Rosa Ponselle - "Divinites du Styx" from Gluck's "Alceste"

Rosa Ponselle sings "Divinites du Styx" from Gluck's "Alceste." This recording was broadcast on the December 3, 1934 "Chesterfield Hour" program. The orchestra is conducted by Andre Kostelanetz, who incidentally was Lily Pons' husband.

Ratings allowed as of July 22, 2010.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Rosa
• Ponselle
• Divinites
• du
• Styx
• from
• Gluck
• Alceste
• opera
• aria
• live
• 1934
• Andre
• Kostelanetz
• Chesterfield
• Hour
• radio
• yt:quality=high

[tarstan]

No problem with the top here but I find the wild tempo fluctuations make this almost unlistenable to. Not Ponselle's fault perhaps.

[VinylToVideo]

@tarstan In those days this kind one music was only played one way in America and to be honest that's the only way I can listen to it.

[VinylToVideo]

Are you saying her career ended because of a bad top? It's my understanding she didn't sign her '37/'38 contract because Johnson wouldn't let her perform Adriana Lecouvreur. In 1939 and 1954 RCA brought recording equipment to her home where several recordings were made and she was in excellent voice. She could of moved to a different company like other artists did; I'm sure San Francisco would of loved her. Perhaps during the depression though there weren't as many opportunities to do this.

[65attila]

An incredible voice wedded with a wonderful musical instinct. What a performance

[MrFalconford]

@tarstan your not fit to pick up this womans glove

[MrCafiero]

Now days they would label her a mezzo or contralto! LOL!!

[jfsanin]

nice video

[ciroalb3]

@VinylToVideo her retirement is complicated. First, she married, second, Johnson wasn't giving her the parts she wanted or as many dates as she might have liked. The pay was I think about $1,000 per performance, and half of that for say Cav., so it was no longer financially, professionally, or personally worth her while.

[MrSkylark1]

Compare ELIZABETH RETHBERG, NINON VALLIN, ROSA PAULY, MARJORIE LAWRENCE, ANITA CERQUETTI. Any one of these singers could match Ponselle. The

Metropolitan management and publicity is always a factor.

[goodboysv]

does anybody may whote down the lyric please?

[GermanOperaSinger]

@bonanplu I don't really hear too much difficulty with high notes in her earlier recordings. The 'Ponselle had bad high notes' hype was due largely in part to a single broadcast of Aida in which she missed the high C in 'o patria mia'. In any case Ponselle was never a true soprano in my opinion, but a mezzo who sang soprano early in her career, much like Marilyn Horne or Leonie Rysanek. Unlike the latter two, Ponselle just retired before she made an 'official' switch to the mezzo repertoire.

[ezcascar]

@bonanplu I say that high notes in full didn't sharpen, that is a good technique that few sopranos have. Ponselle had terror to high notes. Tebaldi's high notes nor were good, but it didn't sharpen volume