Gundula Janowitz - "E Susanna non vien... Dove sono" (1980)

[hecberlioz]

I was 25 in 1980 and heard this cast twice. Unforgettable, especially Janowitz's other worldly timbre. The audience went beserk at the curtain calls and I was hoarse with cheering.

[drodde5607]

La voix céleste de Gundula Janowitch, il n'y a que ça dans cette vidéo et c'est du bonheur. A écouter les yeux fermés....

[amayzak]

For anyone criticizing the staging & acting, listen at 7:10. The Parisians clearly enjoyed the aria and brought her back for two bows out of character. Enough said.

Unparalleled discipline under the immense strain of Mozart who might be one of the most vocally inconsiderate composers ever. There are few (if any) sopranos today who can execute like that.

[yethica]

@amayzak You must not be a singer. Mozart is, in fact, one of the most vocally CONSIDERATE composers ever for singers. Wagner, vocally inconsiderate. Beethoven, DEFINITELY vocally inconsiderate. Mozart, wonderful and healthy for the voice. And Janowitz was one of the absolute best. Puts Fleming and some of the others to SHAME.

[jensberlin2011]

Eine unglaublich betörend schöne Stimme, wohl eines der schönsten Sopran-Timbres der Welt, die ich jemals gehört habe und die jemandem "geschenkt" worden sind, von wem auch immer...Selten so excellent gehört wie hier...und das "live"...

[Robertgrade]

Now it seems extraordinary that some many great artists appeared on the stage together. This would never happen today.

[VforVespa]

This is not good....

[sejonssm]

Gundula is in my opinion the BEST Mozart soprano of all time.

Lucia,Kiri TK & Elisabeth S comes close but not all the way.

I think Mozart himself would be delighted listening to such perfection!

[Geowolffe]

The Best!

[tatters1232006]

this is artistry of the very highest level,the sheer control and colouring in the voice is amazing.no wonder she appeared with the greatest conductors

[thomasmoredamian]

Not only can this woman turn Mozart's great work into magic, but you really should check out her work with Eugen Joachum and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau on Orff's "Carmina Burana"...she'll knock your socks off.

[operaoaf]

Some reviewers are absolutely correct. While the voice is flawless and glorious, the characterization is rather lacking. This is an aria which requires both beautiful legato singing but also psychological insight: from apprehension, anger, humiliation, and outrage, to pensive longing, affection, to rallying determination and courage to save her marriage. How many arias pack this much punch? Fleming is amazing because she's able to sing this aria with fine legato while expressing complex feelings

[domi2020]

Kiri te Kanawa sang in this famous Strehler production too and it would have been very interesting to watch the 2 great Mozartian and Straussians of their generation perform. Sadly apart from Fleming no one is as good as them. I must say as much as I like her voice it is too static a portrayal.

[marcocito]

C'est du grand art!

[loredinusa]

This is how Contessa should be done...honesty!

[singcrossover]

I have never heard any better voice for Mozart that Gundula as of yet. Thank you for the post!

[pallomino22us]

I believe the 'Old Nazi' is a reference to Herbert von Karajan, who enjoyed great acclaim during that regime, (I think he was even an early party member)

[vasrach]

@singcrossover gundula and edith mathis are the best!!

[LeNozze44]

Who gets shot at 4:44?

[guyhowepharr]

Janowitz made this aria her own. Solti the old Nazi conducts superbly.

She never really got the recognition she deserved.

[Hasselfelde]

@guyhowepharr Old Nazi?Explain yourself!

[Ludlow889]

@guyhowepharr You must be thinking of some other conductor. Solti was Jewish and fled to Switzerland when the Nazis took over his native Hungary.

[Lindow]

I find her extreme introversion fit for some pieces and she definately knows what refinement means. However there's more to this piece than what she gives to it. And her intonation is, regardless of the level of difficulty of this piece, precarious. Very German school of singing. It's just that head voice alone doesn't make a whole voice.

[rix657]

@Lindow

Her intonation is spot on, unless for some strange reason you think legato singing is lack of correct intonation. She has a beautiful head voice, yes, but there is a lot more to this singer. Breath control gives her incredible control over her voice.

[operaoaf]

Her legato and silver radiance is just superb!! Few sopranos can ever reach this.

However, others have brought more dramatic force in the role and greater clarity in the phrasing of the italian text.

[dermotafan]

This is just sublime. I'm so moved by this performance.

[dcheutin]

She looks and sings as an angel!

[dutchfreediver]

Proberly the most beautiful, breathtaking and gorgeous looking woman who walks on this planet who also posesses a voice like an angel.... I am enjoying her voice everytime i listen to her and there is nothing comparable to my knowledge..

[soulmach]

I just cannot find any tone as pure and heavenly as hers. I cannot find it. There are many great sopranos but Janowitz leaves me breathless more than anyone else.

[5574974]

Try Mady Mesple. She leaves me truly breathless. Gundula Janowitz often does the same.

[egymagyar1111111]

Janowitz is absolutely sublime in this I am going to listen Schwarzkopf immediately after this

[LeNozze44]

I find criticism of this production unfounded. I find it classic. What more would the Countess be doing in this situation? This is an introverted aria that should never be physically overacted.

[miaobauaugh]

@LeNozze44 i don't agree with you... i think this is the worst version of this aria! i'm italian so it's easier for me to understand the text.,..in this aria she complains about her husband..about the end of a love... she should be angry with him... another thing, if u go to the opera theatre to see it...u can notice a great difference of interpretation and i think her voice is not good at singing this aria...it must be stronger and all the aria should be faster! ...it seems a lullaby...

[ENIMANOWILATU]

@miaobauaugh

You´re not right: In the FIRST part of this aria the countess is absoluty wounded and desperated- for that reason everything should be-like janowitz does- very piano and lento and without power. And in the SECOND part she is in between different feelings: angryness, a little hope to get him back, and the decision to fight for that.

[andrewfynn]

@miaobauaugh Solti conducted this whole opera lento to accentuate and really "godersi del Mozart". That's the baseline pace. I would say she "could" be angry, but she is also extremely sad and resigned...more sad than angry...after all, she was Rosina and "Lindored" by her husband. Some ppl would respond more with anger, some with sorrow. Questione d'interpretazione, allora.

The question remains, how should an aria by an Austrian composer and Italian librettist sung by a German vocalist sound?

[DonAlfonso63]

What's happened at 4:45 ?

[dynamicstuff73]

somebody shot a critic!

But did she for get the words at 5:06 or was that just vowel modification?

[khothye]

Beautifull, very beautifull... If she did some few inexactly notes, as some coments, the all performance is so great that I forgive absolutly the few faults.

[AccidentalTouch]

Too bad the staging is quite uninteresting and old-fashioned. =/

[dan1453]

The perfect Contessa

[zkool5]

I'm sorry folks, but Janowitz's performance is quite a few notches below that of Barbara Hendricks'. Give that one a listen and you'll know what I'm talking about.

[soulmach]

Ahh.. Perfect!

P.S. - This is not a broadway musical! :-P

[gimaru1]

out of tune...

[estanteriax]

Lo que hay que oir ¡Fuera de tono!

[idraote]

very true the interpreter is non existent (and pronunciation flawed) but still better this way that those sopranos who have good ideas about the character but have not the technique to realize them or the musicality or the perfect pitch and sense of style.

a pity nonetheless that she wasn't a little more personal

[Homoclassicus]

The voice is absolutely angelic for its creaminess and near-perfect sound. However, as other people noticed, the characterization is very lacking. The aria, which can be very thrilling and full of emotions, sounds just too cool and placid. Everything is just too "correct", as if the words and the changes of mood in the melody couldn't make her singing sound either more languid in that place and then more ardent or hopeful in the other. She could've done better, but it's still excellent.

[domi2020]

Beautiful voice but bad italian and lacking altogether some interpretation. She could do better. Sounds like she is singing in a shower.

[boisfarine1970]

ennuyeux.......je préfere te Kanewa!

et puis le récitatif n'est pas du tout déclamé !

[jordidel66]

A voice and a wonderful interpretation, but, why a "glissando" between the first and second part of the aria? It isn't in the score and it's artificial

[JPD060486]

Will someone put Janowitz's 'Dove sono' from the Boehm recording from the 60s up here? It's so much better than this.

[Jitpring]

Sublime. I wish this particular Figaro were on DVD.

[kleinbittersdorf]

The best of bests ever I heard. Great!

[OSIR7]

I have never heard a more beautiful soprano. It is perfect to a degree that I would say: It's no more human, it is divine.

[OperaLover84]

Then you haven't heard Kiri or Renee...  Gundula is good, but, c'mon...

[ballycotton32]

You cant be serious especially regarding Kiri.

[FloriaTosca85]

I can't agree with you more!

And to OperaLover84, I have heard Kiri and Renee. I adore Te Kanawa but Renee Femming doesn't exactly strike as a Mozart soprano. Janowitz stays my favourite!

[LjubljanaSI]

this is really an excellent interpretation.

[beethomozart]

what a wonderful combination an excellent soprano as janowitz and one of the best arias of this fantastik opera

[Heraopera]

This, xcuse has never been a creamy soprano! This is a soprano pure and with puritan charackter! If u want to listen to creamy sopranos: Young Freni, Lucia Popp, Margaret Price one of the best singers of creamy league! for me she is to cold and puritana and neurotic without sexexperience....

[JPD060486]

Listen to the recording she made with Karl Boehm in (I think) 1968. In 1980 she turned 43; her voice was more brittle, as you point out. Anyway, give her earlier recordings from the 60s and 70s a go - Strauss, Mozart, Wagner, Weber, Schubert etc - and you'll hear what people mean when they call her voice "creamy"

[Azzenstudent]

This aria is paced too slow. It does give a chance for Janowitz to showcase her creamy soprano. But the aria will flounder without some inner fire. The Countess is a problematic role because there is a mopiness in her self-effacing nobility. While understandable given the libretto and the sublime music, a soprano should risk forcing the characterization if only to make her three-dimensional.

[jorgepoveda]

El aprecio por el bel canto no debe estar relacionado con el hecho de que yo "entienda" o no entienda palabra por palabra, o frase por frase. Puedo no entender ninguna palabra (ruso,japones,checo,por ejemplo y aun sucede en mi propia lengua española) y aun asi poder distinguir entre una buena cantante (Gundula Janowitz es una por supuesto) y otra que aun no logra sus niveles.Por tanto una critica fundamentada en no poder entender las palabras no es correcta,aunque proceda de un italiano.

[operaoaf]

This voice is stunning in its shear beauty of timbre. The legato is effortless and there is no straining heard in this incredibly difficult aria.

However, it sounds a little too perfect and stylized like she were singing in a mass since the singing lacks charaterization.

[softboy24]

sorry but i really can't like this artist (?)

I'm Italian and can't understand a single word of her singing... to many portamento, out of tune in many points and without expression and BORING... and the final top, oh God! some singers should have had more singing lessons

[ravaschieri]

Perfect Mozart (!) Interpretation - I'm Austrian and I know how difficult it is to sing Mozart arias in this way...Le Nozze di Figaro is not a Verdi opera.

[angolana9]

perhaps more italian lessons as a cultural need for a liric singer.Even if we not understand the words but only the translation,we need to be sure that anyone with this or that mother tongue will be happy to hear the sound of his language!

[mujercita1000]

You should hear hear sing Siglinde, there is no equal, and her finale to beethoven's 9... ditto.

[bogdankos]

abbastanza strano... capire la pronunciazione?... io ce la faccio :D

[lovesGenet]

The nonthinking thns people say.Janowitz.U don't get there without knowing a grt deal more than words and vocal production.the soul grows.Pity that type of poise is so seldom encountered.I agree her Mass with Beeth and mozart masses are so fine.consideration was n this woman's way.Her lied r amazing how she colors a voice which has all the purity and shine n Mozart then gets dark earthyh for Brahms. no Limits!!! this tempo is a little slow but she conveyscountess ' womanhood!

[ballycotton32]

Surely the greatest Mozart soprano of them all I first encountered her on an Ovation Tape from DG and have been enraptured by her since. Thank you Gundula Janowitz.

Jim

[punkred1]

Has this been released on DVD? I do hope so!!!Gundula Janowitz  is one of the greatest singers of her generation

[mozartjpn137]

I wish I were there!

[DOMITILLO1968]

perfect mozart voice but where is the speech sound gone?? the words are so cloudy and the text lacks the edge necessary to convey the dramma. I wonder if she knows what she is singing?

[swanningaround]

Perfect everything voice.

[Bhekie]

do you even know what the words are to be that critical? I understand the words perfectly fine and love the way she sang....

[Burgundia1980]

That's Gundula Janowitz...she DEFINITELY knows what she's singing.  You don't headline at the Paris Opera without knowing the libretto inside and out.

[lvega69]

No me canso de escucharte.Gundula eres exquisita ,la mejor condesa

[nimblenaiad]

This video really doesn't do her justice.

If you really want to hear Gundula at the

peek of her power, get the 1968 recording

Of "Le Nozze Di Figaro "conducted by

Karl Böhm. It's on Deutsche Grammophon.

[Luisa5575]

Lo que más admiro de esta mujer ,así como todas las "GRANDES", es el manejo del aire. Gundula es un ejemplo para la nueva generación de cantantes. Necesitamos de estos ejemplos. Gracias!!

[piratzrule]

Her voice is perfect for this aria. Its like it was written for her. Fantastic performance. Damn sopranos, they get all the good arias.

[lucluc1000]

Great performance and wonderful voice!!!!

[lucluc1000]

Perfect!!!!!

[FenianandLimey]

Hermann Prey, Janowitz, Bohm, THAT'S THE performance of history. No one should perform this aria except Janowitz. Saw Flica Von Stada do it, a little charming, but no comparison.

[Kenchely]

Von Stade's defining performance was as Cherubino; her "Voi che sapete" is marvelous. I've not heard her as the Countess. This is a marvelous job, but I still like te Kanawa's performance best. I thought the Fischer-Dieskau, Prey, te Kanawa, Freni performance was the greatest.

[fierysensual]

Kenchely

Cherubino is a mezzo tessitura while the Countess is soprano ... just shows you are talking above your head dude ... the rest of your statement has no credibility ... case closed

[71946]

On était dans la salle,le soir de cette captation télé...L'atmosphère était électrique!Janowitz avait semblé mal à l'aise dans le "porgi amor"...En 1980,la voix avait déja perdu de son infaillibilité...pourtant,au fil de la soirée,elle avait retrouvé son assurance et son lustre d'antan.En témoigne ce "dove sono" d'anthologie...A l'issue de la représentation,on allait se précipiter dans sa loge pour obtenir un autographe...Souvenirs...souve­nirs...

[Seasidefriend]

Beautiful. Effortless.

Seasidefriend

[fiesco7]

I love this..I watch it over and over..beautiful singing and acting.

[ddbancel]

I can't stop crying...I heard it live...and it was my first live opera...difficult to imagine a better introduction...the da capo of this aria is probably the most moving experience I had together with the last scene of "Der Rosenkavalier" with F. Lott (Vienna/Kleiber).

[ballycotton94]

How lucky you were I have only ever heard Gundula on CD and consider myself lucky.

[Iareto]

She's great...though not quite Kiri te Kanawa...

[evaeke]

I have always been impressed by her voice but this is the first time I SEE her sing and ar even more impressed. This aria is NOT easy to sing, no Mozart is easy, but she looks as she is just singing by herself in the shower...it looks so easy!!!

[hmshutton]

If this impressed you, track down the VHS of her Arabella. Utterly, utterly charming and oh so sung (perfectly) from the heart. This woman is a miracle.

Sidebar to the one who felt he Dov'e sono wasn't sufficiently dramatic: the countess may be upset and mad and vulnerable but she is The Countess - i.e., an 18th Century aristocrat who NEVER lets it all hang out.

Sometime catch her rendering of THE FOUR LAST SONGS. Sublime.

Scott Hutton

New York, USA

[soprano543]

kel voix pure magnifique

[musoph21]

i dont know if i like this one because although she does have a beautiful vocal tone, however i feel its not dramatic enough. From what i know of this aria, the countess is supposed to be mad, upset, and vulnerable. I sense no vulnerability, anger or passion in this. Then again i could be wrong. The best version i have seen of this aria is that of Renee Flemming. She was pissed off while vulnerable at the same time. Ms. Janowitz lacks that

[lipera]

Absolutely great!

You guys should look at yourselves before judging such a wonderful mozartian soprano...she's NOT a mezzo...and a great Countess...and the clothes are just awesome...very epic...I love this production.

[kajaDenmark]

Pretty voice for a mezzo soprano... if I hadn't read about her before, I would have thought she maybe was a soprano...

[Liwah]

NOT a mezzo.

[divinedevildoll]

She's a lyric soprano, not a mezzo.

[vodaplas]

of course she is ,so is the countesses part in Mozart's opera!

[lucluc1000]

I agree with Ariodante76, Netbreko sings awful, she is only a marketing...And if you want to see a soprano who sings and acts, see Leyla Gencer...

[lucluc1000]

Gundula Janowitz is one of the most exquisite singers, this is an exemple.

[SludgeMcPoople]

La Gundula Janowita can stand there like a tree and sing forever like that, as far as I'm concerned. She carries away my heart! Exquisite...!!!

[dolcimani]

such amazing control that thank goodness is not in her throat but from the body... Bliss

[pawdaw]

My two cents: opera will and always be about VOICE. You're all forgetting that the greatest singers knew how to ACT WITH THE VOICE, which is far more important than just 'acting. That's just what Gundy does here. Brava!

[Grevle]

She looks like Draculas Wife..pretty tough

[hazelmsmith]

The voice is beautiful, no question there. However, the audiences of the 21st century want more than just a beautiful voice. You can no longer just stand in the middle of the stage and sing. If opera wants to continue to be an art form and attract new, younger audiences, it has to appeal to that younger age group. Renee Fleming, Anna Netrebko are sopranos that can both sing and act. Some purists resist this kind of change, but they do it at the peril of all opera and its continued popularity.

[operaoaf]

I do applaud your view that opera must embrace the stuff of modern entertainment in order to prevent audience heads from being grayer. Although inherent in this scheme is a greater emphasis on sex appeal and a cult of celebrity. I don't complain because Netrebko is a great singer but what will happen to those inspired singers carrying the seeds of musical excellence who ressemble Caballe and Voigt? Will we see them in the primadonna roles in the later stages of the 21st century?

[hazelmsmith]

I would like to think that the voice will always be paramount. I can't see the Met casting someone who is beautiful, dramatic, but can't sing. You might be interested to know that the Met has Voight and Heppner singing Tristan and Isolde next year(an HD presentation). I can't wait.

[nlupos]

Achievement of balance between singing and acting is certainly not privilege of the 21st century singers, I'd say quite the contrary and Netrebko is the best example: sex appeal, good voice (with no development) and schematic, shallow interpretations. I do not wish such a future for the opera.

[SqueeDunks]

What, you mean like avant guard trash that has nothing to do with the story and everything to do with the director's ego? What a waste of company money. 1)There have ALWAYS been lovely opera singers that could act, like Schwarzkopf, Moffo, Della Casa. 2) Young people in the US don't go to Opera because its too expensive, unlike Europe. Opera will survive if the money is spent in the right places, like developing singers, not avant guarde sets that are out of style the following season.

[ariodante76]

I don't care about updated stagings, but my goodness, don't pretend that Anna Netrebko is remotely in the same league as Gundula Janowita, vocally. Her diction is atrocious, and she simply cannot sustain her breath. Want proof? Check out her Sempre Libera from the DG release of La Traviata, opposite Villazon.

[owenboi66]

It's a question of style. Would and eighteenth century countess throw herself around and emote? She puts it all into the music. If you want to see Janowitz "acting" look for the clip from Fidelio - the duet with Vickers.

[melisandedebussy]

her voice is great so sweet, but her performance is a little flat in the recitative, but in the aria super!

[maxfieldparrish2003]

Kiri te Kanawa did it better IMO

[aleduffoo]

and better than te kanawa .. fleming!

[marcocito]

Que voulez-vous de plus? Merveilleuse!

[operaoaf]

Her voice is superb. What's missing is the temper and restlessness of a forlorn wife. Someone unfamiliar with the opera might think that she's singing in church. Though, what an angelic voice!!

[bosancherosi]

I really hate the recit. It sounds like there's just no meaning behind the words in spite her beautiful singing. The recit sounds like she's singing about beautiful little birds chirping outside. Her voice is beautiful though.

[sfkcbf]

Gundula Janowitz's voice: Such beauty compels me to fantasize that, some how, we could make it immortal, permanent. Such joy in hearing her is in stark contrast to such much ugliness in the world.

[littrow]

The best contessa ever !

[iAMturandot]

superb superb superb. i hardly know wat to say! that was so stunning i almost fell off my chair. shes simply one of the best contessas ever! thats it! discussion over! bravissima signora! brrrrravissima!

[rowley555]

great performance

[streich13]

The most ravishing Contessa -- ever !!

[marvoid]

Superb - as a Mozart and Strauss soprano she is the best.

[sergava]

I think that this performance is very beautiful because I can hear her voice very sweet. Great!

[carlsonf]

Veronique Gens does an unbelievable performance of this song, but I will admit Gundula Janowitz is amazing!

[lvega69]

Escucharla y verla es un placer

Es incomparable

[Gabriel13187]

She has the nicest voice you can get for this aria... Nowadays you can only dream of such performances...

[danigrrrl]

Que bela performance! Maravilhoso! Sò não ganha da Kiri na gravação do Solti... mas é quase perfeito!

[Gabriel13187]

This performance is so great... Thanks for the music!

[lvega69]

BRAVO

[FABRIZIO82]

Bravissima!