Dame Joan Sutherland's huge E6 and gorgeous Rossinian Duet cause endless Applause

[@andrewdeakin7078]

Thanks for this. I heard Sutherland live many times. The depth and richness of her voice is not fully accessible in her many recordings. Her talent was unique, and fully expressed thanks to good training and hard work. Her acting was much better than some assert, especially in the comedies, where she was commandingly entertaining. Those that knew her always remarked on her pleasant and generous nature, and absence of stereotyped 'diva' behaviour. We were blessed to have her. Hers was the greatest post war voice, and probably the best ever.

[@TheVaughan5]

There has long been a rivalry between fans of Callas and Sutherland but the truth is though they sang many similar roles their art was different, both supreme in their own way and certainly unequalled since their time and I'm sure the situation will always remain that way.

[@PeteBMan]

When she sang this with Simionato at La Scala in...'61 or '62, it was the original key and glorious. She had much in common with the likes of Horowitz, absolutely afraid of their own shadow at times. Could do it but feared any mistake or letting down their audiences/fans. As Julia Child said, "you have to have the courage of your convictions"

[@JoanSutherlandFan]

Every time that I listen to the others performers, I need to hear La Stupenda to cure my ears, there are no remedy better than this. Ah! Nice picture (from Lucia...) But is interest that her hair is down :D

[@doinadanplopeanu7570]

Thank you! Una voce unica.

[@eduardobrandwaiman342]

She owned the role of Semiramide! Her 1962 performance of thus opera at La Scala was the first after WWII.

[@dvhanson1962]

Thank you for posting these recordings I'm giving myself a crash course in opera and your uploads have become one of my primary resources. The problem now that I've started with the very best singers ever, it's difficult to listen to anyone else. :-)

[@LohengrinO]

Not just difficult... I have never attended the National Opera house in Athens.. not ever... I also havent got the slightest interest into seeing most of the current superstars... I was offered once a trip to NY to watch Anna as Bolena at the Met (all expenses paid)... refused.. these Singers I post can not only Spoil you but TOTALLY isolate you from any current reality... they are extremely rare Natural Phenomena

[@WilsonWatt-q2e]

Sutherland's Semiramide was probably one of the finest experiences any one could have in an opera house. I heard her with Horne at the Lyric in Chicago and will never forget the immense and surrounding sound she produced even in that huge house.

[@LohengrinO]

Horne produced immense sound? wasnt her voice extremely small?

[@WilsonWatt-q2e]

I was referring to Sutherland's sound in the house as Semiramide. However, Horne did not have a small voice. I heard her in several large houses and her sound projected beautifully.

[@alangregory9229]

What I love about you Lohengrin is you give ALL these great divas the respect they DESERVE.....I suspect you have the odd bias, as we all do, BUT how anyone can criticize any one of these GREATS, especially when they're getting it FREE, is beyond me.........I remember the days when you had to pay for vinyl, and even sheet music!!!.......Dear GOD, we don't realise how lucky we are.......Keep going LOHENGRIN!!!!......XX

[@LohengrinO]

only deserve? unrepeatable Phenomena - Callas, Sutherland and Caballe will live forever (and the rest as well)

[@alangregory9229]

@@LohengrinO long live, LA DIVINA, LA STUPENDA , LA SUPERBA & "LA ALL THE REST!!".....Ha ha ha xx

[@LohengrinO]

@@alangregory9229 exactly! rest like Niki Minaj, Cardi B, Beyonce, Titty Perry etc

[@highbaritone]

@@LohengrinO good Lord, but you are amazing. I’ve not read this thread before. What a great read. ❤️

[@manolis.799]

How I wish Rossini had been able to hear this. Ultimate Semiramide.

[@BellaFirenze]

The first time I heard this great artist in the opera house (December 31, 1966 Matinee Broadcast of Lucia with Tucker. Bonynge, conducting), I couldn't move. Who sings like this today? No one.

[@LohengrinO]

...and no one will again

[@BellaFirenze]

@@LohengrinO Alas, no. I am fortunate to have heard her in the theatre in many roles.

[@LohengrinO]

@@BellaFirenzewas her middle voice as huge as her top register?

[@BellaFirenze]

@@LohengrinO I am not an expert, however I would say the volume was equal in all registers (including a hefty chest voice when she wanted to use it). I suppose she never forced her voice simply to produce a large sound.

[@MrQbenDanny]

VIVA JOAN!!!HAHAHA!!! Her bread and butter notes were always coated with the delicious Australian grass fed cows vintage. Her Semiramide with (shhh...Marilyn the great Horne) at the MET was iconoclastic. I NEVER missed her La Fille del Regiment performances and my favorite JOAN role.

[@LohengrinO]

isnt that a Gorgeous photo of hers? it is from Lucia but when I saw it I couldnt ressist :D

[@MrQbenDanny]

Lohengrin O TOTALLY GORGEOUS!!! What makes it beautiful is how womanly feminine it is, she has others to fit this description, but, I never found JOAN to be like that live onstage.

[@brolobear]

Actually, she didn't sing Semiramide with Horne at the Met. Horne only sang it at the Met in one season with June Anderson.

[@ralphhexter8324]

Horne sang it with Lella Cuberli at the Met

[@MrQbenDanny]

brolobear June ANDERSON.... Isn't she the one that copied JOAN in everything??

[@jmiller05]

This is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.

[@magicmonkichi]

Great post ! no doubt an epic voice ! The picture is brilliant.

[@LohengrinO]

it is from Lucia but I couldnt resist.. Sutherland's later Style was horrible... it is unbelievable that one of the greatest Voices of the Centuries had not one decent gay around her to dress her well... as if she gathered all the seconds.. she would dress up in costumes extremely expensive that were of so incredibly bad taste and totally draggish

[@TuoksuHolopainen]

She's had one gay (Zeffirelli) around for Lucia and he made her bosom look better..

[@magicmonkichi]

lol. With a voice like you don't see the costume, though sometimes the gown was as loud as her voice hehe. The gowns we're fun though^_^.

[@highbaritone]

Thanks again for your posts I tend to look at all your posts, and there is no one that is not fantastic. Good Lord your library must be very full. Sometimes I put on your channel as an evening listening mix. Unlike other sites, yours has never been shut down. May that continue. Oh yes the other thing about the "greats" is that you know who they are from three notes. Unless you are posting someone I have not head, and then there is the wonderful discovery of a new "greatness". Cheers to you

[@LohengrinO]

this is my 5th Lohengrin channel... all the previous ones have been shut down and I suppose this one will be as well. Download your favorite excerpts to have them afterwards... I personally find fascinating all the comments I read (I mean the knowledgable ones) which come from people dedicated to Opera for years... it is extremely fascinating for me

[@CarlosHernandez-vv6bx]

I strongly (and respectfully) disagree with your comment about the high E with Milnes in Lucia's duet. I think it' s an awesome note.

[@anthonyhenrysmith]

well in 1983 she was approaching 60 years old, give her a break!

[@MaestroWenarto]

love love love....

[@blessOTMA]

There is incomparable Joan and then there is everyone else.

[@Hako2004]

The last sustained E natural was with Milnes, but it wasn't the last high E from her throat. She hit a high E in Suor Angelica, delivered as cry of despair, in the Decca recording of 1979. in 1986 she shrieked an E at the end of the singing lesson scene in Le Fille du Regiment, it was unmusical, but meant to demonstrate frustration. There may be others that escaped my notice.

[@LohengrinO]

what is her more amazing E6 in order to post it ? (I will try to post her Suor Angelica one... Puccini had actually written an E6? )

[@JoanSutherlandFan]

Exactly, at least Joan have the sound quality in her E's or Eb's, I mean the sound is powerful not thin as used to with another singers.

[@nathandavis3002]

NOBODY can touch her semiramide. My personal favorite is her 1960 recording

[@AkaiGX]

It's sad that it was never part of a full album of Semiramide. :(

[@chrispi7151]

the highlighted comment in the discription box that assumingly says that her Es in lakme on the art of the primadonna were not great makes me wonder. it may be true that they were not here favourite range to sing, i do not know that. but in my mind the final note in the lakme aria is thunderous and forcefully attacked. i really love to listen to it. and secondly, is the final one really an E? not an F? i am not sure. i am no musical professional either. and not that it would matter anyways. i enjoy a lot either way.

[@LohengrinO]

he is not suggesting that the E6s in the art of prima donna are not good... only that for voices like Sutherland and Callas E6s are extremely difficult notes and were avoided when possible... she also transposed two semitones down the Queen of the Night's arias in her live Zauberflote under Klemperer, singing Eb6s instead of F6s

[@artdanks]

This was still early enough in her career, she still had that pure, and gorgeous tone, without the "hooty" covered sound she created later.

[@paullewis2413]

Absolutely. For me Joan Sutherland`s career was really from the late 50`s to the late 60`s. Only around a decade I know but what a decade! I think her recordings from the middle 70`s on, though still amazing for a singer of her age, do not represent in any way the incredible singer she was at the height of her career.

[@arnoldamaral7406]

Paul Lewis I agree my friend. All the truly GREAT operactic artist have had 10-12 great years. But Callas will always be an exception to the rule. The debate that will be Disscussed till the end of time is the 1955 idiotic futal talk that after 1955 Our Mayas voice had a rapid decline is pure nonsense. I would of gladly stayed in line to hear & see the GOAT perform for hours⌛ even approaching scalpers if necessary. Dame Joan, Monse,Madame Price as well.But not to such an extreme. Theo thank you again for the memories my friend. ABA 😌🌍🌎🌏

[@baritonebynight]

@@paullewis2413 Dame Joan was in demand right up until the end of her career and had many AMAZING performances in the 70s and 80s.

[@yurorega1148]

Tuvo gusto siempre por bajar al menos 1 semitono en casi todas sus presentaciones... En fin....

[@dramaturge231]

Delightful! Who is the mezzo?

[@highbaritone]

Why would someone take you down. Jealousy? The singers wouldn't I known.

[@LohengrinO]

there are people who keep making accounts to come here and shit all over again and again... I block them and they make new ones... unbelievable personalities ;) true Music lovers :D

[@highbaritone]

Lohengrin O ❤️

[@melbapatti]

No high E, alas. That is an E-flat (quite a huge difference for a voice the size of Joan's or Maria's). Here she is singing Semiramide's Bel raggio transposed down a half tone into the key A-flat (that means 4 flats) as she always did "live" (and as she did in the complete Semiramide recording for Decca). She sang this aria in the original key of A major (that would be 3 sharps) and with TWO high E's, only for the Decca set The Art of the Prima Donna. At the Met Gala in 1983, she started in Ab then Mr. Bonynge wrote a very jarring transposition down ANOTHER FULL TONE to Gb (6 flats!!!--the strings were probably not happy) for "dolce pensiero" finale. Not good. At all. P.S. She sang Lakmé Bell Song in key, with 3 high E's, only for The Art of the Prima also. Complete Decca Lakmé Bell Song is down a half tone. Top E was not one of her favorite notes. The last one (not great either) to ever come out of the Sutherland throat is the Lucia /Enrico duet with Milnes. They trans pose that one UP a full tone.

[@LohengrinO]

then this is indeed an E6? kzbin.info/www/bejne/q6OqgX6ulMyhirc (placed your comment in the description above)

[@LohengrinO]

pls also comment on this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4XQaYaOmb6Ln7M I had no idea Victoria could blast such a full Body D6

[@Gav640]

I believe she only sang Bel Raggio in the original key live at La Scala. The E in that recording is short but it is, for me, one of Sutherland's most stand-out Es for its brilliance and clarity. kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWTYfWqEaJVknLc

[@melbapatti]

Gav640 thanks for drawing this to my attention. It is indeed a great high E at the end, and is a stunner of a performance. On The Art of the Prima Donna LP, she sings different embellishments in this aria and adds another high E about 8 measures before the final E.

[@JoanSutherlandFan]

As a Joan lover I have to be honest. I adore this Decca disc "Prima Donna", I think every opera lover need to listen to it to comprehend what the human voice is capable ;) But I far prefer both arias (Bell raggio and Où va la jeune) transposed down. I don't think opera is only high notes, it's necessary, but at the right moment. Think well, Mado Robin, Natalie Dessay, Mady Mesplé and many others sang it transposed up (with high F's, G's, Ab's...) but none is recognized as 'Stupenda' for nothing ;) At least, we have one live recording of Semiramide with a great E :D

[@mateusquasetuga]

The effect of writing "disclaimer: I own nothing" is precisely zero.

[@LohengrinO]

well I suppose at some point my channel will close again (this is the 5th one)... I was told to write that all the time to delay it.. Should I write something else?