Flagstad? Really? Pass. (If any cannot sense the sarcasm, I'll state that this is sarcasm) To have the chance to still enjoy these titans after they're gone is a genuine treasure
Of all these I was most impressed with Maria Callas. Her control and agility are unbelievable. In terms of timbre I really loved Nilsson, but that's just preference as all of these are world-class in Bel Canto.
Sutherland est parfaite dans les passages d'agilité ,mais elle chante tout de la même façon ,sans changement de couleur ,sans nuances .A t elle la compréhension de ce qu'elle chante ,ou fait elle un numéro de cirque ?
Luv all of the ladies 4 different reasons and usually dependent upon the role and composer! Neilson wagner and others Callas pucinni bellini and others but not mozart strauss Sutherland handle bellini etc Kiri mozart straus verdi I could go on but can say fekt so privelleged to bear witness to such grt singers luv them all
Tutte bravissime, le migliori, ma la Callas era al di fuori ed al di sopra ... inoltre cantava un repertorio talmente vasto che le altre non solo non cantavano ma in caso erano fughe dai loro ruoli. La Callas era sempre "in parte"... in modo magistrale
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They are all from the mid part of the century. To my mind Deanna Durbin has a superior voice to Callas. Of course the other four singers are all great.
I think u should have written huge voice, or strong big voice, not just only strong low notes, when you described Callas...i dont know why people dont praise her high notes, all other big voices, sound somehow like screaming and somehow too high while singing high notes, but when Callas sings high notes, one can feel the singing, it is a tone and not a scream, it has vibrato and stamina (e.g.high C from Norma 1949, first recital, high E from Traviata 1951)..i am sad that others dont feel that as well...i like Nilsson, but i dont understand why people always describe her as a huge voice and Callas not...Callas herself sung Wagner...and this recording is after her prime!!!! but thanks for the amazing video! greetings to all classical music lovers!!!
They were all great sopranos, but even I a lowly woodchopper, can tell you that Callas was demonically possessed by opera demons. She was in a different zip code. Nothing comes close to La Divina.
Young Joan Southerland was certainly among the legends. In her later years however, her voice became a little bit to harsh and shrill in the high notes to remain beautiful. But that fate she shares with many of the greats and it is probably a natural thing in soprano voices. In that respect, the "lighter" coloratura voices like Popp, Gruberova and Hallstein are perhaps in a big advantage...
With all my respect and admiration for all the other sopranos but oh my callas, her voice to me is the ultimate flame in opera, and if you really want to hear what a miraculous singer she is go back to her recordings from the late 40's & early 50's , she is the supreme, she is as good as it can get
The problem with most of the comments for this are that they confuse the ideas of "great sound", "great singing", and "great opera performance". Sutherland and Flagstad had great pure sound; all of them could provide great technical singing with their very different voices; Ponselle and Callas were the two great operatic performers who knew that they were not just giving a concert in costume. Anyone who sings any of the roles that these singers performed is, by simply doing that, a fine artist. What these singers bring is something beyond that and each of us who listens responds differently to those special aspects. I heard both Callas and Sutherland live. I heard Callas only in her farewell concert tour live; however that experience still remains perhaps the single greatest operatic "performance" I have experienced in over 50 years of opera going. Sutherland I heard in several of her greatest roles and hers are certainly some of the finest vocal performances. I prefer in the end the operatic experience alla Callas over the vocal experience alla Sutherland but would not want to have missed either.
I would agree but my preferences are reversed. Sutherland's greatest Norma's put me in a trance. I enjoyed Callas's very much but it was more of a dramatic experience than a musical one. Many times I had to forgive what I was listening to. I think Callas and Sutherland need to be taken out of any equation. They were sui generis. Sutherland didn't sing. She played her voice. Callas didn't really just sing either. It was more. I love Callas but when Sutherland is at her best I can barely move. Live she was also better than people give her credit for. It wasn't ACTING but there was charisma for days.
Wow I have never seen a singer that really expresses every single word she sings, and this is Callas! I am not an opera fun but what she does is just incredible! I understand every single word of her, her eyes are so expressive! This woman is opera, is theater, is drama, comedy, music. This is art! I feel very familiar with her temperament. All the other sopranos are boring, just singing notes, great voices but they look so fake...
There are many great sopranos. The best is really a personal opinion which we should be allowed to have. Galli-Curci is not right for Turandot and Birgit Nilsson not right for Rosina but in their own domains they are stupendous. If you do not like Sutherland ok but saying she went nowhere is just a false fact and she is certainly still remembered. Opinions and facts are different .
