Georg Frideric Handel - Giulio Cesare in Egitto - "Da tempeste" (Beverly Sills)

Beverly Sills surely was one of the greatest sopranos of the past century, moreover a true vocal virtuoso and, even more importantly, a very lovely person :-). Her recordings of Donizetti's "Anna Bolena" & "Roberto Devereux" are hard to beat (especially if we are talking about the latter), her Lucia still brings tears to our eyes and her perky Norina & Fiorilla make us laugh. Come to think of it, Sills was a very rare kind of singer: she gave meaning to everything she sang; even the silliest aria became a small masterpiece in her hands. The present except proves these points. Cleopatra's "Da tempeste" is a quite difficult aria, technically speaking, but Sills astounds us with the easiness of her singing without any apparent effort, while managing to convey the character of Cleopatra properly. I do hope you enjoy this rendition (your comments are most welcome :-) ).

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Beverly
• Sills
• Handel
• Guilio
• Cesare
• Coloratura
• Da
• tempeste

[willrobinson1229]

I think what is so special about Sills, aside from the technical mastery and musicality, there is JOY in her voice which is the rarest and most beautiful of qualities for an artist to possess. That special quality places her above all the rest who may be simply technicians.

[bjmiceli]

Sills is the only really complete characterization of Cleopatra which I have heard. She sounds young, clever, witty, willful, spiteful, charming, and beguiling. All the things we know Cleopatra to have been from historians. Sutherland is too heavy and mature sounding and the others on CD tend to lack the glamour and "star quality" which are so necessary for this celebrity from antiquity. Sills' voice is just right in weight and the ornaments sound natural and right.

[sayersbrock]

and her role as Cleopatra is what truly put her on the Pantheon of opera greats...am i going too far in saying that i find her trill technique just divine in every way?

[haranoe]

@balabanov11 Why are you talking about Sills there while naming Sampson (are you even serious about the compared dictions of Sills and Sampson)?

People who got their ears and taste educated in XIXth century "opera" and postclassical musicality in general should stop making fools of themselves by attempting to judge XVIIIth century music and the "right" way to render it.

[buddmar]

@bjmiceli What a brilliant and erudite observation! I thoroughly agree! What intrigues me is your reference to the real historical character that Miss Sills portrays. Is there not a tendency to see characters in operas as merely roles, even if it was based on a real person? The character is Cleopatra Thea Philopator VII, a Hellenistic queen of Macedonian descent and ruler of Alexandria and Egypt ... a woman so remarkable and enchanting she became the most famous woman of all antiquity.

[muatlas]

Sherrill Milnes and Beverly Sills made an album-signing appearance at a San Francisco more years ago than I care to admit. I brought all my albums--several dozen. Milnes kindly signed all the ones with him. Sills was on all the albums. She was very funny. As she signed her photo over and over again, she exclaimed, "My God, I'm getting younger and younger.

[Babs22h]

i would love to her fleming sing this (DONT CHOP OFF MY HEAD).. I just really enjoy hearing fleming baroque-it up a little;-)

[genlee555]

ughghg... not the best interpreter of baroque repertoire. And sorry balabanov11, but Carolyn Sampson rocks this shit.

[singinciaran]

Bubbles! :o)

[balabanov11]

Carolyn Sampson?! Are you kidding me? I just listened to her singing this - it would help if she first learned how to pronounce the language correctly ( it's laughable), and then learn how to sing fioratura. Apart from all that, it's a splendidly pedestrian voice as well. thanks for the tip - i never have to hear her again.

[haranoe]

Like Spaniards say, in the land of the blind rules the short-sighted one-eyed one

I am glad that finally someone like Carolyn Sampson can give material proof of why this sort of interpretation stinks... the orchestra in particulart is a riot.