This aria’s range is from Bb3 to Eb6. Very impressively sung by Dame Joan. Present-day singers are all outmatched by the music in this piece. Dame Joan’s coloratura and trills are almost supernatural. I have no idea how she so quickly flies through the ornamentations without sounding wobbly, especially at her age in this clip. We will not see her like for quite some time!
The greatest Lucrezia... perhaps her best role in the latter half of her career. She had the requisite chest tones, agility when needed, and loads of top notes for peak moments in the drama. Lucrezia isn't for every soprano, and is best left alone by most.
Definitive performance… hard to believe, sadly, that THIS was the first video recording/ broadcast of her legendary presence on the operatic stage… so much was lost, thankful for what we have… she’s the pinnacle, the great voice, operatic presence of this and the last century
Not entirely accurate - she appeared in the Met’s Don Giovanni in 1978, several years before this performance. And there is a tape from the New York Tales of Hoffmann that was intended for telecast in 1974. Supposedly, the Met and Richard Bonynge have pristine copies of that tape.
@@wotan10950 Yes, but it was the first broadcast recording that was released to the public…Yes, the Donna Anna from two years before this, and the Hoffmann…not until RU-vid and pirated recordings were any of us able to enjoy those things…it’s simply a pity technology wasn’t ready for Joan the twenty years before this Lucrezia( the snippets from television shows in the U S and England are treasures, but not the same as an entire role/production)!
Technique for one thing and passion. I was lucky to see Sutherland just a few days later than this gala which I remember watching on the TV live. She was astonishing in the theatre!
Yes. It’s called “singing technique”. 😂 Simple as that! This requires a teacher who knows it, and years of training in foundation skills, like breathing. Sutherland came from a generation when all opera stars had it or they would have been unemployed. I can name few now, maybe in Germany or East Europe. It’s worth remembering that Sutherland was already 33 years old when she “emerged overnight “ in Lucia, after YEARS of training in Australia & London in bit-parts. No ‘stars’ in the last 25 years have this preparation background. Who are the great singing teachers of today? Are there any?? My comment only repeats what Sutherland used to say herself to your question, in every interview.
She was always magnificent, but especially in this role and especially in this aria. Thank you for uploading it. An interesting point: Notwithstanding the often ugly critical bias against Richard Bonynge, when this performance premiered more than one critic attacked the orchestra, one accusing them of 'playing like dogs'. (I don't recall the publication.) But that sounded pretty good to me. Or am I mistaken?
Catty critics! I saw her at Covent Garden about a week later and she was even better!!! Bonynge was hated by most of the London critics - pure jealousy. He was a good opera conductor.
Something to always remember, critics rarely get their paycheck unless they're absolute [insert whichever expletive you desire] in their write-ups. Almost their job to deride, sadly - and we tolerate it for some silly reason.
I adore Sutherland, always have; however, she never, even in the 70s, could sing the final E flat securely. It always ended up a short scream -- probably because of all the difficult fioritura before it. Still, magnificent and no one like her.
@@williamparsons8535this poor dude apparently knows zip about singing. Accusing sopranos of screaming high notes is a favorite comment. He says the same thing about Devia’s great high D at end of Roberto Devereaux from 2015 (when she nailed the entire finale at age 67!).
