The "Son vergin vezzosa" Contest - Beverly Sills

Bellini wrote so many absolutely irresistible arias that it is very difficult to choose the best one. Many will remember the genius "Casta Diva", the gentle Amina arias "Come per me sereno" and "Ah! non credea mirati", the glorious "A te, o cara"... The list goes on and on. But one aria stands out in the list of Bellini's arias: the quite delightful polonaise aria for Elvira from "I Puritani" "Son vergin vezzosa", a gentle piece, almost Rossinian in its peaceful happiness. One of my all time favorite arias, "Son vergin vezzosa" can be a boring showpiece in the hands of an average singer, but an imaginative artist can work magic with it. This "contest" includes renditions from the following singers: the sublime Amelita Galli-Curci, the virtuosic Beverly Sills, the silver-voiced Joan Sutherland, the wonderful Lucia Aliberti, the intelligent Mariella Devia, the powerful Montserrat Caballe, the high-flying Mado Robin, the artistic Maria Callas and the exquisite Sumi Jo. I do hope you enjoy this contest (the system is the same: the marks range from 1 to 5; there are two categories: singing/characterization; so your mark (+ comment :-) ) should look like this: (*/*))! Also, if you have the time, listen to all the versions, I think it's interesting to compare them all to see what makes each rendition so special. Thank you all in advance for your comments and opinions :-) !

P.S. I'm using this opportunity to say that I have come across some new versions of "Una voce poco fa" for the Youtubers to savour, I hope that I will be able to put them up as soon as possible.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Amelita
• Galli-Curci
• Beverly
• Sills
• Joan
• Sutherland
• I
• Puritani
• Mariella
• Devia
• Montserrat
• Caballe
• Maria
• Callas
• Bellini

[Mooorhe]

Callas couldn't touch Sills's Elvira. Sills had more secure higher notes, better coloratura and a trill that was to die for.

She also captures the innocence and naivety of Elvira far better than Callas does.

As I said, Callas was nothing as an Elvira in comparison to the likes of Sutherland and Sills.

[Mooorhe]

Callas wasn't the best Elvira at all.

[1717PRO]

Sutherlands version is warmer and I like the last note with sutherland, but sills brings more character to the role

[1717PRO]

@Drelnis yes she has, with gedda as arturo and plishka as giorgio...I've heard that gedda is in very poor form...

[cantorandopera]

Perfection!!!!! What more can you ask for?????

[caltrask51]

Does anyone know where I can download this? None of the itunes collections has this song with Beverly.

[7441338norman]

{5/5} just the right sound for the part as well as perfect trills on the upper and lower tones my bid for the contest.

[Smile6784]

the best - Sills has fun with music, she plays with he song

[abracadabranque]

Très bien!

[Candlel1ghtChaos]

This is the first one I've heard of the actual aria, not a cut version of it! Brava!

[RoOodOoOloOmeg]

@Vendimi3 Not exactly. Beverly's dream was to make opera fun or tragic. She's highly remembered for bringing back some Bel canto's costumes like making plenty of coloratura and all that hullabaloo tastefully. She certainly owed a lot to Callas as Sutherland and Caballe did. No soprano that sing bel canto can deny that. And I would say Sills get close to Callas when about acting in comedies.

[jmuslvr]

The one time I saw Beverly Sills perform live was in" I Puritani". And, when she came on stage, it was like all the lights shone brighter. She was a superb singer, a great actress, and she had enormous stage presence. It was one of the finest opera performances that I have ever seen or heard. And I have seen and heard plenty of them.