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From: fernandoclassic
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  • "A little song on the breeze" (the title) What a gentle little Zephyr This evening will sigh Under the pines in the little grove.

    And the rest he'll understand.

    For men in prison, there couldn't be more appropriate or profound words.

    

  • As if sung from one heart

  • 2:11 is perfect harmony!

  • I love the pairing of these two marvelous sopranos; they sound so very much alike, so neither's singing overshadows the other's.

  • They are singing about a breeze of fresh air....ironic...and so sad to for this song to be heard by incarcerated men. But what is most sad, is that Americans are innundated by pablum...real music is too complex for their tender ears that can only be interested in rythems and vulgarity.

  • Gracias por el video!

  • Lassannn... You took the words right out of my mouth

  • This is absolutely lovely! I mean I always loved Cotrubas and Te Kanawa but this, here, just stunning!

  • None of them are Italian, actually. Ileana Cotrubas is Romanian and Kiri Te Kanawa is from New Zealand. Amazing duet!!

  • @yakshaver1 quote from the movie, "The Shawshank Redemption"...not referring to these singers in particular

  • @Wavewolfaroha correct. I did get it in the end. I am a bit slow, but probably worth waiting for.

  • Ileana Cotrubas and Kiri Te Kanawa! Heaven! And none of the two are Italian, actually. One is Romanian and the other one is from New Zealand.

  • Ileana Cotrubas and Kiri Te Kanawa! Heaven!

  • Dame Kiri sounded THIS good in 1997 @ the Met doing the Countess. She is incredible!

  • for years i have enjoyed opera , and it is a delight that every now and again i come across something that is as sublime as it is is beautiful.

    look behond the music

    the poise and elegance that Te Kanawa has is absolutely divine

  • Thanks for the transript from Shawshank redemption.

  • die Beste Vorstellung dieser Art!

    Best performance ever

  • Mozart rocks.

  • Bellissima esecuzione, con un ritmo non eccessivamente lento. Great performance.

  • Mozart oh yes!

  • Don't be dense some of you guys.

    Lassannn meant they are two Italian ladies in the opera, in the music and beauty he hears, and quite right too. What fine nonsense identifying the singers actual nationality, and race if you please, as if your knowledge is superior to his understanding. Quite the reverse, I fancy. If any movie brings Mozart into more people's lives, as in Shawshank Redemption, or for that matter Amadeus, who are you to scorn?

  • This is true bliss! There was such a vulnerability in Cotrubas's voice, and she was a splendid actress. Te Kanawa is beyond reproach in this role.

  • Wow, look at that fabulous big gown the Countess is wearing. it looks great on Kiri. She also looked gorgeous in the 1975 Jean Pierre Ponnelle movie with Karl Bohm conducting and with Fischer-Dieskau as the Count and Herman Prey as Figaro, with Mirella Freni as Susanna. Kiri lways looked radiant as the Countess

  • Andy Dufresne: That's the beauty of music. They can't get that from you... Haven't you ever felt that way about music?

  • Mozart certainly knew what he was doing regarding timing while writing, but I don't envy the director who has a Countess and Susanna who refuse to move while singing.

  • THIS SOOO LUVRLY....MAKES THE HAIRS ON MY NECK STAND UP

  • Kanawa est excellente, mais pas autant que Janowitz

  • luv Kiri TeKanawa

  • Hallo Robert,

    wollte Dir auch mal wieder was schicken. Bin schon sehr gespannt auf Mittwoch!

    Liebe Grüße,

    Susanne

  • where can I get the DVD of this production?

  • @Loobs666...they're creating a list for the disco party tonight.

  • Just a quick Shawshank question... what the Hell are these 2 song-birds singing about?

  • @Loobs666 They are singing the Best Music in the World

  • @Loobs666 Theysa writing a fake love letter to that prick The Count arranging that Susanna will meet him for a midnight fuck in the garden, when it's actually a trap devised by the Countess, Susanna and Figaro for The Count ("Sull'aria...Che soave zeffiretto...Questa sera spirera...Sotto i pini del boschetto...Ei gia il resto capira.../...On the breeze...Such a gentle zephyr...Will sigh this evening...Beneath the pine grove... The rest he will understand")

  • no me digan que no hace caer las lagrimas tanta belleza

  • Lassann . No matter how chained he was. A tear soaked melody plagued us all. Gave us all a brief glimps of something heavenly. It tore all of our hearts out, and gave them back, so they could feel. No one will ever know why the feeling came. But when those two Italian ladies sang-- it was sacred, it was love, it was something we never had, or ever will. We were left empty. This beauty is what we did not have. But now it is part of our heart. How could we have missed this ? It is Shawshank.

  • @poopy..... two ladies aren't Italien. Dame Kiri Te Kanawa was born on New Zealand and has Maori ancestry (look at her face carefully).

    Ileana Cotrubas is Romanian.

  • @poopypoopyhead1 For a brief moment a silver thread stretched between the Divine and our Soul !

  • TWO ANGELS SINGING !!!

  • I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don't want to. Some things are better left unsaid. I like to think it was something so beautiful that it can't be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anyone in a gray place dares to dreams. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our lives and forthe briefest of moments, every last man at Shawshank felt free.

  • @Lassannn shawshank redemtion? lol

  • @Lassannn neither is Italian (one is from New Zealand, the other - from Romania). And it definitely improves your listening experience if you have an inkling of WHAT they are singing about... Find a translation - it is not only beautiful but witty and funny.

  • @NotAgain90 Perhaps you are trying to magnanimously educate a seemingly pitiable uncultured person about the wonderful world of Mozart and opera singers. Allow me to enlighten you about the wonderful world of modern cinema and one of its finest masterpieces, it will definitely improve your reading experience (of Lasssannn's comment) if you have an inkling of WHAT he is writing about...Find a DVD - its not only beautiful but witty and funny.

  • @MidnightTracks

    there was nothing in my suggestion that required sarcasm. I simply pointed out that understanding of the text in opera improves one's understanding and appreciation of the music. that's all. I saw Shawshank Redemption when it came out, thank you, so you are a bit late in your efforts to educate me.

  • Perfection!

  • Hay miles de millones de personas que pasaran sus vidas sin a ver escuchado esto!la pena mas grande que puedo imaginar!

  • @MegaLensman

    Muy cierto tu comentario-

    Escuchar esto es como entrar en otra dimension

  • Absolutely stunning

  • to Vodaplas, but an amalgamation of one head's ideas, Mozart's. JHC.

  • Sublime . . . Simply sublime.

  • Beautifull voices,magnificent interpretation,a musical juwel.They are each gorgeous in their own way,and that is opera about.Sincretism.Cooperation of more than one factors,(orchestra,direction,c­ostumes,light,music,great singers,beautifull voices all meet in order to create the final enshantment).Thank you all for this master piece .

  • due delle mie voci preferite

  • Gorgeous!

  • Te Kanawa rules.

  • Close to perfection

  • This is perfection! Te Kanawa's beauty is only surpassed by her angelic voice.

  • Comment removed

  • kiri realmente es magnífica su voz resalta mucho más ^^

  • ¡Que Maravilla de música, no la conocia pero cuando vi la pelicula de cadena perpetua, y escuche la pieza que pone dufreen a los demás presos, sencillamente parecia que estaba en una nube, sencillamente celestial!

  • Quite wonderful indeed. Sung a little fast but by two voices which are well matched and produce a delightful " frisson " upon hearing them.

  • Se retira la Kanawa de los escenarios...Solo cabe darle las gracias por su contribución a la gloria de la Opera...

  • divin!!!

  • Bravo!!!!!!

  • mozart foi e é o melhor de todos,se existe a perfeiçao ele passou em suas musicas,nao ha palavras pra descrever mozart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! parabens pelo video

    i m from Portugal

  • Maravillosa Kiri. La mejor Condesa Susanna que he visto u oído jamás. ¡Brava!

  • Te Kanawa's is the best voice i've ever heard.! She sings like an angel...

  • Mozart's Sull'aria from Le Nozze di Figaro sung with a degree of beauty, subtly, refinement and musical perfection you are unlikely to witness again...ever.

    Mozart.....Te Kanawa and Cotrubas.....equals....

    Perfection....

  • CandyHaleLinton, as good as Te Kanawa is, Cotrubas is even better.

  • Honestly the best one on her in my opinion if is the Carol & Kathleen battle duet, no one talks about that but I like it the best, but of course this one is good to

  • Gotta disagree, Bahia. The other version is good.... but this one is heavenly! =]

  • The way it was meant to be sung.....  It's poetic and hypnotic.... Wow!

  • I agree.....Kiri is simply Devine!

  • BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO!!!!

    BELLE DONNE

  • Te Kanawa et Cotrubas utilisant la même technique,leurs deux voix sont parfaitement à l'unisson .Duo magnifiquement interprété! Ajoutons le plaisir des yeux ,nous sommes comblés.

  • the beauty of humanity in your ears

  • this is the best combination of all time!

  • I amnot a great fan of Kiri (and even less of Cotrubas) but this is lovely, she sings wonderfully and she looks lovely...

  • It's funny, the ways that lead here... Me, i was watching 'chuck' xD I heard this song, at it was ... Awesome :)

  • Goosebumps. Very beautiful.

  • this is the most beautiful sound that has ever entered my ears

  • Exactly right :-) The greatest composer in the world, sung by the greatest singer (Kiri of course!) Ileana is quite amazing herself too! Together, it's indescribable

  • Thay have SOOO wonderful voices. Kiri is beautiful and she is my dearest Countess. No one sings it like her. I sing this duet with my friend and I learn a lot from her performances .

    Dame Kiri is a Diva!!

  • Okay lets all vote. My fav. is Claire Watson (Contessa) and The great Reri Grist (Susanah).

  • tough one. Janowitz/Mathis, maybe

  • I love the Met 99 cast - Figaro - Terfel, Susanna - Bartoli, Contessa - Fleming, Almaviva - Croft, Cherubino - Mentzer

  • Janowitz/Mathis :-))))

  • Janowitz/Mathis

  • So many to choose from. Naturally, the Janowitz/Mathis is great also. That's why it was chosen for "Shawshank". The Schwarzkopf/Moffo one is as good. Three duets to pick from. What is the best? I don't know. I think they are all sublime.

  • Sublime...perfetc interpretation. Tempo, voices, everything.

  • beautiful piece of music

  • Their voices sound as if they were made to duet!!! Absolutey fatanstic!!! I want to sing like this!!!!

  • simply divine

  • Quite possibly the most beautiful music I have ever heard.

  • wow! I love cotrubas but kanawa takes it away on this one! excellent post!!

  • What can I say...? Mozart came from heaven indeed

  • Pure genius.

  • A lovely performance. Kiri was at her best at the time this video was made. If it's based on the CD with Cotrubas and von Stade then it was conducted by John Pritchard. The only CD I have of Figaro (just highlights) is the one conducted by Karajan with Schwartzkopf as the Countess, so old it's in mono, and I definitely prefer Dame Kiri and Cotrubas.

  • I woould like to have this song played when I enter the church on my wedding day next year....It is so beautiful it must be about love and hope.

    As the main theme in shawshank redemption

  • It's a beautiful song. But it's about a note arranging a meeting outside of a marriage.

    And as a two time loser, I'm kinda down on marriage at the moment..

  • I agree this is one of the best. Kiri's voice is as always ravishing and the tempo is just about right for this aria.

  • A couple of astonishing singers for an incommensurable, beautiful music.

  • They both sing and act beautifully, but I don't feel as much of a connection between them as with some of the other clips.

  • I'm so glad you said that, I've noticed the same each time I view this clip. But I do also mean the same concerning the orchestra... It doesn't sound as the music is played with love. But more like if it was played just to be played. Perhaps there was a bad conductor conducting this? Well well. There are ups and downs;)

  • @KarlAmade Sir John Pritchard a BAD conductor??? U think you speak most mistakenly

  • @CandyHaleLinton  utter nonsense !

  • Ladies, I must disagree. This is the most beautiful version of this aria I have ever heard, and Dame te Kanawa embodies a noblewoman, while ms Cotrubras is far more talented than I would expect a maid to be. And neither is 250 lbs....

  • I agree, this is the best Sull´aria, the best voices, the right pace, it´s enthrailing

  • The best version of the duet! Let alone the best countess and the best Susanna! I'm very impressed! BRAVA!

  • Absolutely beautiful...

  • Waiting breathlessly for my DVD from Amazon to arrive. This is my favorite of all the versions I've seen or heard...

  • For those of you that don't know, this piece is from the opera 'The Marriage of Figaro', and the music was composed by none other than Mozart.

  • One of my favourite pieces of all music, medieval, baroque, modern, carnatic...

  • From Shawshank Redemption when Tim Robbins' character plays it over the P.A. System and all the inmates are awestruck......Great Scene

  • Each time I hear this aria, I cry.

    What a simplicity... and what a beauty!

  • to loverflicka:

    Me tooo :)

    I was just too ashamed to say it in the open, but I every single time I listen to it I can't stopppppp crying :)

    It's wonderful :)

  • Dear anneyre:

    But... why ashamed?

    I'm a man of 58, and I can say you that I cry often hearing music... really the music is actually the only thing who made me cry (well, recently I cried too about the aircraft crash in my country). It's not a matter of sadness, but of beauty, of sensibility and, over all, because the music is the most intense and passionate art in the world.

  • to loverflicka:

    You're right. It is the power of pure beauty that makes us cry. Overwhelming, entering our souls, lifting us up, higher, closer and closer to eternity.

    Music goes straight to your heart, but I remember I cried when I saw Michelangelo's 'Pieta' too.

    Again, it is the perfect beauty that touches me so deep.

    And yes, I do cry when people suffer or die, and I'm sorry for what happened in Madrid.

    Rest in peace for those who died.

  • To anneyre:

    Thanks for your amiable and genteel response. Of course, you're rigth, there's other arts, and I love them: painting, sculpture, architecture... (certainty, I myself am architect!), but, in my opinion, the music ist the purest and participative art, because her matter, her "substance", is not marble, stone, linen, mixtures, precious metals... but AIR, only AIR, and moreover she need to be completed of musicians or singers, and of people that listen.

    (please: excuse my english)

  • Beautiful , would have loved callas to have performed this !!

  • kiri my idol :)

  • kiri is my idol

  • On a par with the amazing Popp & Janowitz rendition! Excellent! Delightful soul-warming intertwining scales made my soul fly! May God Bless them both as he has blessed us all with this wonderful performance!

  • Cant decide between this version and "cherubinozefiretto"s. Both wonderfully sung and acted.

  • This is the definitive performance of this. It is as close to perfect as it can get!

  • I love this! I watch it all over and over again!

  • how come?

  • I can't find words to describe the beauty of these two voices combined. It's as if the angels in heaven are singing. So pure, and so warm. There's this special aura which radiates from them, especially from Kiri. And this is one of the most beautiful melodies I've ever heard.

  • I adore the part where both of the voices merge with what I call heavenly tones. 1.54 to 1.59. Really makes me believe that heaven is on earth. Simply superb

  • imperiale!!! good!

  • Honey for the soul!

  • you no out of about 64000 views i can probably claim about half are mine.

    Truely a work of brilliance

  • lol cammie ..we'l give you a medal ..not least for good taste ;-)

  • Is this on DVD yet? Can anyone give the title?

  • To neshamah08. ARTHAUS-MUSIK EuroArts DVD. Cat.-Nr. 101 089 LE NOZZE DI FIGARO. W. A. Mozart Recorded in live at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera 1973 Figaro: Knut Skram Susanna: Ileana Cotrubas Count Almaviva: Benjamin Luxon Countess Almaviva (Rosina): Kiri Te Kanawa Cherubino: Frederica von Stade The London Philharmonic Orchestra John Pritchard Frederica: absolutely ravishing Kiri: a pure Countess Ileana: absolutely perfect PURE GOLD!
  • This cast including Cotrubas, Te Kanawa and Van Stade remains my fav. This performance unites some of the greatest singers in this repertoire. The intimate and small stage serves both the drama and music perfectly.

  • i hope the paradise is like that

  • Kiri has that special aura that the sopranos singing with her rise you the occasion too. You can see how much warmth there is between Ileana and Kiri. The same applies when Kiri sings with Flicka.

  • One of the best performances ever.

  • Superb,minunat,far cuvinte totul la superlativ,te inalta...

  • Beautifully sung, but the precious way Cotrubas plays it, you'd never guess that this little ditty the Countess is having her pen could well get Susanna raped before the day is over. Gorgeous sound, though.

  • Zwei Traumstimmen zusammen. Ein Geschenk des Musikhimmels.

  • Genau!

  • Simply stunning, this warms me as a person everytime I hear this! Music for the soul!

    Bravo!

  • They both sound incredible here! Ileana and Kiri - two voices from heaven! All this melodiousness, warmth and sweetness! Bravo.

  • Sencillamente BELLO!

  • i am IN LOVE with this video!!!

  • You just can't beat Kiri! Ileana Cotrubas does fine with the great Dame, though. What a beautiful expression from both of them, thanks to the poster.

  • This should at least get some to investigate mozart other that the movie where he is depicted as a buffoon. Some of the most beautiful music, ever.

  • Lovely sound and a beautiful video. glad i found it, thanks.

  • "even though i had no idea what those two ladies were saying, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard." From Shawshank Redemption, when Timothy Robbins's character sneaks into the PA system and plays this over the whole prison's loudspeaker. great scene, great piece.

  • Couldn't agree with you more Wilcs18

  • one of the most beautiful aria there is!  Te Kanawa is incredible.

  • This is one of my all time favourite arias, so beautiful.

  • Those two are awesome, but the real genius here is Mozart.

  • Can you believe someone actually wrote this? Where did he find such beauty and inspiration?

  • That's easy. In the vast well of goodness and love and creativity naturally endowed to this incredible being.

    As marvelous as these two ladies are, they are simply replicators of that.

  • If only we could find somebody with just half of it, they would still be a extraordinary genius.

  • There is one with half. She has a deep well of heavenly divined life in her, but still not as deep as Mozart. An incredible singer/songwriter named Loreena McKennitt. She was probably Mozart's sister Nannerl in that lifetime.(Joke) She has a lilting softness and spirit of play that reminds me of old Wolfie.

  • i did this song.. i love it!

  • Wow, I'm impressed with Kiri, she looks beautiful and her voice is from heaven, like an angel.

    Wonderful video, amazing duet, both excellent singers.

  • Great divas , great aria !

  • 1:53-1:58 is just amazing. Dame Te Kanawa is just amazing. She is my favourite Contessa hands down. She has a certain quality that just makes her perfect for this role. Just beautiful. I hope we find someone like her in my generation.

  • This was meant to be replying to the gentleman from Romania. Both singers are wonderful. There are few good versions on yo of this song. All are wonderful.

  • you're an idiot

  • IT*

    know all the*

    i hate typos lol

  • The most beautiful song I have ever heard. I weep for the future.

  • hey now !im 19 (the future)and this is one of my favorites! i even know the all words and can sing git . so don't worry about the future:)

  • So do I, and I am 15. I fear the future of the English language as well.

  • Don't worry about the future! I will make the future good. I'm 45 and young.

  • i adore this song, as well as Te Kanawa. this song always makes me cry because it's too beautiful.

  • It takes me to wonderful places

  • I love this song so much since I heard it in "Shawshank Redemption".