La Superba blasts Isolde's Curses like a Genuine Dramatic Soprano

Disclaimer - I own nothing

[@jmiller05]

But how do feel about her Turandot? I'm still undecided about that one ha. Isolde was late Caballe's excursion into Wagner, which at the time was thought to be ridiculous. However as she said at the time, she had developed enough heft in her voice in the middle (which is where 90% of Wagner is sang) to tackle this repertoire. Obviously the High B's aren't Nilsson-esque, but listen to how solid and FEMININE her middle voice is here. I feel like most so-called Wagnerian singers often forget that they are playing young, romantic women.

[@LohengrinO]

I think this is very early... Well supported forte top was Caballe early, later it was a scream

[@robertharris7502]

Yeah, she did some stuff earlier on in her career that would seem like it came later (Salome or Sieglinde, for a couple of examples).

[@rossmerchant8435]

@@robertharris7502 I believe there's a Sieglinde of hers on here somewhere. It's rough though, mostly because she gets almost half of the text wrong. Really makes one curious as to why she even bothered to sing the role considering how crucial this is in Wagner. I'm surprised because her German in Salome was quite good

[@matthewbrown17]

@@rossmerchant8435 Caballe was a very fast learner in her youth (learned Marschallin in a week for Glyndebourne) She studied Salome in 57 in Switzerland. Chances are she just didn’t give herself enough time to learn it.

[@edithhenson6917]

@@starlove7474 yes, you can look at her and see she wasn't young.

[@elsaasta5164]

... Dolce è la sera se specialmente una voce immersa nell' armonia di un canto... una voce.. la voce della grande Monserrat Caballe ti accompagna alla fine del giorno mostrando tutto il suo talento... non può che arrecare pace e bellezza. Non posso che ringraziarti caro Lohengrin0... Il tuo è solo un irraggiungibile amore per questa magnifica Musa ch'è la "LIRICA"... Un ciao caldo.. caldo da Elsa 👋👋👋👋👋👋👋👋👋👋🙋🙋🙋🙋🙋🙋🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌💜💜🤗🤗🤗🤗💜💜

[@victorrangel93]

She had probably the best tecnique out of everyone in my opinion.

[@debbiejohnson2789]

Victor A. Rangel you are right.

[@fernandorivas7419]

Good evening. Thanks a lot for sharing this gorgeous interpretation. It's very amazing hearing her absolutely dramatic and because of that we call her La Superba. Warm greetings dear friend Lohengrin O from Santiago de Chile. Dr. Fernando Rivas-Burattini.

[@fclpjg]

I am dumbfounded..... yet another instance of her fathomless gift. Thanks!

[@magdaschweitzer1472]

Lohengrin O, thank you for posting this! She was so versatile; did everything to the utmost perfection. Will miss her forever.

[@beachfanatic2010]

Caballe had real squillo in her voice and her voice compare to the “dramatic sopranos” of today would be much heavier. Her voice is very very large compare to what we have today but it will AWAYS remain a real operatic size authentic lyric voice. There is nothing dramatic about her voice. All these other tiny undeveloped soprano tin pot voice has no business singing Opera. Their thing is something different!

[@LohengrinO]

the way she supports the Blasts, no lyric soprano would ever... these are Nilsson's placement-kind of blasts, not the size of Nilsson but the placement is pure dramatic... Even her Pianissimi were made of Steel

[@beachfanatic2010]

That’s what I’m saying. Caballe was actually what a real lyric soprano in OPERA! In the theater is suppose to sound like. Why? Because she was developed. A lyric soprano is suppose to be able to sound “dramatic” if they had real operatic training my friends...alright. But Caballe will always remain a lyric voice. The NATURE of her voice screams lyric all over the place. The production of the sound is lyric. All of these STUPID standoffish tiny constricted presumptuous “opera singers” are NOT suppose to sing Opera. See, Opera voice are for the theaters....without amplification. They seem to forget that volume play a big role!! Volume, volume, volume!!!!!

[@jasonhurd4379]

@@beachfanatic2010 I know what you are saying. Ursula Schröder-Feinen, whom I heard as the Färberin in San Francisco, was basically a lyric soprano but with the weight and placement of a dramatic. Also Rita Hunter. It is an extremely rare voice category which does not yet have a Fach listing. Perhaps 'lirico-drammatico'?

[@juanjosedubal]

@@beachfanatic2010 So true.

[@beachfanatic2010]

No....simply lyric real operatic sized soprano. I know another lyric sopranos with dramatic qualities. It is suppose to be that way.

[@ryan.engstrom]

Holy crap this is solid! Reminds me of her Salome that I love so much. I ought to listen to more of her doing Wagner. Perhaps then I'll come around to him even more ;)

[@arnoldamaral7406]

Ryan Engstrom Same here my friend. I inherited my DADS OPERA collection. My DAD just like you & I my friend did not like to listen to WAGNER for Obvious reasons.My DAD loved zinka milanov and Maria Callas. He did not have any recordings of TERRIBLE TEBALDI LOL as he would say. Another thing he said was with that big mouth and her limited repertoire I just can't stand her. And my dad was such a kind gentle father and husband it took a lot to Rattle his cage. Take care my friend. Sincerely Arnold Bourbon Amaral 1820 ADIO 🌍🌎🌏🇬🇧🇫🇷🇪🇸🇺🇸🇮🇹🇩🇪🇷🇺 this is my heritage third generation American I'm 1/8 Portuguese I need to put the flag in my sign off etc. Later days 🌏🌎🌍👦👱💙🏃🙆

[@ryan.engstrom]

I love this? Question though is the pitch high a step? or did she sing this scene that way?

[@cosimoepicoco7022]

Queste voci mi fanno sognare...

[@aleubaldi5213]

Incredibile ha cantato tutto con intelligenza unica . .

[@sharonrenzulli9941]

We don’t know what we have till it’s gone...

[@LohengrinO]

I really will never understand how can someone call Montsy a Lyric, Joan a coloratura and Maria a huge leggero :D

[@davidwelch8288]

I love the fact that you love and respect so many Sopranos and Mezzo Sopranos and are not partial to just a few. The videos you post are amongst the most pleasurable ones that I listen to. Thank you for doing so.

[@LohengrinO]

@@davidwelch8288… and 3 contralti, Kathleen, Ewa and Aafje

[@contraltissima]

@@LohengrinO Kathleen was for sure not a contralto, just because she sounds muffled and has no high notes, does not mean she is really a contralto: she has no low notes, even a D3 in Der Tod und das Mädchen she did not execute.

[@contraltissima]

Of course Montsy is a liric, here you can CLEARLY hear it. I just dont understand why she does not use her chest voice, here she would really need it. she actually sounds here very liryc.

[@aleubaldi5213]

Secondo me Caballe' e Callas non si possono classificare con i canoni tradizionali,la duttilità ha giocato in ruolo troppo importante per definire.Mentre Sutherland per me ( ma è un mio parere modestissimo) era un lirico di coloratura con timbro anche scuro,ma io fuori dai suoi gorgheggi non la reggo

[@NLidar]

A true assoluta without even having a D6.

[@jmiller05]

Imagine Caballe with a free top register- she would've been unstoppable. As it is, she was still a phenomenon.

[@elsaasta5164]

..... Ave Nuri... È molto che non ti sento.. Hear you.. Ti ho recato per caso una qualche involontaria offesa?? If is così... I am sorry!! Non ho più avuto modo di vedere caricato un tuo work... or non ho ricevuto nulla ...I speak English and you listen tutte le mie cavolate. My English è ancora neonato... but ti confesso che mi piace tanto e sono molto interessata ad apprendere questa strana lingua... Scusami tanto se ti ho recato disturbo... e ancora Ave Nuri..... Elsa.

[@NLidar]

@@elsaasta5164 Elsa, mi fa molto piacere sentirti di nuovo! Non ho visto i tuoi commenti da molto tempo, e quindi la sfortunata mancanza di comunicazione! Non c'è stato nessun tipo di offesa. Penso che tu abbia involontariamente annullato l'iscrizione al mio canale e quindi non hai visto i miei ultimi video? In ogni caso, non carico molto come una volta .. Buona notte

[@lawally]

There’s a few recorded live high D’s from her...

[@robertharris7502]

@@lawally I would like to hear them. Never heard her sing anything higher than the d flats in Sempre libera.

[@hildegerdhaugen7864]

I love this.

[@thomasdeansfineart149]

Sadly she enters a beat early on the climactic high B at the end of the narrative (leading into the curse). I find this too distracting to rate this performance. The climax is blown. Of course, this wasn't really her "fach," and as pure vocalism, it is easier on the ears than Nina Stemme (in recent years), who barely approaches the high B and certainly can't sustain it. Mme. Caballe had a well-integrated and supported voice, like Nilsson's, top to bottom, at any dynamic level. Those voices don't come along often and are to be treasured for what they accomplished, especially in light of some of today's "stars."

[@ThomasDawkins88]

I always feel guilty because I took an entire seminar on Tristan und Isolde and I still can't really get into the opera except for a few moments here and there. I would not have thought that Caballé could sound so fresh so late in her career but here we are. How many other Violettas have sung Isolde?

[@loboestepario2424]

Lilli Lehmann and Callas.

[@henrikanckarsater7129]

Don’t know if Flagstad sang Violetta in Norway (don’t think so) but definitively a lot of operetta :-)

[@brodereck1]

Not to mention Rossini (including rarities), Donizetti (including rarities), Massenet, most of Puccini (Mimi to Turandot), most of Verdi, Richard Strauss (including lyric roles Arabella, Capriccio, the Marschallin as well as Salome and Ariadne). The list is endless.

[@thomasdeansfineart149]

@@henrikanckarsater7129 Flagstad also sang Mimi!

[@greatmomentsofopera7170]

I had no idea she sang this well this late in her career. One of the most perplexingly inconsistent artists: both within single opera performances (miraculous things minutes from cracks) and across the whole career (some performances where her middle voice sounds like a grandma, and then not long after or before it’s silky smooth). Sometimes she had a rich chest voice, some times no more than a whisper, sometimes she merely shouted when the line went low. Occasionally she had a perfect trill, but mostly none at all. She cancelled a lot, but also managed to almost everything.

[@jmiller05]

Great moments of opera But damn she had something irreplaceable.

[@LohengrinO]

Montsy was Divine

[@greatmomentsofopera7170]

Principe Turandot thanks for the comment!

[@arnoldamaral7406]

Principe Turandot Yes he tends to have certain favorites. And he has his own Opera Channel. And he contributes generously to those that are fledgling opera students of the MOST INCREDIBLE ART FORM IN THE 🌎. We all have flaws in our personalities my friend. That we have to accept my friend. There are other channels you can view as an free moral agent. That's how we were created. Take care & Hello Theo 😳. Arnold Bourbon Amaral 1820 🌍🌎🌏💏💙🇩🇪🇮🇹🇫🇷🇪🇸🇷🇺🇬🇧

[@BellaFirenze]

Una persona ha mencionado que Caballé no tiene idea de lo que está diciendo ("She has no idea of the words!"). Ella hablaba con fluidez inglés, español, francés, catalán, italiano y alemán. En cuanto a su interpretación de Isolda y su capacidad para la música dramática wagneriana... aquí tienen la prueba.

[@josepdelriocontratenor9501]

Es más, escribia y hablaba mejor alemán que el catalán!

[@BellaFirenze]

@@josepdelriocontratenor9501 Eso me hizo reir. :)

[@josepdelriocontratenor9501]

Una Isolda muy lirica y romántica, tal vez ya ka hizo mayor ... Tengo auténtica certeza que se preparó la Isolda como su último gran rol! A mi, me encanto! Y vi todas las funciones que interpretó...

[@harpguy18]

I didn't know she sang Isolde!

[@brodereck1]

She sang practically everything . The scope of her repertoire was breathtaking.

[@silvergoldpetservicesllc3502]

jordan thomas you are beautiful

[@davidwelch8288]

@@brodereck1 So true!

[@debbiejohnson2789]

brodereck1 it really was. Her repertory was bigger than most others.

[@juanjosedubal]

If my ears are good i think it´s the 1989 Liceu´s Isolda. I think that the one she sung in Teatro Real de Madrid in the same year is better.

[@LohengrinO]

I don't think this is that late...

[@jmiller05]

Lohengrin O I think it is! Caballe only sang Isolde on stage in 1989! It's in her biography.

[@juanjosedubal]

@@LohengrinO Yes in deed, 1989.

[@juanjosedubal]

@@LohengrinO kzbin.info/www/bejne/onm2anhrqc5kqaM

[@LohengrinO]

@@jmiller05 wow

[@SilfredoSerrano]

This is definitely late Caballe, not young Caballe

[@wotan10950]

I saw Caballe in the Immolation Scene with the NY Phil, probably in the late-1970s-early-1980s. Mehta was not known for orchestral subtleties, but she rode the waves like Grane flying through the air! This was the same Caballe who I had recently seen as Adriana Lecouvreur, spinning the most beautiful pianissimo phrases. It’s hard to pigeonhole her since she could sing lyrically and dramatically. Having said that, her Sieglinde on YT is really awful. She had all the notes, but the language was laughable, and the phrasing was like trying to fit Puccini into a Wagner role. P.S. Caballe had another gift on display here: she could rewrite the libretto! There are many wonderful things in this excerpt, but language isn’t one of them. I’d guess that 50% of the words are either gibberish, or just German words inserted wherever she forgot the real ones.

[@LohengrinO]

it is said she was too lazy to remember the correct words ahahah

[@wotan10950]

@@LohengrinO According to Sutherland, she simply took on too much work at any given time. Dame Joan said, “No wonder she made such a hash of Anna Bolena! She has too much going on in her mind!” You can hear the poor prompter here going absolutely bonkers!

[@Empoweredwoman1234]

This is wonderful considering she was allegedly a lyric voice. I don't think she was an Assoluta though, because part of her voice were bigger than others, making it uneven in size throughout her range. However maybe she could've become one with the right practice. I guess we'll never know. I wonder if her voice was more dramatic than what people gave her credit for. What would Callas think of her doing this? She advised her not to sing very heavy roles when they met. While Callas was extremely wise and knowledgeable about the voice, maybe even she underestimated this wonderful singer. Perhaps she might have sung heavier roles if she'd not been advised to steer away from them. It seems her acting style was more on the dramatic side.

[@LohengrinO]

I think even in her pianissimo was made of steel

[@jmiller05]

As Callas said- " Wagner can never hurt your voice, provided you know how to sing'. What Callas warned Caballe off was Lady Macbeth and Abigaille in Nabucco, the latter of which is a genuine voice killer.

[@yurizivago3641]

Her Voice sounds too fresh for being 1989...It might be 1983 in NY

[@LohengrinTheo]

Think so too...

[@davidwelch8288]

I agree.

[@Zva26]

@@davidwelch8288/Lohengrin - You're both incorrect. I just finished her book. These Isolde performances took place in April of 1989, the same year she sang Salome in Barcelona. Amazing when you stop to think about it.

[@brodereck1]

@@Zva26 She also sang Salome at La Scala

[@SilfredoSerrano]

Yup, 1989 was the only time she did Isolde. Brigitte Fassbaender sang Brangäne and she recounts how she had to feed Caballe her lines because Caballe didn't know it.

[@juliogonzalezcampayo3201]

@In bocca chiusa: Caballé hablaba todos esos idiomas, lo que no significa que los cantase de manera inteligible. Es verdad: nunca llegó al fatigoso "patois" de Sutherland

[@arnoldamaral7406]

I never liked Wagner. It's not the German language I don't like. I just don't like his style so egotistical. I don't get down like that. Obviously our Monse can sing Everything. After Maria Callas. Caballe is her successor. We all know she studied in Germany. And Germany has a special place in her heart. Thank you for the Post Lohengrin O. I appreciate all that you do for us my friend. Sincerely Arnold Bourbon Amaral 🌍🌎🌏👴👱🇷🇺🇬🇧🇪🇸🇫🇷🇮🇹🇩🇪 and Portugal.💙🎼🎶📖🙏

[@babydrane]

I love her but this isn't right. Way too light and more hesitant than usual. When lyric sopranos sing stuff like this, Turandot, Salome or Elektra it almost drains the soul out of the music.