Casta Diva Battle Royale: Ponselle vs. Callas vs. Sutherland 

There is no reason to judge who was best out of these 3 sopranos. Sutherland had purity and immense clarity in her voice, Ponselle had raw talent and immense power and, in my view, Callas had the dramatic edge that made her a real operatic diva! I love all three of them!

Most of the recordings of Ponselle were acoustic, in that, she sang into a horn and the vibration cut the disc and did not have the technical advantages in recording today -- even though they don't do exact justice to any recording artist. When vacuum tubes came into being at RCA, they brought the recording equipment to Ponselle's home to record, and her voice was so powerful that she literally blew out the vacuum tubes. Ponselle had a seamless legato and a very powerful voice, and from what I understand, she was pretty much self-taught. Callas was a musician, she could play the piano, and followed the score in a very exact form. The story goes that during the German occupation, there was a curfew in Italy, so Maria opened the doors to her balcony an sang at the piano in full voice to spite the Nazis. She had excellent timing and acting, along with characterization on her side, which her films verify; furthermore, from what I have heard, in her voluptuous early days, Callas's voice was powerful and sturdy up and down the scale. Sutherland had an outstanding vocal technique and beauty of tone with absolutely great breath control. In “Maria Stuarda”, she had an aria where her breath control was simply a phenomenon. Her voice in person was extraordinary in filling a huge theater, which none of the recordings did justice. The unique thing of Sutherland was the volume, the hugeness of her voice, yet it had extreme flexibility and control. How about giving each lady credit for her place in the operatic history and as far as who was the greatest -- that will always be up for interpretation and opinion. It was like in the days of Sills . . . people wanted one to either be on one side or the other, but I liked both for different reasons. Sutherland's technique and range, coupled with huge quality sound were unbeatable; however, the personality, the delicacy with the floating high notes were quite lovely from Sills . . . and when she fearlessly took on Queen Elisabeth in “Roberto Devereux” . . . even though it most likely overtaxed and ruined her voice, she did a beautiful job as is captured on film and recording. I had the privilege of hearing them both in person . . . different people, different techniques, both talented ladies. Enjoy them all for their own sakes . . . the battle to state who and why they are the absolute best will never be won.

Rosa Ponselle is for ever the best. Thank you very much.

There is no final run up to the high note for Sutherland. The last phrases are so important, and Joan typically sings them beautifully. I liked all the versions, Ponselle's is rich and sonorous, Callas's sound is dark and tragic, Sutherland's more melting and ethereal. All were beautiful.

the richness and natural flow of the Joan Sutherland voice and the incomparable legato of the marvelous voice of Rosa Ponselle

There's this something else in Callas' singing. Other than an impeccable voice, she sings with love and so much affliction of love. Ah, Callas...!

1. Ponselle for her beautiful, rich tone 2. Callas for the lovely voice and feeling 3. Sutherland elegant in the high G Thank you for the comparison which I like to do with tenors and sopranos;

1. Ponselle for her beautiful, rich tone 2. Callas for the interpretation 3. Sutherland

I greatly respect and admire both Ponselle and Sutherland's interpretation of this aria. However, for me, in the role of Norma, Callas does remain the supreme interpreter. Her reading is full of melting portamenti and those shimmery downward chromatic scales that set my skin aflame! Her characterization is powerful, but feminine enough to bring the character to life.

the ladies each brought something different and unique to the roles they sang, so let us not ask them to compete !! ENJOY THEM ON RECORDINGS, AND PRAY THEY ARE SINGING IN PARADISE ! ROSA WAS THE "CARUSO IN PETTICOATS"

What a contest! Between the 3 best Normas of all time!!! My vote, on these recordings only, goes to Sutherland, just for the sheer spin she puts on her voice and how it floats!

Poncell Callas Sutherland Compare how the three negotiate the climactic B flat - the highest note in the aria. I agree with the prior poster. Any soprano who can sing Norma successfully is to be admired.

Tre donne meravigliose ! è ovvio che preferisco la bellezza divina della vocalità unica delLa Rosa Ponselle. adoro anche La Callas per la sua sensibilità e forza espressiva artistica unica. Una Dea americana,una Dea greca e una bravissima Sutherland. purtroppo voci come queste non cantano più. Tre donne meravigliose ! Grazie !

Las tres son ABSOLUTAMENTE IMPRESIONANTES. No cabe la comparación.

Nobody doubts that Callas was the unrivalled actress among the galaxy of 20th century sopranos, but it cannot be denied that Sutherland was the more consistent vocalist.

They are all wonderful, but my favourite was definitely Rosa Ponselle. Such a natural and healthy voice and yet so sonorous, as someone already pointed out. Although Maria and Joan are to be equally commended.

Very different audio:Ponselle way to A...so so.Full voice.Callas magic,like the moon.Sutherland stupenda.....to remember Caballè.Orange 74,perfection.

Three truly great singers. It's nice to hear them all lined up and enjoy what they all did. I can't rank them, since I reach for one of their Casta Divas, along with Caballe's on a daily basis. Okay, probably Maria's most often. Still, not ranking. LOL. My question is this: Why on earth is no one singing like this today?

Ponselle. Sutherland. Callas. But Callas' version moves me most. Go figure.

I consider myself very lucky: I heard both Callas and Sutherland in live performance. But more to the point, I still derive huge pleasure from the work of each of these artists. Sutherland is a flute and Callas is a violin: there is an age old rivalry between those two instruments. Should we be surprised that that rivalry persists in our appreciation of these two great singers? Should we be surprised that we can no better resolve that rivalry than did those of the past?

Y me encanta esto: Ponselle, Callas y Sutherland! YES! No las pongamos en contra

1.Ponselle: amasing voice, beautiful in every single tone she sings, especially if u take in acount that she was almoust self thaught. some parts of the coloratura section are not the best though: 2- Callas: for me the best Norma ever recorded period. I accept thouse who say that her voice wasnt beautiful, eventhough for me its the best voice to express drama; 3- Surtherland, forget norma. beautifull voice, lacks in the dramatic capability

All three are lovely , but Ponselle and Callas will always be my favorites.

Life has its dark times when Callas speaks to us with uncanny seeming prescience; if we're lucky, life will also have the times when Sutherland makes us happy to be alive. Too bad that isn't a choice for some people.

All three are bliss!

Wow, thanks for posting this! I would say that Callas won this one for warmth and interpretation, although Ponselle was lovely. I've never been a Callas fan, but maybe I need to do some more listening.

Thumbs up if you love them all! :D (Side note: This is probably Sutherland's least dramatic Casta Diva; she hadn't sung it on stage yet.)

I am a Callas ahem person but I feel this video did unfair service to Dame Joan. Scatchy recording for Ponselle is understandable. But to go from a crystal clear Callas, to a much reduced volume, muffled sound for Dame Joan. That doesn't seem fair. Again I am a Callas Queen and I understnd all of the argument about mush mouth poor acting for Sutherland. All have merit, but that voice is undeniably glorious and every bit as thrilling as Callas's. She deserves a version worthy of her.

Rosa Ponselle have a great sense of using her voice ins service of operatic singing. Maria Callas was a great interpreter of each choices she makes, nobody walked on staged like her, she listened carefully to the desire of written opera. Joan Sutherland is epitome of breath control, demonic trills, and laser beam high notes that can hear even at back of stage with perfect pitch... Forget about who make's Norma.. Lets listen on how they embrace the world of opera.

Only one embodied the 'Swan' and his long, long, breathless lines. Sustained not only beauty of tone and phrase but didn't breathe wherever she wished. Brava to the clear choice.

I forgone the love for the high notes ever since I heard the voice Ponselle, Cigna, Tetrazzini, Hidalgo, etc. I used to think Robin, Mesple, Hallstein, and all other coloratura wannabes, It's very beautiful to hear a full voice.

After all, ultimately isn't it all about who gives us the most of what we want? We opera lovers are very needy: we like to think that we pick and choose on the basis of performance merit, but really aren't we picking and choosing in response to our emotional needs? That's my take on it, and I think that point of view goes a long way to explain the huge disparity in attitude between the Callas camp and the Sutherland camp: it's not simply about the singers, it's about the listeners.

Personally, I respect each and every one of these extraordinary artists. I even respect those who are not in this list as it takes a great deal of work and dedication in order to get to their degree of fame and art. The perfect voice in itself probably does not exist as every one will find a tiny detail in order to discredit the one he doesn't favour... so it really becomes a personal opinion which never represents the truth anyway. My modest opinion is that opera as it was conceived by Monteverdi and la Camerata fiorentina was what it's called "Recitar cantando" (acting through singing) which means that commanding an aesthetically beautiful voice does not mean a thing if you have the same color and sound whether you sing Mozart of Wagner, about love or death. For this reason, we should always be very objective because a simply beautiful voice doesn't do justice to the great cause of opera. Too many people go to the opera just to listen to some fireworks or a E flat in alt ... or a do di petto. A score is made of much much more than those two notes. And i also don't care about how many years a career lasted... what counts is the indelebile mark that an artist leaves on this beautiful thing we call Opera. Having said this, i appreciate all of those artists who worked to gift us with the music we love. I have always though that the measure that gives us the definition of what is art and what isn't is time! And if after almost 70 years since her "glorious era" Callas is still the best selling soprano and every artist uses her records to study and memorise roles... well, this probably means something (or a lot!). Enjoy the music people, it's one of the very few beautiful things that we still possess!

Tutte davvero bravissime, ma l'unica vera Norma rimarrà sempre la Callas.

Did Sutherland ever sing this aria with a hint of artistry or genuine musicality? Free top, warm middle, beautifully controlled line yes, but the most appalling diction for Bel Canto and a complete inability to convey anything other than an aesthetically beautiful voice. Callas had EVERYTHING. Legato, consistency of sound throughout the whole aria, remarkable agility through the sharp turns and portamento in and out of the crescendos and stunningly expressive phrasing and dramatic impact. Ponselle had perhaps the most gorgeous voice ever recorded in opera, but she never had a secure upper register and the fioratura is far less florid and fluent as Callas's.

It's ridiculous to read that Callas didn't have the technical abilities for belcanto. Gosh, the woman could do a diminuendo on high E, she could do trills in messa di voce, scales two octaves long, she could even sing a high Eb size of a nuclear bomb. There was no coloratura passage she could not sing correctly and with natural grace, an appearance of easiness. And she could use her, without doubt, extraordinary, once-in-a-century voice to achieve cathartic dramatic effect. Now THAT is beauty, that is art. Sutherland is a chirping bird next to Callas.

Yes, these 3 are casta diva. Lovely ladies, all 3!

Damme Joan sutherland is unbeatable, her voice flow so naturally. for me great soprano of the record era. is a delight to listen the records from decades of 60 and 70 with the best tennor of the record era (maibe comparable only with Caruso) Pavarotti

MarcoCallas, let's start with your question, the relevance of pureness of sound to interpretation. To my ears, both Callas and Sutherland had great purity of sound. Sutherland is also commonly acknowledged to have great beauty of sound; in the case of Callas, she herself knew that her sound was not always beautiful in the conventional sense, and even at its best an acquired taste. Those of us who acquired that taste never regretted it!

Sutherland has nothing to do on this ¨competition¨.

Creo que la intención de comparar para admirar es saludable pero si lo que se pretende es hacer un vs como si se tratara de una competición por la mejor versión es irrespetuoso para ambas divas. La Muzzio fue la divina durante décadas y ese apelativo lo heredó la Callas con absoluta justicia y por otros atributos. Muzio, Caniglia y Callas forman un terceto que se sucedió desde comienzos de siglo hasta mediados del s.XX brindando las mejores versiones de todo el repertorio tradicional. Yo soy fanático hasta los pelos del alma de María Callas pero en este caso tomar la voz de la Ponselle que no es la misma que seguramente han escuchado los públicos que la adoraron por años, y hacerla competir con la más grande intérprete del bell canto que hemos escuchado alguna vez, desmerece lo que no puede desmerecerse, puesto que Ponselle tiene un estilo propio, fue única como la Callas tambien lo fue y como las grandes que nombré también. Es cierto que para la Callas no había límites, pero no porque fuera mejor, de todas ellas es la única "soprano asolutta" ya que en su registro iba de la contralto dramática a la soprano ligera de coloratura lo cual hace que fuera una voz única ya que de las artistas que dejaron registros fonográficos ninguna tenía esta capacidad. Si tenemos en cuenta que en María 50% era cantante y 50% era actriz y que en ambas facetas descollaba, ponerla en paralelo de cualquiere, podríamos hasta gustar más de la otra voz pero Callas es una integridad y eso no se puede obviar a la hora de pesar cuantitativa y cualitativamente a un artista. Ponselle tenía una voz más bella que la Callas donde el color era metálico y hasta hiriente al oido en los agudos, pero hacía un pianissimo y solo salen lágrimas del ojo de quien lo escucha. No apruebo las comparaciones entre colosos.

Rosa Ponselle!

Callas

1.) Rosa Ponselle 2.) Maria Callas 10.) Joan Sutherland my result!

the title shouldn't be "Ponselle vs. Callas vs. Sutherland" it should be Ponselle+Callas+Sutherland= BEL CANTO!!!

Rosa Ponselle, quelle beauté, et on le remarque même avec ces enregistrements....

BELLEZA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Remember the keys moved up since Bellini's time. The way Callas & Ponselle sang it is most definitely closer to Giuditta Pasta's and Maria Malibran's performances (As described by the likes of Stendhal) than Sutherland's or Gruberova's.

Love these "comparison clips." I listened to each Casta Diva available on RU-vid a few weeks ago; may I recommend Caballe (at the Bolshoi)and Claudia Muzio as worthy additions to this extraordinary trio? (I also enjoyed Bartoli, but she's too much of an argument starter.)

Sem dúvida a voz de Sutherland é muito melodiosa e agradável ao ouvido, porém, as vozes de Poncell e Callas são fortes e apelam ao coração!Contudo todas são perfeitas!

I feel you might misunderstand who 'Norma' is, and maybe also the whole sense of what performing is all about. Callas, as weird as it may sound, was musically very humble: what she wanted to achieve was "give justice to the composer", not "Oh, look, I can sing better than any other soprano". And she did. And she is the only one who can actually give life to this difficult aria (the others do well, very well sometimes, but they just sing notes).

as far as i´m concerned, the whole point of opera is to make you feel something, to elevate you, take you to a higher plan of existance... that being said, i really believe that Callas is the best Norma FOR ME! each note is embalmed with a profound range of emotions, i can clearly hear the battle between duty and love that aflicts the caracter, she had a flawed voice, and that IS TRUE, but she made bel canto mean something to me! Sutherland is a wonderfull technitian, her breath controll is just unbelievable but i cant really feel anything deeper than the pure and beatifull sound of her voice, no pathos ... so, for that kind of role i really prefer Callas :)

I have listened over and over to everything Ponselle recorded, and I just have never understood all the fuss. It's without doubt a beautiful sound, but I find her interpretations unimaginative and uninspired and her musicality provincial. Her top always sounds short and her coloratura is often so sloppy as to be embarrassing, as in Traviata. I do love some of her Villa Pace recordings of 1954, especially those sung in Sicilian dialect, which are very charming. Sutherland had a beautiful voice and incredible technique, but singing legato was something she always struggled with (as she herself says so in an interview) and I don't need to say much about her diction. In fast music, she was spectacular, and those high notes and trills were without equal. Callas had the least pretty voice of them all, but it was by far the most haunting voice, a voice that always kept you fascinated. And she could change the color and weight of the voice to match each character. She had flawless legato, incredible musicality, a range as wide as Sutherland's but with more powerful low notes. She also could use words in a way that was truly mind boggling. She also had a great florid technique including trills that while not as spectacular on their own as Sutherland's, were always dependable and far more expressive. She also could do technical feats that I have to yet hear from anyone else, including diminuendos on a high E-flats (Sonnambula 1957 Cologne) and messa di voce on a trill, as she does in d'amor sul ali in Trovatore (La Scala 1953). I often find Sutherland to be far more dramatic and moving than she was given credit for. Over all, I would say that where as Ponselle and Sutherland are great singer, Callas was a genius.

Thank you for the correction.

Yo creo que como Juan el Bautista fue el " Precursor del Mesías" Rosa Ponselle fue la " precursora" de Maria Callas y Dame Sutherland una seguidora MUY Digna! En sus momentos. There is not such a thing as Soprano VS Soprano. Dicho sea de paso! La Sutherland me sorprende muy gratamente!

All 3 very nice, but...Ponselle's Casta Diva was the model for all others, not Calla's.... and it is not fair to compare a recording of Ponselle's with the other 2 with the magic of digital efects... Brava Ponselle!!!!!

But doesn't everyone remember Horne and Sutherland, or Telva and Ponselle or even, stretching things to the limit of recorded sound, Helbig and Lehmann (as in Lilli Lehmann who sang both Norma and the three Brunnhildes and famously said that one Norma was more difficult than all three Brunnhildes)?

Thanks, MarcoCallas. I agree with a lot of what you have written, in particular about Callas' determination to give justice to the composer. But to agree that Callas does that is not necessarily to imply that other singers do not. I feel that Callas approached this role from a twentieth century viewpoint. Because she was performing for twentieth century audiences, she was often able to move us in ways which at times seemed both intuitive and very personal. She spoke our language.

Thank you for posting these three divas. I won't rate or rank them, as they are all so magnificent and yet so very different that they cannot be compared. But I will say, in my book they are the only three Normas. No one else comes close.

En estas grabaciones: 1) Sutherland 2) Ponselle 3) Callas Pero por encima de las tres, la Caballé (incontestable e insuperable en Orange 1974).

All are beautiful. But the Sutherland's legato is unparalleled for me. Sutherland also brings an incredible warmth to the performance. Ponselle and Sutherland sing using the Bel Canto technique and it shows

Anita Cerquetti has my vote. So young, so appealing, so vulnerable.

4caerulus, I appreciated your intelligent comments. It is so nice to have perspicacious people in this so often common place. And indeed, you are priviledged to have heard both Callas and Sutherland live. When you say that other people try to do the same as she did, I am sure you are right. But how many actually delve into the character, beyond the music? I remember a Sutherland interview and she said that she aimed for pureness of sound, like Tebaldi. Is that the way to go about interpreting?

The story about Callas and Caballe reminds me of what happened after Callas died. Second rate sopranos never mentioned in the same breath as Callas or Sutherland, sensing the vacuum, began to preach the gospel of convincing characterization over that of beautiful, technically impeccable singing. They seemed to think that by praising the dead Callas they might attach her glamour to themselves and somehow diminish Sutherland. But Sutherland was a juggernaut: no one was fooled

Why called a " battle" ?

Now that we've heard this, I say let's hear a worthy comparison of "Suoni la tromb" from 'I Puritani'. They vary so wildly, it borders on the bizarre.

1. Callas 2. Ponselle 3. Sutherland

May I have all 3! Each has something unique to bring to the aria. Ponselle was supposed to have the most beautiful voice of all time and bigger even than Callas and Sutherland. I can't decide. I much prefer young fat Callas to slim elegant Callas vocally. Sutherland doing it in G is an astounding feat! I also love the richness of tone she developed in the middle of her voice in her last recorded version of Casta Diva in F.

Listening to all three of these recordings I feel that all of them are spectacular renditions. The only Casta Diva voice that i heard in live performance was that of Callas, on stage at the same time of the performance impdressed me as much as it did the audience (nine minutes of applause after the second part of the aria) did not affect my impression of what we had heard.. Callas likes heavy roles. She said once that she liked to 'warm up her voice' by running through parts of Verdi or other dramatic opera roles. She was considered a dramatic coloratura soprano. Ponselle, a dramatic soprana, Sutherlalnd , a lyric coloratura soprana. Voices change with usage and age. All depends on what you like in a voice. These three singers exibited excelent singing , much depending on their health and disposition at the time of the recording or performance. Audience participation can inspire or demean the final results.

Ponselle. Always Ponselle.

La voce divina della Ponselle è quella che meglio si fonde con la musica divina di Bellini. Ma la Muzio come mai non è citata?

Ponselle THE BEST!

Callas, grabs you more than the others and in this recording very good. Ponselle is a great singer technically. I have personally never been a fan of Southerland. She had a large voice and wide range but I do not think her's is suited for this opera, but she hits all the notes beautifully. Between the three, we are hearing arguably the greatest singers for Norma in the last 100 years. Thanks

All themm are fantastic. They have a grade 10/10. However, as is question of preferences and ther exists subjetivity in this criterion my order are Ponselle - Callas - Sutherland. jfsanin

Marìa Callas la mejor

EmilyGreene1984-I totally agree with you. I'm sorry though that Monserrat Caballe could not have been included in this mix,as none of the negatives would have applied to her. She iof all four my overall favourite.If you have not already done so-please listen here on you tube to her 's.

Maria the very best one among the best ones

Well it doesn't really matter what Rossini thinks anyway since Norma was composed by Bellini.

Is one approach intrinsically better than the other? Not for me: I say take you pick. Plenty of people have gotten enormous satisfaction from each of these artists. Want to double your pleasure: then learn to appreciate both for the disparate and unique qualities they bring to their art. There is no best in this game, but there are plenty of small minds which can see only part of the picture. I don't intend to be one of those.

Callas, Ponselle, Surherland

Супер.

All three are excellent and original. The old primitive acoustic recording (with CD glitches on top!) doesn't favour Ponselle when compared to post-War stereo... BUT... Norma is soooo much more than Casta Diva. This is just the big aria at the begining of the opera. Then starts the drama and it's where Callas really has no competition.

Callas 1949 - the beginning and end of story

PONSELLE: bad recording but i like her voice..really classical.. CALLAS: pure emotion. amazing interpretation. the real norma.. SUTHERLAND: great tone. bad phrasing though..amazing breath support

But back to your question: am I wrong when I guess that what you're alluding to is the practice of shaping the sound quality to convey the emotional meaning of the words? If that's what you mean, then you have hit on one of the salient differences between Sutherland and Callas: they were speaking different interpretative languages. Sutherland's interpretative language strikes me as being instrumental and figurative. That of Callas strikes me as being speech-centered and literal.

Ponselle is of course majestic. Have in mind this is not Callas at her best, her earlier live recordings are better. Sutherland is as usual unsuitable to sing anything with text.

Joan Sutherland is the perfection from an instrumental point of view.. Maria Callas is a tragic mask and her Norma is a milestone in the belcanto renaissance. Rosa Ponselle was a great singer but for what concerns belcanto there cannot be any comparison with Callas and Sutherland IMHO. In a different repertoir the history would be different

I prefer the 1960 recording of Callas, at the peak of her vocal expression. That casta diva is out of this world. Enjoyed Ponselle and Sutherland because they have an ethereal presence. Callas is more heroic.

Callas Ponselle Sutherland

I love comparing, but not the idea that it's a competition.

Ponselle and Sutherland simply sang Casta Diva. Callas WAS Casta Diva!

Definitivamente Maria Callas (1), la única que impregna de sentimiento y a la vez utiliza una hermosa tecnica de coloratura. Seguida o igualmente, que Joan Sutherland (quizas ella ornamenta demasiado los pasajes) mientras que Ponselle (aún influida por el estilo Adelina Patti) utiliza coloratura imprecisa y cortante que resta musicalidad a la melodía. Por cierto, Norma, fue creado para Giuditta Pasta (soprano sfogato) cuya voz quizas coincida con la de Callas, cantando Norma como pensó Bellini.

The 3 greatest of all Normas. Ponselle, Callas, Sutherland.

If it's about the colours of the voices, we can have different opinions. But opera, in this case Norma, is telling a story through singing, so the meanings of librettos are important. Both Callas and Ponselle had clear vowels, which are strongly emphasized in Italian speaking, while Dame Sutherland always had troubles with clarity. Many defended her by saying that Italian was not her native language, but it was actually due to her lack of proper chest register. In many recordings when Dame Sutherland actually used chest voice, though not a good one, her vowels became very clear, notably the aria of Desdemona. She avoided using chest voice and only focused on her upper register, which is why her tops were great. But opera is not just about high notes. 80% of the score is in the middle range, where singers, especially sopranos, have to adjust the balance between chest and head voices. That's why Dame Sutherland could never sing clearly and why folks like me never understand what she was singing, even in English.

Montserrat Caballe, Anita Cerquetti, Elena Souliotis

Sutherland and Callas left abundant recorded evidence of their very different approaches to this opera. Ponselle, on the other hand, is represented by only two brief recordings (unless a tape recording of her broadcast Norma exists in someone's attic). I would like to know what others think the Ponselle Norma in toto might have been like: more like Sutherland or more like Callas?

Ponselle capo stipite di tutte le grandissime dopo di lei.Meravigliosa

Callas is for me the best, then Ponselle and then Sutherland.

1 Sutherland 2 Callas 3 Ponselle

This is Callas' song. Ponsella is a titaness in her own right, but her voice is too delicate for this song.