😯 I am a singer, a veteran singer, and I have never heard anything like this from a singer approaching 80 years old. The core of the sound is still there, no hollow, grey or threadbare notes. The tones are beautiful, resonant and with many colors...like a gifted young singers voice would be. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Incredible.
Try this video! Just an Italian lady singing an Italian song. Not a star, just sings with her friends in a chorus! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-D8aszXJKbp8.html
Try also the 90 year old and still imposing Mark Reizen as Gremin at the Bolshoi: m.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kV-R4FvEEb0.html Or the inimitable Magda Olivero at 96: m.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-W6FNAVs7npM.html&pp=ygUQbWFnZGEgb2xpdmVybyA5Ng%3D%3D
Peter Farrar:- Lily Pons Approaching 80yrs. Her vocal instrument is razor sharp & crystal clear with stainless quality & tremendous power at high 'c' was amazing. All leading sopranos will adhere to silence, in respecting her performance. The world will pay homage to this incomparable queen of classical music. Golden words of worship to a great soprano, by Peter E. Farrar. 0:53 2:52
OMG...This is a 76 years old voice...still so natural, w/o any tension, placed subtly well, the round resonance, not pushing the voice cord, everything is just like a textbook...
Admirable. She sings as she ever did, technically perfect. And so do all great singers today. There are no "Old" or "New" technics. There are some more great singers who could sing in their higher ages. It's only a questiom of stabil sanity of the voice. Look f.i. to Placido Domingo
Sublime, magique, bouleversant d'élégance et de maîtrise. Sans négliger de souligner la merveilleuse articulation dans les Filles de Cadix, dont on n'a jamais entendu les mots prononcés aussi clairement !
I was at this performance. I have to admit, I am not one of the big Pons fans, at least her work in the 40s and 50. But I was totally won over that night, in fact, I think that her singing is even rounder and lovelier here than in many of her earlier appearances. This concert was a miracle!
I couldn't agree with you more. Often times this happens to the greats. Take Sutherland, while early in her career her voice was great, I found I liked her voice even more as she aged.
I'm very impressed. I'm really just discovering her after all of these years. The quality of her voice has really traveled well down to the present day. It is is pure and clear and has none of the affectations of so many older coloraturas.
I saw Victoria de los Angeles sing when she was 72, I think, and most of her voice was intact, but her artistry remained impeccable. She had some trouble with her passaggio, and there are a few tiny hints of that with Pons, a raspiness, but it is a difficulty for singers at any age.
Her voice is truly heaven sent. I can hardly believe she is 76 here. She was a favorite of my mom and she took me to hear her when I was a child. What a gift.
After I listened to the whole video, I have to admit that I cried feeling so touched by her voice and dramatic expression on stage. She seems to me more convincing than many youngsters now on stage. Her voice is authentic and full power, no sign of age. I bow in front of this woman and work on my arias again. That's an incredible role model for me.... Thank you for posting such treasures here. Karin
This is simply spectacular - I don't care how old she was, when you have Lily Pons' perfect understanding of technique and your own vocal instrument, this is the result. But even more, listening and watching this, it confirms my suspicion regarding her earlier recordings. I never saw her, she died when I was 15, but I have a CD of her recordings in the 30's and 40's that i like. I was standing next to the speaker this morning and realized that due to the recording technique or conversion to CD most of the lower frequencies that must have been present in her voice were missing. I could hear what I imagined that voice would sound like in a room, and only through imagination reconstruct it. This recording, though imperfect, proves my imagination correct - what people are referring to as her singing better as she aged, more 'rounded,' is probably due to the inability of primitive recording methods to really record all the dynamics and resonances occurring with a voice this high and powerful. So thank you for posting, this is gorgeous, gorgeous singing, and moves me to tears.
00:00 Chère nuit (Adénis-Colombeau, set by Alfred Bachelet) 5:05 "Zdes horosho" by Sergei Rachmaninoff Op. 21 No. 7 7:05 Estrellita by Manuel Ponce 10:10 "Salut à la France," From La Fille du Régiment by Gaetano Donizetti 11:39 Les filles de Cadix by Delibes
There very first exposure to opera was to Lily Pons' voice in a TV movie in the 50's-Imagine my luck! I never thought that a voice could sound like that and I became hook on opera. Thanks to you for posting and Lily for giving us her many gifts.
A beautiful performance and a stunning technique. This is proof that the life of a sorpano's voice lies in the freedom of using the head (light) mechanism and never forcing. Thank you for this valuable and enchanting performance.
The voice has no mechanism. Likely, she practiced will with lots of exercises and vocalises, kept in shape physically, so she had lots of support, and didn't smoke or drink too much. Much like an instrumentalist, a singer needs a clear pitch production with a full range of overtones, which requires exact placement of vowels and full relaxation of everything not being used. Her capacity for purity of tone and projection is what you hear.
@@nonenoneonenonenone .... in study many call it " The Vocal Mechanism ".... some call it "The Vocal Instrument ".... the vocal instrument is the physical structure, and the Vocal mechanism is how it operates with the tissues and muscles which create the sound.
This is talent!!! At 76 .wow. Just shows what musicality and geniality it takes to sing opera. To choose the right roles for the voice. When to know to say no for a role. Having a perfect technique. She takes my breath away. Brava Lily.
Thank you. What a wonderful recording and what a magnificent voice. It is a shame that so few people now remember one of the greatest coloratura sopranos of all times. And to think that she would die the next year and her voice was as beautiful as ever.
My Mother always told me that she saw the great Lily Pons in Coq D'or the week after Fiorella La Guardia closed "strip" parlors in NYC. And my very prudish mother always thought all those guys could have gone to the Met to see Lily - as she was simply captivating - and a lot more enticing than anything they had ever seen before! Ah the olden days!
Simply beautiful....I have some of her early recordings, but had not heard her later on; even at this age, she is a lesson in how to sing, and how to sound....gorgeous. What technique.
It's exquisitely beautiful and an inspiration to any singer. To add to the comments, I'd say undoubtedly a lack of trauma, therefore good health and old school training helps this remarkable longevity of vocal skill. Thank you for posting this remarkable and moving performance. of a beloved soprano.
Thank you, StuartLou. Gorgeous. Some of us non-opera goers out here still "get it". She has ineffable charm, and her singing touches the heart....thanks again!
RAY WATSON SHE WAS HIGHLY PISSED AT THE CLOSING OF THE OLD MET, WHEN SHE WAS NOT ASKED TO SING AT THE GALA. THAT WAS ABOUT 1960-1964. "THE VOICE," SHE SAID "IS STILL THERE !" THIS PROVES THAT EVEN A DOZEN YEARS OR MORE AFTER THAT, THE VOICE WAS STILL THERE !!!!!!!!
+RAY WATSON She should have been pissed. How many old opera singers have sung at the Met for many other special occasions ... and sounded terrible. But they were there because of their contributions. How about her contributions?
Clearly the result of a life time of discipline & love of the art & development of skills & technique to support that love. You cannot just shrug your way though this amazing music.
In response to Larry Woods: she was born in April 1898, and this concert was May of 1972. So she's neither 76 nor 73. She just passed her 74th birthday. This is great singing no matter what her age. She actually sounds better here than some of her last Met performances. There's a flawless Estrellita from 1974 posted on RU-vid. It's her last public appearance (Merv Griffin Show).
I not only second that, I millionth that. Miss Pons evidently kept up her vocal technique and did not abuse her voice. Pancreatic cancer took her away from us.
What a treasure ! And what wonderful tone - many opera singers would happily wait and wait - and wait without getting near ... Does anyone know who the gentleman was being interviewed half way through ? Also do we know if she had a preferred tenor to appear with ? Thank you, Richard.
Yes, incredible still, and at 76! Technique, not just at that time, but she used her voice properly throughout her career thus putting her fine instrument under less stress. Regard this example young singers! - James Aschmann
Wspaniała forma diva Lily z wiekiem nie straciła nic z młodzieńczego wigoru oraz urody !Wonderful form of diva Lily with age has not lost anything of youthful vigor and beauty!
cest pour moi toute ma jeunesse est dire qu il a falu quelle quite la france ou elle n avait pas de succes pour connaitre le succes que l on sais merci merveilleuse dame
I think many the supposed "negative" comments are in fact about her (American) "Groupies" who say some pretty wild things. In Europe she is regarded as perfect but without much passion - I do not say I agree with that but they say the same about Joan Sutherland so they are at least consistent! I find this concert very "human" and remarkably well sung especially considering her age - in fact no excuses need be made. It is far more interesting and "felt" that some of her commercial recordings
The first song is "Chere Nuit" by Bachelet, a beautiful French "melodie", the second one I don't know, then there is the famous Spanish song "Estralita", then an aria from The Daughter of the Regiment (Donizetti), and then Delibes' "les Filles de Cadiz" - she is truly amazing- those spot on high notes!
Raul Gallo Second one is "Zdes Khorosho" from Rachmaninoff, one of my ever favourites arias. Third is "Estrellita" (with an e). I can't believe she can sound like this in her 76, I think she have the gorgeous voice of a woman of 76 I've ever heard.
jacobtfn Madame Pons always spoke of the respect that she had for the God given gift of her voice, and how she cared for it, only singing appropriate roles so as not to harm her instrument. So many since seem to have forgotten this. thank you for the wonderful posting!
AlwaysKeepingCool2 SHE WAS HIGHLY PISSED AT THE CLOSING OF THE OLD MET, WHEN SHE WAS NOT ASKED TO SING AT THE GALA. THAT WAS ABOUT 1960-1964. "THE VOICE," SHE SAID "IS STILL THERE !" THIS PROVES THAT EVEN A DOZEN YEARS OR MORE AFTER THAT, THE VOICE WAS STILL THERE !!!!!!!!
*_Amazing !_* *_Waiting until 76 to actually be vocally relevant with a moving song instead of those superficially contrived coloratura showpieces ; not really knocking coloratura singing, but this is the only time I've heard her sound " serious " AND so convincingly !_*
Good LORD, yes! What a beautiful, lyrical sound that would be a great credit to a singer of ANY age. This clip has been very uplifting to me. (I'm 58) :) I also understand she gave a lot of "Pink Parties", in which all the food was tinted pink, for the GIs during WWII - which is irrelevant to her superb singing, but reveals a fun-loving side of her personality.
a long gone era, beautiful, glamorous, glorious singing she still makes me weep I remember my Dad telling of hearing her in Europe when he was in the war.. "She was such a tiny little thing with a glorious voice"
Magnificent...and not "just" for her age, but for any age. She died at 77 one year after this concert....forever young, with those high notes and pianissimos still perfect. Congratulations to Lily Pons. One prays she was successful in managing her life as she obviously was in managing her voice.
We are too quick to stereotype people on the basis of age, gender, ethnicity, social class, among others. Let's respect Maestra Pons enough not to say, 'Oh, doesn't she sing well for a 70 year old?'
C’est vraiment très bon. Le timbre est quasiment intact, la technique et la diction admirables. A peine sent-on que c’est un peu plus lent, un peu plus mou, un poil plus vibré qu’au temps de sa splendeur... vraiment sidérant. Et je trouve qu’il se dégage de son chant une émotion que je ne lui connaissais pas.
