Anja Silja Final Scene Salome by Strauss 1/2

[byronjohnmcdonald]

No teacher would ever teach someone to sing like this ever again... but this is now an historic moment in operatic history and should be remembered as such!!

[MuscleDaddyCMH]

oh dear, no. Someone should have warned her not to do this sort of thing. This was when everyone got the idea from Welitsch's recording that a "girlish" voice with a little bit of cutting power ought to do it, and it wrecked a lot of voices.

[ANNIEDRUONAIZIEU]

Anja Silja, voilà une chanteuse qui a su gérer sa carrière : Senta à Bayreuth toute jeune, puis la Reiine de la Nuit, plus tard la sorcière dans Hansel et Gretel enfin belle mère dans Jenufa: voilà une chanteuse qui n'a pas renié son âge

[5InAnotherLand5]

Wobbling is a sin of all too many famous singers - Scotto, Nielsen etc. Callas above all! In fact Maria was wobbling throughout her whole career! So???:-))))))))

[BrianJosephMorgan]

Brava, Silja! The greatest Salome of all. And, later, the greatest Herodias, as well.

[Brunnhilde66]

I hear a lyric soprano here.This repertoire is clearly too big for her, hence the wobble (too much pressure beneath the vocal cords).

[Robertgrade]

To my taste, this is simply painful to go through.

[puppetoz]

Hate to have to say it but this recording is the thing that is so undulating it makes the soprano and orchestra sound as if they are wobbling.

[babydrane]

@puppetoz Yes it is. After hearing some more of her, she's not that bad...however, this recording is! Yes she wobbles and yes generally it's a bad idea for lyrics to sing heavy dramatic roles but Silja happens to be one of the few that does it well. This recording doesn't do her justice.

[leonardovittori1]

She was only 32 yrs old when this was performed.. and.. to wobble like this at this age is terrible... Callas by comparison was 32 in 1955 and she had the best year of her career.. and she was NOT wobbling.. This is from pushing too much air through to make a big sound... She cannot do anything else but wobble.

[JeeRant]

The orchestra is TERRIBLE. What a sorry excuse for a performance.

[LordJim37]

Great actress, great voice, great wobbling

[Greatfan]

I think she has not the exact voice for Salome. It should be a juicy, real lyric. Silja so young has a very marked wobble. Great technique but as she is a great actress she could not have lived on coloratura alone. Here she is quite young. Sometimes it happens that great temperaments need THESE ROLES but their voices dontt, They are destined to other less drammatic realms. However, I find her always interesting and charismatic.

[Azzenstudent]

Not to start a Callas-level argument here, but should anyone that svelte being singing heavy roles? Silja looks great and is a first-rate actress, but the wobble really is distracting. I'm reminded a bit of Helga Dernesch, another fabulous-looking soprano whose career was also prematurely shortened. Hildegarde Behrens? Her voice straddled "fachs" and I'm not sure how she sang toward the end of her career. I love Silja and find her a compelling operatic presence but she didn't protect her voice.

[martello79]

Hi Azzenstudent, I don't wanna argue about the wobble, since I can imagine it distracts you. But why do you compare it with quote "Helga Dernesch another fabulous-looking soprano whose career was also prematurely shortened"?

What is the ALSO doing there?? Miss Silja is now 69 years old and is still in a very good vocal condition. She will sing Kostelnicka in Madrid upcoming december while her Bayreuth debut is now 50 years ago. I would not call that "prematurely shortened"......

[Operaman41]

That is a mighty BIG wobble! and lots of flatness!

[hwhap13]

THAT's how this air should be sung. Brilliant brilliant brilliant!

[sonofvangie]

and still singing at the world's great opera houses! Heard her in 2007 in Jenufa

[FredrickToben]

Still going? I go back to my Stuttgart days of the 1970s - well, nice to catch up with my past, that's almost 40 years - and still there's that beauty making things right and true...

[Birgitfan]

Just spectacular!!!!!

[Dramaticmaleprano]

Wonderful...Anja Silja is a divine and entrancing soprano