Early Dame Joan Sutherland sings an odd Coloratura Gallore with Huge Dramatic Coloratura Placement

Disclaimer - I own nothing

[@stefanwild326]

I believe it is Reinhold Gliere, concerto for coloratura soprano - certainly a unique one of a kind piece

[@petenoles5979]

I am so glad that everyone is just now realizing how ENORMOUS this voice truly was. Being one of the lucky few that have had actually heard her in the theater and various concert halls, I can with pure pleasure confirm that no matter how impressive this may sound on a recording, it was quite overwhelming hearing this voice live.

[@dramaturge231]

Pete Noles Wow!!! What did you hear her in?

[@petenoles5979]

@@dramaturge231 Well there was Lucia di Lammermoor, Norma, Beatrice di Tenda, Don Giovanni, Semiramide, Lucrezia Borgia, Maria Stuarda, Esclarmonde, Le Roi, and Otello. I think that's about it, including a lot of concert and recital pieces. Oh, Alcina and Les Huguenots as well...

[@jasonhurd4379]

@@petenoles5979 Never knew she sang Desdemona on stage

[@petenoles5979]

@@jasonhurd4379 Yes, she did. A couple of times actually, she absolutely adored that role.

[@jasonhurd4379]

@@petenoles5979 Ah. Interesting.

[@jmiller05]

Sutherland's voice was a monster. That huge, bright dramatic sound which has never been equalled.

[@hildegerdhaugen7864]

It is in pieces like this you finally understand how big this voice was. I mean, the bright tone fools everybody.

[@Paddy818]

I just heard an interview with Horne, who said she didn’t hear her when next to her, the voice was out in the hall. So true, when I heard her live it was like the voice was all around you. I remember at one point looking behind me to find it. It was amazing.

[@shahabispahani3273]

What a fantastic performance, and at a live concert too! The flexibility of a very large voice is really wonderful, displaying her prodigious technique taught by Richard Bonynge. Her legacy will continue to be huge for as long as opera survives as a musical medium

[@waterfordwinstons]

She’s simply having fun vocalizing her large instrument, and doing a marvelous job. I enjoyed listening thanks for posting.

[@LohengrinO]

her HUGE instrument :D

[@LohengrinO]

@@eduardobraivein8496 … this is live

[@Sir.Larselot]

Its a great find. I never heard this tune before, it seems to be a french composition but I'm probably wrong. Anyway, she's awesome. Don't forget: she performed one of the best sopranos on Turandot records and sang such a showpiece with a such a voice. Impressing.

[@nathandavis3002]

Now many would argue that this has no artistic value/no expression. It certainly has no melodramatics but here she enraptures the listener with the sheer joy of her singing, she just sounds like shes having so much damn fun! Its intoxicating. I have heard many sing this vocalise, but they all do indeed bore me to tears. What makes joan thrilling here is a. Her complete and utter capability and B.her coloratura supreme technique coupled with an almost wagnerian scale. Also, that is my favorite picture of her. She looks so heroic in it, with her strong, almost masculine features, coupled with her soft doe eyes. And with a regal composure. I made a sketch based on this picture just earlier today! (Along with one based off a picture of callas)

[@LohengrinO]

...the piece has no musical value but the Singing is for the ages

[@nathandavis3002]

I agree

[@jasonhurd4379]

@@LaDivinaLover Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

[@nathandavis3002]

Following that logic, say I were to take a shit, and declare it a work of art. And some sick fetishist appreciates said shit. Does that mean my excrement possesses artistic value?

[@Homoclassicus]

I actually think this piece and particularly this interpretation, even with no words, sounds very expressive. It certainly moves me in a way that cannot even be described in words. It gives me a mixed sense of sweet melancholy, perhaps even a bit of pain and longing, bucolic kindness, but also some joy, liveliness and fierceness. Other recordings are much more a fancy display of "coloratura fireworks" and much less capable of moving me. In my opinion this is a really great achievement not just for the nearly flawless vocals. She managed to make this vocalise convey something emotionally.

[@joebloggs619]

She is just extraordinary! But, here in her younger days, her voice sounds heavier, more dramatic than later on when all the bright light coloratura started to appear as her trademark style, bright as sparkling crystal...

[@j.j.schlachtfeld9325]

Sutherland haters: B...but... the words... T...the d...diction... In all seriousness, though... Wow. I was not familiar with this particular work by Glière, but I'm glad it is this rendition the one I heard first. What an amazing technician she was, and what a huge voice she had. Thank you, dear Lohengrin O, for posting this gem.

[@erinmatt]

Fortunately there are no words to this piece, just "ah...." And she sounds lovely.

[@LohengrinO]

..lovely? this is Phenomenal

[@LaSopRAWna]

i think the Sutherland "haters" would all agree that the young Joan on display here had nothing to hate and everything to admire!

[@jasonhurd4379]

Such an odd piece, but fun! This is actually the only work by Glière with which I am familiar, and Joan sings it superbly. Hers must be the largest voice that has ever attempted it; everyone else, including Gruberova, sounds like a pipsqueak next to Joan's rendition. A guilty pleasure, indeed! Thank you Lohengrin!

[@LohengrinO]

This is Turandot singing Coloratura... it is unbelievable, the support of the vocal line even in the highest notes

[@jasonhurd4379]

@@LohengrinO It helps that this is a live recording. It is easier to gauge the huge size of her voice. I am in awe of the way she was able to handle such a large instrument so deftly and lightly. It is like hearing a double-bass play the Mendelssohn violin concerto. 😨😮🤔

[@LohengrinO]

@@jasonhurd4379 … an Elephant dancing on tiptoes... a Miracle

[@jasonhurd4379]

@@LohengrinO 😊😜❤

[@antonyb8026]

Such an odd piece. I've never heard it before but damn she makes it sound amazing and easy!

[@ryan.engstrom]

"Sutherland's Norma...more of a vocalise isn't it?" once said a foolish friend of mine, who should now hear this! This was really incredible thank you for sharing!

[@NLidar]

Your friend definitely was not foolish about Sutherland's Norma :D

[@BellaFirenze]

Not silly at all... Well, perhaps a tad. A certain contemporary Russian soprano has recorded this piece by Glière (his name was Рейнгольд Морицевич Глиэр... Reinhold Moritzevich Glière, a name no doubt influenced by his German/Polish parents), but let us not spend much time on her. I wonder how Sutherland would interpret another vocalise, Heitor Villa-Lobos's Bachianas brasileiras No. 5 for eight cellos and soprano. My favorite recording of that piece is that of Bidu Sayão, conducted by the composer. Back to Dame Joan Sutherland... What can one say? Her diction is only overshadowed by her extraordinary voice. Bravissima!

[@lamiremilamila]

Concerto de Glière. Magnificent !

[@fballiache]

Gliere's Concerto for coloratura soprano. I had it in a LP, Russian Jewels

[@Empoweredwoman1234]

Very beautiful singing here. I wonder how many vocalises have been written, as I don't hear too many of them. I wonder if Bellini, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, or Puccini wrote any. I think vocalises written by these composers would contain so much emotion without the need for words. This way a singer can express the music according to how it makes them feel.

[@LohengrinO]

Phenomenal, Miraculous, Unbelievable singing

[@highbaritone]

Lohengrin O until I heard the applause I thought this was studio. Well there you go. Thank you dear Lohengrin, and I hope your Christmas is a good one. ❤️

[@sarinarausa975]

There are 2 famous vocalises by Ravel and RachmaninoffBut nothing as show stopping as this.. just perfect singing with the most sublime voice.. you couldn't ask for more

[@dramaturge231]

La Stupenda @ her best.

[@elsaasta5164]

In sostanza uno splendido vocalizzo e grande prova di bravura... Bene mi piace anche la magnifica orchestra che accompagna la Dame Joan Sutherland!!! Un grazie molto forte per te caro Lohengrin0.... 🙋🙋🙋Elsa 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌

[@cosimoepicoco7022]

Elsa Asta ....io la ascoltai in una splendida Turandot con: Pavarotti,Caballe'.Dirigeva il marito.Memorabile.Il compianto Maestro Zeffirelli nella sua autobiografia ne parlava con accenti poetici.Quante stelle di sono spente.Fortuna che la tecnica rendera' quasi immortali queste voci.Ciao.

[@elsaasta5164]

@@cosimoepicoco7022... È vero c'è sempre un velo di tristezza che ci accompagna per queste grandi assenze... ma la vita fa il suo corso e nulla si ripete... meno male che ci sono queste preziose registrazioni e questi grandi cultori appassionati di questa arte che ci permettono ancora di godere di questi echi... Grazie mille Lohengrin.. Tu sei uno di queste persone che ti dobbiamo molto.... Ciao Cosimo a presto sentirci.. Elsa.

[@monesi8259]

bravo. as sweet as the best. coloratura inmense

[@LohengrinO]

Monumental for the Ages Huge Dramatic Coloratura singing of a silly canary coloratura aria :D

[@XPRT10R]

I'm surprised no one has not yet moaned on how they can't understand any of the words... 😈

[@jasonhurd4379]

😂😂😂

[@XPRT10R]

@@johnpickford4222 you catch on fast? 😉

[@XPRT10R]

​@@stezstezic4450 ??

[@ThomasDawkins88]

Sometimes I want to say "Joan, could you make it sound like you're actually TRYING?" This piece isn't profound, but I am waiting for somebody to criticize the diction! 😝

[@Vorenius1]

Is there any diction in a canary's chant? No. But one can enjoy the ability to produce beautiful sounds...

[@BellaFirenze]

That was very funny.

[@Empoweredwoman1234]

Ah, no diction required, as I think it's a vocalise. I think a singer can even make up their own embellishments/scales etc, along with the emotions. I wander how Callas would have sounded in this piece.

[@highbaritone]

Do some people think you are serious? This is in the original language. She learned it especially. ❤️👋

[@LohengrinO]

..Sutherland though was not a canary or as she herself had said: "I was never a tin-pot coloratura soprano"

[@cosimoepicoco7022]

Grazie! Sempre!

[@tempsperdu9278]

Ornithologici rara humanae vocis canoris incredibilem agilitas avis... Or some such classificatory term... 😱

[@roddierandy759]

Majestueuse💕💕🙏🙏💕💕

[@magicmonkichi]

Thank you for sharing, when and where was this? Dame Joan was the only one (for me) that did the Gliere concerto justice. She truly made something of 'just runs and coloratura' into a true piece of music!

[@LohengrinO]

It was recorded the same day Niki Minaj released her Anakonda video :p

[@Homoclassicus]

I agree. All the other interpretations pale as fancy but ultimately boring displays of canary-like coloratura fireworks next to her. It's not just gloriously sung. It's really thrilling, expressive, full of life and and vigor, not just a coloratura piece to show off.

[@АлексейКулаков-с7и]

По сравнению с Мирошниченко или Руденко все-таки не то. Дыхание не то, иногда получаюься не те акценты.