Montserrat Caballe live "Merce, dilette amiche" from I Vespri Siciliani

You can download the whole opera here:
http://www.angelfire.com/nf/amenemhat/blog/

Montserrat Caballe in the live performance of I Vespri Siciliani .
Monforte Sherrill Milnes
Bethune Robert Goodloe
Vaudemont Edmond Karlsrud
Tebaldo Nico Castel
Roberto Andrij Dobriansky
Elena Montserrat Caballé
Ninetta Cynthia Munzer
Procida Justino Diaz
Arrigo Nicolai Gedda
Danieli Douglas Ahlstedt
Manfredo Paul Franke

Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera House
Conductor James Levine
9 march 1974 New York Metropolitan

Mercé, dilette amiche,
Di quei leggiadri fior;
Il caro dono è immagine
Del vostro bel candor!
Oh! fortunato il vincolo
Che mi prepara amor;
Se voi recate pronube
Felici augurii al cor!
Sogno beato, caro delirio,
Per voi del fato l'ira cessò!
L'aura soave che qui respiro
Già tutti i sensi m'inebbriò.
O piaggie di Sicilia,
Risplenda un dì sereno;
Assai vendette orribili
Ti lacerano il seno!
Colma di speme e immemore
Di quanto il cor soffrì,
Il giorno del mio giubilo
Sia di tue glorie il dì,
Sogno beato, caro delirio, ecc., ecc.

CORO:
L'affetto che inspiri
Seduce ognicor!
È serto di gloria
Il serto d'amor!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Montserrat
• Caballe
• Nicolai
• Gedda
• Sherrill
• Milnes
• Justino
• Diaz
• Merce
• dilette
• amiche
• Vespri
• siciliani
• Giuseppe
• Verdi
• opera
• live

[tomasburi]

I prefer this rendition over any rendition by Callas I have ever heard, sorry :-( Callas "Merce, dilette amiche" was slower, than interpretation of many other sopranos, but Caballe makes the slower parts more interesting and pleasing to my ears. I think Deutekom, Ponselle and Cerquetti performed really well in faster tempo.

[Klassizismus]

THANK you so much for this video!! I simply love Montserrat Caballé - one of the most glorious voices I've ever heard!

[NEBESHIKU]

@NEBESHIKU ...cann't

[NEBESHIKU]

zero coloratura and trills and nothing past high c, boring. The voice is beautiful but since it can do fast runs the tempo is slowed beyond what Verdi asked.

[kgarmaker123]

@tomasburi to even mention Caballe in this aria, with the name Callas, is very wrong. Callas, was so much better, to start with .. she had REAL trills.

[kgarmaker123]

@assindiastignani Thank you for confirming, what I already suspected about Caballe.. When the tempos were bad, they were to accomodate her vocally. Interesting that you had trouble hearing her in the house as well. I have never been much of a caballe fan.

[assindiastignani]

@kgarmaker123 Levine is a great conductor, which is the only reason she gets through this aria as well as she does. With Caballe, you had two choices: either you accompanied her every whim, or you weren't together. The accoustic of the video is not to blame; in the house you couldn't hear her either.Vocally the best Elena of that time was Deutekom, musically it was Scotto. Who also sang this very well was Maralin Niska. Remember her? Great singer. God awful, ugly production by John Dexter.

[OLIVCHEN77]

Is this the recording which she held to tone in the finale?

Brava- its a long Opera, she sounds fresh. Brava

[asdfopera]

no trill and no E.

[Leonora1510]

BRAVA!!

[eugenelohks]

@tomasburi but Callas' is exactly at the tempo Verdi asks for, I'm sure she could have done it much faster!

[Godzilla1664]

The acoustic is to blame,I agree too.Caballe is a legendary Elena in the opera history.