Dame Joan Leonora's 'D'amor sull'ali rosee' (Sydney, 1983)

In Memoriam - Selected scenes to hommage Dame Joan.

[@dougbarker3019]

The breath control is amazing - Joan's voice floats on a seemingly endless supply.

[@blessOTMA]

She is unbelievable. Joan saw her voice as a gift from God and she served that gift with a religious vocation for forty years. That's what we are experiencing here. Incredible.

[@castodivo]

That jump from the low B flat to the high D flat is insanely well executed.

[@aprendizercomygor]

This is one of her most beautiful performances of her last decade of operatic career. Very few sopranos have sung this great scene with such accuracy, tenderness, true feeling (no histrionics here, thankfully!), musicality and amazing beauty of tone.

[@JoanSutherlandFan]

Here she sang the cabaletta

[@crisha721]

I agree with you on the "true feeling" . i hate the histrionism of most operatic singers. they overact as if the audience were stupid, instead of just letting the music speak for itself

[@Tenortalker]

I think this is one of my favorites among Dame Joan's roles and this Act 4 sequence showed her voice at its best. All her strongest technical , vocal qualities and skills are here at the service of the composer and a sensitive , moving performance. We still miss her greatly.

[@barahona68]

I think she was just fantastic! Perhaps not the role that suited her voice the best but she sang it wonderfully! Amazing!

[@BellaFirenze]

Perhaps the most beautiful and accurate rendition of this difficult scene. Bravissima.

[@otyliaostrowska-jouie5455]

Dame Joan Sutherland is extraordinaire ❤❤❤ . Neverending 👏👏👏

[@MrStpendouslvforjo]

I love Leontyne Price in this aria and role - but Joan does some very great things here. The trills are PERFECT, - and the final piece is truly stupendous. That high D flat at the end was electrifying!!

[@markdrinkwater1508]

The high D was weak. Listen to Callas sing D'amore and you'll hear a high D.

[@crazyorganist1609]

​@@markdrinkwater1508callas was very strident in her high notes. Don't get me wrong I love Callas but Sutherland's was far more well rounded and more powerful than Callas was

[@markdrinkwater1508]

@@crazyorganist1609 Rubbish! Callas had a far bigger more dramatic voice - Sutherland's D'amor is mediocre compared to Callas' .

[@MiguelArcangel-zi7xd]

Ah! La Stupenda!!! Perfección!!!!

[@canpete1]

Such a pleasure to hear her do more verismo later on. The rich plumpness of that middle (and of course above the staff) could really shine

[@maxcornise-qh2jk]

Trovatore is not verismo, but one of the five greatest bel canto operas. Verismo is restricted to the late 1880s-1910, Cilea, Leoncavallo, Mascagni, giordano, Puccini, etc.

[@juanantoniovillar6246]

Era fantástica y maravillosa. No morirá nunca. Es un deleite escucharla siempre.

[@crazyorganist1609]

So beautiful. One of a kind

[@flyinghow]

That final trill was breathtaking!!! La Stupenda!!! Brava!!!

[@sayersbrock]

For some reason I am completely captivated by this performance. Of course we typically hear this aria and role sung by spintos, and some believe Joan was nearly a full dramatic soprano from 1975 to retirement. But the delicate intimacy achieved here is just spellbinding. My heart stops as she holds that last trill forever. Critics will notice the greater attention to her technique at this point in her career, but it doesn't take anything away from this incredible scene.

[@nanborg65]

"Nearly" a full dramatic soprano? From 1975? No, she was more than that and for longer than that. Joan Sutherland may have had a coloratura soprano CAREER, but the voice type even from her younger days was always DRAMATIC MEZZO SOPRANO. That was a huge, very heavy and very dark voice. She chose not to aggressively use chest voice and to manufacture that superhuman, hyperthinned upper extension, but she could easily have had a mezzo career if she had so chosen, and I believe that she could have done so in her early 30's. For the fact that she didn't do so, we have her husband to thank!

[@nanborg65]

Oh, and yes, you're right. This performance is ABSOLUTELY spellbinding. I was frozen in motion and practically holding my breath the whole time I was watching it. There really was only one Joan Sutherland.

[@photo161]

"Typically we hear this sung by Spintos? Really?! Typically, today, we hear this sung by anyone they can find who can actually get through it...

[@photo161]

You listen so well, with superb ears, a deep understanding of the voice, an open heart well informed by an understanding of the demands of the drama, and an eagerness to find and appreciate beauty.

[@photo161]

@@nanborg65 ..these remarks stem from a total ignorance of the vocal arts and voice production and so can't be taken seriously, but I do feel impelled to refute one small but truly slanderous remark;: JS's voice was certainly never, ever thin. much less"hyper thin" whatever that might mean. Her line, from the quietest pianissimo to the most imperious fortissimo was always full, round, and resonant and carried throughout the house.

[@-Tesla-Live_]

So much here is phenomenal but that breath control!

[@aetion]

Absolutely great!

[@wotan10950]

I saw Sutherland in many of her great roles, including Leonora. In her memoirs she said she loved the role because it didn’t require much grandstanding, and relied mostly on great singing. And despite her age here, she certainly delivers the goods! That trill! That legato! But she didn’t care for many of her Trovatore productions, including this Australian one, and she thoroughly despised the Met production, which I attended, the only time I saw Joan and Luciano sing an opera in a live performance.

[@wd7320]

WOW had not ever seen this before! Thanks it is so well done. I have another favorite to add to my list on this opera!

[@photo161]

Exquisite performance...and as for that sublime, interpolated high C# - ( at about 4:32) ...there are no words!

[@jimbuxton2187]

Eoselan..... that high C# is NOT interpolated. It's actually in the score! Most sopranos leave it out. It's really a pity because it really makes the moment very special.

[@photo161]

....I'm astounded to learn that Verdi would demand a high C# at that point and believe most sopranos would actually sing it. I have never before heard it sung, not by Callas herself. No offense, but in truth, I really will not accept it as being other than an optional interpolation until I have had a chance to see the score myself...@@jimbuxton2187

[@neileddinger6863]

Verdi actually wrote that high C #, (actually a D♭) in the score. he included an option that only went up to B♭which is taken by most sopranos.

[@TheReclusiveTenor]

@@photo161 Early Callas sang that high D-flat. So did Ponselle and other sopranos as well.

[@malcolmmcinnes9068]

Stunning control……

[@orion8835]

This is so gorgeous and accurate huge and like a band saw bending in the air.

[@johnpickford4222]

Orion88: “. . . like a band saw bending in the air”. Are you serious? If a BAND SAW is bending in the air then something has snapped and an accident will be happening. Joan Sutherland was NO accident but this is gorgeous, I agree.

[@starsistem4478]

Super great

[@bellini7verdi]

MARAVILLOSAMENTE........ESPECTACULAR........................................

[@unclelouie3828]

Love it!!

[@user-pn9cp4ml5l]

Le trille !!!!!!! A genoux !!!!!

[@mariomelgar4754]

Fue una de las mejores Sopranos Ligeras. Super a..

[@massimoiapichino6257]

Quanto ci manchi Joan!!!

[@lorenagaleazzi5026]

Unica!!!

[@Antonio-qm3bi]

I think this is one of the few recordings that does justice to Joan's vocal power. In the cabaletta, (11:43 , 11:51) the resonance and domain of her voice is heard despite how "light" it is

[@shannonlewis8906]

She had a solid D right to the end. This was Massive!

[@markdrinkwater1508]

If you want a massive high D, listen to.Callas sing D'amore.

[@juanjosedubal]

Excelente!

[@LorenVandal]

😍😍😍

[@jaykeyz9094]

I just don't understand how I'm such a slow song I still couldn't understand a word she said

[@pabloperdomo5174]

Mushy pronunciation. she always vocalized, not sang. Her husband was responsible for forcing her to cover all the time in order to preserve her fantastic instrument. Listen to her first recordings in the early 60's and you will notice the difference immediately. However I respect this great Queen of Bel Canto. RIP

[@photo161]

When the gods walked the earth...

[@mateusjr70]

Where were the audience? Were they dead? She was divine and the audience was simply waiting to the end of the opera to applause her? No even americans or europeans are so cold-blooded !

[@wotan10950]

I was thinking the same thing! In New York, where I saw her many times, the public would’ve been screaming in several places.

[@callastoujours]

Indeed!!!!

[@trumansf]

Some choose to wait for all three to be over to applaud. To not to ruin the mood.

[@blessOTMA]

Exactly

[@sergiocilli8648]

Versione tra le più belle. Per la perfezione manca, purtroppo, la dizione. Temo che "Dame" Joan non masticasse troppo bene la lingua italiana.

[@antony8095]

Madame suderland the More big soprano of colorature . Prima dona

[@peterdevita6308]

Dame Joan is the best soprno of the 20th Century.

[@fan2jnrc]

*Callas

[@gvbrandolini]

Interessante

[@dramaturge231]

What year was this?

[@crazyorganist1609]

1984

[@JoanSutherlandFan]

@@crazyorganist1609 1983.

[@BangkokVoiceCoach]

The only thing disappointing about Dame Joan's glorious voice is the lower 5th where she lost all quality. She titled her chin forward and made a thin disconnected sound of inferior quality. It is such a shame that Bonynge, her vocal coach allowed her to do this. It is very much the wrong sound for a Verdi soprano.

[@ivanwilliams4115]

5:15

[@susanhuy2819]

I'm torn between this performance and Price's performance actually. Both are great, but for this piece I actually lean more to Price.

[@ransomcoates546]

She sounds a great deal better than in her weird distortion of the part in her Met farewell. Although who wrote the cabaletta??

[@crazyorganist1609]

Verdi did

[@ransomcoates546]

@@crazyorganist1609 We call this irony, Crazy.

[@wetering777]

Frank Sinatra did on Joan's request.

[@liedersanger1]

I just heard the Met farewell performance-the D’amor--and thought it was even better than this fine performance. I don’t know what distortion you might be talking about… Perhaps elsewhere in the role?

[@johnpickford4222]

@@wetering777 Sammy Davis Jr. wrote one but it included too many “You crazy cats” for her liking in the repeat verse.

[@fernandopinheirobb]

ASAS ROSADAS "D'amor sull'ali rosee" - Il Trovatore, do compositor Giuseppe Verdi, há suspiros e indagação do medo. A noite escura envolve a mulher que chora com dor, Sem ele saber. Será que sabia que tudo é arremedo? Aurora raiando na madrugada, isto respira ao redor, Trazendo lembrança de asas rosadas, memória grava Sem que sinta o que está acontecendo de mal a pior. D'amor sull'ali rosee, ária de Leonora, que amava. No 4º ato, da ópera Il Trovatore, de Verdi, é um luar Escondido nas sombras das nuvens indo ao redor, Visão dos poetas cantando o amor deve continuar Nas asas rosadas em que lirismo encontra o melhor Abrigo. Após a pandemia na Terra o que é sofredor Será transformado em dádiva agradecida ao Senhor. (*) (*) FERNANDO PINHEIRO, presidente da Academia de Letras dos Funcionários do Banco do Brasil. - ASAS ROSADAS (poesia), de Fernando Pinheiro. - in O mundo de Morfeu, de Fernando Pinheiro.

[@babbonatale9362]

Prima ottava difettosa. Poi sale e la voce diventa luminosa come un raggio di luna

[@liedersanger1]

Unfortunately, that first octave is important for Verdi.

[@wilsonwatt9283]

Please ignore the idiot below who argues that Sutherland's vocal type was a dramatic mezzo with a hyper extension. Sutherland was a dramatic soprano with such advanced training and skills that she could take that size voice into the great roles of the late 18th and early 19th century composers. She could not have sustained a career using her lower range [i.e., as a mezzo] alone so it is foolish to argue that she was a mezzo. We must recognize that the soprano/mezzo distinction was really not recognized fully until Wagner, Verdi and the verismo composers. Rather there was the Prima Donna and the Seconda Donna in the time of Mozart, Beethoven and the bel canto composers. As the music is written for these two parts the Prima usually sings a greater range and with the general role in a slightly higher general range.

[@photo161]

Watch who you're calling an idiot unless you're looking into a mirror. Sutherland had been misled by her well-meaning, mother, a mezzo herself, into thinking her voice was that of a mezzo as well. It remained for her husband/coach Richard Bonyneg to hear in Sutherland's voice the possibility of her developing into a successor to the legendary Bel Canto Divas of the 19th Century And together they worked to enable Sutherland to acquire the extraordinary high extension replete with the incredibly large, and facile coloratura capabilities that the Bel Canto repertoire required.. .resulting in a voice for the ages. PS - I'll leave the discussion of Maria Callas' extraordinary contribution for another day.....

[@jannarin1625]

Yes, she has the voice and all of it however nothing makes you feel listening to Verdi’s Leonora. Her lighter, swift coloratura roles great to listen but! Can’t listen to this ❤️

[@jenylogan1]

This is Sutherland’s ‘Trovatore a la Bel Canto’ lovely voice, but not Verdi Trovatore, which needs words !

[@paolocambriotto3397]

Il trillo è stupendo. non c'è molto da invidiare alla Callas

[@Besugo54]

Tecnicamente si chiama coloratura.... E si hai ragione la Callas se la mangia a colazione pranzo e cena.

[@jimbuxton2187]

Paolo I think what you meant was ...there is a lot for Callas to envy .....especially the trill.

[@jenylogan1]

@@jimbuxton2187Poor Joan, she cannot even get a review without the mention of Callas !

[@inboxmail2053]

Sadly the voice is far too old for the role. When your Leonara sounds older than Azucena you know your Il Trovatore has issues.

[@starsistem4478]

This is the way it has to be sing. Not the mess of Callas

[@fan2jnrc]

Wtf are you talking about. Callas IS Leonora and definitely ruined any chance of getting close to her in this role for all past, present and future sopranos. Even those who, like Sutherland here, do an honorable job, but obviously pale in comparison.

[@thomaslucia3059]

An amazing voice...but ever unpleasant to watch. With nearly every high note she looks like she's been poked with a hot iron. But obviously, this never hindered her enviable career.

[@armandogabba8966]

She sings well bur i dont understand the words plus the style has norhin to do with verdi

[@JoanSutherlandFan]

I understand very well what she sings. And now? My ears are sharp or yours are blurred? And say the bel canto style has nothing to do with Verdi, it's just ignorance.