Beverly Sills live Martern aller Arten 1969

Live performance of Abduction from the Seralgio 1969, Thank you Edward B!!

[@christinec.6685]

I can't think of many who can touch her at 8:40 in terms of color, how she shapes the phrase, and the killer trill following. Simply amazing. Many thanks for posting.

[@jasonhurd4379]

Brava to Sills for a fine rendition, and also for including the section from 4:48-5:11 that used to be cut regularly. This is far from being a totally uncut version of the aria, however, as there are further cuts that Sills fails to open. There are many 'traditional' cuts in Il Seraglio, which include whole sections of Belmonte's arias 'Wenn der Freude Tränen fliessen' and 'Ich baue ganz', as well as sections of both of Blondchen's arias and the Konstanze-Belmonte duet. These cuts are fully restored in the Harnoncourt recording, and partially restored in the recordings of Gardiner and Hogwood.

[@petelovesbevsills]

We had a LONG discussion on my Facebook page called 'The Beverly Sills Crazies' about who delivered the best rendition of this aria. Beverly won hands down Dennis! :) Thanks for your comment!

[@onigbajamo]

Unsurprising.

[@hildegerdhaugen7864]

Callas sung it good too.

[@danawinsor1380]

@@hildegerdhaugen7864 Yes! I love Callas' performance of this aria (in Italian) in the 1954 San Remo RAI recital.

[@jjh2456]

There was a video of a performance of this aria by Beverly Sills, I think, at the Tanglewood festival. At the end she caps it off with an improvised high C. That is my favorite performance of this aria.

[@MrAndredekock]

In her commercially recorded version of this aria that embellishment is not included and so when I first heard it sung by OTHER sopranos I thought THEY were adding interpolations, until I was told that in fact it IS written by Mozart and traditionally cut by many sopranos. So here Ms Sills sings the WHOLE aria, as written by Mozart and does NOT make the traditional cuts. I had to go and check out the score before I was satisfied that this is so.

[@petelovesbevsills]

Spoken like a true blue Sills Crazy Dennis! Please feel free to join our group if you'd like to. It's a small, private and lively group with lots of 'live' Sills performance downloads, shared stories, from fans and co singers and occasionally from Beverly's family. You'll be most welcome should you decide to join! :)

[@MrAndredekock]

Lol, I was in NO WAY comparing Ms Sills with Ms Damrau as there truly is no comparison at all and Ms Sills is the Queen of opera and coloratura. Ms Callas and Ms Sills were so different, yet similar too. I'll be shot down by Callas fans, but Ms Callas was NEVER really in control of her voice, but it controlled her, but she, like Ms Sills had an innate ability to interpret a role. Ms Sills reigned supreme in that she could make her voice do whatever she wanted AND interpret. No comparison at all.

[@artdanks]

Agreed. (And I'm a HUGE Callas fan, as well as a HUGE Sills fan.) One thing, though, that was so phenomenal about Callas, was how in spite of her obvious vocal flaws, she would actually use those very flaws to her advantage to bring out the drama even more. (Fortunately for Sills, she HAD NO vocal flaws!)

[@dennissiltman6475]

Not surprised at all! There was probably not much competition. She was in a realm that others then, and now, couldn't come close to.

[@petelovesbevsills]

@gustopheles Judging by your favourites you already have very good taste in sopranos. No one would be more delighted than me if you do decide to become a Sills fan! Thanks for visiting:-)!

[@petelovesbevsills]

@OperaMystery80 , thanks for your comment, and I agree with you totally. Sadly Mozart was a glaring ommission from her recordings except of course her Mozart and Strauss which just gave us a glimpse of what could have been!

[@petelovesbevsills]

I know of a live recording of the Tanglewood festival but didn't know it was on a DVD. I'll see if I have the said aria and upload it for you Jose! :) :)

[@MrAndredekock]

These are apparently NOT additional interpolations but were composed by Mozart but traditionally cut. Ms Damrau also includes this extra bit here on YT, live from Barcelona, but if you compare hers and Ms Sills' embellishments you will find they are very different so one or the other of them (probably Ms Sills) have included an embellishment written for themselves for this particular phrase in the music. In her commercial recording Ms Sills does NOT include this bit.

[@MrAndredekock]

Interestingly Ms Sills cuts that phrase in her commercially recorded version and so when I heard Diana Damrau "ADD" what I thought was an interpolation someone quickly pointed out to me that I didn't know what I was talking about! However I have now compared the Sills and Damrau extra additions and they are very different, so I'm now well and truly confused and perhaps this WAS and interpolation written for Ms Sills as MOST of her belcanto cadenzas were written specifically for her voice.

[@petelovesbevsills]

@OperaMystery80 Well spotted. This must have been written by roland Gagnon for Beverly to include in her aria.

[@williammaddox3339]

This is better than her studio version-especially the high notes.

[@dianaventura7999]

Please, please, please, don't put Diana Damrau in the same sentence as Sills. This is insulting to the art of the coloratura. Sills was a great coloratura. Damrau, Dessay and Devia are not in the same caliber Sills. At her best, you can put Sills in the same sentence as the greatest legends of bel canto: Callas and Sutherland. And that means she's among the greatest bel canto singers we've ever heard. Opera fans today needs to hear prime Callas, Sutherland and Sills to hear the real thing.

[@abracadabranque]

Très fine mozartienne;autre chose que Schwartzkopf...

[@dennissiltman6475]

Compared to Sills, other sopranos just sound bland.