of getting around being short of breath which she ignores. My choice would have been to sing, "Bang fleht (breath) ein Liebkraker Mann", which could be used to dramaatic purposes. If a singer in English actually sang "love" breath "sick" man, people would laugh. She may be unforgivable here, but she is also unforgettable. Nobody today dares to make so much of "trautliebster sein". Once you hear her, you'll often find other sopranos bland.

[Lindow]

It's so funny to see her sing after one has seen all the clips of her later master classes. Many of the things she does here she would have never let those students do! Talk about vowels and mannerisms, let alone breathing in the middle of a word! 'Lieb*gasp*kranker'! She would have scratched a student's eyes out for that! Unbelievable. And I simply cannot believe that her voice was audible in the theatre.

[Uruguruh]

My teacher at the Conservatory always said:

"If I hear Schwarzkopf, I hear a cat miaoing...!!!"

[jamesjmertins]

Really horrible just like the woman herself. So bloody false. The worst singer I ever saw on stage and I've seen seen a few duds but she was so cold and the voice on stage was never very good or in tune. Her Met Elvira was a disaster from start to finish. I realize that a lot of people get pleasure from her but well I cannot ,so there it is.

[dermotafan]

one of the best  operetta singers in her time. AS for the rest, I have my doubts. A small voice made into something... pleasant and artificial.

[wolf175]

She is a good example for the non-existence of a just and loving God:

She had EVERYTHING: A divine voice, musicality, looks etc. etc.

while others are born as ugly cripples, maybe blind since childhood, so disadvantaged, that idiocy is a blessing ...

[irishmark01]

@wolf175 Way to suck the good out of anything... Talk about pearls before swine.

[wolf175]

If I am not mistaken, you completely misunderstood me. But, what does it matter ... ;-)

[surena1374]

Bravo Elisabeth! Such a velvety voice! She has elegance, class, poise, grace, and unparalleled voice. Thanks for posting.

[rogharm]

@surena1374 you wrote the perfect comment i can improve on your comment!!!!!! agree 1000%. ROGHARM love The Voice Firestone. It was show. USA tv commercial has junk.

[surena1374]

@rogharm: thanks for your kind words.

[Akinon33]

From the very first time I heard this lady sing, I knew that she was different. She had the sweetest, most melodic voice I had ever heard and, in her passing, still has. A great and wonderful lady. In the 1980's, I had the honour, pleasure and priviledge, to see her 'live' at the Queen Elisabeth Hall, Southbank, London. In my opinon, she and Richard Tauber were the best operetic singers of all time and, unlike other sopranos he has sung with, he could never get over the 'top' of her.

[99Gambo]

Well written and no doubt, heart felt. There are of course singers who are better at some works than others but I am surprised that Elizabeth, great though she was, is rated above (say) Victoria de los angeles. Tauber is a safer bet, but again the claim 'best of all time' is quite ambitious as it places him head to head with Caruso and Bjorling, competition that many would say is too strong even for him.

[NewsTemp]

Just watched Amadeus for the 2nd time. Would swap all the wandering attempts (4 hrs in one case?) at grandeur for one great melody like Vilja (Mozart did create other types of music however they were not in the movie: the best piece was arguably the first Mozart musical scene where he arrives late, starts slow and then rapidly amplifies).

[jacobsimon]

I liked her operetta singing more than her opera performances. This is one great example. Also In Chambre Separee, sublime

[bedorelake]

I love the end where we see the great Willi Boskovsky watching her. They both knew Viennese music like few others!

[jonvadillodomingo]

¡What a great artist! What a great singer! She was a very beautiful woman and a very beautiful voice! She was and she will be one of the greatest singers of al time! I love her!!!!

[99Gambo]

Her 1950s renditions of Strauss's (not the 1960s ones) 'Four Last Songs' are superb.

[halavey]

Yes he said she was very beautiful also and he went backstage but he died a few years ago so I cannot ask about the other opera.

[SuzelleDeGrace]

Je ne connais pas beaucoup de chanteuses allemandes qui me plaisent comme elle.

[halavey]

Bjorling did cancel stuff near the end and I mean recordings we would have had him in Faust instead of Gedda and in Romeo and in a Carmen recording and then the Solti Ballo affair which is said cause that was caused by a guy named Culshaw who fired Solti up against Jussi. Jussi had sung it with Solti in Chicago prior to that anyhow but Solti insisted on rehearsal and jussi had a bad heart and Rome summer heat was in the 90's and no AC goofy Culshaw said jussi was drunk and could not come in.

[halavey]

Oh yes i agree with you 100% Daves about her and by the way I am Jewish. I was lucky enough to hear her live in house and have some great radio interviews done in Chicago. She will always be a great star.

[DavesXXXXXXXX]

One has to understand the composer and the context of composers' works to fully appreciate and understand ES. Since studying Elisabeth's, Fischer-Dieskau's, and Walter Legge's careers, I feel like an entire new musical world has opened up for me. When I listen to Callas or Sutherland, I hear Callas or Sutherland sing. When I listen to Elisabeth, I hear the composer, the music, and beautiful, prescise singing. In my view, Elisabeth is THE BEST!

[citrussorbet]

she was suppose to make a album with Bjorling before his untimely death.That would have been something

[halavey]

The greatest German lyric sop. in her time and anytime for great singing, not just a great voice, nobody in Mozart and Strauss was better then ES. The crap about her politics was over used against her. Anyone who sang in Germany at that time needed a party card and she started very young in her early 20's. I heard her and was very impressed by all she had, voice, looks and great artistry. She was more about music then politics.

[DavesXXXXXXXX]

Well stated! I think most of the population in Germany by the early 1940s was a "card carrying" member of the nazi party. The nazi leaders were more interested in women like Pola, Zarah, et. al. than ES. If ES had as much influence with the nazi leaders as some writers claim, she wouldn't have been delegated to the small insignificant film and opera roles that she undertook in the late 1930s-early 40s -- she would have been much more predominant in the German cultural scene.

[halavey]

She was one of the greatest lyric sopranos voices of her time and she could act and did movies in opera and was a big success in Germany before she met her husband Walter who did help her but he choose her after hearing her amazing talent. Her voice was used to perfection I heard her on stage here in opera. Mac Donald was a movie singer she sang in Chicago I know in opera in one run and was hardly heard in the back of the house she was best in film, very beautiful for operetta in film.

[PecsMstr]

OMG - I know someone who saw Mac Donald do Faust in Chicago. She also did one more as well - which I do nbot remember. They said the same thing - you could hardly hear her and she had a mic. But the sound, they said, was beautiful - and so was she.

[Dilhan777]

This is beautiful. Thank you for posting.

[TedMichaelMorgan]

No, one of the most elegant of all singers. Great artist. She might have been a Nazi but she was a great singer.

[7NTM61Ic]

A top-of-the-line singer singing a top-of-the-line aria. And a beautiful woman into the bargain!

[tadviel]

I love MacDonald but she is not in the same class as a singer as Elizabeth -- but then again the latter may not have been able to act so to put someone in a film they have to have the whole package. But on pure sound (one take) Elizabeth was the greatest -- however I love them both

[melissamann1000]

Much as I adore Jeanette, I have to disagree with Cbdesade. Elizabeth Schwarzkoph was one of the greatest opera singers of her era. Listen to her voice, the control is impeccable!!!

[cbdesade]

Ernst Lubitsch directed a film version of The Merry Widow in 1934. It starred Jeanette MacDonald, whose beauty and sparkle make Lizzy Schwartkopf seem ridiculous. As that film is available on dvd, this little video is superfluous...

[vergoti20]

Yes Elizabeth Schwarzkopf is sooooo artiticiaI and clumsy can't stand her ! Hers was a career thanks to her marriage with one of the most powerful records company director

[Uruguruh]

Vilja, O Vilja, miao, miao, miao!!!

[Rattywotin]

I did giggle when i read your comment, but it's a bit unfair, listen to her marschelin, you'll find she's much more than a merry nazi.

[waynebrasler]

She has everything. What a storyteller, too!

[kenyohfeng]

i love the tempo of this version

[mikelee1010]

perfect voice. I'd like view the whole opera of "MERRY WIDOW"

[waltermontani]

danke sehr,meine  Dame

[Marleneagnes]

Wunderbar!!!!!!

[bernardsampson]

Alle und sogar mehr.Beautiful.Bernd

[Lillars]

Madame ! On ne vous oubliera jamais.

[solveig242]

Inolvidable, única, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf !!

[mc0558]

Bravissima!

So beautiful! Such a voice!! Such technique!!! Insurpassable!!!!

[deontyk]

i have just seen this opera today live and i was really touched.

[merefoix]

apart from la divina, only schwarzkopf come close. and no one gives more amusing master classes!

[JuillHope17]

her face is PERFECT for opera when she sings. seriously... or maybe, perfect for the golden age... i don't see many singers now like that.... but even singers as recent as scotto made facial expressions like this when they sang.

[ifasmile]

Thanks for sharing !

[Leoboy729]

Beautiful. I am surprised that she had Boskovsky take the aria down a whole step (from G major to F major), but I would imagine that was so she could take the high note at the end (A natural) without having to go up to the high B natural at pianissimo. She could have stayed on the G, but I guess she needed the tessitura down a bit for the character and mannerisms she was trying to put into her singing of the piece.

[sebreathnach]

How very perceptive of you!. The kind of welcome comment that matters. Thank you!

[fransergiceli]

Gracias por el video, magnífica voz y preciosa canción.

[sebreathnach]

Take the begrudger away: she had it in spades... Grace fell from her dew off a mountain. She is only fanttastic and alwasy fantastic. Five stars -- and don't spare the horses!

[lagnaha]

dariabene - Why do you think he hired her? Because she was potentially the best!

[darlabene]

Storico bluff, sposata con capo della EMI

[CzarDodon]

Un commento del genere, senza spiegazione, lascia il tempo che trova!

[lagnaha]

yesys Did you ever see her live in concert? The trouble was she used the same facial expressions for TV that she used on stage. On stage they came over as natural. She was utterly superb. Those of us lucky enough to see her can attest to that.

[yesys]

Ouch. She would never have let one of her put-upon students take a breath between two syllables of the same word. She does this here with 'lieb[breath]kranker'. And all that distortion of the tone in the bottom part of her voice. Mannered as ever, I'm afraid, though her fundamental tone colour was attractive and she was a good-looking woman - when not pulling faces.

[CzarDodon]

yesys you have discovered hot water! Schwarzkopf WAS mannered and in some music she can be irritating (in Schubert songs where simplicity is the key she can be impossible) In operetta this mannerism often has wornderful comic effect. Though I never heard her live I think lagnaha is right on stage those faces had another effect. Watch Callas sing 'una voce poco fa' when you're in the mood for seeing a diva pulling faces ... personally I find it irresistable.

[enderezo]

So you find Callas faces while singing filmed Una voce poce fa, irresistible ? I notice you enjoy the circus very much

[CzarDodon]

Maybe you should question your sense of humour.

[pearlmuth3]

this is on a bio of her on a video VHS tape I bought about 7 years ago and it has tons of her singing and being interviewed alone and with walter her husband.

[jonnythewhitefoot]

Wonderful. What a beautiful woman and beautiful voice. I wish she could have been in love with me. What does time matter?

[phirze]

quelle magnifique voix dans une âme d'horrible bonne femme...comme quoi...les deux ne sont pas toujours incompatibles !

[kazimierzmichalkiwic]

Sche has got beautiful deep voice, annd wonderful diction what is very important to sing to german music. 10#5#20#22#20

[lodger41]

I agree, in these days of instant celebrity and endless Amateur Nights, it's amazing to hear such absolute perfection...she came from a different world, sadly we shall not see her like again.......

[ottokees]

So unforgettable Elisabeth Schwarzkopf !!!...Thank you very much for sharing. Cheers!!!, ~Sergio.

[sebreathnach]

Nothing like the real thing!

[gransasso101]

The Grand Dame of Opera. What great artist, so poised, so beautiful, so elegant, so beautiful, so musical with her golden lovely voice. She will be missed.

[swanningaround]

Absolutely, gransasso.

[hipocampelofantocame]

Growing up she was the gold standard benchmark singer

for me. Those were older times, and we had less music, but

appreciated it more. Good coffee and delicious cake mit

viel Slag in einer Konditorei hat das Wochenende gemacht.

It's so different now; nothing seems to make a notable

difference. Life was more real then, and we worshiped

the good musicians, and appreciated what was there.

[alerga]

She sings like an angel.Beautifull voice.

[keepthemusicplaying0]

Heavenly :-)

[Pacabelle]

I love it when she started to hum the song. It's an awful pity that this song is NOT on her Operetta Arias album!!

[Gordrees]

It's on her album "The Best of" She sings this beautiful aria better than anyone would you agree?

[Pacabelle]

Yes, wholeheartedly. There is only one Schwarzkopf! Her voice just grows on me every time I hear it!

[pianopera]

Were you in one of her masterclasses?

[rometube]

Woww! During the last 36 hours her voice's spinning around my brain like a hunting refrain. It's marvellous. Thanks for this video.

[cattleman6420012000]

Fabulous!  She had such a superb voice and wonderful musicianship.

[Pravilad]

Absolutely ravishing to listen to and to look at as it was to see her on the operatic stage and concert platform. I knew this material existed and wondered whether Schwarzkopf herself did not give permission for its release. At long last it has and what a jewel in her crown!!!

to be released.

[796824]

There is no one today who had this charm and vocal exposition

[FABRIZIO82]

Equisitely sung. She really was the heir of that old German/Austrian school with great technicians like Kurz, Ivogun,Siems. Anything about Maria Stader?I wish we were more students interested in singers of the past.

[guidobonatti]

Many sopranos declining with age try this aria.Inversely the legato and the pianissimo necessary reveals their limits...

Only Edda Moser was comparable to Elisabeth...

[icareh]

Absolutely gorgeous, awesome!

What a wonderful musicality, legato and breath control!

Amazing smorzature and pianissimi, together with a vocal emission, as Schwarzkopf always liked to describe (in her Master Classes), as being focused at the level of the « moustache » (sic) and projected through the elephant's trunk (sic).

[icareh]

No one else but Schwarkopf is able to sing as wonderful as she does the solo voice + Chorus "Requiem aeterna" (in the "Libera me, domine", from Verdi's Requiem).

Thus, no one else but Schwarkopf is also able to sing as wonderful as she does this beautiful aria Vilja from "Die lustige Witze".

And who ever, but Schwarzkopf, ever sand better "Panis Angelicus" (Cesar Frank) and, above all, "Vier Letzte Lieder" by Richard Strauss?

[tigerhernia]

Awesome awesome awesome!

Why can I only vote once?!:(

[lochness11]

This is quite something, at an age when most female voices are avoiding pieces like this. Schwarzkopf being the perfectionist she was, wouldn't have considered it if she couldn't fully do it justice.

[dchiapello]

I'm finding this video addictive. I was never her biggest fan on recordings (except that I agree with the listener who praised her Donna Elvira.) But this is something else. Gorgeous mesa di voce at the end.

[SqueeDunks]

Thank you for the totally unnecessary comment.

[coryisawake]

-_-

[efraingonzalez]

maravilloso!

[bonafide327]

I completely agree with the other user's post - nobody sings like this anymore. She was spectacular; her tone, her technique, her highs and lows, her trills, everything. Thanks for posting this

[SqueeDunks]

There are a few singers that can, but the numbers dwindle. A unique voice is not produced from the modern puppy mill system, nor encouraged by it. But Shwarzkopf was special in her time too.

[operadonna]

I just love love love her voice. It has such a beautiful color and she is so musical. You NEVER hear this anymore.

[Glenmed]

Delicious! And this was Elisabeth at the back end of her career aged 48. If there were more videos posted of her singing absolutely anything I would be the first to open them.

[SqueeDunks]

Thanks, thats nice. I really really liked her, esocially her Donna Elvira.