Joan Sutherland sings Verdi

I MASNADIERI- Tu del mio Caro

[@Eiswirth1]

Stunningly beautiful. No soprano can touch her.

[@jonathanbriggs4589]

Horne's "La Donna del lago" at this same concert was off the charts fantastic, and the trio from "Norma" was stupendous. These three singers were truly amazing, and now that 2 are gone, and Horne is no longer performing, we have lost three incredible performers who took the art form to a new height of artistry and expression. What a combo!

[@meltzerboy]

I heard Joan Sutherland singing this aria at a recital in Brooklyn College in 1981 with Richard Bonygne at the piano. With no amplification whatsoever, her voice seemed to project a three-dimensional quality, much as one critic described Nellie Melba's voice. Her singing was simply magnificent.

[@hugothebear]

meltzerboy I always find it difficult to describe just how intense the sound was in the theatre, unamplified and live, recordings are a reminder but there was a complex intensity to the sound which doesn't really come across on recordings. I think I read somewhere that Dame Joan thought the album which best captured the quality was the Romantic French arias. Of course we are lucky to have so much of her on record and video. But heard live she really was extraordinary !

[@wotan10950]

meltzerboy Me too! I was at the Brooklyn College recital. My girlfriend at the time kept trying to trill after the concert! She couldn't believe anyone could sing like that.

[@wotan10950]

gregory gyllenship True! Although most great singers sound better in the theater than on recordings. I saw Joan Sutherland about a dozen times over the years. Her voice was a genuine phenomenon.

[@alandun27]

Actually I think it's a dead split? SO MANY great singers sound better on recordings . . . when I was a teenager a very fine singer told me about two different lyric tenors he'd heard at the Sydney Town Hall in his youth - Richard Lewis and Luigi Infantino . . . both of them sounded on records like singers of similar resources . . . live? . . . Lewis he said was very tall, and the voice TINY and very precise . . . Infantino? he said 'blew the roof off the Town Hall'. There IS NO KNOWING! I heard Joan Sutherland live about 20 times and the only soprano I've ever heard with a bigger voice was Gwyneth Jones. I heard Anne Evans sing Brunnhilde at the Albert Hall . . . I assumed after watching her on video that she must have a big lyric voice - it was the voice of Adele, not Rosalinde in Fledermaus, and I am not exaggerating at all. So many fine singers are functionally inaudible live - Joan was not one of them.

[@wotan10950]

Alan D This is true. Many singers sound different between recordings and the theater. Sutherland sounded pretty much the same because her Decca engineers found exactly the right way to record her. In recent years, I thought Vittorio Grigolo sounded tepid on record; but his voice blooms in the theater. Beverly Sills sounded dreadful on records, yet the voice sounded full and resounding in the theater. Birgit Nilsson sounds shrill on records; much warmer live. Gwyneth Jones could happily obliterate an orchestra and chorus! But the biggest voice I ever heard was Eva Marton, a titanic voice.

[@debbiewoodburn6786]

The singing is wonderful. I love the colour of her hair as well as the colour of her dress.

[@mauricetube1]

She gives goosepimples . What a heavenly voice

[@ian.marais1202]

What amazes me, except for her beautiful voice, excellent technique etc, is the fact that her voice is not amplified like you see so many of the modern opera singers when they sing a concert in an enclosed space like a big theater. The sheer power of her voice is absolutely breathtaking.

[@machovoce6826]

She did both. She assumed the role for the Australian Opera and San Diego and recorded it for Decca. I own the recording. At one time, there was a dimly lit but astonishing delivery of "tu del mio carlo" on youtube live from AO.

[@stezstezic4450]

Glorious!

[@shannonlewis8906]

I think the seventies are my favorite Joan period.. even up to ‘79. Her vibrato is slightly slower then the 60’s (which is a liiittle too fast in my opinion) she’s a bit “meatier”, and her live performances are more expressive and exciting. That being said.. some of her late 80’s work is phenomenal... and then there’s the early 60’s that sports her amazing fluidity, effortless Eb’s and E’s held to the last second. Every decade shows the best of her craft. There will never be another opera singer in her class. They may hit the notes, have the fluidity, have great expression.. but she had it all..technique and high notes aside...her voice was simply beautiful..

[@highbaritone]

Shannon Lewis I’m just guessing unless you heard her live in the 60’s quite often the fast vibrato is just a problem of old tape stretching and ending up faster when played years later. Just a thought.

[@shannonlewis8906]

Donald Cant I hear you. I’ve seen tv specials/pro recordings... Thinking about it.. it’s mostly on the High D’s+. They were almost bird like.. but it got a bit slower to where it sounded more like a note. And hearing her live.. you know the question where people say is there anyone living or dead where you would like to have dinner with, or spend an afternoon with, or watch the Red Sea part kind of thing... One of those would definitely be experiencing Joan live. I can’t imagine. 😊

[@highbaritone]

@@shannonlewis8906 just saw this now. I fist worked with her in 72. It was this mature sound I fell in love with. I was young and had not heard any of her recordings. I also know early in her coloratura career she placed her voice higher to achieve the very top. She said she got tired of that and began using a warmer sound. I, like you, prefer the warmer sound. I can tell you standing beside her in 1976 when she sang two different top D’s was an experience I will never forget.

[@davidsongarrett8087]

The greatest of the great!

[@herrbrucvald6376]

Don't cut the applause at the end! We want to worship Joan too! (curtain call fans should check out the 1982 MET Mad Scene curtain call. it's a doozey.)

[@jrosings1]

I love this woman.

[@Hako2004]

Actually, she performed the role in Australia in the 80's, and recorded it around the same time.

[@thomasdahlen2158]

Dame Joan was one of the greatest.This aria was written by Mestro Giuseppe Verdi for the famouse swedish soprano Jenny Lind.Dame Joan is The syntesis of Jenny Lind and an another famous swedish soprano,Christna Nilsson, married Madame la comtesse Casa de Miranda.

[@MrSwifts31]

www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7050588

[@wotan10950]

Thomas Dahlen I recently saw ‘The Greatest Showman’ with Hugh Jackman. ‘Jenny Lind’ made an appearance, so I assumed she might lipsynch to this aria or something similar. No. To appeal to modern taste, she sang a knockoff of ‘Let it Go’ from “Frozen.” Of course they show the audience being stunned. That’s where I turned off the movie.

[@jimbuxton2187]

@@wotan10950 ...I know! I was expecting a magical bird like voice trilling and staccatoing with flutes in an unearthly manner... when the belting stated I became disappointed to the point of being nauseous..

[@wotan10950]

@@jimbuxton2187 My young grandchildren LOVE that movie! And I don't want to be the grandpa that snarls, "Jenny Lind didn't sound anything like that; her voice must've been much closer to Joan Sutherland's voice."

[@cadoh8143]

Fabulous! Fantastic!

[@65attila]

An amazing voice and singer.

[@65attila]

Magnificent.

[@MrKvarner]

Perfection!!

[@PeterBrodie]

Extraordinary!

[@christiaandhooghe]

Later in her career, but stunning and in incredible vocal health.

[@christiaandhooghe]

Arthur Diggs I do so agree with you. 🌹

[@stellamarisbenitodevera643]

Una grandísima soprano tanto en Verdi,Bellini, Donizetti como Rossini

[@timsuffolk]

Why or why has this not been released on Dvd?

[@ebenezeradjierteh2498]

The volume alone.....wow

[@vale86301]

Favolosa !!!

[@BellaFirenze]

Who sings like this today? No one.

[@rakellcolotta3675]

NO ONE! They don’t really know how to sing. We need a bel canto revival!

[@acitipo]

PERFECTA!!!!!

[@brunopicaude3092]

This aria is her territory; it's like if it was written for her.

[@bellini7verdi]

es una gran señora del canto..........................

[@ajhiflyer]

Bloody awesome!!

[@eduardobraivein8496]

Was this approximately the same time of her "CONCERT OF A LIFETIME" with Luciano Pavarotti and Marilyn Horne? (that was also at the Lincoln Center in March 1981).

[@tiatoms5379]

Yes, this video is from the 1981 Live From Lincoln Center concert with Luciano and Marilyn. I have the entire concert on DVD. Thank God for video because I don’t think we’ll ever again see three singers of their caliber on stage together.

[@canpete1]

I heard Joan sing this at a concert in Syracuse, NY in '77...around the same time as this. She just did it so beautifully. Unfortunately I don't think she ever sang or accorded the role.

[@kevinmulder3373]

She sang the complete role in Australia and recorded it in 1982 for Decca.

[@crisha721]

love this recital. where is it and which year? thanks

[@Hako2004]

Avery Fisher Hall...Lincoln Center New York....March 1981

[@crisha721]

thank you. do you have the complete recital?

[@timsuffolk]

@leprincebeaumont I agree with you totally!

[@rakellcolotta3675]

Lloyds of London could have insured that trill for a million ❣️

[@andrealupini6769]

Per me ha fatto meglio qui che nell'incisione DECCA ! Straordinaria!

[@flaviorossi3408]

Certo, qui evidentemente è più giovane, il medium è ancora perfettamente immascherato e unito al registro grave

[@hartmutlorentzen9659]

Why do You cut the applause?

[@wotan10950]

I recently saw ‘The Greatest Showman’ with Hugh Jackman. ‘Jenny Lind’ made an appearance, so I assumed she might lipsynch to this aria or something similar. No. To appeal to modern taste, she sang a knockoff of ‘Let it Go’ from “Frozen.” Of course they show the audience being stunned. That’s where I turned off the movie.

[@jonathanbriggs4589]

With the obvious exception of her rather weak diction here, Sutherland had an incredible instrument, and she knew how to shade and color her timbre and tone very effectively. Her worst critiques hammered on her regarding her inability to pronounce Italian correctly, even when the tempi were slower, and she did have corrective surgery for it, and it did improve, but we can all make allowances for that. She sang well into her 60's, and there truly wasn't anyone else in her league. She is sorely missed. RIP, Dame Joan.

[@wotan10950]

Agree about the weak diction. But where did you get the idea that she had surgery to correct a diction problem?! She had invasive sinus surgery in 1959 to alleviate the constant sinus/throat infections that plagued her, knowing fully well that it could damage her voice. She would never have taken that chance for a diction issue and, as far as I know, there is no surgery to correct poor diction!

[@MrMin316]

Not quite the glory of the sixties...But still magnificent.

[@foropera]

Every one speaks about her volume. I only heard her live once in her sixties in a recital at the Paris Opera. The voice was not big, or she did not want to sing loud in this occasion, I don't know... but I was not impressed by this aspect. On the other hand her timbre was extremely soft and velvety.

[@Hako2004]

Perhaps I can help. She is singing about sad little people that troll KZbin in a vain attempt to make themselves feel less pathetic. You're welcome.

[@rodolfoalonso7568]

Todo comentario exalta la voz de Joan pero alguien puede ayudarme a saber que aria es no es por ignorante ella no tienia buena dicción quién le entiende a su interpretación fraceo es tan insulso y hasta ofensivo para esta obra de arte como es Ernani

[@pedrogutierrez5172]

No es Ernani 😩

[@fabriziomariagarzi5534]

Soprani! provate a fare uguale.

[@donaldauguston9740]

She was a great singer but I never much cared for her.

[@debbiewoodburn6786]

Extraordinary!