Who sings Händel's "Fammi combattere" best? (female vocalists) 

i love Stutzmann, she is so elegant in her fraseggio, Geneaux is a great singer but i don't like her sound very much, but sounds so risky and that is always exciting, with Podles is amazing that having that enormous voice she has coloratura!! some people don't like her chest voice, but i like. Prina is so unique! you can't confuse her and her coloratura i like very much! but for Händel i prefer Stutzmann.

1.Vivica Genaux 2. Ann Hallenberg

Ewa Podleś is the best and excellent as always❤️

In this the Oscar goes to Poddles and Stutzmann. Draw. Brilliant! They took the music direction of Händel. .

Vivica Genaux is my pick.

Vivica Genaux. Her voice sounds most pleasant to me.

Yes, it's the color and timbre of the voice that is important, and of course technique and musicianship. Passionate and impeccable as a combination is the ultimate singing experience for me.

So, the winner is..... Vivica Genaux!!! (thank you very much)

Great choices of singers, Daniel. My rating from top to bottom: 1) Stutzmann - less flashy, but so solid musically, elegant and noble voice. Impeccable voice. Sung in A. 2) Podles - distracting chest register, but overall solid interpretation. Nice finish. Sung in B-flat instead of the original key of A. 3) Hallenberg - the range is too low, but she's so elegant and smooth. Sung in A. 4) Genaux - not my cup of tea. 5) Prina - sloppy and unfocused singing. Sounded like a live performance.

Nathalie Stutzmann and Ewa Podles

Ho sentito La Podles due volte a Houston Grand Opera. E' stupenda!

1. Vivica Genaux absolut!!!

It seems and aria more adequate for contralto than for mezzo (?)

they are excellent! impossible to choose!

Vivica gets my vote!

Genaux hands down

I definitely prefer Genaux, she grasped the spirit of the work as no one, and her ornaments are beautiful.

All the singers are great!!! But I like Eva Podles!!! With respect,Elena

Vivica!!!

Oltre il barocco, grazie x questa bellissima condivisione!Non ho mai amato molto la voce di S. Prina. Brava la Hallenberg ma.. la sua voce è+adatta a parti meno gravi (eccellente x es. in "Son qual nave" o "In braccio a mille furie").Grande Genaux dal punto di vista tecnico(non si smentisce!).Non male anche i gravi.OTTIME Stutzmann e Podles, contralti X ECCELLENZA.Ho sentito entrambe dal vivo.Da pelle d'oca!La note gravi della Podles si infilavano in ogni anfratto del teatro.. W i contralti!

Though I prefer countertenors in this aria Ewa Podles is just great here! Beautiful voice, great technique and the right coloratura. Hallenberg's singing is very beautiful by itself! Genaux's coloratura here exists separately from the aria and its character but overall she is surprisingly not too bad in this particular version.

I apologize for the exclusion of Marijana; the only recording I could find was from a concert last year, and her voice is not in good form. I promise to include her on another contest in the near future. Best regards, Daniel. P.D. - grazie per il tuo commento qui. :)

Ann Hallenberg. Clear distinction of character between A and B part, vivid coloraturas, nice timbre, very good trills (also the 2 short "notorious" trills at the opening part are at last joined and not sounding embarrassed), voice furious enough but not sounding bombastic or "verism like". 2nd Vivica, 3rd Eva (very good singing but a bit outdated).

Vivica's coloratura has an incredibly natural fluency and her tone is so original rare in the operatic world. She's my first choice. Ewa's a close second. I love Nathalie's incredible voice and technique, but her rendition seems a bit... gasp mechanical to me here. Ann is a spectacular singer, but although she's a mezzo like Vivica, I tend to find her a tad less convincing when she ventures in contralto lands... As for Sonia Prina, I'm not a fan of hers, so I'd rather refrain from commenting.

Thank you, Anna! I also admire Genaux's interpolations, but they aren't cleanly executed. Anything sung at less than a breakneck pace (Qual guerriero in campo armato) betrays her excessive vibrato. Still, I find myself admiring qualities in each of these artists' performances. I will post a Video Response Sonia Prina's live performance. I love the stage direction very much.

I like Vivica's version best :)

I think I like Vivica's interpretation best even though all others are great too. Which recording of Vivica did you use, oltre il barocco?

1- Podlès woah, power, sound, coloratura, perfect ornementation, ...... ***** 2- Stutzmann not as fierce and easy as Podlès but great characterization 3- Genaux amazing virtuosity, but not in her best register ; still, great ornementation 4- Hallenberg everything is good but nothing compared to the energy she sometimes conveys 5- Prina ...the sound I can't bear but I understand it's taste. But the colorature is NEVER regular, that's just impossible to accept.

Oh, I didn't like Hallenberg's! Am I the only one to have the impression that there're many places where there should be some trills and there's nothing instead? :-P I liked Genaux best. I still think her voice only gets decently beautiful in her high range, though. And I have the impression that if we were in a theatre, we would all appreciate Podles' performance most. I think it would be good to include Horne's renditions, just no to forget how well all this could be sung. :-)

Thank you for your detailed response, PrimaRagazza!. I love these kinds of dialogs. Your additional commentary is helpful, especially regarding Genaux and Prina. And the key question: is this what an alto castratro would have sounded like or done musically in the role or Orlando? We won't know actually, so I suppose each of us must choose our own preference. Thank you.

Sorry, for some reason I cannot add the watch page URL to video respond... just look up Sonia Prina Orlando.

по красоте , ровности тембра и упругости звука Натали Штутцманн лучшая.

Imprersivna mi je na prvom mjestu Nathalie Stutzman,iako ju nisam često slušao,jako mi se sviđa i Ewa Podles, Vivica je inače meni jako draga,ali ovdje joj nedostaje energije, premekana je. Trenutno mi je najdraža altistica Sonia Prina,no ovdije se nije baš iskazala. Ann Hallenberg nije loša, možda odmah iza Nathalie.Ali ,to su doista nijanse,sve su dobre.

Vivica Genaux, senza dubbia.

Io l'ho sentita invece nella "Un ballo in maschera" e "La fille du regiment" :)

E. Podles.

Condivido!! Io l'ho sentita all'Opéra Comique di Parigi, nella "Cendrillon" di Massenet. Incredibile... Una voce femminile davvero unica...

primo posto a Marijana Mijanović (perche non la vedo qui?) secundo alla grande polacca Ewa Podleś terzo a Nathalie Stutzmann quarto: Ann Hallenberg

Ann, Ann and Ann!!!

I'd go for Stutzmann, because she sounds funny~

Natalie Stutzmann❤❤❤

"La fille du régiment"?! Fantastica! Lì interpretava la marchesa di Berckenfield, giusto? Molto bello il pezzo di esecuzione (tratto appunto da tale opera) ascoltabile su youtube e dove lei esegue a un "si" praticamente "baritonale"... Ripeto, unica!

Prefer Genaux in other arias. A bit fluttery. Tempo too fast. Podles character comes through better plus voice sits low enough for emphasis on the lower notes. Like the trills. Ann Hallenberg beautiful voice but not low enough great actor, Prina too fast. Exciting but not enough control. Stutzmann ticks all my boxes. Stunning low notes, very strong, no worries when pitch rises, love the vibrato because its not pervasive. It' s added for dramatic effect. Tempo chosen means I keep the music the phrasing and don't get lost in vocal gymnastics. So Stutzmann, first and See Podles second

Ann & Vivica are absolutly tHE BEST!!! Sonia Prina :-(... too rude!

Ms. Prina was very weak in this aria the last time i saw her. I like Ms.Genaux, very elegant and charmful, but i would prefer something a little more dramatic here, so i would say Hallenberg...

Vivica +1

Marijana Majanovic.

Concordo con tutte le osservazioni di Jean N. Manca però il contralto che più di tutti mi piace in questa aria: Marijana Mijanovic. Ha molta "verve", e adoro quelle sue note quasi baritonali nelle ultime battute.

Bejun Metha.

good video but you're missing one great singer where's Marilyn Horne????

La Podleska!!

Normally I like Prina... a lot. But this sounds like it was recorded from the audience on something like a video recorder or cell phone. Plus the pace (not set by her) was a bit fast and it is not in the range, mostly, in which I like her so much. I have no idea if her interpretation is appropriate, but I think I'd prefer Genaux to listen to as a free standing aria. Podles just happens to have a voice tone that for decades I have not liked in any singer, so I am prejudiced against her.

как обычно я согласен с тобою :)

Ewa is definetely the best! Hallenberg is also great. Prina seems to be a good singer, but I just don't like her voice. Stutzmann's sounds good, but with little feeling.

Hey, where is Sarah O'Connell & Mariana Mijlkovich?

Podles and Stutzmann...

Sonia è una furia ! numero 1 ! Ms Prina as number one !

Nathalie Stutzmann es la mejor.

As for Genaux, I find that her voice has little personalitu.

Nathalie Stutzmann: sexy!

La prima donna assoluta in questa aria é Marilyn Horne

I love Ann Hallenberg's voice, but this aria is not confortable for her, too low. Her voice doesn't sound at its best. I prefer N. Stutzmann & E. Podles. I love the voice of S. Prina, but I think her voice is less good when she sings low and very quick at the same time. She blocks her throat and push too much.

Da baritono e controtenore (scarso) confermo che queste a Metha gli spicciano casa, al massimo.. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SJhvX3ty4SI.html

After reading the other posts, and listening to the series again ... I have to say that this recording is by far the worst of Prina that I have ever heard. I'm a fan of hers, but this sounded like a recording from a high school performance, done from the audience