I believe this was opening night of the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1971. I was at this performance, and it's available on Bel Canto Records. I'll never forget that evening. The audience went crazy and hysterical. In fact the next day, both Sutherland and Horne made the front page of the Chicago Tribune ---with a COLOR photo, which I still have.
@Lohengrin: You could be right. The live recording I own from Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1971 has great sound. Sutherland still sounded in her prime, but Horne elicited gasps and astonishment from the audience with her vocal cadenzas. From Sutherland it was expected, but Horne was not quite yet at the pinnacle of her career, though the London recording was already in circulation. I'll never forget those performances. The top price ticket was $20.00 and I attended two more performances. I was sitting in the fifth row center right in front of the orchestra. One of the greatest occasions of my musical life. I was 25, settled in my teaching career, and decided to spend the money because I knew that I'd never hear it's like again. And I haven't, though Nilsson's and Solti's concert "Salome" at Symphony Center three years later came awfully close. I've been both blessed and cursed with a fabulous memory, though I also still remember other things that I'd love to forget, but that's a personal issue. Thanks for sharing this. I can close my eyes and relive the moments.
Wow rarely do we hear a performance that can one couldn't fault at all, it is so close to a flawless ideal that no human being could evr complain. This is Sutherland and Horne here. This is great even for Sutherland's high standards! It's baffling that the usual handful of detractors (who funnily enough seem to watch her videos more than some diehard fans of hers) are ridiculous enough to account for the 14 "dislikes" to this overwhelmingly beautiful performance.
Dame Joan always is fabulous. I saw her later, in her cg trovatore, with bonisolli and obraztzova, then the met Lucia and last the met puritani. Outstanding in all. And never again heard someone coming close in her repertoire.
Yes, I was there for one of her performances of "I Puritani" at the Metropolitan Opera. I always remember how when the chorus, et al, were on stage singing, and then we hear a glorious and clear voice enter the house from off-stage, and it sailed over all other sound and landed in full force in the balcony seats! I found my way down to the Met's exit door to the garage, soon after the opera's end, and I found Joan Sutherland sitting alone in the passenger side of the front seat of a large black limousine. As I approached, I noticed her hair was perfectly quaffed, and she looked like the star she was. I was immediately struck by the blueness and sparkling quality of her eyes! I ask her pardon, and then gave her my praise, and spoke of my admiration for her singing, saying that she made singing sing so effortless. She responded with a delightful chuckle, and then said, "Oh! I only wish it were so!". I asked if she would mind signing the opera program from that evening, and she did so in a gracious manner, as if it was not a bother. I thanked her and wished her the best, and then went on my way back into the city streets. I was so happy that I had connected with one of my heroes in life, and foudn that she was exactly what she seemed to be to be. Wonderful, delightful, and real.
What a delightful anecdote. She, too, is, was and always be one of my heroes. She is responsible for me becoming interested in bel canto. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Saw/heard Joan in Lucia in 1965 with the then virtually unknown Pavarotti and again with him at the ROH in 1972. Extraordinary voice, absolutely unique.
DAME JOAN! I will ever love you............... my favourite............. undoubtedly one of the greatest sopranos of the 20th Century, if not the greatest!
This can drive anyone insane, if I was in the audience I would be hysterical too, very few have this amazing power to just whip up an emotional frenzy like that
I often wonder what the composers would have thought hearing her, Caballe, Anderson, Sills, Gedda, Troyanos, Mironov and others perform their masterpieces...
Words cannot begin to convey the spectacular quality of the vocal achievement exhibited by this legendary vocal duo, Sutherland and Horne, in these live excerpts
In the early 1960’s Italian opera fans did not bestow a title such as “La Stupenda” lightly. This title really says it all, for around 10 years Joan Sutherland’s singing was a revelation, nothing in memory had been heard like it and in all probability will ever be heard again, especially given the alarming decline in standards over the past 25/30 years.
the non-presence of Phenomena such as Callas and Sutherland does not indicate decline... Phenomena are like Comets, they pass and disappear... but indeed there is decline as the middle level of opera performances has fallen below acceptable
@@LohengrinO Not just in the middle level. Far too many singers who are engaged by famous houses to perform leading roles and are lauded by an ignorant fan base would have been booed off the stage in the 1960’s
I`m a great admirer of both Sutherland and Callas and without prejudice I can say that Maria had the drama in her voice than Joan never attained. Conversely Joan had a coloratura technique that Maria never attained, so each had their own strength and weakness. The singing here is breathtaking and in all probability will never be surpassed.
@@LohengrinO From what I`ve heard I can`t agree with your opinion as much as I admire Callas. Of course Sutherland at the height of her career had the advantage of better quality recordings but to hear her voice in full flight in the late 50`s to middle 60`s, in demanding roles, is for me listening to the most exciting, powerful and simply overwhelming soprano voice in recorded history.
In the mid 70's I was in middle school and I discovered a world of music in my middle school library: the world of opera. Nobody else tried to check out these albums except me, and this is how I owe so much of my life to these incredible performances to Wagner to Bellini to Verdi to Puccini to Gounoud to Mozart...my live would be incomplete
I remember back in early 90's watching Sutherland docu bio, the dame wanted to be a dramatico or a wagnerian soprano. When she was directed towards coloratura, i remember her saying: i didn't want to sing like *dat* ... like :hahihuheho hehehehohoho, she was making fun of coloratura. She became a coloratura with *huge* power. Others have agility but not dame's power.
All true, but you neglect to point out that in addition to the remarkable attributes you mention, that her singing, whether in simple melodic lines or in passages of staggering technical challenge, her singing was always expressive; you always had a sense of what the character was feeling.
@@photo161 I agree. Here voice was such a pure instrument that if one listens for emotions of the human clay type, you won't find them, but if you listen for the emotions one can hear in an instrument, and in the nature of pitch and rhythm as in orchestral music, the emotions are absolutely there.
Ms. Horne sang this 20 years later at the Met. By that time Dame Joan was pretty much winding things down ( she had very few performances scheduled in 1990) and June Anderson sang Semiramide to Ms. Horne's Arsace. Ms. Horne's tone was darker than it had been 20 years prior but she still delivered. It was well sung by both, but none, IMHO, can equal the magic that was a combination of Sutherland and Horne. Sutherland and Horne did performance the big duet together one last time on New Years Eve 1990/91 at Dame Joan's farewell and they nail it. I'm too young to have seen Dame Joan live, but was fortunate enough to see several of Ms. Horne's final performances in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Past her prime perhaps but still magic. I learned as much from watching her in recital than i did in music school.
I am so old that I got to see Dame Joan singing, outdoors for free, at the annual 'Opera in the Park' festival in Sydney (in summer, in a huge parkland near the Opera House, called 'The Domain'). It was concert performance, come rain or shine. Richard Bonynge conducted. When a young soprano did the laughing song and finished with a long long bravura note which Bonynge supported with the orchestra:, the audience started cheering and, when the note still kept going, they rose to their feet and went delirious. And Joan Sutherland was clearly delighted by the young singer and by the audience reaction: it was risky but well rehearsed, and must have been scary to do that in front of the great Dame Joan. Our Joan had a good and generous heart and she knew what pleased the (non-operatic) public. It was not the most perfect night of opera music but a perfect night for happiness and delight which created fond memories.
The Chicago run of this great opera is well worth finding. I think this is from one of the performances. WFMT rebroadcasted opening night a few years sgo, and I was stunned. Horne said it was the greatest of their many performances of the opera.
You might wan to try hearing Caballé - Her voice blends even better with Horne's - they trill in parallel ! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3l2272AwM10.html
in her absolute vocal prime... I admire deeply Sutherland up to 1969... after that something was a bit less in her voice and after 1975 middle voice wobble appear... but in 1967, Fearless... she should have sung Kostanze in mid 60s... will never forgive her for not singing Kostanze
@@tulliusagrippa5752 agree..very different voices..its a personal choice..i think Horne and Sutherland's voices are perfectly matched and I believe unrivaled in the bel canto operas..e.g. semiramide...I think I have heard most voices, then you hear another on youtube and it is eye opening..like my favorite bel canto tenor is Rockwell Blake ..some may disagree...some singers, I believe are perfect for a specific role or roles..like Macneil for Rigoletto, Gigli as Canio, and so forth..I try to stay open minded... Callas as norma..the heart wrenching emotion is unmatched even though I do not like the sound of her voice, dark and heavy, the tambre...ty for your comment..
Having seen the wondrous Dame Joan in the Sydney Opera House in the 1980s when with the AO was an unforgettable piece of luck for this then young music lover.
her nicest quote for me is when she was recording Athalia and they had period musicians arguing about the usual shit period musicians argue and have 0 effect on the overall performance but they think they are up there with God... so she stood up and said: You know dears (it was 1981!) Im in here, by far! the Oldest period Instrument
Imagine this kind of singing having 3 thumbs down... people are indeed crazy... I understand Idiots who dont like Callas' timbre and dont at all sense the Genius... but this... not liking this? :D
I completely agree with the comment of the person I deleted his comment because he was an idiot, that Semiramide is the ultimate Signature role by Sutherland... Virtuosity in full Splendor and no Callas recording to have unsatisfactory comparisons
Wonderful voice to say the least. But there are roles that opera singers should NOT consider as Sutherland singing Traviata. She was over powering for a delicate role which needs a delicate voice which she doesn't have And visually doesn't have.
Magnificent - the ONLY Semiramide in my book!! I love the opera and saw it at the MET with Anderson (who pales in comparison) and Samuel Ramey who was MAGNIFICENT!! I came out of the theater saying it should’ve been titled “Sammy Ramey Day”!!🤣
So much she does is wonderful, particularly the trills, but the role was written for Isabella Colbran, a singer with a lower center of gravity. There is more to the character of "Semiramide" than meets the ear here...
Every time I’m unfortunate to hear one of these modern warblers I quickly return to this to remind myself that it wasn’t my imagination that we actually experienced singing such as this, from a different world or more accurately out of this world 😁
Dame Joan coloratura belle canto , in a class of her own , as well as Birgit Nilsson dramatic soprano, have left a huge vacuum, currently there are no voices like that, on the male side same thing, there was Domingo and Pavarotti, but I can't think of someone today, that can measure up, particularly to Domingo. Anyone got a tip, for a new amazing voice?????
This must a very early performance. Those Bell tones, clear and beautiful with no added fluff around the notes. Perfection. (and of course, someone in the audience has to cough at the "right" moments.). The very first tones hit me like a boxer's punch to the chin: that's the same tones I heard in one of her early tapes(I no longer have it) of Lakme's Bell Song plus a recording of her singing Handels Messiah. I think Ms.Sutherland's muffled sounds later in life, come from lack of muscular support. Remember that accident she had falling into the orchstra pit at the Met. She had to be supported with a back brace after that. Opera singing is high performance sport.
well she was human after all, she had to decline at some point... I personally focus as the biggest decline in her voice not the muffled sound but the middle voice tremolo that started to develop in mid70s I think after her live Esclarmondes sung in Turandot-vocal-mode
Im not that knowledgable on Sutherland as to know her costumes.. my aim always in the photos I choose it to look Beautiful and not as a drag queen that she most often looked in her later years
So why a photo of her as Electra in Mozart's 'Idomeneo'? I've heard a recording of her Semiramide in Carnegie Hall - the audience goes berserk after her duets with Horne.
True - I think the most beautiful were as Cleopatra in Hamburg, her early Donna Anna and Puritani Elvira and also some from the 50's at Covent Garden, like Eva and Desdemona. Also in the tv interview the day after her first Lucia she looks and sounds very charming.
I once had the honour of hauling her out of a cab. LOL She and Bonynge arrived at the reh. hall for a Lucrezia rehearsal in 72 - I arrived at the same moment for a different rehearsal. While Mr B was paying the driver she was struggling to get out so I offered her a hand.
All these admirers.. did you understand one word ? Or was it a mush of uh vowels? How about her characterization and acting. Was she believable.. ? Did her voice fit the drama ? I've listened to this and to me it's just a bunch of vocalization... No drama, no adherence to the text . This is Joan in every opera
I recently watched two different productions of Norma on TV. In the first one the male members of the chorus wore red dresses. The whole production was ludicris and the singing was mediocre at best. The second featured women chorus members wearing platinum wigs and ridiculous choreography. The singing was weak from beginning to end. Dame Joan was right when she said the rot has already set in. Of course there are some talented singers today but they are encbumbered by foolish looking sets and costumes and demented.directors. No wonder why opera houses are half empty.
Agree entirely. Maria Callas said not long before her untimely death that opera was a dying art. Well it took another 10/15 years before the whole thing collapsed in a heap of shit. Ok there are some really excellent singers today but it's best to hear them in concert performances rather than some staged travesty. Of course even in the great years there were bad singers and poor productions but when everything came together with the finest talent, as it frequently did, there was a magic that no contemporary audience will ever experience.
dear Kai Yan, as you put this, ...OK...every kind are almost ...But none who admires Callas its possible to be ,but all the contrary to understand Her Voice must have high IQ MUSICALLITY and Spiritual Being...
Penny Altiparmaki Nice try to misinterpreted my word. I was pointing on his behaviour, not his love for Callas, and I have no means of disrespect for Callas. I don't care how much you like Callas, but it's really annoying when you doing it in other master's video which has nothing to do with Callas. I personally describe people who doing that kind of stuff as "brainless fan boy/girl", and I won't give a damn if you have problem with it. Have a nice day
Caughing in the opera house is the way of the nobody to interfere with the Phenomenon (Jon Vickers in his dying scene as Tristan had suddenly risen up and said: Shut up with your damn caughy... it exists on record ahahahah)
As much as I admire Sutherland’s technical mastery, this could be any and every coloratura recording oh hers. She simply had a monochromatic voice. Brilliant technician.......but.....
