11 Soprano's in "Ah! sento, o mio bel angelo" - I Puritani

I have always loved this aria, but it is so often cut from the score. Someone asked me about this aria the other day, and it got me thinking about how many sopranos have actually included it in live performance... this is what I found (there were a couple others, but these are some of the best):

1. Edita Gruberova
2. Elena Mosuc
3. Lucia Aliberti
4. Sumi Jo
5. Joan Sutherland
6. Martile Rowland
7. Mariella Devia
8. June Anderson
9. Beverly Sills
10. Anna Netrebko
11. Ruth Ann Sweson

Category:

Music

Tags:

• opera
• bellini

[SiEtIn1]

1) Sutherland

2) Sills

3) Swenson

.

.

987) FFJ

988) poor Anna Netrebko

[semiramide1945]

who the hell was that tenor singing along with Devia- She doesn't need ANY help

[MrLupo23]

Aliberti High F.

[hamb4]

Mariella Devia would be amoung the Top singers for this aria. Sutherland, Sills, Devia, Swenson

[DiomedesDioscuro]

IMO, Sutherland, Devia, Swenson and Anderson are the ones that can afford the part with virtuosity. Netrebko is the one that, not abel to do so, does it her own way. The rest of them just try to do something they can't, and, in particular, Gruberova, Sills and Jo just destroy the aria.

[ilNuovoArchaeOpteryx]

1) Sills

2) Swenson

3) Jo

The others are also fine, but the three really impressed me... Sills for her unbelieveable tempo, but nevertheless managing to sound easy, leggiero and absolutely happy... Swenson for being so absolutely fine and appropriate at all, and Jo for her intelligent handling of the text, paired with an attractive timbre. Netrebko is for me the weakest part included here, she falls back quite a lot behind the other ladies, but is still quite good here.

[kakurangers1993]

I liked the way Dame Sutherland's singing this song.

[ViardotVSGrisi]

Martile Rowland's fairy tale debut at the MET...easily one of the most exciting nights in that house in the early 90s

[coryisawake]

Yikes- Sills interpretation is almost unrecognizably Bellini or anything but a vocalise given the flaccid diction and Netrebko's Cliff's Note version is hilarious! thanks for sharing.

[ChrisStockslager]

Does anyone know what year / performance Sutherland began singing this piece?

[lginpdx]

I am very surprised to not be including Sills here. I Just didn't like the arrangement. It didn't suit her performance. Would like to hear Swenson speed up the tempo just a smidge.

Sutherland

Swenson

Anderson