8 sopranos in Bel raggio lusinghier - Semiramide

[liszt80]

About the final cadenza (with the high E):

1) The most elegant and refined is the high E by Sumi Jo. Beautiful ornament before it too.

2) June Anderson's arpeggio before the high E produces a little, unpleasent cacophony with the orchestra.

3) Gruberova's high E it seems to be put there at the last moment after the D... not convincing.

[BettingSupremo]

It's still Callas, every day of the week, for me.

[WotansSpeer]

Fleming's rendition is ugliest I've ever heard..... that's no coloratura or anything like that... not the leven which Renee usually has...

[jmiller05]

Caballe, Sutherland and Anderson are stand-outs for me. Jo has impeccable control over her forte notes, smooth transitions, but her voice is WAY, WAY too light for this role. Sutherland reigns supreme here though. Her trills, effortless extension into the upper register, the deceptive power and subtlety in her voice. Masterful.

[SONIETCHKA]

Listen to Miricioiu 1995! Renée is awful!

[WotansSpeer]

Ranking:

1) Anderson

2) Gruberova

3) Mosuc

4) Jo

5) Sutherland

6) Caballe

7) Devia

8) Fleming

[CatalinaDM56]

Fleming's was painful.

[acitipo]

No puedo pasar por alto, que me ha sorprendido enormemente la soprano Mosuc, la Devia, Sumi Jo y la Sutherland las conozco muy bien y la perfeccion de su voz, pero fue muy grato escuchar a una desconocida hasta ahora para mi la Mosuc, hermosa voz y timbre muy bello.

[troppofiato]

Anderson and Sutherland are the best - both are fantastic! By 1980 Caballe had sung too many Turandots and could no longer negotiate bel canto like in her prime. I never heard Fleming struggle through music like this - Rossini is obviously not for her. Mosuc sings with a lot of bravura and abandon - very impressive.

[giorgioot]

Fermate questa pazza , che non sa come gestire i fiati ... senza acuti ....ma dai è una bufala!!! (mi riferisco alla Renèe)

[Wotan123456789]

Sutherland is Semiramide, no one comes close to her. I love Jo's high E.

[skitzo429]

I dont understand why joan was singing this in a lowered key, she wasnt even 40 here

[giorgioot]

fleming ...basta hai stufato di vendere aria fritta!! vi prego boicottatela!!! purchè smetta di cantare ....sembra che non capisca ciò che canta!!

[MrLupo23]

@giorgioot ahahhha bravissimo.

[Sorrentodellesirene]

@giorgioot é sbagliato il repertorio ecco tutto. In altro è immensa qui fa acqua da tutte le parti.

[adballet]

Devia, for stylistic, dramatic, elegant, visual, and sound effects.

[daphnebeloved]

Hahaha, Fleming s improvisation, it's not baroque...Caballe, despite her pianissimo and legato...Jo, surprised me, I think she used to sing better then , with lighter voice and better legato.Now the best 4 are: Anderson, Devia , Gruverova and Sutherland!

[DiomedesDioscuro]

Fleming has no idea of waht she's singing.

Caballé's is really nice, but lacks creativity, as usually.

Jo's leggero Semiramide isn't very canonic, but still pretty.

Anderson is absolutely incredible, but here she sounds too light for the role.

Gruberová's voice isn't very well suited for the role, but she impresses me with these high notes.

Devia, as usually, shows she's an extraordinary conjuction of great voice, perfect technique and beautiful style.

And Sutherland she is Semiramide.

[DiomedesDioscuro]

Ah, and I think Mosuc gives an impressive and gorgeous rendition of the aria. No style? Why?

[skitzo429]

sutherland was also the only one of them to sing it in a lower key, in my my book she loses points

[saol67]

Poor Renée, she has no idea of Rossini singing. And she's going to sing Armida next year.

Too late for Montse

Poor Mosuc, no style

Grubi is confused, as always. She'd better sing Olympia. Great artist tough

Jo, not bad at all

Anderson used to be my favourite 20 years ago (date and location of this concert, please), but since I discovered Mariella

but Semiramide might be too "big" for her

Sutherland FOR EVER

[Dogaradodia]

Sumi Jo endeared to me at 4:33-4:38. I was taken to cloud nine.

[Arsace88]

In my opinion, June Anderson is Semiramide!! Mariella Devia is very good too! :)

[floriansempeybaryton]

in my opinion, the best stay DEVIA !!! with her beautiful coloratura and perfect technic! brava mariella!!!

[Dogaradodia]

Yup, Devia's "Bel raggio lusinghier" is unsurpassed. She's the perfect Rossini soprano.

[BrentAudi]

Fun!

[acitipo]

Quede sorprendido por la agilidad de la MOSUC en las coloraturas. Pero el primer lugar se lo lleva en un empate LA DEVIA Y LA STUPENDA.

[marylambcarter]

brava anderson , gruberova devia and la stupenda sutherland

[rawdonqueen]

An excellent collection, with most of the singers providing worthwhile interpretations. There are some interesting comparisons with Devia using a very full voice and Sutherland using a light voice that she was capable of producing in 1963.

[oreste61]

E V V I V A GRUBEROVA!

[Sopranistin247]

I really love Devia and Sutherland's voice in this rep, it is often listed as a dramatic coloratura as opposed to a lyric coloratura and I think it shows off the gorgeous middle ranges of both of their voices. Anderson, while a slightly smaller voice, really shines here and I think gives the best performance. Gruberova and Caballé are wonderful as always. Renée sang this much better 15 years ago and Mosuc's ornaments were my favourite but this wasn't her best performance. Jo is too light!

[brachiocephalic]

Fleming is so joyful that she forgets the tune.

Jo's voice was beaming through the music, I like that instead.

[bigdigger87]

I really, liked Sumi Jo's vresion. She made it look so effortless.

I would have to say that Joan Sutherland's was by far the best. something about her subtlety and clarity that was breathtaking.

[Operalover77]

Gruberova, Sutherland, Caballe, Devia - Great! The others are not bad too, but... :-)

[pziglioli]

We all know Sutherland's been the greatest Semiramide so far. I also like June Anderson and Caballé (why not?), but definitely not Renée Fleming, though she must have sung the aria better in her career.

[latraviata1853]

Fleming sounds absolutely ridiculous. She stumbles through the coloratura, dragging the tempo to a death march, and in the middle of the worst of it, she adds in one of her signature breathy and over-exaggerated notes on "gioia." It's almost funny.

[robertleicester]

The best versions are sung by Sutherland and Gruberova. Sutherland because of her fantastic agility and Gruberova because of her outstanding last note. Its very difficult for me to understand why someone gives the "5 stars" to Devia. I think she didn't sound free and easy. I hear much work in her voice, which isn't that clear and poweful as the voices of Edita Gruberova or Joan Sutherland. Mosuc sings fantastic ornamentations - Bravo!

[opera46]

Devia wins this one hands down.

[leprincebeaumont]

Poi mi chiedono perché adoro Joan Sutherland! Da questo video la supremazia di Dame Joan sulle altre appare schiacciante: non si tratta solo di gorgheggiare e di variare; si tratta di farlo con la giusta voce e con gusto e musicalità. Raccapricciante la Fleming; furba come sempre ad aggirare gli ostacoli la Caballé; brave ma un po' troppo liberty nelle variazioni Anderson e Devia; leggerina e zanzaresca la Jo; afona e dalle agilità eccessivamente 'glissanti' la Gruberova. Brava la Mosuc!

[ildivino83]

Edita just aways sounds so sloppy to me. She just always comes across to me as a completely thoughtless singer, and she never makes any sense. I don't get her.... Devia sounded fantastic! And, Joan, well, it's Joan, 'nough said.... LOL

[Auduin25]

EDITA GRUBEROVA IS THE BEST

[heidegger25]

I must say, that Sutherland, Devia and Anderson have the best and easiest ornamentation - awesome! Edita Gruberova isn't at her best in the lower coloratura parts of this piece, but I must say that her high E-flat is so intense, that it beats all the others.

[oreste61]

E V V I V A GRUBEROVA!!!!

[sour7lemon]

Wow... Sumi Jo pre-ego! I must say I do like her better without all the sparkly-shimmery makeup and fake eyelashes and over-extravagant dresses.

[angielove1]

They all made it their own.

[BeauTenor]

As much as I love Sutherland, for me the voice I hear in my head when I think of this aria will always be June Anderson, and it's because of that incredible arpeggio up to the E (the first one, not the final one). It gets me every single time.

[sour7lemon]

Absolutely agree... That's my favorite part of her interpretation of the aria! I wish everyone would do it (Not Fleming or Caballe though... they might kill it for me....just kidding!)

[nickbigd]

Anderson and Suthreland are tops in my book. Is Fleming really singing Bel raggio? It's almost unrecognizable. I used to admire her so much, but I really don't understand her thinking that she can sing EVERYTHING ever written.

[operaeater]

I must admit that Sutherlands tops them all, although gruberova, mosuc and devia are quite fabulous!

[Sesto73]

B R A V A Elena! :-)

[asdfopera]

Do they increase from least to greatest. Just kidding. Nice video.

[supercarliux]

I love Devia!!!