Shirley Verrett sings Isolde's death, better sound quality 

This is one of the most moving, intense, visceral interpretations of anything, in Opera or otherwise, I have ever seen. Amazing, truly amazing.

The more I watch and listen to Shirley Verrett, the more I am finding that she is always totally immersed in her roles----voice, drama, facial expressions, body language, expressiveness of her eyes, even her cheekbones radiate. And I have always the loved the tone, the color, and all the textures of her magnificent voice. And there is not a word of her Liebestod that I don't believe in my soul. RIP to this once-in-a-lifetime voice....

The dilemma is the Wagner requires a soprano with the stamina and power of Flagstad, Nilsson, or Eileen Farrell, but voices on that scale just aren't seductive. That's why Verrett is more effective in this aria. She couldn't sing the whole opera live, but she projects the feminine allure in a way that Wagnerian sopranos can't.

Thanks for this. A really powerful version. The phrasing and tone are hallmarks. Verrett was in the top class.

Verrett. What an artist, what a woman. Absolutely beautiful, physically and vocally. A picture of class and artistry, a true interpreter. Rest in glory, sister!

There simply HAVE TO BE people who sit around online and click the thumbs down indiscriminately. There is no other way to account for 19 down votes.

Geeze, I actually clapped at the end. Couldn't help it. Thrilling.

WTF! Purely the most Outstanding Performance of Isolde of heard to date! Just absolutely perfect and beautiful.

I have died and gone to heaven........wow just stunning......

Brought me to tears.

I had to return to this video. The more I watch it, the more extraordinary it is. Besides her total immersion in the moment, she also proves that decibels are not the prerequisite for Wagner. It is beauty of tone and phrasing. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more beautiful Liebestod - except perhaps Flagstad. No, not even Nilsson could achieve this beauty. Of course, Verrett never sang the complete role, so comparisons really aren’t fair.

One of the most heartfelt interpretations I have ever heard. Ms. Verrett's total commitment is almost too much to bear. Exquisite.

I see in Verrett's face the agony of hope at this end of this stunning aria. This is Verrett at her exquisite best

Somehow I missed this performance at the time, but i'm so happy to find it now. Verrett is one of my favorite singers and her repertoire was so broad. She may have had some problems at the end of her career, but her legacy, thank God, is preserved in the digital media for all to hear. What an artist!

L'interpretazione, se mai ne fosse esistita una così definibile, si potrebbe dire sbagliata. Isolde qui è iperumana, una categoria del divino e quindi brilla di luce siderale perché ciò che era umano non è più, a partire dal suo folle amore. È questo che ci dice Wagner ad esempio tramite Furtwangler e Flagstadt. Si...ma le lacrime che rigano le mie guance non hanno mai sentito, al contrario, tanta umanità che passa dalla voce commossa a quello sguardo di una dolcezza tanto femminile, distrutta per il suo amore e avvolta nei vortici di una musica di infinita bellezza. Buongiorno Shirley, che i miei pensieri possano raggiungerti in qualche angolo del Paradiso. Thank you.

Amazing. The warmth and the power of the voice .. of course that's a recording so maybe the balance is different from what the audience got but it was probably even better. Mehta does a great job also.

This is simply meteoric... so rarely does the totally musically immersed voice put me in a state somewhere between ecstasy and panic but this is eternal.

She 's magnificent & hats off to Zubin Mehta & the Orchestra too

Her German pronunciation is just fine!

Qui dimostra come lei...quando affronti un' Agonia...entra in un "trance Sacro" con una personalità decisa che porta l'eroina wagneriana, verso il canto belliniano...pur onorando la partitura in maniera "chimica"...ma la sua regalità alla fine sale ad un pathos che Metha asseconda ...capendo che l' interprete va ...amata. La voce é allo Zenith!!!

I never knew she was such a great artist!

I had never heard of this artist - I just listened to Nillson singing this and it sounded brittle by comparison - possibly just the sound quality - but this is very moving.

I was first aware of Shirley when I bought the Boston/leinsdof rendition of Mahler’s 3rd Symphoniy where she sings the “o mensh” movement. I had goose bumps and listened to it over and over, which I still do today. She has been in my top ten since them, forty years ago.

WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

... una volta andai in Camerino a portargli un mazzetto di Mughetti ...lei mi abbracciò come sempre...spazzando via una recita non fortunata...cose che in Teatro possono capitare...anche perché il ruolo affrontato ... ha messo in difficoltà moltissime soprano, soprattutto se il direttore è Distratto sapendoti non in forma perfetta, sostituendo una sua collega che aveva dato forfait..lasciando l'ultima recita scoperta....La Verret pur avendo il lunedì il concerto di canto decise di Cantare. Il Lunedì in un concerto di Canto...vide che ero nella prima fila alla Scala con Leyla Genger...sua maestra di palcoscenico.Alla fine andammo a salutarla in Camerino dopo una serata ..Trionfale. Ricordo come fosse ieri...la sorpresa più della donna che dell'artista trovandosi di fronte alla collega che a Firenze con Donizetti l'aveva lanciata in campo internazionale...come uno dei mezzosoprano emergenti.Credo che poi si videro per una lectio magna sul ruolo di Norma...che la Verret...doveva affrontare non più come Adalgisa, ma come Norma avendo come antagonista in Adalgisa... la Obraztsova Mentre sparlottavano in francese . pensai ...una turca di cultura francese...e una americana fiera delle sue radici africane...unite dal bel canto italiano.Mi commossi...tanto era Signora un pò agè...la Genger, tanto era modernissima la Verret! Ma la musica le rendeva ...al di là del Tempo.Dopo quelle due esperienze altre volte l'ho incontrata e ogni volta...era una festa.

stunning performance from the late Shirley Verrett. U can see Mehta loved it too... RIP Ms Verrett.

I hear it now in 2019- Richard Wagner and Shirley Verrett- it is just unbelievable!!!

Joseph Losey, one of the greatest directors of actors who ever lived, once said about them something that applies to singers as well, or to any performer. In Mexico, natives go to the peak of an appallingly high cliff and jump. They throw themselves in the air aiming to dive into the sea down there, looking as if it were miles away. They have no idea at the moment they jump if they're going to survive the fall or if they're actually diving into death. They don't give a damn. They just jump. That's all. There's no way Shirley Verrett and the few other singers (if you count them on the fingers of your right hand, you won't need them all) who do what she does here, reach that stratospherically high note the way she does ... there's no way they don't feel just like those natives jumping from that cliff without knowing if they're going to survive the fall. Joseph Losey couldn't have done a better job of putting it into words. Indeed, throwing yourself from the top of a cliff is the only way certain works can be performed. "Liebestod" is one of them. That's why so few singers can do justice to it. Shirley Verrett doesn't "do justice to it." Her rendition of the piece is pervaded by the same enigmatic element that was there when the composer felt the urge to commit to paper what he heard in his head.

Also, I may be 1,000 of the 65,754 views.

La più struggente, commovente., coinvolgente interpretazione della morte di Isolde mai sentita. Grazie grandissima e indimenticabile Shirley !

One of the most gifted singers. Ever.

L ' interpretazione più ORGIASTICA che abbia mai ascoltato di questo finale. Magnifico

This is literally the best version I’ve ever heard... I know that’s blasphemy considering the likes of the wonderful Birgit Nilsson, but I’m being honest. This moves me to tears EVERY TIME!!!

this is the best version i've heard. such power. amazing. none of the versions i heard matches this one, including nilsson, norman or meier. love this lady!

Faut-il interdire à Madame Shirley Verett de chanter Wagner parce qu’elle n’est pas blanche ? Faut-il interdire à Monsieur Simon Estes de chanter « le hollandais volant » de Wagner parce qu’il n’est pas blanc ? Faut-il interdire À Madame Léontine Price de chanter Butterfly parce qu’elle n’est pas japonaise ? L’idéologie wokiste est un désastre pour l’humanité et pour l’art. 🟦⬜️🟥🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷

She is absolutely one the greatest. Callas Noir as they called her at Lascalla. Moving !

Absolument magnifique d'incarnation, de travail, de sensibilité et de beauté.

Si conferma una delle GRANDI con la Callas, Caballè e poche altre!

This is glorious singing. It rivals Nilsson which I thought was impossible.

touches your core of exsistance'

I love Shirley's interpretation. Sublime and beautiful... Rip MS Verrett...

Une très grande dame.

tones of colour thats a voice for isolde.

Wow! I did not expect this at all. Stunning!

THIS is the way it should be sung! The voice is PERFECT! Glorious! OMG....

An astonishing performance by one of the greatest immortals in operatic history: a superstar of the first rank.

Sublime, even with the brisker tempo imposed by Mehta. She sings beautifully and with such passion, testing her instrument to the limit. Did she ever sing Isolde on stage? I don't think so, nor can I imagine her managing the entire role.

Sadly the improved sound also re-emphasizes how utterly lame this audience was, how unappreciative of this brilliant performance they were. Brava Verrett!!! I miss you so much. Also thanks foropera!

Simply magnificent. This is by far my favourite version of this song. Ms Verrett: sadly missed.

The greatest soprano who has ever lived.

This is the best Liebestod I've ever listened to, thank you.

Verret, garndissima! Canta uma Isolda tão poderosa e frágil, pura emoção.

perfectly said. almost too much to bare. that expressive. that beautiful.

She is really amazing with her complete sopran-mezzo voice ! I just compare her with an straordinary liebestod i heard by Montserrat Caballé at her senior years ! Both are legendary !!!

Reduced to tears.

What a rare and moving performance. Miss Verrett is stunning. To think she also sang one of the very best Delilah's on record (with Jon Vickers)! Do check it out!

this is really fantastic. too bad she is not so known !!

verbazingwekkend! ik ben sprakeloos,wat een fantastische sopraan!!

truly sublime with all the momentum of true art

What a stunning woman. Beautifully sung. I just learned that she was no longer with us.

Amazing performance, it’s one of my favourites versions. Everyday I listen it. Asombroso, es una de mis versiones favoritas de Isolda. Diario la escucho.

Never expected her to sing this so well! Too bad not many video of her available...

What an immense surprise to hear this as I have never known that she sung the piece!! Brilliant in every way! Gorgeous tone, tender and yet crushingly tragic and you feel all of the emotions just through her voice!! This is of course one of the most beautiful and difficult Arias in Opera and you can either do it or not. She was spectacular!

Spellbinding.

What sensibility!

Exquisite beyond words. Thank you.

So beautifully sung! Never knew she sounded so wonderful!

Superb. What a truly great artist. Sadly missed.

Her Isolde made me cry

Pourquoi m'a-t-il fallu tant de temps pour découvrir et m'émouvoir à cette interprétation de la mort d'Isole? Aux côtés de Zubin Mehta en plus...

А сколько раз можно поставить лайк?

Most beautiful rendition I have ever heard of Leibestod

It doesn't get better than Verrett and Nilsson when it comes to this♥

Listening to "this" has the stunning effect of unvealing the presence of (some kind of) God... Bigger than this life it's superlative.

Sublime, eccelsa con quella voce calda, ma studiatissima da nera.

Im speechless...

Una de las más bellas Arias de Richart Wagner

I could listen to this a million times and never tire of her. Flawless.

Richard Wagner is God

Her beautiful, expressive face had me before she sang a note. When she began, the tears began to flow. I actually realized that I was forgetting to breathe. Adjectives can't describe the beauty and grandeur of her performance. And it was her first Isolde.

Incredible!!!!

Beautiful legato!!!

How I wish I could have been there for some of of the most beautiful and memorable moments in musical history. Thank you for sharing this it is glorious.

Excelente

Wonderful, control of the voice and diction was perfect. BRAVA!

This is an ocean

Ma parole, mais elle a tout chanté cette Shirley Verrett !

Outstanding!

She allows the spirit of the character to flow through her.

stupenda....

Definitely the most moving version I have ever heard.

🐾🐾🐻🇫🇮 Moi. 👍👍👍.....

One of the most beautiful rendition I’ve ever heard of this aria

Himmlisch schöne Musik !!! Shirley und Zubin sind auch wunderbar !! Unübertrefflicher Wagner !!!!!

The queen!! So much emotion and musicality. Love her ❤️❤️

WOW. She was the whole package. Never heard of her until today - now I'm a fan!

Certo una Isotta unica la Verret

BRILHANTE

Шедевр очень приятный голос! Браво...Браво:)ڰۣ✿

The complete soprano: slender and beautiful, powerful voice with dramatic emotion. A legend!