Joan Sutherland sings Norma (vaimusic.com)

[Fegen]

I think this is a terrific performance and Joan Sutherland was one of the finest

sopranos ever. I get so tired of Callas fans putting down Renata Tebaldi and

Joan Sutherland. Neither one of them ended up with the terrible wobble in

their voices like Callas.

[gazolinetom]

@eiswirth: an opera singer HAVE TO be an ACTOR...otherwise he or she should have just recital...to be impressive on stage means to sing and act!acting is not less important than singing. If only every singer (and opera lover)would understand this...

[OperaMystery80]

Wonderful singing by Sutherland but the set with the forest, full moon and scary looking trees makes this look bad; like it's Halloween Night or Walpurgis Night under a full moon....that guy behind her in a witchy black robe lol These aren't witches having black Mass, come on LOL

[StupendaAlcina]

Una donna, una favola!

[Cedricfollyman]

One need only to lay ones eyes upon our beloved Dame. Joan to feel the effect of her grace and ellegance.

[OperaDanceHall]

Thanks for al your records "" La Stupenda"" ... sublime the Handel opera's...

[SandrineSoprano]

No one quite comes near... In this role.

[EmilyGreene1984]

@SandrineSoprano I actually think Rosa Ponselle does a better job in this role. Even Joan Sutherland said her voice was fantastic.

[kgarmaker123]

This was truly lovely. I like the versions as close to the original score as possible. Wonderful.

[LazarNewDeal]

Why is it almost impossible to know in what language she is singing (let alone the lirycs)?

[dougbalt]

No one ever praised Sutherland for her diction. That's for sure. She's admitted to this problem and basically claimed that she could have improved the diction, but she would have had to sacrifice the quality of her legato phrasing.

[00193900]

Did you ever hear Caruso sing in English? TERRIBLE! So cut the nit picking. Like Sills on her last Met opera Matinee broadcast said, " IT'S ALL ABOUT THE SINGING"!

[LazarNewDeal]

Respectfully, I must say I would agree with you if it was chamber or concert music. However I see it as music and Theatre. "Melos" and "Drama". The very essence of the idea of opera involves words in poetic text.

Have you imagined going to a Shakespeare play where the actors pronouce just the vowels and not the consonants? Anyway, there are some JS recordings before 1973 where u understand every word.

But I understand and respect other people's taste.

[Bquillamus]

I respect Callas' interpretation, but I 'd like to know whether she would be able to sing this piece in the same way if she had sung it in its right tone.

[LingaChakra]

Indeed Ms Callas is Le Monster Sacre of the Opera, yet Ms Joan La Stupenda is The Purest and Brilliant Diamond of Operatic Art,

[tissetatten]

joan a cirus monce, she only did trics for the public, callas could do the tricks to, BUT much more refined and suttle so the didnt overtace the emotion of the peace witch is somthin joan laked.

[Eiswirth1]

@tissetatten Callas had a mediocre voice, so she had to act. Sutherland possessed a voice unlike any other, and didn't need to resort to theatrics to impress.

I happen to love Callas, by the way, for her enormous gifts and contributions to the art, and her revival of the great bel canto operas.

[raigekimaru]

@tissetatten

different singers focus more on different areas of singing. Singers like Joan Sutherland, Robert Merrill and Luciano Pavarotti focused more on tonal beauty. singers like Maria Callas, Elena Obraztsova and Eliane Coelho focused more on the drama and emotion of the music. personally, I go to an opera to here a beautiful voice, everything else comes second to that

[DiegoMartinazzoli]

quante note che mancano.. sento solo trilli. e quanti tagli alla povera cabaletta.. tra l'altro l'ultima parte è eseguita come se fosse un vocalizzo! manca tutto il testo. sento solo aa-aa-aaa-aaa-aa-ee .d'altronde questa con l'Italiano ha sempre avuto difficoltà. Conclusione.. questa esibizione è una vergogna. non so come fate a dire che vi piace, forse non avete la minima idea di cosa ha scritto Bellini sulla partitura.

[save312]

Cario Diego, ma la partitura la conosci davvero? Dove senti questi trilli? I lunghi vocalizzi della cabaletta vorresti fossero eseguiti forse su consonanti? D'accordo coi tagli ma guarda al contesto della registrazione.

[DiegoMartinazzoli]

Ma, sai che ti do ragione. I trilli non ci sono. Forse 7 mesi fa (scusa ma non ricordo) intendevo scrivere "vibrato", a me il troppo tremolio della voce non piace.

La partitura penso di conoscerla, anche perchè la suono spesso al piano.

Per quanto riguarda i vocalizzi intendo che le parole non devono essere rimpiazzate da vocali messe a casaccio. C'è anche un testo da seguire (certo che non si vocalizza con le consonanti, non sono così ignorante) .

L'italiano non è mai stato il suo forte

[RAS3227]

Callas is DEAD and was miserable at the end! While Joan lives a long and happy life. Guess she beat her ass at life didn't she?

[trumansf]

Was there a competition you evil and angry sorry excuse for a human being!?!?!?!?!?! And just so you know Dame Joan just broke both her legs, and I for one wish her well. Even though as a singer I love Callas more. U see how rediculous this sounds. One has nothing to do with the other.

[RAS3227]

You misspelled the word ridiculous you illiterate piece of trash! I jest...I am really just razzing you b/c... I just think all this comparison of both of these legends is crazy. They both left a mark in history great for both of them.

[trumansf]

Trash rarely listens to opera!!!! Thats to begin with, and second of all, isn't that exactly what I was saying? I know, you got confused, you poor thing, cause I misspelled!

[phylislg]

This isn't really her role. No style, no grace, no charisma and an empty display of (faulty) technique.

[DiegoMartinazzoli]

I agree!

[Bigman240]

ya gotta luv that orchestra and chorus!!!

[Royalorgans]

Joan is the Queen of Norma

[midlochblidloch]

they criticise gruberova for using too much portamenti. Sutherland is using them as well(here) and I like it so much!

[Rossalita]

I don,d like here voce!

[Lohengrin]

Wonderful singing... but her movement and dress reminds of a gossip lady in the neibhourhood dressed up unsuccesfully as a Queen for some 3rd class freaky show. All the bad taste in the world was embodied in her and her husband, I suppose their punishment for their eternal hatred for Maria

[Iareto]

She didn't hate Callas! She admired her! And her and her husband's taste are bad in your opinion...though sometimes I would agree...however, she really is the greatest coloratura voice ever.

[Eiswirth]

I agreee the orchestra is awful, and the dress and hair are over the top, but who cares? She was the greatest coloratura of the 20th century, here singing magnificently in one of her signature roles. And she certainly did not hate Callas, although Callas was resentful of her heir apparent. pje

[mxwhisper]

What a vile things to say.

Never read such rubbish in my life.

I personally know Joan Sutherland and she and her husband most certainly did not hate Maria Callas.

[63Attila]

Mxwhisper

Lohengrin knows everything do not disagree he will put a hex on you. Maria told him about the hatred I guess.

[kngiht84]

WOW, how did you even know them ?

[diuscorvus]

Totally agree with the fashion statement. Sadly, Bonynge had even less musical sense. While Sutherland and her conductor husband claimed not to have hated Maria, their musical principles (ie valuing a "beautiful" tone above all else, including dramatic sense and expression) ran against what Callas worked for. Sutherland is the reason why opera is dying out. Who cares about a "pure" tone? Opera lives on the magic and excitement that Sutherland never failed to squash.

[Lohengrin]

or the endless attacks towards maria's chest voice because joan never had one! Bonynges' approach towards opera was a matter of overloading arias with tones of retarded coloratura that he personally and dreadfuly wrote and as we can all see in the documentary made in mid 60s his idea of opera is expressed by that friend of his (a dreadful fat gay man) who wanted to be listening opera while zipping their tea in fine porselain! we are talking about nightmares coming from Gay Hell of Retards

[Lohengrin]

plus in order to retain that beutiful tone in her upper register Sutherland was articulating like a person with serious speaking problems... then the Bonynges tried to convince us all that Sutherland was the recarnation of Pasta but for their bad luck Stendhal describes Pasta's voice as a 3 registered, uneven voice, with strong chest register, dark choked sound being able to produce the most intense emotions of agony etc...we are discussing IQs of the lowest level here

[Jabe88]

Lohengrin, your homophobia shows that indeed you are the retarded one here, with no sense of ANYTHING at all. You just think you know everything don't you? well good for you...

Accept other people's tastes and opinions and stop giving us lessons about what the voice and opera should be about. you're no better than anyone, a**wipe

[Lohengrin]

homophobia? u are a retard Jabe. Let me make this clear to you. While Callas was scultpured by ingenious, glorious gay artists whom I deeply admire (Visvonti, Zefirelli, Pazolini etc) Sutherland had the bad luck, or bad taste herself, to be stylised by the kind of gays all stars should be avoiding, the ones who transformed her stylistically into a Drag Queen (R Bonynge particularly:). There are gays fab and there are gays drag ;) Big difference

[qbendanny1]

Lohengrin,you write the funniest truths.Callas in a wheelchair with pneumonia would sound more believeable.

[Lohengrin]

Can u deny that when Joan appeared before the dreadful influence of R Bonynge she was pure, dressed very well and even beautiful at some points? Can u deny that Bonynge overloaded her with 10 tones of jewels (like the ones very possibly he wanted to wear?) While from a musical point of view, for those two Bel Canto was an opportunity to overload music with tones of truly retared coloratura. Sutherland in the hands of Bonynge was a Stradivarious in the hands of a nobody;)

[Lohengrin]

finaly, if u dont like my opinions about voices dont read them I never read the rubbish you write, I wanna keep my hair on my head :)))

I hear there is a recording of Sutherland singing a high G and that you are the only one who has it :))))))

[kngiht84]

What is the connection between "not hating someone" and "not doing what the person is doing" ? And you realise that Callas does not have the most beautiful voice despite her flawless and that there is a reason La Scala audiences hailed her La Stupenda right ? Learn to appreciate both, no one is better than the other 'cos they are so different; they both have their fortes and weakness. Callas is superbly emotional, Sutherland is superbly technical. When will this pointless debate ever end ???

[timsuffolk]

Well said!

[Frufrucucu]

Well said, but just a thing...

Don't overestimate Callas' tecnique. People always say how she had "emotion" and Sutherland a "good technique". While this is true, Callas was taught on 19th century bel canto and could sing Die Wal¨küre and Puritani in just a week. If that's not a good technique then by God what is?!

Just that, but in other terms...: well said.

[65attila]

Frufrucucu

Singing Die Walkurie and I Puritnai well is great . Callas was vocally hit or miss for most of her career. Sutherland was consistent from 1955 thru at leasy 1986 when I heard her in Purttani.

Maybe the last singer at home in Wagner and florid music was Lili Lehmann.

[tissetatten]

oh plz.

[65attila]

@tissetatten

Your skills of verbal expression defy description.

[DiegoMartinazzoli]

"Sutherland superbly technical"??!! If you are right, it's not Sutherland singing this Cabaletta

[timsuffolk]

That is the most ridiculous statement I have ever read on here, well with the exception of most of Lohegrin's comments, of course.

You obviously never saw her live, that was magic and excitement not witnessed since. See a live performance even on here and check the audiences reaction!

[65attila]

Lohengrin has had a hearing problem for most of his posting career. He thinks he is a wit, and a expert on voice.

[OperaBR]

Great singing, as always. But it's even more amazing to see her at such young age singing one of her greatest roles. She's very authoritative and magnetic in this role, especially in the great "Casta diva" which unfortunately isn't showed in this shortened video. ;-)

[lastupidissimo]

Go to VAI music to get the Complete Bell

Telephone Hour Performances (1961-68). Casta Diva is included, plus lots of other goodies!!

[franrat]

god the orchestra sound like a circus band at the beginning and the chorus is no better but it still is La Stupenda, with some of the most amazing sounds you'll ever hear coming out of a human throat