Barbara Bonney - Et incarnatus est

Mass in C Minor, Mozart. Filmed at the Palau de la Musica Catalana, Barcelona, in December 1991.

[@OperaLover84]

Speaking as someone who is obsessed with vocal pedagogy -- this is a masterclass is beautiful singing here. See how relaxed her face is and how little she uses her jaw. She makes the sounds inside, and that's how it's done. Brava!

[@mckavitt13]

Agreed. Yet so long ago. Look at J E Gardiner. Looks like a kid!

[@ozanyapisan5965]

I am so happy to see you write this. I know nothing about vocal pedagogy but after listening to her version of Ave Maria for years, I thought it was time to look up who actually sings it, which is the first time I've ever done this with opera. Her voice is so clean that I guess even for a primitive listener like myself it translates.

[@davidsimmons654]

@@ozanyapisan5965 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 awesome!

[@Civille7]

This woman's voice is divine

[@robertmanno5749]

This is a lesson in singing: perfect vocal production, subtle vowel modification, centered breath and a text that is clear but with a connected legato. The great soprano at age 35.

[@DanRobSo]

She makes singing this look so effortless and easy - the truth that this is VERY difficult to sing! Brava, Barbara!

[@shibadoc]

BB is my role model. Almost makes me want to quit singing. But she is a standard to shoot for. I never tire of hearing this angelic voice.

[@signingupiseasyd]

The quality of her voice in the upper registers is ethereal and amazing

[@PillyCremina]

Barbara Bonney è veramente una cantante meravigliosa ed una persona bellissima anche umanamente. Dopo averla conosciuta la stimo ancora di più!

[@dibladiblup]

Thank you, Barbara Bonney and Sir Eliot for choosing this tempo. Finally somebody is making music here and not celebrating long and high notes.

[@OnceUponADiet]

I have no words. What a voice. A gift from God.

[@acatalano2641]

Look no further for an utterly sublime performance by the Beautiful Barbara Bonney.

[@romuloVG]

Best performance ever!

[@philzmusic8098]

That cadenza! What a genius Mozart was.

[@carlstryg]

Sublime, understated and absolutely perfectly sung, and backed by orchestral exquisiteness. One of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written, sung by one of the best Sopranos to walk this earth. Heart-rending.

[@MayaKherani]

This is a masterclass in perfect vocal technique!

[@MayaKherani]

6 years later: the more I know about vocal technique, the more I just keep coming back to this video. Efficient airflow, pharyngeal vowels, and clean adduction of the cords. All in service of making this piece sound like a slice of heaven...Effortlessness takes years of effort!

[@bigell91]

@@MayaKherani YESSS!!!

[@martagarciacadena9982]

@@MayaKherani pharingeal vowels? What do you mean? Could you clarify? Thank you!

[@IndigoBone]

So beautiful, so clear and pure. It sounds so easy and light. Ahhhhhh. Beautiful!

[@dojagi1461]

Indigo Bone Must be one of the hardest to sing. Not that Mozart is easy in any way.

[@ImSoBored54]

Her control, and the ease and subtly with which she exudes such beauty, just astounds me. Her voice is... beyond words. Thanks for posting this.

[@khothye]

I saw this video on TV when I was 15 and felt in love with Mozart and with lyric singing... thank you, thank you Barbara.

[@ajhiflyer]

I can imagine every soprano in the choir is breathing every note with this wonderful woman - taken from an all round fabulous performance of Mozart's great C minor Mass under the supreme direction of John Eliot Gardiner.

[@sassycassiestar]

wtf how is she so perfect

[@jimbuxton2187]

I love her interpretation! Very good trills!

[@DavidBrowningBYD]

Perfectly lovely, a joy to watch and listen to. I love a singer who uses the voice God gave her, not trying to make it something else. Just see how relaxed her face, neck and shoulders are as she sings even the most difficult phrases! What technique!

[@jenovan1]

magnifique et touchante interprétation. sobriété, intériorité, profondeur, élévation...c'est divin, c'est Mozart merci

[@alylacroix]

No words to say, just WOW O___O What a voice!!

[@johngotwalt3143]

This is the first music I'm hearing in 2021. May life in the coming months proceed as effortlessly and graciously as her singing. We deserve it.

[@andreamoboe]

Barbara Bonney is amazing! Her voice has everything. Her voice just sparkles and every note and word is important. The best soprano I have ever heard! :)

[@diomarimontoya]

Hi, here is another version! What do you think? kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWLRlXicps5phq8&start_radio=1&t=2

[@PascalAbida]

D'une extraordinaire justesse et d'une extrême pureté !!! une interprétation Sublime.

[@dhlrpdls]

How can she sing so easily? No sign of tension or difficulties... A.M.A.S.I.N.G!!

[@BellezaesDios]

Bravissima! What a wonderful instrument! She's also a beautiful person and teacher! God bless her!

[@caveatemp]

I got the feeling from the conductor's face after she was done said, "Yeah, now I can bask in the glory of her voice. Yep, I conducted that." She is amazing. One of the best voices and the most touching composition.

[@isabellepaoli3901]

Beaucoup d'humilité , une voix en osmose avec l'orchestre, quelle délicatesse . Merci Barbara Bonney .

[@AzrinAziz]

This movement is trillion times better then pop songs nowadays.

[@SatanAteMySocks]

+Azrin Aziz (Kiko) Just like apples are a trillion and gazillion times better than oranges...

[@AzrinAziz]

SatanAteMySocks lol, i laughed hard today.

[@shadboltbill]

There shouldn't be such a thing as vocal perfection, or is there? Well. there is--and Barbara Bonney and Mozart achieve it. A culmination of great art, honed to simple perfection.

[@metodsironic]

crying is inevitable

[@Juliaflo]

Singing a challenging passage by heart----simply magnificent.

[@papagen00]

I heard Barbara in San Francisco often in the 1990's. What a gorgeous voice! She and Kiri Te Kanawa were the two most perfect soprano voices I have ever heard to this day.

[@jerrodnickels2518]

Barbara and Arleen Auger!! It doesn't get any better. If there is a heaven, this must be it!

[@margitbauer9944]

Ja, sie singt wie ein Engel - es gibt keine bessere Version...göttlich!

[@SundanceCrave]

she just makes it look so effortless! amazing.

[@AstriaICOW]

greatest lyrical soprano I've heard yet far

[@twfsk]

her and Kathleen Battle maybe

[@AstriaICOW]

pffff, Kathleen Battle is so overrated in comparison to Bonney

[@rdaevi6129]

Sylvia Mcnair?

[@SteveL2012]

Agreed, McNair is a distant second because she is not anywhere near as musical as B.B., and Kathleen Battle is unique but better at the lyric coloratura repertoire rather than pure lyric Mozart.

[@rdaevi6129]

SteveL2012 for me Mcnair has the most heavenly soprano voice I’ve heard, Barbara is the distant second

[@SteveL2012]

Had I been in the chorus, I would have fainted, no exaggeration, from the unparalleled beauty of BB’s voice and her utterly perfect stylistic and interpretive performance of Mozart. This has been in my head all week, and I can’t stop listening.

[@caveatemp]

You can really see that in the image of the women behind her. Truly, this is beauty par excellence. Mozart was touched by God Himself.

[@curaticac5391]

This exceptional soprano at her best! And a young John Eliot Gardiner. Thank you for posting it.

[@harryhagan5937]

I knew she was fabulous, but I didn't know she was American. Bravissima!

[@elvenlove]

Truly Lovely. One of my favorite pieces.

[@ALYSSA09MUSICSTARS]

Wonderful and 100% perfect - sung with heart and soul - Barbara Bonney will sit one day on the side of Mozart. To sing in this quality is the best we can do. For artists like Barbara Bonney, Arleen Auger and Margaret Price Mozart has written his great Mass.

[@danawinsor1380]

I couldn't agree more (and let's not forget Elly Ameling!)

[@serpeor7472]

No soy religioso, pero esta mujer no sólo canta, también reza, sin necesidad de utilizar la expresión corporal. Cerrar los ojos........Perfecta.

[@leratomaisa5757]

she sounds so perfect wonderful sounds of angelic voice's!!

[@Sochilinda]

The best version of this beautiful piece for me, is definetly Sumi jo. She is really amazing with her voice, breath and phrases.

[@MySpace662]

What control! what a voice.

[@MusicBeautyLove]

She is AMAZING!

[@brucelee31]

LOVED the trill she made with her voice. I've never heard an opera singer do that...or I just haven't watched enough videos of opera singers XD Barbara Bonney is awe inspiring!

[@Cordylcoh]

We are being shown here how it is done! Beautiful singing - amazing.

[@loretohidalgo3533]

her face is so relaxed

[@xav71176]

Perfect.

[@zralokvemigraci]

that made me cry. so beuatiful... as pure as mozart wrote it i believe...

[@user-mn8gw3cc6r]

Najpiękniejsze wykonanie❤

[@ajhiflyer]

Simply stunning!

[@Saewelo-returns]

Amazing,my favourite rendition of this,thanks for posting this.

[@JosephCousins2]

This is so beautiful

[@Marielegoth]

The best performance ever! Breathtaking! It's so pure so beautiful as it has to be :3

[@michaelzurkinden116]

It's a sort of miracle of pure beauty

[@captebbtide]

All such performances of this sublime work are to be judged by the Bonney Standard - the fine Bonney standard!

[@Arrakis-]

Simply: the perfection of Ángels is that.

[@nanouchnika]

Magnifique ! très belle voix

[@HeavenlyLights]

John Elliot Gardiner, Barbara Bonney and Mozart. Say no more. 💎💎💎💎💎

[@lymanmj]

Hats off, ladies and gentlemen: a real masterpiece here. Beautifully performed. The way Mozart brings us back down almost to earth in the last few measures gives me chills.

[@diomarimontoya]

Hi, here is another version! What do you think? kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWLRlXicps5phq8&start_radio=1&t=2

[@sivan.goldman]

So beautiful!!!

[@g.j.vrijmoeth8586]

From heaven...

[@JRS2M]

Sorry, but ONLY 85 351 people have had the wonderful chance of listening to such a marvel?! Irony apart, these 8 minutes turn easily to ages, if you let yourself flow with the beauty both of the melody and of the voice. Thank you Mozart! Thank you Barbara! FRom a guy of Lisbon who loves great music.

[@shkeni]

Just like Callas was the ur-dramatic soprano, so Barbara Bonney is the ur-Soubrette. Simply incredible.

[@ageu-incorporadorimobiliar7802]

Sublime👏👏

[@ryuk-mcawfromthealiens797]

Бесподобно! (russian: matchless, excellently)

[@user-dw3th2ws3s]

❤Голос звучит прекрасно ,тембр очаровательный.Браво ооо.❤❤

[@utlandagatan]

Between Sylvia McNair and Barbara Bonney, Bonney is simply the best!

[@vodkatonyq]

I still prefer McNair but Bonney's vocal performance is also masterful.

[@ceretomer5987]

If I hadn't watched this video while listening to this song, I would have guessed that an unknown beautiful instrument created this sound.

[@loginn19]

PURE PERFECTION

[@Schollistico]

¡¡Qué brava que es!!how i adore her, she does it easy and beautiful. She is one of the best sopranos; how i'd like to listen to her again sul palco scenico.

[@user-te1nf7wd9n]

WOW!!!!!

[@aniamezzo]

Fabulous !!!!

[@mariesabineclemencon]

sublime

[@TimothyRookey]

She's the most enjoyable one to watch and to listen to singing this song on KZbin. However, my recording of Ileana Cotrubas singing it is my favorite.

[@danielungermann7055]

This is really Mozart in perfection.

[@carlyn65]

Yes, this is truly one of the most difficult arias to sing...I've done it myself and the breaths are appropriate and necessary. CLR

[@peace-now]

Superb. Certainly the best soprano (recent) to come from the US. Americans should be proud of her. Another American jewel is Leonard Bernstein.

[@AstriaICOW]

SugarTomAppleRoger LOL what are you talking about? There are many great American sopranos, Renee Fleming for example is also really good. She sings in full operatic voice instead of lyrical like Barbara.

[@AstriaICOW]

***** sure, all world-class singers can do all roles. Barbara Bonney just does lyrical much better than others.

[@AstriaICOW]

***** I don't agree. Renee Fleming is best known for her Bel Canto roles. I consider her even better than Maria Callas, who was supposed to be the Bible of Bel Canto. I don't believe Barbara Bonney would be able to do Bel Canto. Barbara Bonney is best known for pure lyrical roles that do not require large volume projection, which she cannot do. She's known for sacred music and non-coloratura Mozartian roles. What I mean by doing all roles is that they LEARN all roles and can "do them" adequately, meaning fundamental basics. But in their career they will find what they do best. Renee Fleming for example, got so famous that she started to do popular songs, and she sucked, but she does them anyways. I also heard that Barbara Bonney's American popular songs were not very good.

[@AstriaICOW]

***** "Fleming is certainly not most acclaimed for her bel canto. She doesn't sing it anymore" I'm not sure at which age you mean "not anymore" (she's pretty much retired) but she sang La Traviata very late in her career in Russia and London and was most definitely critically acclaimed. And La Traviata is like the queen of Bel Canto. She did get famous from singing Mozart's Contessa from Le Nozze di Figrao, but that was how she started in the 90s, that's what got her famous. And as far as I know she was pretty much only known widely for singing that role. Whereas Barbara Bonney sings a much wider Mozart role and she's mostly known for Mozart, even herself eventually restricted herself to sing Mozart in Operas. I did not say that Barbara Bonney CAN'T project, but even in this concert I could barely hear her relative to, let's say, operatic voice singers like Anna Netrebko or Sumi Jo, both have that big voice that are more stereotypical of Opera singers which lands them a lot of jobs at theatres. Barbara Bonney is know for her timbre and her smooth and effortless transitions, and her extraordinary clear voice on high pitches, like a wind pipe. All of Barbara recordings I have with multiple voices and orchestra I have difficulty hearing her relative to other people singing the same thing. But she's still my favorite, because of how she makes herself sound.

[@AstriaICOW]

***** I said, very specifically: "LARGE volume projection" which is of course, relative. Comparing to MOST Opera singers, she cannot do the large volume projection that is very typical of opera singers. The volume of her voice is not even as loud as the opera singers in my school, and they are no where near Barbara Bonney in their overall singing quality. So no, I never said that she cannot project at all. You just didn't read what I said carefully enough. Also, saying that Verdi is coming out of the Bel Canto is like saying that Beethoven is not considered classical but romantic composer. These things are of course debated. But I have many professional musician and composer friends who DO consider La Traviata to be Bel Canto, which is a loose term to describe the period of Italian opera in from the 18th to the 19th century, of which Verdi is often considered to be the best over Puccini, Bellini, Rossini etc. Violetta of La Traviata was also one of the most well-known roles of Maria Callas. So it doesn't matter if it contained coloratura elements, so did Casta Diva from Norma. Like I said, Renee Fleming sang Bel Canto roles much later than her Mozartian roles, she's known to be a late bloomer but even as a late bloomer singing these roles in the past 10 years is still past her prime. She's also known for being a drama queen because she also said that one of her very well-known Contessa roles in the Met was one that she never wanted to see again, and she was widely critically acclaimed for that one. Anyways it's rather pointless to argue over these things since it's all subjective. But my original point was that there are in fact, MANY out-standing American sopranos other than Barbara Bonney, but they are different and do some things better than her, that's all.

[@buffalosmoke]

becoming attracted to her voice..... the guy in the background looks SOOO serious ;)

[@mimohernandezhernandez5499]

Sin duda la soprano estado unidense mas extraordinaria de la historia una voz simplemente impecable, divina.

[@raulalfredoosma7701]

De acuerdo en que es algo supremo, pero por favor no elvides a Arleen Auger, incluso con su interpretacion de esta misma pieza musical.

[@mimohernandezhernandez5499]

Ame tu comentario

[@user-wu2be7ce2m]

superb

[@caveatemp]

Imagine if every suffering soul in the world could take in the absolute beauty of this at once. Heaven would bloom.

[@ursus1302]

....like an angel.....

[@shin-i-chikozima]

Sorrow and nostalgia touch my feathery heart. Unimpeachable performance！

[@williamschultz104]

The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us,the pinnacle of reality!Oh and the singing is suited for the beautiful words.

[@Janibeva]

Qué manejo de la voz, hermoso simplemente y delicioso de escuchar.

[@kontrapunkti]

No, This is not from this world, she has to be an Angel....

[@tuadolcefanciulla]

So true. So true. She'll be able to sing well into her 70's with such excellent technique. I've studied since 1993, and MAYBE in another 10 years I'll approach such excellence of technique.....nah, probably not, but I can work and hope :~)

[@janeym]

This and Sylvia McNair's renditions are UNREAL!

[@Merlin1940]

For the lack of control, you may think of her particular way of placing the breaths. What I found is that she doesn't try to make them invisible, but to make they don't disturb the song - slightly different, yet very appropriate IMO. She may put a (very) little too much vibrato, but IMO she doesn't lack of control. Mon 12 Nov 2007 15:56 GMT

[@Morten_Nielsen1979]

Thank you. This is what I love about youtube. Good information. I'm off to the library or record shop :-)

[@GuntherDebymusique]

Enfant, elle étudie le piano et le violoncelle. Lorsqu'elle a treize ans, sa famille emménage dans le Maine. C'est là qu'elle intègre le Portland Youth Orchestra pour y jouer du violoncelle. Elle passe deux ans à l'université du New Hampshire où elle étudie l'allemand et la musique. Puis elle passe un an à l'université de Salzbourg, où elle étudie au Mozarteum. En 1979, elle intègre l'opéra de Darmstadt. Son premier rôle fut Anna dans Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor. Les cinq années suivantes, elle se produit en Allemagne, ainsi qu'à Covent Garden et à La Scala. Elle interprète son premier rôle au Metropolitan Opera en 1987, dans Ariadne auf Naxos de Richard Strauss où elle était Nyade. La même année, elle interprète son premier rôle au Staatsoper de Vienne, où elle a joué Sophie dans Der Rosenkavalier. Depuis lors, elle s'est produite dans les plus grands opéras du monde ainsi qu'au festival de Salzbourg. Elle est considérée comme l'une des meilleures sopranos de sa génération[citation nécessaire]. Elle s'est mariée et a divorcé trois fois, d'abord avec le ténor autrichien Michael Roider, puis avec le baryton suédois Håkan Hagegård (en), et enfin avec le producteur musical anglais Maurice Whitaker.

[@rosebalestie4428]

perfección absoluta!!!!!! la unica competidora de lo que hay en you tube seria Ileana Cotrubas,,, y un poco mas lejos Kathleen Battle,, las demás son aprendices del canto al lado de Barbara Bonney!!!!!!!! manejo del aire es magistral!!

[@mimohernandezhernandez5499]

Concuerdo totalmente contigo en general solo ellas destacan como sopranos de nacionalidad estado estadounidense , Las grande casi siempre son europeas pero ella sin duda esta al nivel de todas ellas, es magistral brillante y encantadora

[@shadboltbill]

Merlin1940 opines Sylvia McNair as better in this piece. I'm a big fan of McNair--one of the finest lyrics ever recorded. But I've sung with many greats on the stage at San Francisco Opera. In my experience, Barbara Bonney with Mozart is perfection incarnate. The only one.

[@supawels3627]

Wunderschön und by heart!