Patrizia Ciofi - Salut a la France

[arturo8402]

she looks like she's in pain

[romondesbert]

Suppression totale des consonnes et même des mots dans l'aigu et pourtant ça reste bien laborieux ! On ne sent pas pas une véritable joie de chanter tant elle est préoccupée par sa technique.

[PopoliDiTessalia]

@romondesbert D'accord avec toi mon poussin, c'est minable!

Bise.

[akherousia]

Didn't like it. She is supposed to be happy to see them again and she is singing with such face like she's at the funeral. but at least the aria wasn't cut

[skitzo429]

she sounds great, but that Eb looked painful, and those veins popping out of her neck...

[killerbunny123123]

bravissima!!!

[killerbunny123123]

well it's rather unusual to see a soprano of her caliber having so much trouble reaching anything above high C....maybe what's in charge is that having such a rich voice she should be a bit heavier in the body as well? None the less she is a wonderful artist.

[RamonFarto]

quanta stupidezza si permite scribire nel youtube

[pappappero0o]

Pessima...Urla senza espressione, solo isteria che si confronta ad un organo vocale limitato. Non appoggia i suoni e stramazza, a tratti fuori tempo e nemmeno un mib decente alla fine. A CASA!!

[rockgor]

Brava! Great voice! Great singing.

I wonder if the audience could see her in her khaki gown surrounded by

all those khaki uniforms. And she had an ugly dress in the clip from

Gianni Schicchi.

Are any productions true to the original libretto anymore?

[TheMariele59]

SI !!!!! E' Il Teatro C. Felice di Genova.... Splendida esecuzione....

[TheMariele59]

SI !!!!! é il Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova.... Esecuzione memorabile !!!!

[Bigman240]

Penso sia GENOVA, non Torino

[Wotan123456789]

I dont think its her best performance. She struggles with the tessitura. As far as Ciofi goes with La Fille, her best moment its while singing the more lyrical "Il faut partir".

[sillyboydeux]

@Wotan123456789 I think you struggle with the truth. The final top note is free and approached through portamento (much more difficult!) rather than interval, where you don't run the risk of raising the larynx. She basically has balls and it is wonderful to know she hasn't even hit her prime. How can you argue that? I hear no strain in the voice whatsoever. She has the kind of vocal depth in all her singing that I have not heard since Renata Scotto.

[Wotan123456789]

I do agree with you that Ciofi is a committed artist and I do enjoy her portrayals, but anything above C is for her a struggle, I have worked with her and I know from herself how hard becomes to move freely in high tessiture.

I don't know whether she hit her prime or not, but roles like Lucia, Gilda (you can hear here in youtube her Caro Nome from Madrid 09) and Marie are beyond her limits.

[mattyslipp]

There isn't much of a struggle going on in this video. She sustains the core of her voice throughout the tessitura and isn't merely grabbing at the notes, they're all there and quite solid. There's a split second of holding on her final interpolated noted and she quickly lets it go to let it ring and vibrate freely.

[sillyboydeux]

It's a beautiful sound, and she's terribly exciting. Let her make faces. Did you ever watch Callas' faces, or Sutherland's? Ridiculous sometimes! I would kill to see her in this, especially the Lesson Scene! Brava Patrizia et Vive La France!

[Wotan123456789]

Watch Callas or Sutherland faces, there is a strong muscular activity in their face going on while singing , but their necks and shoulders remain free from stressed, violent movements!

[sillyboydeux]

I've watched them both a million times and the differences to me aren't worth mentioning. Opera's a bitch and then they fade away! A ridiculously exhausting, overrated way to spend your life, in some ways; in other ways the path to innovation is limitless if you know what to do with your talent.

[Wotan123456789]

I agree with you completely! Ciofi is a consumate artists that shows herself at her best in roles like Giulietta, Amenaide even Violetta, I wonder how such a clever artist hasnt realize that her best talent is not in coloratura roles like these.

[Wotan123456789]

And by these I mean: Marie, Gilda, Lucia, Amina...

[sillyboydeux]

I don't think it's that hard, for a major talent like hers, to strengthen the 1/3 above High C. I am sure when she decides to focus on it, she will make it stronger. She's a flesh and blood singing actress, so basically don't care. Give the high notes back Lily Pons and Mado Robin, the two twinkletoes coloraturas who began the tradition of interpolating irrelevant high notes whenever possible.

[mattyslipp]

That may be true, but the fact that she can do those roles in such an excellent way and then be able to come do this stuff, how excellent?!

[nadopera90]

sicuri che sia a torino?

[sacodeplomo99]

Que linda esta mujer! la plus belle femme du monde après ma copine

[persthlm71]

nonetheless, beautiful agile voice, despite her tense looks - I guess one has to live with that...Looking forward La Traviata in September at La Fenice!

[MisterSoprano]

I am more and more fond of Patricia. Seen her life once in Vienna and was great! Sure, Natalie is better in this role (seen her life), but she's cool too!

[GermanOperaSinger]

I does sound wonderful...but her face! She looks like she's about to spit blood, like at 3:30! I don't know if she's straining or that face is just her habit.

[curthan]

I think it's obvious that she's straining^^

To sing like this isn't easy. Not a bit.

But I think it doesn't really matter how you look when you sing opera, because the audience is too far away to exactly see her.

never the lesse of her looks she has a wonderful voice.

[iubanne]

con calma cara Ptrizietta. La Francia è un paese bello...secolarizzato e mezzo laicsta...ma bello. Vive la France.....rispettiamo la nostra gola! poveretta

[zakar67]

Una voce non grande ma educata, buoni propositi ma poco rilievo, peccato! Comunque un buon elemento.

[Villainesse1]

holy crap! I thought it sounded pretty good but she looked like night of the living dead. I thought the whole point was to "make it look easy"...it just made me feel uncomfortable and tense.. what was with that right shoulder! yikes.

[Pavarotti4eva]

no, the whole point is to sound good,

but she does strain visually alot!

[Jeffmc200]

well obviously. It sounding good goes without saying..but generally you are taught to be as loose and tension free as possible.  I have noticed a few singers (coloraturas especially) that seem to have both beautiful tone and uncomfortable looking ticks. I just find it off putting as a singer to watch it.

[tphowle]

Maybe if she ate about 20 cheeseburgers she would put on some weight and REALLY be able to sing this, although I enjoy her, she looks anorexic and very tense

[dinacarina88]

I just wached it again and those faces just scare theyou know what out of me.

[mariogorga]

After a beautiful rendition of "Il faut partir.."this is not good strained on the top and she has the same trait as Bartoli with those horrible face expressions,what is with that and new singers?

[dinacarina88]

This is great, she kinda scares me though. I feel like she may cast an evil spell on me. The e flat was good, and very few can sing an e flat with a pretty face.

[Wotan123456789]

That "e-flat" was not good at all!

[mrportobello]

Alright, so the e-flat is not Ciofi's best note. This is surprising to me because she has such a glorious and easy instrument. All the rest of her high notes are fabulous. Ciofi is fantastic. The interpretation is great as well. I just love her tone!

[puccinilover]

Eh not terrible but I'm looking forward to Natalie dessays premire in the role and I like dessays recording of this aria better

[basiltorian]

Good though I prefer Joan Sutherland's performance.

[VerdianoBR]

Ciofi is stunning! Her singing is full of strange faces and things like that, but the result is beautiful and her interpretation is lively and exciting. My favourite is still Sutherland, but Ciofi is one of the best Maries I've heard!

[Orombello]

Bravissimo, Ciofi! Extraordinaire Marie. This recording from Genova, not Torino.

[mbaggarly]

I love Patrizia, but this performance didn't do that much for me. She is having to work too hard for the Eflat. My favorite performance of this aria is from Kathleen Battle's "Bel Canto" CD. I did enjoy this performance, it just wasn't what I hoped for. Thank you for posting it.

[tphowle]

Thats from Kathleens Frech arias CD : )

[mbaggarly]

Ah, yes! Thanks...I knew that but was not paying attention...I just thought Bel Canto Opera, and named off the wrong CD. OOPS!