To This We've Come from the Consul - Patricia Neway 

Patricia Neway's vocal and dramatic characterization of Magda Sorel in "The Consul" is legendary. Her performance of Magda's monologue is a tour de force.

Patricia Neway understood this scene completely. What a great artist!

Patricia Neway's 1950 recording of this aria is also available on RU-vid and shouldn't be missed, because it captures Neway at the height of her vocal powers, but this video is nonetheless essential because it really gives a full picture of Neway's titanic performance, and it is truly astonishing.

Electrifying!

JESUS! If that isn't the harshest, most eloquent, most moving indictment of government bureaucracy ever presented I can't imagine what else might be. Yet, it's power and it's beauty are TRANSCENDENT. Menotti did so much for us Americans, and yet it is only Bizet, Verdi, and Puccini who live on and on and on.

This absolutely never gets old. The passion in this recording is absolutely top notch. Definitely one of the best performances of this role. Period.

A very powerful performance by. Patricia. Neway!!of this great aria!!! Brava. Patricia!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow. Just wow. Every single time Ms. Neway just destroys me. No matter how many times I watch this (and I have the DVD, too) - I am slain by her performance. Riveting. Brilliant. Complete. Brava!

One of the most powerful and moving scenes anywhere. I"m so grateful that it was captured on video, even with grainy, fuzzy images. This is the most direct, honest expression of human grief (as well as anger and fear) that I can remember, in a long time. Thank you, Patricia Neway.

This scene is one of the greatest in all opera and Neway sings it superbly. Very few sopranos choose to sing it and the opera itself is not performed often although it is a beautiful work. I saw Eileen Farrell sing the scene in concert and it was one of the greatest single experiences I have had in almost 60 years of attending opera and vocal concerts. That day Birgit Nilsson, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau were in the director's box [all in town for other performances of their own] and after this scene they along with the rest of the audience gave her a standing ovation.

Wonderfully committed acting and superb singing

Every time I hear the climax: "Oh, the day will come. . ." I am very moved. When I hear Patricia Neway sing it, I just lose it! What an operatic moment! Menotti was a great composer, not credited enough in this country. He was beloved in France.

A superb Magda, a splendid actress and performer!

This is a masterpiece of music & drama -Perhaps the best ever written no wonder it won the Pulitzer Prize

i love this opera

Best performance of this aria I've seen. I know this aria very well but this is just a thrilling performance with great acting as well as singing. Very impressive indeed!

What a gorgeous rendition of a stunning aria. Kudos!

speechless.... wonderful....

Utterly harrowing and incomparably brave. Her voice had frayed somewhat in the 10 years since she created this role, but what an irreplaceable document of an incredible portrayal of this role.

And 9 years after this, the original "Mother Abyss" in the original cast of The Sound Of Music" and her instrument is as powerful as ever!

This is a marvelous historic record. I was not aware it was available but will certainly try to find it for my collection. I am not quite old enough to have seen Neway in opera but I did see the original Sound of Music on Broadway where she was the original Mother Abbess who sang Climb Ev'ry Mountain with the same type of emotional intensity. If you want to hear others in this scena on RU-vid there is a DVD of Virginia Zeani doing it in this production but in Italian [translated by Menotti for her] which is superb. There is also a great recorded performance by Eileen Farrell which also captures the situation. I heard Farrell sing it live during a concert. Birgit Nilsson was in the audience and after this aria Nilsson stood and applauded, no more need be said.

Such an amazing and moving opera. I was riveted to it the whole way through. Such passion, and frustration. Still the situation in many government bureaucracy. Nothing has changed.

Really unbelievable. . .the hairs on my arms have been standing straight up for the last ten minutes. . .

How wonderful to come across this! Back in the day when I sang Magda there were no RU-vid videos for reference - what a great resource for today's young singers! Patricia Neway"s Magda is so brilliant - thanks for posting this!

Meraviglia 🥰🥰🥰

Holy shit! She's perfect.

fantastic. FANTASTIC.

extraordinary - great opera and yet so real

Newly, at the end of her aria, turns to face the Secretary who has already gone into the Consul’s office. Watch Neway’s face as she realizes there may be hope that she will see the Consul. Subtle facial emotions which speaks volumes. Newly was, in addition to being a great singer, was a consummate actress.

Magda: To this we've come, that men withhold the world from men; No ship nor shore for him who drown at sea, No home nor grave for him who dies on land. To this we've come, that Man be born a stranger upon God's Earth, That he be chosen without a chance for choice, That he be hunted without the hope of refuge; To this we've come. To this we've come, and you, You too, shall weep. If to men, not to God we now must pray, tell me, Secretary, tell me, who are these men? If to them, not to God we now must pray, tell me, Secretary, Who are these dark archangels? Will they be conquered? Will they be doomed? Is there one, anyone, behind that door, to whom the heart can still be explained? Is there one, anyone, who still may care? Tell me, Secretary, tell me- Have you ever seen the Consul? Does he speak? Does he breathe? Have you ever spoken to him? ⎡ Secretary: I don't know what you're talking about. Of course you can see the Consul, but he's a very busy man. The appointment must be made in advance. You can begin by filling in this form, and then I'll see what I can do for you. Sign here. I said, sign here! Others waiting, in the background: Do we sit and hope in vain, Secretary? Speak! Is there noone in that room, Secretary? Speak! Do we sit and hope in vain? Secretary, speak! ⎣ Magda: Papers! Papers, papers! But don't you understand? What can I tell you, to make you understand? My child is dead, John's mother is dying, My own life is in danger; I ask you for help, And all you give me is papers! What is your name? Magda Sorel. Age, 33. Color of hair? Color of eyes? Single or married? Religion and race? Place of birth? Father's name? Mother's name? Papers, papers, papers, papers, papers, papers, papers! Look at my eyes; they are afraid to sleep. Look at my hands, at these old woman's hands! Why don't you say something? Aren't you secrearies human beings like us? What is your name? Magda Sorel. Age, 33. What will your papers do? They can not stop the clock. They are too thin an armor against a bullet. What is your name? Magda Sorel. Age, 33. What does that matter? All that matters is that the time is late, That I'm afraid and I need your help. What is your name? What is your name; what is your name? This is my answer: My name is Woman. Age? Still young. Color of hair? Gray. Color of eyes? The color of tears. Occupation? Waiting. Waiting. Waiting! Waiting! Waiting, waiting, waiting! Oh, the day will come, I know, When our hearts aflame Will burn your paper chains! Warn the Consul, Secretary, warn him- That day, neither ink nor seal shall chain our souls! That day will come! That day will come!

Wow! Riveting performance. (I think the singer who sang the secretary had it right too.)

I'm obsessed with this scene and aria. I love her commitment to the character. Where can I order this?

This is Menotti's best opera. I wouldn't call it an unqualified masterpiece, but a convincing performance can really carry it with power. It comes off particularly in live performance. I was privilege to be involved in a production, as repetiteur, in Durban, South Africa, in 1981.; Barbara Nox was a powerful, gripping Magda who looked not unlike Neway. Renee Rakin played a superb secretary, not without some humour, Dawie Couzyn, a baleful secret police chief. The conductor was British-born Michael Hankinson On the day of the final performance the harpist, who ran a book exchange, had a brick tossed in her face. They asked me to play the harp part on a harpsichord (a mistake; a piano would have been much better). At the end of the second act, the trombonist caught the electric cable and unplugged, and we played the final bars in complete darkness. Such are the vagaries of live production! It was a most moving production, nevertheless. It was hard work, but worth it.

Brava!

Legend has it that Marie Powers (who played Neway's mother) tried to extract this particular plum for herself - and when Menotti resisted, she told him that she'd taken holy vows that if he would give this aria to her, she would never again drink, smoke, or have sex. When Menotti could stop laughing, he told her, "Marie...it's just not worth it!"

I wonder if she secretly did the dubbing of the Mother Abyes in the film version of The Sound of Music? Here, she sounds a lot like the voice in the film.

Shewas a grand MotherSuperior, too.

So relevant today when our country is threatened by a fascist government.

2:40 Who's the singer here?

If anything is pertinent to this world right now, this is it. Someone translate it and send it to Volodymyr Zelensky. This is what it was all about, believe me.

Welcome to 2017. Same crap, new century.

Best performance of this aria I've seen. I know this aria very well but this is just a thrilling performance with great acting as well as singing. Very impressive indeed!