Rosa Ponselle's last Carmen(1937)

Rosa Ponselle's final peformance in staged opera
00:00 Quand je vous aimerai...l'amour est un oiseau rebelle
04:29 Près des ramparts de Seville
09:20 Les tringles des sistres tintaient
Carmen: Rosa Ponselle
Don Jos:é: René Maison
Met Orch. and Chorus
Conductor: Gennaro Papi
Broadcast while on tour in Cleveland, OH: April 17, 1937
Legendary Operatic Diva, Rosa Ponselle, was discovered at age 21, while singing in vaudeville, by Enrico Caruso who brought her to the Met to appear opposite him as the "Leonora" in the 1918 Metropolitan Opera premiere performance of Verdi's La FORZA del DESTINO. She became the first American-born artist to sing a major role at the Met without the benefit of prior European training or experience, and is credited with opening the doors of the Met to the American-trained singer. Most remarkable about Ponselle is that she had no vocal training prior to her operatic debut. Born with a natural gift for singing and acting, she was a true Dramatic Soprano having many revivals done for her. For the 19 seasons that she sang with the Met, she was considered its reigning queen, and was dubbed by Huneker as "The Caruso in Petticoats". Geraldine Farrar is reported to have said when discussing singers, "There are two you must put aside, one is Enrico Caruso, the other is Rosa Ponselle. Then you may begin to discuss all the others." Leonard Bernstein, who credited Ponselle with changing the direction of his young life, wrote in a letter to her, "Yours is the first operatic voice I ever heard, at age eight, on an old Columbia 78, singing 'Suicido'. Even through all the scratchiness and surface noise, that voice rang through in such glory that it made me a music-lover forever. I thank you every day of my life." Elisabeth Schwarzkopf wrote of Ponselle in her autobiography, "In playing her records, I find myself repeatedly commenting: 'This is ultimate perfection.'" Maria Callas, who credited Mme Ponselle as being her vocal idol and sole inspiration, is quoted in an interview with Ida Cook, noted British authoress and music historian, as having said, "I think we all know that Ponselle is simply the greatest singer of us all." See what other critics and other renowned personalities have said of Mme Ponselle.
In 1937, at age 40, shortly following her marriage to Baltimorean Carle A. Jackson, at the height of her career and in her vocal prime, (as all of her critical reviews and recordings of the period document), she shocked the music world when, following a performance in Cleveland on April 17, 1937 of "Carmen", she was never again to be heard on the operatic stage. The live radio broadcast of the performance released on LP by the Metropolitan Opera Association, reveals the loss the opera world has suffered by Ponselle's untimely retirement. She continued to concertize and to record for RCA for a few years after her retirement from the operatic stage, and to dedicate the remaining 44 years of her life to nurturing and launching the careers of aspiring young operatic talent. Among those who were schooled in Ponselle's "Villa Pace" studio (her home in Maryland's Greenspring Valley) or who were coached for roles or launched by her in their professional careers, include John Aler, Lili Chookasian, Placido Domingo, Raina Kabaivanska, Spiro Malas, Adriana Maliponte, Sherrill Milnes, Samuel Ramey, Sheila Nadler, Will Parker, Leontyne Price, Louis Quilico, Beverly Sills, and William Warfield.

[@raybercse1]

What more can you say about this superb artist. Not only did she have the most gorgeous voice of any soprano, but such verve and passion in her interpretations. Her Carmen has all the gypsy you want, and those cavernous chest tones are so round and ductile.

[@trentonwilliams9921]

Absolutely the most gorgeous, Rich, velvety, and flat out amazing soprano voice I have ever heard!!! And on top of all of that, she was a gorgeous woman! I am in love!!! She was the Cesare Siepi of sopranos!!!

[@gabriellaruozzi7876]

Ce ne fossero oggi di soprano e mezzosoprano in grado di cantare così!!!!

[@Gabriel-hs9mv]

questa scuola è svanita molti decenni fa e non ne vedremo mai più

[@crisha721]

fantastic!!! rich ,velvet and exquisite tone

[@perito3645]

Sin duda una versión espectacular de Rosa Ponselle, quien fuera tambien gran inspiración de maria callas, una leyenda su versión de carmen, incluso creo muy dificil de superar.

[@petrosbalaskas4753]

beautiful sound for the era. Rosa Poncelle was Callas favorite artist, and she always express her admiration for her. And Marias habanera sounds very close to this. thank you for posting it

[@purisermonisamator]

Merci beaucoup. C'est magnifique.

[@itarukawarada1869]

thankyou (^_^)

[@kubrat44vm]

Нарешті почув справжню Кармен, циганку з тютюнової фабрики. Голос універсальний і безмежний!!!

[@renehalm7318]

A tous ces commentaires émerveillés, je voudrais souligner la qualité de son phrasé............

[@roberthorn1838]

Rosas voice was of course a magnificent instrument, but by this performance her voice had in my opinion become a fraction coarser, with less of her magical soft singing in evidence and an over exploitation of her glorious chest register, making her sound like an Azucena at times. I adore her, but Carmen is a dangerous role for a soprano. Still, where is her like today?

[@191helen]

There is a hardness and lack of flexibility in her voice that prevents it from being seductive and therefore puts her Carmen only in the good, not the great, category. There is also something that seems rather colorless and monotonous about her tone except when she dips into her head register. Ponselle had a rather rigid technique that would not allow her to color her tones with the same flexibility as Callas.

[@mmjhcb]

You're joking, right?

[@fabriziogarzi9892]

Ponselle non era molto espressiva. La voce, il timbro, e' molto bello ma non piu' bello di tante altre colleghe. Raisa era superiore di colore e di tecnica e di espressione. Callas ha accennato una volta alla Ponselle ma il suo canto e' diametralmente opposto e non si e' a lei mai ispirata. Non volle mai conoscerla. Callas resta il soprano piu' grande mai esistito. Ponselle canto' Carmen perche' non reggeva piu' la tessitura acuta.

[@191helen]

I meant when she dips into her chest register.

[@trentonwilliams9921]

Hahahahaha!!!!! You had me there for a minute. I thought you were being serious. 😂

[@191helen]

When I do enjoy ponselle is in her duets. She doesn’t try to overpower her partner, produces some exquisite soft singing, and doesn’t rush the rhythm. She is a superb partner in duet singing as she seems to bring down a couple of notches the dramatic histrionics and the forcefulness of her tone. I think ponselle was a true mezzo with a solid upper extension before C!