That acrobatics ending is beyond description. An asteroid should be named in her honor, or better, a galaxy. Her Metropolitan performances were always sold-out. She was beloved in NYC. Her Fille du Regiment was my favorite of her Metropolitan repertoire. She was a great comedienne, a big ham !!!! Seamstresses, Wigmakers, Tailors, Crown/Tiara makers loved her for obvious reasons. They bought apartments and some (Wigmakers) summer homes. To them she was "St. JOAN" according to a Seamstress who lived in my building!!!
I have listened to this voice since 1960, saw and heard Joan Sutherland a dozen times in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Hague between 1962 and 1976 and am still enchanted by her fabulous singing and technique. Absolutely unique.
I heard her live many times. What doesn't come through in recording is the resonance and over tones in her voice. That is true with large voices. I don't know if it's because of CDs.
@@LohengrinO She had a huge voice. The first time I saw her was with Marilyn Horne in Norma. I have to admit I was surprised at how large her voice was and how far it projected.
Sooracuti..diminuzioni...ba noi nel 1835 o 1870 non c'eravamo ma credo facessero lo stesso. Il problema dello stile e' nato nella seconda meta' del 900. E perche' la Joan se lancia un sopracuto scappa sempre il fatto del 1835 e se lo canta la Devia tutti zitti?
sarà pure obbiettivamente straordinaria ma anche questa performance mostra il difetto di tutte le iinterpretazioni belliniane oogni volta che si arriva al da capo della caballetta è tutto un tripudio di diminuzioni fioriture, arbitri, rallentamenti appoggiature,trilli volatine, acciaccature e soprattutto sopracuti che in questo caso, Elvira in fonto è matta e sta delirando, ci stanno pure e strappano un sicuro applauso ma sono decisamente sovrabbondanti e pure un po stucchevoli e nel caso dei sovracuti nelle puntature finali completamente fuori stile siamo nel 1835 non nel 1875 par dius !
Thank you Lohengrin for this wonderful post. Perhaps someone can explain to me, is it alright to embellish and aria? I was always under the impression that the admirable thing is to sing it as written. Is it that the composer sometimes gives the singer leeway to change and embellish? As I've said before I have no musical training and am just trying to understand the art form. Thank you.
Yes ofc... Bellini had only asked his singers not to write their own embellishments but to let him write them for them so that they can be within his style and not sound as if they are a foreign part of music But since Bellini wasnt there when dame Joan was singing Elvira...
I cannot speak Italian so I do not care what Sutherland’s diction is like. Bad or good, I cannot understand the Italian text anyway, so it does not matter! 👍
I used to joke that Maria C never did Beatrice after she had heard the (very) young Joan Sutherland in this role … and still think it isn’t a too bad joke. Gencer also gave quite a fine rendition but doesn’t come close to Sutherland‘s BTW there is a reason why Sutherland excelled so much in Beatrice di Tenda. It is an opera with far less dramatic elements as Norma or Puritani, but instead flowing pensive and somewhat melancholic arias like this one of the final scenes
Veramente la Callas doveva debuttare alla Scala il ruolo di Beatrice assieme a Semiramide. Rinuncio' per fatti che sappiamo ma Joan non aveva ancora mai cantato il ruolo quindi Maria non puo' averla ascoltata. Nel caso la Maria l'avesse cantata...beh...Joan sarebbe stata la seconda.
Grazie Theo❤ Ho spesso l’impressione che la Sutherland non conosca l’italiano e non capisca fino in fondo quello che canta e, se non conoscessi l’opera a memoria neanch’io capirei una parola. E poi sarà spettacolare, ma l’esagerazione negli abbellimenti alla fine rende l’aria abbastanza noiosa
The technical virtuosity in the cabaletta is stunning. The rest of it leaves me cold: so-so expression, a bit boring frankly. For me, her best belcanto role remains Lucia, definitely. (Or maybe Beatrice, but there I have nobody like Callas etc to compare her with.)
@@LohengrinO Haha, de gustibus etc… For me her Lucia is neck and neck with Callas’, whereas as Elvira Callas wins for me hands down, especially in this aria, where her expression, emotion, nuance, colors, undulating tension etc is way above everybody else I’ve heard.
