So true. Too bad some mentally disturbed individuals don't have anything better to do than to persecute the singers they feel "threaten" their own avourites.
I have listened to opera for many years now, and have had the pleasure of listening to recording from the 1950's on. Reading such comments below (and other sites) about wobbles, pitch problems, wrong use of chest voice, unclear vowels and such, I can only conclude that I guess I'm tone deaf and still a newbie because I don't hear those faults in her or others. Joan Sutherland's voice is tremendously beautiful to me, and I have no trouble enjoying her singing, especially since the music is gorgeous. Yes, I've heard many other singers singing this aria, and I'm not going to compare or say this or that is my favorite. For me, this was a stellar performance that I admired and enjoyed.
Masterful phrasing and very emotive interpretation. I love how she attacks the word "atroce" in forte and then suddenly diminishes her voice to a beautiful piano in "mi chiamo fedelta". The phrase "un soffio e la mia voce" is lovely sung in a way that is very representative of its meaning. The final crescendo was absolutely hair-raising, can't stop listening to it.
Thanks for posting this brilliant performance lahire22! This was one of the first performances that introduced me to Dame Joan. Doesn't get much better than this!
I find this a gorgeous performance. There is vibrato, as there should be in any healthy voice, and it is consistent, not coming and going like certain contemporary sopranos. Nobody complains when a cellist or violinist vibrates the tone. Schwarzkopf said that singers should imitate stringed instruments.
What B.S, VIBRATO IS QUITE DIFFERENT FROM A WOBBLE. AND THAT's a fact! How you react to it is personal, but don't tell us that" un soffio è la mia haha vohohoce is normal, because it's not. This performance to me is quite listenable but not beautiful. She was not cut out for verismo roles except Turandot. She lacked the right sound and the the temperament, but, this is one man's opinion. Let's agree to disagree, but at least be candid about it!
Her complete studio recording and DVD of "Adriana" was not acclaimed at all. I don't agree. Yes, the voice has become murkier and has lost much of it's brightness, but for all of that, I find her singing to be involved, compelling, and still commanding. That she still manages to sound so good here is evidence that in her prime, she was unsurpassed. She was a great artist, and I wish she and Callas were both singing right here and now.
People are using the wrong language, below, when they talk about a wobble. Sutherland had a slower vibrato at this point in her career because of age, but no wobble. Callas developed a wobble on her high notes, which is a bowing of the vocal cords leading to a wavering around the pitch. The audience, as you can hear, knows the difference.
@@liedersanger1 How do you explain that there are plenty of singers much older than Joan that didn't prezent so-called slow vibrato even in their 80's and 90's? They weren't aging and their muscles weren't old? Joan DID have a wobble at that stage, which is pretty understandable after her career, get over it.
I always look at the dresses and hairdos of those years and am amazed! I actually don't remember that coiffed hair and the chiffon dresses and it was my era, the 60s, 70s and 80s. That huge bow on the back of her dress here and I don't think anyone today would be seen dead in a dress like this! How fashion and styles change!
and yet one of today;s leading dress designers has included huge bow on the back of his dresses and the fashion world thinks it is the hottest thing since the invention of suntan lotion.
It is easy to deal with the the stereotype of Sutherland - cold and uninteresting than to listen to this beautiful performance. Warm large sound even from top to bottom and beautifully phrased. But for some it does not fit their prejudices about a truly all time great singer.
People are talking out of ignorance. There is no wobble here. A slower vibrato perhaps - but definitely NO WOBBLE. And mind you, her vibrato was never as wide as Callas' on her top notes.
We would have to hear them sing this piece at age 57 to make any comparison. No doubt Joan would have sung it better when she was younger, but that's true of almost anything she sings.
Yes there is a slight beat in the voice - but her voice is much better controlled moving between the registes> Tebaldi who I love was having vocal difficulties @ 40. I give Joan credit and the drama is there.
Straordinaria e innavicinabile in un altro repertorio... Questo é stato solo il crepuscolare capriccio di una diva che ha voluto appropriarsi di un opera assolutamente non sua! Ma ha dato talmente tanto .....
POR ESO SU VOZ TIENE ATMOSFERA..............ES COMO LA PINTURA DE VELASQUEZ............O LA DE...LEONARDO...............ATMOSFERA.............Y SFUMATO..............HAY UN TODO POR EL TODO EN LA VOZ DE JOAN SUTHERLAND.............QUE IMPRESIONA.........................APARTE POR SUPUESTO DE SU PROPIO PODERIO.......PORQUE SU SONIDO TAMBIEN ES PROPIO.................E INCREIBLE.....PERO CIERTO............ESOS ENFASIS VOCALES.....................ALUCINANTES................................
@LohengrinT :s Callas' wobble was 10 tiems worse, she sounded straight FLAT of how big it was. Sutherland's was a small wobble, and even at times during the early 80's it dissapeared.
He escuchado a la Stupenda en ópera francesa y en bel canto, en muchas grabaciones en estudio y en vivo la he admirado, a pesar de que su dicción nunca fue buena, no pudiéndose negar su magnífica técnica, considero que su voz y temperamento era más para la ópera francesa que para la italiana, pero realmente ella no era para el verismo, no se le entiende nada y no transmite todo lo que esta hermosa aria de Cilea encierra, se admira el volumen de su voz a la edad que tenía para el concierto, pero nada bien ni el canto ni la interpretación.
@LohengrinT Sutherland's studio Esclarmonde is from 1975 and the wobble there is not unbearable at all. But I'd agree the wobble became more pronounced after 1978-79, though I would disagree that it was "unbearable", probably because the sensitivity to a voice's vibration (be it vibrato or a real wobble) seems to vary a lot from person to person. I have seen people who think Price's voice has a horrible vibrato, while that same vibrato sounds to me as a wonderful aspect of her voice.
Al these comments about her version not being as good as Tebaldi's or Cabelle's, two of the great sopranos of the late 20th century... To sing it this beautifully at this stage in her career is a great tribute to her art and talent. The last note is as thrilling as ever. My favorite opera singer of all time; she'll never be surpassed! BTW, I also agree that the bow has to go!
Renata Tebaldi never had wobble in her voice - Tebaldi's voice was always clear and firm even in later years.Reason for this is because her voice was always firm unlike other sopranos.
As much as I'm obsessed with her, I cringe at every versimo she sung. But there's something utterly CAMPY about Adriana that I feel like she can work with. The way she can work with O mio Fernando, which is one of my most played recording ever!
Tebaldi had a great natural voice and was great to look at, but her chest register dragged down the voice, causing her to force high notes. I prefer the performances of Caballe and Margaret Price in this area.
Vi Ma Her dressmaker was Barbara Matera, who admitted that Bonynge was the ‘inspiration’ for her onstage appearance. Nonetheless, she got plenty of use out of that schmata - she wore it on quite a few televised concerts.
Devia's middle started to weaken in the early 90's, in her early 40's. I don't think Sutherland's middle was a weak point till the 70's: she couldn't have been a masterful Norma or Lucia without a great middle. As for "disregard", I disagree in what refers to Sutherland, since her most acclaimed roles after 1975 depended heavily on the middle. We must concede that people perceive vibrato differently, and actually many think Sutherland got a vibrant and good vibrato by '75 and till '78-79.
SUTHERLAND NO PUEDE SER CRITICADAS POR USTEDES...TAN ASI A LA LIGERA...SU VOZ NO ERA NORMAL....NI DE MAYOR NI DE JOVEN...SIEMPRE FUE EXCEPCIONAL.......POR TANTO LAS CRITICAS TIENEN QUE SER EXCEPCIONALES O NO PONERLAS...PORQUE PARA CRITICAR UNA LEYENDA MITICA HAY QUE SER UN GENIO Y NO CREO QUE PUEDA SER GENIO AQUEL QUE NO CANTA....SINO QUE ESCUCHA Y ESCUCHA SOLO A LA CONVENIENCIA....DE VETE A SABER TU QUE FONDO MAL INTENCIONADO...LAS VOICES ENVEJECEN... LOS MITOS ENVEJECEN DE DISTINTA MANERA.
En pocas palabras pésimo como toda lo que canta le falta el legato de esta aria ahí es lo verdaderamente importante es voz hablada y luego la aria como siempre su mala dicción y fatal pronunciación nunca canto está ópera ni la bohemia de puccini solo extractos y en la que trato y grabó en desastre fue el trovador
@LohengrinT I'm sorry, but at least to my ears Sutherland's wobble between 1975-80 was about the same of Callas' higher middle and top in 1958-1959, and after 1980 it does seem to me that Sutherland's wobble never developed to the same "extreme" level of Callas after 1962-63, whose wobble by that time made her timbre sound completely distorted and off pitch. That said, Callas still made some wonderul recordings in mezzo and lower soprano arias till 1963-64 (like her "Printemps qui commence").
Each role is different, it's difficult to generalize. Sutherland's middle voice was big, and "fat" as Bonygne used to say. It was plush and rich, but didn't become unsteady or cloudy until her early 50's. That said, forcing it could have created problems, since the texture didn't lend itself to that. She did sing roles that were centered low, or required chest voice, including Puritani and Lucrezia Borgia, which suited her well. . But they didn't require penetration in the middle.
Large round soprano voices always are impressive. This aria is melodic and magical and it is rather hard to ruin it. Was this idiomatic? Well of course not. S always made a grand effect and delivered great arcs of sounds. Outside of the Wagner or florid and higher pieces of the baroque/bel canto//French rep she was an oddity and rather strange. It’s like listening to her sing Tosca or Mimi. The text isn’t there and colour of the voice just too pale the sound too sturdy and set for other exploits.
Maybe not true verismo. Versimo is usually associated with Puccini, Mascagni, Leoncavallo etc, and the late 19th century. Cilea worked on Adriana at the very end of the 19th century. But I believe Adriana was first performed in 1902....so maybe a few years late for true versimo. But I think Adriana feels very much like versimo, and very different from Bel Canto.
Olivero's obtrusive vibrato makes her soundslike a moped that can't start on a cold winter morning. Besides, Olivero and other singers are besides the point when discussing Joan Sutherland's singing. If you don't like it, please tell us why based on what she actually DOES, isntrad of what she DOESN'T do = sing like Olivero.
What a ridiculous and useless comment. Who cares about Leontyne Price when discussing a Joan Sutherland-video? If you don't like this, please tell us so based on what Sutherland DOES, instead of what she DOESN'T do = sound like Price.
the definition of how a weak middle voice leads to a horrible middle to middle-upper register wobble... she is disastrous here... I still find it unbelievable that Sutherland fans cannot recognize Sutherland's disastrous middle voice wobble that started as early as 1975
Just as a lot of people you have met during your life find it unbelievable that your blind idolizing of Callas makes you think that being incredibly rude to other singers, or people who don't like what you like, or don't like "enough", according to you, give you the right to be rude and vicious and use the internet as your personal therapy group. The only reason you keep carping on the faults you perceive in Joan Sutherland is that you for some reason hate Richard Bonynge (maybe you're jealous of him?) and think that he's guilty for "destroying" Sutherland. That is sick. Get a grip, Theo Argyrakos, and seek help instead of poisoning the atmosphere for other opera fans all over the internet.
Says who? I love when RU-vid aficionados express such opinions as if they knew ANYTHING. Let´s be clear, personal taste is not a valid argument. I personally never liked Corelli singing Pollione in Norma because his lack of flexibility in every coloratura passage yet, there are those who swear by it. Maybe you should start your comment by a simple, "in my opinion...." .
Never mind the bow, if you can. The reach for grand effect seems as wrong as the bow. I never understood the appeal of her voice. She crooned. No sqillo. Warmth? Not to me. I hear singing with no differentiation in the roles Fantastic coloratura when she lets loose, and yes, the voice is big. Tebaldi.
