The Sextet from "Lucia di Lammermoor" feat. Beverly Sills

[TheLeastDiseased]

Ooooh, the opera song from the 3 stooges.

[billcarr54]

Beautiful rendition of one of my favorite pieces of music from one of my top 5 favorite operas....thank you.

[murraymae]

Jeanette McDonald fought a life long battle to make the Met. Opra snobs hated on her because she was a movie star and her voice was considered "light". Well, her voice was certainly at least a step above Beverly Sills, whos voice was light and reedy at best, yet Sills prac lived at the Met. Not hatin on Sills, but stronger better voices are out there. I'm just sayin.

[xkater]

The Sextet is my favorite of all operatic pieces.

[theBaron0530]

Forget Beverly Sills, you long-hairs! If it weren't for Bugs Bunny and the Three Stooges, millions of people would never have heard this piece ;)

[goodchessactor]

@theBaron0530

You have it backwards. It is because this is such a great and haunting theme that it was used by the Stooges and Bugs. It was around long before the Stooges and will be sung when BB is long forgotten.

[theBaron0530]

@goodchessactor - I know that it pre-dates animated film, or even film in general. My point is that, by its exposure through movies and cartoons, millions more people were introduced to the piece than might otherwise have been.

[goodchessactor]

@theBaron0530

You could have a point there as I got initiated into classical music after watching a commercial for a 60's program called "Broadway Goes Latin". In the ad they had a pianist playing Chopin's waltz in c-sharp minor opus 64. Then they broke into a hot latin rhythm, but I fell in love with the Chopin piece and started my 50 year love of classical music. (here's to the 3 stooges!)...

[theBaron0530]

@goodchessactor - D'accord! For me, cartoons were an introduction to classical music, and also big bands. I played the trumpet, when I was in school, and the pieces I heard in cartoons, I would track down, and from there, I learned about the piece, the composer, his time period, and so on. Made me realize that there was a lot more to a cartoon than anvils falling on people's heads ;D

[MegaMojalefa]

hyi hyi hyi! Beverly Sills deserves all the credit is there on the whole world. Every note, voice approach...everything is done with perfection, the ultimate perfection. Owesome tecnique!!! bravissima!!!

[norwichterrierfan1]

Absolutely beautiful!!!! Thank you for posting. @JayChicago - I may have to go out and buy this CD too - love your description!

[utubebaby47]

Heavenly!

[worldvote]

@utubebaby47 beverly sills will aways be remembered!

[Redsox06]

"Lucia" was the first opera I saw live, and Beverly Sills sang the title role. That was March 24, 1970, in Shreveport, Louisiana. I went in to the hall knowing almost nothing of the opera's story, but when I left, I was an opera fan for life. "Lucia" is one of the most melodic and interesting operas ever, I believe."Lucia" is now playing here in Houston at the Houston Grand Opera's home at the Wotham Center. I know that dozens of new opera fanatics will be "born" while it's here.

[star5777006]

@Redsox06 I'm afraid my first exposure to the sextet was a cartoon where a cat's spirits rose to heaven, each singing one of the parts. However, since that time long ago, I have become a subscriber to HGO... saw this opera tonight!

[andrebontemp]

I totally agree the fusion of these three voices is quite magical too bad the lady is gone forever but at least we can enjoy this moment of grace

Merci Beverly Sills

[georgerannie]

Shippers, conducter, whipped the singers into a very exciting sextet.

[bellini7verdi]

MQAGNIFICA .........SI SEÑOR........PERO AL LADO DE JOAN SUTHERLAND.....PARECE QUE LE FALTA VITAMINAS Y QUE ESTA MALITA........Y SUTHERLAND.......TENIA PILAS DURACELLLLLLLLLLLLLL

[paulostroff99]

Awesome! TY.

[RVP57]

One of the best opera rcordings, ever

[TomBarristerX]

While I'm a fan of Sills, I find this recording to be too sterile. The feeling/emotion just isn't there.

[argerichluvr]

@TomBarristerX - Good point. But without staging and considering this period of music, yes, a simple Y.T. recording could be and is quite a sleeper. Perhaps if we could have seen them on stage we may have felt differently.

[MastersoftheOpera]

I adore Beverly and she was my first Lucia (the recording). But I've since heard Maria Callas & Anna Moffo. For me the truest Lucia is Moffo. She has the ability to transform through her voice into the frail, delicate and tragic Lucia. Sills sounds too healthy, and too out of character. She has solid bel canto technique - as did Sutherland - but I find both Sills & Sutherland unsuited to Lucia from a dramatic point of view. The voice isn't enough. Lucia clearly needs to be acted as well.

[babydrane]

@MastersoftheOpera Thank you for saying this out loud. I enjoy Sills and Sutherland so much in this role but its because they make it so exciting. With Sills in particular, you kinda don't even care what's going on sometimes. This is a little bad I guess. Completely different story in Robert Devereux though.

[argerichluvr]

@babydrane - I agree with your initial comments. However, what do you mean re. Roberto Devereux? Yes, Sills blew herself out doing the 3 queens, but she also (at that time) revived themback into then "current" repertoire. Too bad the trio didn't last. Similar to il Trittico of Puccini. No, she did not do Elizabeth well, but despite the role being too heavy for her voice, it was still hers. I'd like to hear your take on Roberto Devereux and understand I'm not being argumentative, just curious.

[babydrane]

@argerichluvr Whereas in Lucia she over-ornaments and I have no problem with it because it is exciting singing and just sort of nice to hear, I listen more intently when I hear her Elisabetta with John Alexander. There is something visceral that she delivers in that role despite not having the vocal capital to give a dramatic coloratura performance. The shading and phrasing was excellent, IMO, reminiscent almost of Callas but even better in some respects. Minor issues...she was amazing.

[kgarmaker123]

@MastersoftheOpera I do not agree.. I think Callas recording version for EMI in 1953 is vastly superior in very respect to all the rest.. ALL of them. and she has live versions that are stunning too.. And they are Lucia..!

[WilliamCarole1977]

@kgarmaker123 Enough with Callas already! Yes, she was an accomplished singer, but the way that people gush about her limitless fabulousness on this site, you would swear that she was the only soprano to ever sing a note. It has gotten stale.

[argerichluvr]

@WilliamCarole1977 - I agree totally. I adored Callas but was she the best singer in the world? DEFINITELY NOT. She had Ari behind her literally and figuratively so she was destined to reach great heights. Sills had early conductors behind her like Rudel (a dear friend) and Schippers (who unfortunately was a dear friend along with his wife.) Personally, I think Baby Doe, Manon, Lucia and the 3 queens were Sills'. The rest were shared. But this genuflecting to Callas-unwarranted. Stale indeed.

[muatlas]

@kgarmaker123 I never compare singers to Callas. It's not fair.

[argerichluvr]

@muatlas - No, you're right, it's not fair to the other singers to compare Callas' "hooty, guttural, wolfy and back of the throat sound" to those sopranos who could produce a sound in the mask. A sound with forward focus and as a Canadian mezzo once said in a master class: "coming through a copper tube." Unfortunately, and despite the fact I loved Callas, her copper tube was routed back into her esophogus.

[jsmoir1]

The old ABC Tresury Series LP's of Sills discographies had the BEST singers of their era. This is no exception. The recorded sound was stellar- you felt like you were on the stage. I think this opera, when seen as well, would have made you see Sills more as the Scottish waif, than Sutherland, but they both sang this very very well. Sills' has the pathos that Sutherland lacks, and in this, you WANT to feel sorry for Lucia. Thanks for posting this. Too bad there's no video!

[cernernut]

@jsmoir1 I recently happen to see Sills singing the mad scene on a cable channel calles Classic Arts Network---GREAT!

[61550LizziE]

Impeccable perfection.

[goodchessactor]

Wow! Ten seconds from 3:10 to 3:20 simply spine tingling.

[1810fox]

Beverly Sills THE BEST LUCIA

[JayChicagoUSA]

I bought this cd - it is outstanding - just delicious to your ears!

[wattever333]

Justino Diaz is the bass here.

[Matt75003]

This would seem to be an excerpt from the 1970 studio recording conducted by Thomas Schippers.

[petelovesbevsills]

Mind bogglingly stunningly well sung!!! Oh dear, how I wish all of today's useless hopeless wanna be never will be singers would try to learn a lesson from this. Perfection and of course BRAVA/O!!!!!!!

[33Keith33]

It always amazed me how many cartoons from the 30's and 40's used this song. Everytime an opera was performed, this seemed to be the only song that they knew. You've never lived until you hear Donald Duck sing this!

[wattever333]

or Fred Flinstone... or should I say "Frederick".

[PhysicsProf1]

One of the funniest, strictly my opinion, is the Three Stooges......

[sebreathnach]

There's something so tirelessly satisfying about this sextet.... One can hear it and hear it and feel one is in such great company... I don't know what we would do without UTube. A marvel of our time. Thanks!

[OperaBuff1935]

Gorgeous! I never had the pleasure of seeing Beverly Sills on stage in person, but I did see Carlo Bergonzi not too many years ago, when Baltimore Opera did Elisir de  Amore and he sang the role - of course - of Nemorino.

[johngotwalt]

Bergonzi: the quintessential Italian tenor -- you were lucky indeed :'Una furtiva lagrima" oy oy

[vparonto]

My love affair with opera began with this piece (when I was 6 years old in 1954). When I heard the soprano join in, I thought that this is what angels must sound like. BTW the piece I heard was a scratchy 1907 or 1911 version by Enrico Caruso et al.

[francescop1023]

Grandi Bergonzi e Cappuccilli, ma il belcanto di Bergonzi è eccezionale

[maccKaron]

Equal to her is not present...

[hrosiacik]

I own the whole recording of this Lucia and it is definitely my most favourite one among all CDs and DVDs I have!

[fourniturev]

Absolutely the best ever. thank you!

[PhysicsProf1]

Yes. Even the three stooges were able to sing all six parts. Don't know how they did it, but they did.

[beefnotfish]

oh...it's a sextet??? I can finally hear all the voices...and aren't they great???!!!!

[kelwien]

The only recording where you can actually hear the Arturo, the wonderful voice of Viennese artist, Adolf Dallapozza with its unique timbre. It was cast so carefully that the voice complement each other and each is a unique sound.

[seattleladt]

@kelwien Obviously you are special in your ability to differentiate and appreciate. Thank you for sharing your insights. Cheers, Patricia

Such glorious music!

[geobabe73]

This is gorgeous. There is probably the best balance of the singers that I've ever heard. In so many recordings the mezzo is drowned out. Lovely!

[johngotwalt]

I wish Caballe had sung this live.

[nclysander]

Really? I couldn't stand her studio recording, and I adore just about everything else she's done.

[johngotwalt]

Why ?? Do you know a pirate of her Elvira? ?

Prob the most stunning vocal I've ever hear d is her Scala debut in Siege of Corinth - Pamira's Prayer: going-to-heaven music

[nclysander]

Well, the studio recording of Lucia has her in rather "wooly" voice, totally outshone by Carreras, and she uses the traditional "it's not in the score" excuse to duck the high notes (in reality, Donizetti would have expected the singers to ornament his lines, though not in quite the same way as it's done today). I've not heard her in either of the other roles you've mentioned, but I love much of what she's done. She is (like Sills) one of my top three or four sopranos EVER.

[JayChicagoUSA]

This is wonderful - do you have anything else from this opera recording?

[clasirico]

Magnifica interpretacion en general

[hugohathaway]

Very beautiful indeed. Thanks for the post.

[pearlmuth3]

BRAVA, BUBBLES SILVERMAN!

[JayChicagoUSA]

Bravo, beautiful balance, beautiful harmonics

[pmi1733]

That's it ! Balance, which is absent from many other interpretations. Here the conductor keeps the performance in hand.

[gtelloz]

id love to haave this recording...some nice soul that is able to share it in exchange??

[meltzerboy]

This great performance brings back very pleasant memories of my hearing Sills in Lucia at the Met. I was also privileged to hear the wonderful Lucias of Sutherland and Moffo. All three were terrific in this role.

[htshoward]

I agree with pete!!! What great singing. I heard this yesterday on the met broadcast with Dessay and others, and it was a total mess.  However, I will say the conductor rushed the tempo disgustingly. This music has to evolve and breathe...this tempo is perfect. Bev is divine!!!!

[patjan92]

This is great.

[petelovesbevsills]

Nothing else but PERFECTION! At last we get to hear a stunning rendition of the sextet! Thank you for the clip! How I wish the mediocre "could have been" singers that we have been lumbered with today would learn the art of singing from the "professionals"