Baltsa is - and always was - so expressive... She`s opera incarnated! More than Callas herself IMO. And her voice in her younger days was of incomparably beautiful timbre, listen to her Rossini and Mozart - and also to her earlier Carmen , and also Donicetti, Bellini , Verdi , R. Strauss and Verismo repertoire.
Since I've heard this I have come back to this again and again. I've searched out a number of versions of this scene and no one sings it with as much passion as Baltsa. She is almost deranged at the end she is so furious. True, others sang it more beautifully, but I haven't run across anyone who absolutely threw everything she had at every note. I believe.
This might be weird, but the thing I love the most about her voice are the unconventional and raw gear changes in her low passagio area. I think that's what it's called. Kind of rusty on the terms...
@rayclentchris - I also love the wonderful "imperfections" of her voice - her performance is so captivating because of that! And at the same time - her timbre is so beautiful. Even here in her early 60-s she-s a great singer.
Quello che poi fa incazzare, è che una grande Artista come Agnes Baltsa, abbia cantato tutta la sua carriera (oltre 40 anni) sempre sbagliando le doppie (da buona greca) e nessuno, ne maestri ripetitori ne direttori d'orchestra, ne maestro di canto o manager.. nessuno... le abbia mai detto niente.
Balta's no-syncromesh gear changes, particularly from that beautiful middle voice to that razor -like chest voice are just a little disconcerting. But overall..highly dramatic as ever.
This is the best I've heard Baltsa sing! Too bad she's apparently cutting back on performing in full length operas lately. She finally seems to be realizing her full vocal potential.
Baltsa está muy bién, además, muy interesante. Domingo, pera su edad ,no está mal, está bién, aquí más que la voz es la experiencia; él se las arregla muy bién para interpretar en los tonos que le acomodan, no como corresponde. Bravo por él, su corage.
Wow, she is really good. I am surprised. She has gotten beter with age. I saw her at the Met in the 80s, in Carmen. Jose Carreras was supposed to sing with her, but that was when he was taken ill. That night he was replaced by Gary Lakes, who sang really beautifully. Baltsa however was dissapointing. Both her singing and her performance were flat., cold, and who wants a cold Carmen? You could hear the audience complain during the intermissions. Here she trully shows what she can do.
Agnes is a Spinto, and i was skeptical at first with her as Amneris (a role usualy reserved for the most dramatic mezzos, i.e. Zajick and Cossoto) but Balsta blew me away. What fire and passion, it really speaks to her ability as an artist that she can convey so passionately such a difficult vocal role which she, in theory, doesn't have the vocal type for.
I am so glad that in all your videos you call the name of all the singers and the year too. That is why I subscribed your channel, of course also because of their good quality. Thank you!
Age does not matter, and certainly not in a concert performance. Ok Doming misses a higher note, fantastic, he is not a machine. And Baltsa, she simply delivers a dramatic intepretation, wonderful.
Great clip and great artistry of both. That was a highly prestigious concert at Vienna State Opera and it was the most acclaimed moment of this nearly 3 hours "event"...why mocking about age and looks. I feel they absolutely marvellous!
i have never been a fan of Domingo, but you have to respect a man whose voice has aged so gracefully. Agnes Baltsa sounds wonderful in this clip. I still do not understand why she was not a super star in opera?
Well she was quite on her way to be the great world star in the eighties. But apparently Baltsa is very difficult to work with, shame, cause she is absolutely wonderful
I always love when legends come back and perform a piece that pushes them a bit and the succeed in surpassing all expectations!! They're amazing!!! I can't get enough of this video!!!
I think this is one of the most exciting clips on all of Youtube. The intensity of the singers is awesome. You can even see on their faces the level of concentration that this effort takes. Bravo and Brava!
you know, he didn't transpose this duet, which is great. he still hits a Bb at 5:50 (albeit short) and an great A at 8:05. domingo's voice has aged marvelously.
Thrilling Verdi singing. So what if some notes may be a bit raw. If i went to the theatre and was confronted by a performance such as this i'd be very happy.
I saw her sing Cenerentola at Lyric Opera of Chicago in the 80s. I didn't even realize that she was still singing. She sounds pretty amazing. She and Sylvia Sass would have been a fierce combination as Aida and Amneris. And could we please play nicely. Everyone hears voices differently. I don't think she sounds flat, before I get flamed (I'm always flaming...hehehe), I sang opera for 20 years, but other people may hear it differently. It's not necessary to insult each other.
Excellent video! I must disagree with Baltsa not having a big career, she's been singing since the late 1960's and still manages to bring the house down in quite a few opera houses! To me, her singing has always been very emotional and touching. I already liked her Amneris on CD very much, and eventhough she doesn't sound like she did in the seventies anymore, I still find her performance in this video quite impressive.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Baltsa is FLAT throughout most of this aria. I listened to it twice; the second time away from the screen. Baltsa had the misfortune to be Greek, and was always compared to Callas with higher expectations. She didn't have a big career for a reason. If she was anything like Callas it was only in later years when she sang with little or no tone as evidenced here.
Well i can imagin what the term flat in your amateur, therfore ignorant frustrated and superficial musical? circles means. i can tell you, after 20 years of ACTIVE oper and modern music singing, that your comment isn´t true!.
Agreeing with steainsy that it was not that bad at all. Now has anyone noticed how good they look at their age? Specially Baltsa has never looked so great as she does in this video. Age has done them well in that matter...
Well he had them, they just weren't consistent, and I don't know about the placement thing strictly speaking in the main part of his career. Anyhow I thought they sang well for their age(it really wasn't that bad. Domingo doesn't crack or have a warble). You can tell they're struggling a little with breathing and the higher notes especially in the climactic areas. But they interpret nicely (maturity does that I guess!). I enjoyed this, thankyou!
I know commenting a year after the fact. Check out Domingo the young tenor. You will not e dissapointed. At 61 and 66 respectively Baltsa and Domingo are fantastic. Come on...
Domingo is still great but at the end of the line... What an artist... His singing unfortunately exposes his vocal flaws especially now... His singing greatly limits him from sustaining tenor high notes after A and he really didn't have a B and definitely not a High C, He never really ever figured out the right placement for them and sang every note like in the baritone register and not the head... Still he is a tremendous artist and one of my favorites... Sad though
I didn't sa she sounds exactly like her just a BIT. If you listen to Agnes Baltsa singing Stella del Marinar in La Gioconda with Caballe Pavarotti Milnes and Guirahov, there's aa note in there that is EXACTLY like Maria Callas. Yeah just thought i'd put that in there. Have a good one!:D
Agnes Baltsa sounds a bit like Maria Callas in her high notes, Placido has gotten more of a baratone in his voice and his high notes aren't as good as they once were but still a wonderful performance and you'd expect voices to fade a bit with age so meh. fabtastic!!!
LOVE HER!
louisvuittonswicked 1 week ago
Domingo non ce la fa più...
MrMimmo92 2 weeks ago
Baltsa is - and always was - so expressive... She`s opera incarnated! More than Callas herself IMO. And her voice in her younger days was of incomparably beautiful timbre, listen to her Rossini and Mozart - and also to her earlier Carmen , and also Donicetti, Bellini , Verdi , R. Strauss and Verismo repertoire.
Rospaint 5 months ago
Since I've heard this I have come back to this again and again. I've searched out a number of versions of this scene and no one sings it with as much passion as Baltsa. She is almost deranged at the end she is so furious. True, others sang it more beautifully, but I haven't run across anyone who absolutely threw everything she had at every note. I believe.
kc55mo 5 months ago
Orrore!
NinaMicheltorena1 5 months ago
Questa è una vergogna !
NinaMicheltorena1 5 months ago
This might be weird, but the thing I love the most about her voice are the unconventional and raw gear changes in her low passagio area. I think that's what it's called. Kind of rusty on the terms...
rayclentchris 6 months ago
@rayclentchris - I also love the wonderful "imperfections" of her voice - her performance is so captivating because of that! And at the same time - her timbre is so beautiful. Even here in her early 60-s she-s a great singer.
Rospaint 6 months ago
I've always loved Baltsa. She's just an amazing artist!
rayclentchris 6 months ago
Well...Baltsa was a dramatic singer- but she hasn"t a dramatic voice BUT
Who cares - she brings Drama in Opera! Shes a animal di pacoscenico - and the most singer today are Water & soap singers
OLIVCHEN77 1 year ago
Quello che poi fa incazzare, è che una grande Artista come Agnes Baltsa, abbia cantato tutta la sua carriera (oltre 40 anni) sempre sbagliando le doppie (da buona greca) e nessuno, ne maestri ripetitori ne direttori d'orchestra, ne maestro di canto o manager.. nessuno... le abbia mai detto niente.
allanaki 1 year ago
Here Baltsa is really low class.
allanaki 1 year ago
Legal xD
SuperMaiaChan 1 year ago
ma avete sentito bene a 5:49 minuti il Sib di Domingo cm cala terribbilmente???? sembra un Lab!!!!!!!!!
pavarottithebest 1 year ago
ma avete udito bene a 5:55 il Sib di domingo cm cala terribbilmente????sentite attentamente..... Saluti
pavarottithebest 1 year ago
Balta's no-syncromesh gear changes, particularly from that beautiful middle voice to that razor -like chest voice are just a little disconcerting. But overall..highly dramatic as ever.
CandyHaleLinton 1 year ago
trionfo del cattivo gusto per la baltsa!!!
marcofebo 2 years ago
Bravi!
Yet, poor older Plácido wasn't able to fulfill that 'e voi ch'io viva?!'....
LordMgls 2 years ago
This is the best I've heard Baltsa sing! Too bad she's apparently cutting back on performing in full length operas lately. She finally seems to be realizing her full vocal potential.
trschaefer 2 years ago
Baltsa está muy bién, además, muy interesante. Domingo, pera su edad ,no está mal, está bién, aquí más que la voz es la experiencia; él se las arregla muy bién para interpretar en los tonos que le acomodan, no como corresponde. Bravo por él, su corage.
pieritlyon 2 years ago
Wow, she is really good. I am surprised. She has gotten beter with age. I saw her at the Met in the 80s, in Carmen. Jose Carreras was supposed to sing with her, but that was when he was taken ill. That night he was replaced by Gary Lakes, who sang really beautifully. Baltsa however was dissapointing. Both her singing and her performance were flat., cold, and who wants a cold Carmen? You could hear the audience complain during the intermissions. Here she trully shows what she can do.
anakyriou 2 years ago
Agnes is a Spinto, and i was skeptical at first with her as Amneris (a role usualy reserved for the most dramatic mezzos, i.e. Zajick and Cossoto) but Balsta blew me away. What fire and passion, it really speaks to her ability as an artist that she can convey so passionately such a difficult vocal role which she, in theory, doesn't have the vocal type for.
Loismustdie26 2 years ago 2
A good mezzo interpreting Amneris, opaque as much to Aida as to Radames.jfsanin
jfsanin 2 years ago
I am so glad that in all your videos you call the name of all the singers and the year too. That is why I subscribed your channel, of course also because of their good quality. Thank you!
stopera1 2 years ago 2
Age does not matter, and certainly not in a concert performance. Ok Doming misses a higher note, fantastic, he is not a machine. And Baltsa, she simply delivers a dramatic intepretation, wonderful.
robertdonkers 2 years ago
He doesnt miss a tone!
Y2H 2 years ago
Come on I am not being nasty just listen carefully or read the score. And even with that he is better than most
robertdonkers 2 years ago
Great clip and great artistry of both. That was a highly prestigious concert at Vienna State Opera and it was the most acclaimed moment of this nearly 3 hours "event"...why mocking about age and looks. I feel they absolutely marvellous!
Fehlzeiten 3 years ago 2
I'm a big fun of Domingo, but we have to admit that he is not in good shape here...I prefer Carreras-Baltsa duet
superbafun 3 years ago
Domingo ancora un grande!!! E poi Agnes Baltsa con quel suo timbro così particolare....che dire...MERAVIGLIOSO!!!
fistarmy 3 years ago
what an old Radames ;)
Emlomor 3 years ago
un des meilleurs, quand même. dans sa génération, il n'y avait personne du tout comparable à lui, selon moi...
OettingerCroat 3 years ago 4
« Il ny avait » ?! Jus´aujourdhui il est le meilleur même à cet age !
Y2H 2 years ago
I personal like Maria Callas better
fabasianchic18 3 years ago
i have never been a fan of Domingo, but you have to respect a man whose voice has aged so gracefully. Agnes Baltsa sounds wonderful in this clip. I still do not understand why she was not a super star in opera?
mcknighty11 3 years ago 4
Well she was quite on her way to be the great world star in the eighties. But apparently Baltsa is very difficult to work with, shame, cause she is absolutely wonderful
robertdonkers 2 years ago 2
I always love when legends come back and perform a piece that pushes them a bit and the succeed in surpassing all expectations!! They're amazing!!! I can't get enough of this video!!!
vincitor 3 years ago 11
TO-TA-LLY
OettingerCroat 3 years ago
OMG That was amazing.
valentine0591 1 year ago
I think this is one of the most exciting clips on all of Youtube. The intensity of the singers is awesome. You can even see on their faces the level of concentration that this effort takes. Bravo and Brava!
cantorandopera 3 years ago 12
yep, seriously its awesome!
OettingerCroat 3 years ago 5
I have never enjoyed Domingo more, and Baltsa is formidable, a great cantatrice!
Kendrick2021 3 years ago 6
you know, he didn't transpose this duet, which is great. he still hits a Bb at 5:50 (albeit short) and an great A at 8:05. domingo's voice has aged marvelously.
OettingerCroat 4 years ago 4
whoops, actually, they are both Bb's. even more impressive!
OettingerCroat 3 years ago
He doesn't actually hit the first Bb. He is actually so flat that it's an A.
tdeane34 3 years ago
well whatever, it shoulda been a Bb. He's 67 (nearly 65 here). I let him slide. The second Bb was short but fine.
OettingerCroat 3 years ago
Veramente coraggiosi.. non c'è che dire ...La Baltsa è un miracolo..Domingo ,che io adoro, dovrebbe pero' avere il coraggio di dire basta
dulcamara66 4 years ago
perché quando suona tanto bene, pur oggi? ascoltalo... ancora è una bellissima voce...
OettingerCroat 3 years ago
...un miracolo?!?!?
oloferne84 3 years ago 2
STUPENDOUS
OettingerCroat 4 years ago 3
Thrilling Verdi singing. So what if some notes may be a bit raw. If i went to the theatre and was confronted by a performance such as this i'd be very happy.
angelus2002 4 years ago
I just hope I'll be able to sing like they do when I'm their age... They are fantastic!!!
protopsalter 4 years ago
I saw her sing Cenerentola at Lyric Opera of Chicago in the 80s. I didn't even realize that she was still singing. She sounds pretty amazing. She and Sylvia Sass would have been a fierce combination as Aida and Amneris. And could we please play nicely. Everyone hears voices differently. I don't think she sounds flat, before I get flamed (I'm always flaming...hehehe), I sang opera for 20 years, but other people may hear it differently. It's not necessary to insult each other.
sschimel 4 years ago
Even if she is, so what? Is this your criteria of art?
doktordrakator 4 years ago
Excellent video! I must disagree with Baltsa not having a big career, she's been singing since the late 1960's and still manages to bring the house down in quite a few opera houses! To me, her singing has always been very emotional and touching. I already liked her Amneris on CD very much, and eventhough she doesn't sound like she did in the seventies anymore, I still find her performance in this video quite impressive.
Rootz62 5 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Baltsa is FLAT throughout most of this aria. I listened to it twice; the second time away from the screen. Baltsa had the misfortune to be Greek, and was always compared to Callas with higher expectations. She didn't have a big career for a reason. If she was anything like Callas it was only in later years when she sang with little or no tone as evidenced here.
crewmantle 5 years ago
Her intonation is fine; it's her razor-edged chest voice that's probably throwing your ears off.
lg213 5 years ago 2
she's flat.
crewmantle 5 years ago
and you are deaf!!!!!
luchaoso 4 years ago 4
Perhaps you don't know what the term 'flat' means in musical circles.
Apparently it is you, who is tone deaf.
crewmantle 4 years ago
Well i can imagin what the term flat in your amateur, therfore ignorant frustrated and superficial musical? circles means. i can tell you, after 20 years of ACTIVE oper and modern music singing, that your comment isn´t true!.
luchaoso 4 years ago
they talk crap, they both were wonderful and i got amazed by baltsa, she is adorable and domingo too.
tena2 4 years ago 2
Agreeing with steainsy that it was not that bad at all. Now has anyone noticed how good they look at their age? Specially Baltsa has never looked so great as she does in this video. Age has done them well in that matter...
soundfond 5 years ago 2
I thought they sounded awesome. Baltsa, BRAVA. Love how she belts out those high notes!!
donatello1 5 years ago 3
Well he had them, they just weren't consistent, and I don't know about the placement thing strictly speaking in the main part of his career. Anyhow I thought they sang well for their age(it really wasn't that bad. Domingo doesn't crack or have a warble). You can tell they're struggling a little with breathing and the higher notes especially in the climactic areas. But they interpret nicely (maturity does that I guess!). I enjoyed this, thankyou!
steainsy 5 years ago 2
I know commenting a year after the fact. Check out Domingo the young tenor. You will not e dissapointed. At 61 and 66 respectively Baltsa and Domingo are fantastic. Come on...
kamikazekate 4 years ago
Domingo is still great but at the end of the line... What an artist... His singing unfortunately exposes his vocal flaws especially now... His singing greatly limits him from sustaining tenor high notes after A and he really didn't have a B and definitely not a High C, He never really ever figured out the right placement for them and sang every note like in the baritone register and not the head... Still he is a tremendous artist and one of my favorites... Sad though
tenorpupu 5 years ago
Oh, sorry, it's all there. My (computer's) bad. Wonderful clip!
Caskader 5 years ago
No! Where is the rest?! Please upload the rest of this scene! Oh, they're so good!
Caskader 5 years ago
I think she just sounds like an older Agnes Baltsa...
Dymension 5 years ago
I didn't sa she sounds exactly like her just a BIT. If you listen to Agnes Baltsa singing Stella del Marinar in La Gioconda with Caballe Pavarotti Milnes and Guirahov, there's aa note in there that is EXACTLY like Maria Callas. Yeah just thought i'd put that in there. Have a good one!:D
Joeleole 5 years ago
It's 1:35 into the song, and she's saying discenda, and it's that 'aaaa' that i'm talking about.
Joeleole 5 years ago
Agnes Baltsa sounds a bit like Maria Callas in her high notes, Placido has gotten more of a baratone in his voice and his high notes aren't as good as they once were but still a wonderful performance and you'd expect voices to fade a bit with age so meh. fabtastic!!!
Joeleole 5 years ago