Magnificent! What a shame that there isn't a commercial recording of her complete Amneris. That being said, this pirate is an exciting memento of what was clearly one of her best roles.
Artiste con un controllo della loro esperta frequentazione di molti autori recando ad ognuno omaggio della loro innata Capacità di rendere al meglio il pathos, qui verdiano, dove la voce viene chiamata al massimo suo peso specifico per esprimere la sua sconfitta come Donna di potere...che in Egitto era assoluto ,quasi divino.E il pubblico impazzisce...che orchestra...
@meltzerboy - A pity is right. Sutherland and Pavarotti WERE fine in that performance as well. It's just that Verrett was just so "wacko" and "ballistic" that I found her thrilling. I love Trovatore, but it's kind of strange that for me, the Azucena role is THE best role in the opera. I also find that Amneris has the strongest role in Aida. Verdi wrote some fabulous stuff for the mezzo. I even love Eboli and Ulrica (sung by Eve Podles in Houston in 2009 --- a REALLY spooky and scary voice!
Verdi may have changed his mind, but it doesn't alter the fact that Azucena is the vortex of the opera. A super powerful Azucena, Eboli, or Amneris can blow the house down, and I'm sure that it's happened many times. No disrespect to the "leads", but Azucena's screams of vengeance were written for the highest rows in the balcony. Ditto for Amneris and Eboli. Great booming mezzos have thrived in these three roles.
I find this true. It seems even Callas complained after the one Chicago Trov w Signani as Azucena...that the audience responds to the gypsy no matter how great the Leonora is.
@meltzerboy Horne actually sang a very compelling Amneris, and she sounded fabulous. However, she lacked the thrust that you allude to. Her booming chest notes were impressive, but the truth is that she didn't really belong in Ancient Egypt or the Hills of Biscay. Podles, however, is as scary as hell. Her first note could have been used in the film "The Omen". She spooks you out and thunders through the second part like a singing shark. Great performance!
It's a real shame cuz I think she would have made an electrifying Amneris based on this video and the BBC telecasts from '71. Her only performance as Amneris for RCA was her duets CD with Montserrat Caballe' from the opera's Act II confrontation; yet another "what if" performance
All three characters are DRIVEN! They are propelled by revenge, fury, jealousy, etc. I read somewhere a long time ago that Maria Callas said that one reason why she didn't like to sing Aida & Leonora in "Trovatore" was because "no matter what I do, it's the mezzo role that drives the audience into dementia". Someone once proposed that Callas try Amneris. Someone replied that if Callas were ever cast as Amneris, that no Aida would ever consent to sing against THAT. Perfectly true.
@@manolis.799 really it makes perfect sense, because after this scene and then seeing in retrospective the former scenes where she appears and furtherly what happens in the ending with her, the audience somehow acknowledges she is actually the true main character of the story as she is pretty much VERY REAL WHOLESOME HUMAN BEING compared with either the tenor or the soprano (only perhaps the baritone is the other one equal to her). I always felt that after this scene, Amneris didn´t needed in all a true aria on her own to be remembered, because she actually didn´t have any particular single song on her own, whereas other big Verdi mezzo roles have (Eboli has 2 arias, Preziosilla too, Azucena has 4, Ulrica has 1 and a half, Fenena has 1 or a half-something, and Maddalena has none but she is in that awesome Quartet on the last act where she only appears). Still indeed Amneris is the most loved character of Aida!!!
the sad thing is that actually Callas would have done a more outstanding career as mezzo later on as her soprano voice got broken, but she got very selfish and stubborn that she didn´t matched those roles, because of the stereotype then being "the other woman" who is opposite to the main leading female character and usually didn´t end well in the story, or are indeed the main characters but somewhat more troublesome and complex than the usual soprano heroines. She was kinda stupid about that, if she would have foreseen something about the future and how actually cultural deconstruction of heros and villains, shown that actually were the nemesis-type of characters the best ones ever!!
I have the Deember, 1987 Met broadcast of "Trovatore", in which Sutherland made her final appearance at the Met. Pavarotti is the tenor. However, the Azucena is Verrett, and she steals the show out right out from under them. Her Azucena is truly an old gorgan of a used-up woman, and though she does stuff that some people may consider "over the top", the audience goes wild. Small wonder that she has been called "the black Callas:.
Love this performance- Verrett, especially. You're right. She all-but-steals the show. By the way, this was Joan's last performance at the Met in a staged opera ... but she sang one recital there after this during the following season .... March of 1989. The recital was her actual Met farewell.
I also read Verrett's autobiography; in it she stated the would walk away from RCA if they didnt let her record Carmen even though Leontyne Price had already done it. She said it was one of the biggest mistakes in her career. To make matters worse no only was she up for two upcoming recording projects, they were two juicy Verdi parts: Amneris and Azucena, with Price, Domingo, and Milnes in both studio sessions. After Verrett quit, Grace Bumbry did Amneris and Fiorenza Cossotto did the Azucena.
Is this a concert piece or did she sing Amneris in Amsterdam in 1971- what a wonderful voice. I think of the 2 MZ that reigned in Verdi in the lates 60s to early 80s- she is preferable to Bumbry.
Maybe it's all for the best. For whatever reason Verrett never sounded great in the studio. The comparison between her live Lady Macbeth and the Abbado recording shows it perfectly. For whatever reason the excitement in her voice thrives on the live moment. Some singers just don't record well doesn't mean they aren't great.
