Gruberova 1912 Zerbinetta pt. 2 Ariadne auf Naxos

[frapaisa]

Hello,

Does this concert exist in DVD?

Thanks

[Joeleole]

Best singing I've heard Gruberova do!

[Chazzan805]

How classy and how good is Gruberova. I just finished "watching" the Natalie Dessay clip in her tiny bikini. The voice wasn't there, and the music wasn't there. It was lost on the beach.

[Kivimusic]

i love her high f-sharp

[TreblesBasses]

LOVE IT!

[chrispamuk]

So high, so difficult to sing... Edita manages it perfectly! There was a project of this 1912 version with Natalie Dessay once but it never happened.

[LeCoconut]

oh man...back in the day that would seriously have been something simply amazing to hear!!!

not saying she's bad now or anything, i'm just not sure if she's still got an F# is all.

[papoocanada]

Wow La Gruberova! perfect and the original difficult version.

[athb4hu]

Just brill!

[killerbunny123123]

what do u mean that this is the "original" version? that in all the other performances they changed the F# to E? well....since few sopranos can sing F# so beautifully it makes sense....i love grube

[operadude32]

This is the 1912 version, Strauss revised it in 1916 which is the "current" version. Not only is the F# cut but quite a bit of the aria - the extended vocalise sections, etc.

[killerbunny123123]

yep, thanks a lot ^^ and pity she didnt sing the original version anymore....that F# was amazing....

[moghedien13]

@operadude32 the F isnt jsut cut, the rondo is written lower.

[operadude32]

@moghedien13 correct, see my reply to Killerbunny123123 from a year ago.

[robertdonkers]

The very best, really set a very very high standard for all other sopranos. To me all the others simply sound boring after this

[operadude32]

I must confess I agree with you. It's amazing how easy she makes it sound.

[musicyh]

From about 1:46-1:52, and 2:52-3:04, are PIANO writing, not voice! Strauss must have been on something...

Edita is simply jaw-dropping.

[goobleglob]

Piano? Really? I always thought it would be a great violin piece :)

[Porn05Mouth]

I totally agree. Most voices couldn't do those passages accurately like a piano. It makes it all the more exciting when you hear that rare voice that CAN manage those crazy passages. I think the lick at 1:49-1:51 may be the most difficult lick ever written for the voice. lol

[SqueakyIri]

Have any of you heard the 1912 version of this aria done by Sumi Jo? Just in comparing the two artists, while I love Sumi Jo, I feel that Gruberova's voice sounds more natural up there in the stratosphere.

Beautiful! Thank you!

[Hal5423]

I agree. Although, I am starting to like Sumi Jo's recording more and more these days.

[SqueakyIri]

That's interesting. Why do you prefer Jo's version? Interpretation of Zerbinetta's character?

[Hal5423]

oh, I don't really prefer it, but I like it more now than when I first heard it.

[skitzo429]

ive never heard of one, it would be interesting though, Ive never heard her perform anything above high F, this earlier version of this is in a higher key and has a few F#s

[ursus1302]

....DIE stimme vom himmel!!!! schon alleine diese stimme ist der beweis dafür, dass es einen gott geben muss!! diese stimme dem reinen zufall zu zumessen wäre über die maßen dumm!!

[dougbalt]

Du hast Recht....schade, dass sie nicht mehr in New York singt...ich muss eine Fahrt nach Muenchen oder Wien machen, um sie endlich live hoeren zu koennen.

[Glenmed]

I've just watched the interview with Lucia Popp where she laughed and admitted that she was a "gigantic disaster" trying to do this. Well Edita here is terrific - and between them they were terrific in so much of what they did. It looks to me like little Slovakia covers left, right and center field pretty well.

[operadude32]

And Orgonasova is also from Bratislava - there's our right fielder! :)

[reginasuga]

Thank you SO much for posting this! I'd never heard it before!! :)

[leoperarm]

Is there a "1912 version" recording with her???

[operadude32]

Yes, it's on Orfeo Records with the same orchestra, I believe and many of the same arias from this evenings concert.  It's wonderful!

[hwhap13]

Love her! She just owns this role. Nobody could ever sing it as good as she did.

BRAVISSIMA!

[moghedien13]

2:57 is also an F sharp. the rondo of the 1912 is up a full step.

[jboygb]

Just unbelievable!!! What an artist!! I could barely contain myself!!!

[Babs22h]

what is the top note she hits round 0:57? does anyone know?fabulous!

[operadude32]

High F#!

[SDCmorg]

Totally agree. I find most renditions of this thing boring vocal exercises. Gruberova, on the other hand, turns every technical trick into expression of Zerbinetta's attitudes and moods. Totally amazing!

[geddafan1]

One of the absolute best ever at this role. Erna Berger and Hilde Gueden are 2 of my other favorites in this role. I also have a 1968 recording of Arleen Auger singing this and she WAS INCREDIBLE! These 4 are as good as any!

[operaboy81]

Freaking Incredible. Her voice is beautiful throughout the whole aria. Brava!

[xgianpatrick]

Astonishing. I can't imagine better. On top of everything else, she brings to life Strauss' complex harmonic language with finesse and color. A singer's singer, yes, but also a musician's singer.

[tenorote]

Thak you operadude!!! Dita is one of the few divas in recent history and she could do no wrong... hell, I'd pay to hear her sing "Old man river"!!

[borias12]

MARVELOUS!!!

[tjan249]

This is a wonderful performance and many thanks for posting it. I did hear Dessay sing it beautifully at the Met a few years back - don't know if she every recorded it. Charles Nelson Reilly (may he rest in eternal opera peace) insisted Licia Albanese did a marvelous Zerbinetta.... My favorite live performance was many years ago at the Met when Ruth Ann Swenson stole the show from Jessye Norman with this aria, albeit the "normal" version....

[godivapaw]

I am a staunch Sills fan, and I think Sills did a FABULOUS job with this role. Even though Edita is more comfortable higher up for longer than Sills is, Sills has more weight on her voice and trills easier...not that that has anything to do with it...so they are both great!

[kenndogg]

sills did a great job, overcoming the struggles of the super highness of the music, but edita absolutely hammered this song along with EVERY single high pitched note, even in the whistle tones!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!i think im in love!!!!

[skitzo429]

we dont really use 'whistle tones' to describe anything in operatic technique, thats reserved for pop singers like mariah carey who are just high pitched screaming.

[baritonebynight]

Richard Miller's Structure of Singing uses the term "whistle" or "flute" register register, which is the book that we used in Vocal Ped class in grad school. I personally prefer Oren Brown's term as simply "register 4" from his Discover your Voice.

[skitzo429]

perhaps. In any case, the names of different registers and where their "boundaries" lie are essentially arbitrary choices of nomenclature. with most instruments, which have fixed (lower) ranges its easier to say like, the third octave, but since vocalists' ranges are all variable, i dont really think naming registers is particularly significant, so much as saying like, F#6, scientific pitch notation is much more precise, and objective, but thats just my preference.

[figaro0606]

I read that book for my Pedagogy class. Where do you go to grad school?

[baritonebynight]

I've been out of school for some years now. Many schools use the Miller book in vocal ped. It certainly is not for the faint of heart...not an easy read at all.

[globalmuse]

This is SOOOOOOOO fantastic. This is one of the greatest performances of anything, I've EVER seen.

[operadude32]

I have to agree! :) Glad you liked it.

[altodivo]

OH MY GOD! Sumi Jo screeches this on the Nagano recording, Dita sings it like spun silver. As usual. Pity Dessay never sang this while she could. Or did she?

[Johnny1206]

I like her voice much better than Sills soubrette-like timber and style. Bravissima Gruberova !!! She´s great too in the studio recording of the 2nd version with Jessye Norman.

[BRAVADAMEJOAN]

Brava Edita.She owns this role.

[balonsoes]

She's Zerbinetta! The part is perferct for her voice!

[Dymension]

Sills didn't sing the sustained F#. The other F# is in a staccato passage and Sills didn't sing it staccato but fell shy nonetheless. However, I agree with Tenor777 in that Sills color is fantastic in this. Not only that but Sills is note perfect in the fioritura. Gruberova has all the notes, is just as clear in the fioritura although she flirts with it a bit more, slipping and sliding between notes. Both are definitive in their own way.

[operadude32]

Correct - both are definitive in their own way.

[vanzofaust]

Once you've heard Gruberova sing Zerbinetta, there is no one else you can listen to. It's perfection-and doesn't she make it look easy? A singer's singer.

[ChuckNYC71]

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH­H! Pure perfection, forever Gruberova!

[nectenorboi09]

Okay, I'll do some clarification (since I'm a bit of a coloratura rep specialist due to obsession). This 1912 version, in addition to being significantly longer, also has the 2nd half pitched a whole step higher, giving the singer two high F sharps and quite a few high e naturals. Sills sang this version minus the f sharps on the video recording and also sang the revised version with all the written Ds and Es in recital a few times.

[pjm8585]

I'm very sorry to tell you! Obsession does not make you a coloratura rep specialist....a coloratura make you a coloratura rep specialist!!

[jvinikour]

As far as I can remember (I am more a specialist in Baroque repertoire), the 1912 version is different in a number of respects. So, Sills never sang a high f as Zerbinetta, but a high e. This version, however, has a high f sharp as the climactic not.

[Tenor777]

Oh wait, I see what you're saying...is that super high note higher than F, though?? I thought Sills did Fs in her version. Anyway, I personally like the color in Sills voice more, but I'm nevertheless very impressed with this version anyway.

[Tenor777]

No, Sills did the high F

[pjm8585]

The hell she did!

[skitzo429]

its F#, and sills didnt sing it

[TheAleph74]

Totally agree with all these comments... Sills did cut off the high F, correct? Gruberova is just THE BEST! (And I am not a huge fan of Gruberova but as Zerbinetta... there's no one else!)

[Bobbo22]

Muchas I love Sills doing this very same thing, Gruberova just nails this. She doesn't cut any of the top notes, she acts the coquette all the way through it, and never breaks a sweat. This seems to be the definitive version of the 1912 version!

[Ravenelvenlady]

I agree with you Bobbo22. It's as if the aria was written specifically for her. Her voice fits it like a hand to a glove--just perfectly. And she is so at ease with all aspects of the piece, so much so that she can be playful. Just superb!

[cfilipow86]

this is perhapes the most amazing thing I have ever seen

[Orfeus80]

This is Gruberova truly at her best. A legend! Forget bel canto, this is what she's all about!

[ILikeOpera]

She is just amazing. Wow!!!

[operatube]

ASTOUNDING! i nearly...climaxed!

[coryisasleep]

ew! Edita's such a beast!! Brava!