Rosa Ponselle sings Carmen

[@BobMadickman]

This lady is literally my Grand-Teacher, she taught my college voice teachers' teacher.

[@JohnDoe-s5m4v]

I want to join you!!!

[@terrance7220]

Omg I didn’t expect she to be 100 times more brilliant in person

[@SymphonyBrahms]

A brilliant performance from one of the greatest sopranos who ever lived.

[@nastcar6351]

Fascinating!! I feel Privileged to have worked her beautiful Private Estate many years ago. Gone but not forgotten Rosa 💐💐💐🌹👏😎

[@shahramyazdani7575]

All mezzos today should watch and hear this..BTW What a great accompanist!!!👏👏👏

[@EmilyGloeggler7984]

All performers should watch and learn from her - because she shows believable vocal and physical delivery, which sadly many still lacked then and now.

[@道-p2e]

@@EmilyGloeggler7984 💯% Not only voice, but also her performing... superb🅰🅰🅰

[@trentonwilliams9921]

Oh my God Emily!!!,!!! You got it right again!!,All you do is criticize great singers, but maybe the great Rosa Ponselle is just too much for you !!!! Hahahahahahh.

[@golden-63]

Her voice is, as always, incredible, but I didn't expect her to be such a good actress as well!

[@aetion]

She is marvelous, both vocally and dramatically.

[@trentonwilliams9921]

And so gorgeous !!!

[@NewFutureFantasy]

We love Rosa Ponselle.

[@道-p2e]

Much stronger than mezzo, what a grand Carmen!!! Bravo,

[@KrishnaSimone]

Real Dramatic soprano

[@道-p2e]

@@KrishnaSimone She famously hated her all recordings..."someone help me to open the lid of box, I was squeezed in..." Imagine at Live, what kind of voice and performing. Must be extra heartbeating!

[@GehanCooray]

She could do it all - dramatic singing, coloratura, everything!!!!! 😊☺️

[@道-p2e]

@@GehanCooray💯% Truly "everything", I can only imagine the excitement of sitting inside the house when She be the Carmen, Norma and everything... 🈵🅰🈵

[@GehanCooray]

@@道-p2e EXACTLY!!!! You can *FEEL* the energy to this day from all the live Metropolitan Opera broadcasts. To experience it IN PERSON would be the greatest thing in the world........

[@carmelaapollonio8041]

una delle voci più belle che siano mai esistite. Grandissima Artista !

[@bodiloto]

Parole sante.

[@leslieackerman4189]

Critics say she was the best soprano ever. It is possible. Her range was huge. And her intonation impeccable. But as it is shown here, she had charisma, character and temperament (wild). She could easily project the role. Would have been awesome to see her! AND she was American born.

[@robertn800]

What Critics ? 🤔 I goggled greatest soprano & greatest Opera singers & in almost all polls they had Callas as # 1️⃣

[@davidjohnson9796]

@@robertn800 Well that shows the world is still ignorant. Ponselle is ABOVE Callas and Callas even knew it and said so on many occasions. It is a myth that Callas is always no. 1 She was NEVER no. 1 All you have to do is a little research and read the reviews during her lifetime. She was always considered controversial. It is mainly due to John Ardoin's and later Michael Scott's lobbying that the current trend is Callas.

[@SymphonyBrahms]

@@robertn800 Callas was the greatest soprano. But that doesn't take away that Ponselle was one of the greatest sopranos. My greatest sopranos are Callas, Ponselle, Flagstad, Traubel, and Nilsson.

[@mmjhcb]

@@SymphonyBrahms If Callas is considered the greatest soprano (lol) it certainly isn't her singing that garnered the accolade.

[@mmjhcb]

@@robertn800 Yeah, when you "goggle" you get . . . uh . . .uh . . . "goggled." Lol

[@dominiquedelair6843]

listening Rosa listening that s all trying to understand How is it possible to single like this ? impossible. she is à miracle !!!

[@davegreene8588]

Rosa Ponselle, along with Caruso and Ruffo, was one of "three _vocal miracles_ ; apart from these, there have been several wonderful singers", - according to the maestro Tullio Serafin.

[@dominiquedelair6843]

@@davegreene8588 Thank you very much for this clarification.

[@LenguaBorracha]

Su zona baja es increíble, suena sólida, firme y muy oscura, me encanta cuando desciende hacia los graves, tenía una voz corpulenta y bellísima 😍

[@MonnaLuisa]

bellissima e grandiosa, che voce, che portamento, che eleganza, che stile, insomma divina!

[@EmilyGloeggler7984]

She blows her camp counterparts with the same technique out of the water! She actually performs believably! Encore!

[@mmjhcb]

Imagine walking out of your cigarette factory day job and singing like that!

[@adagio8999]

🤣🤣🤣

[@alejandrarodriguezaltamira4679]

da gusto escuchar esta maravilla

[@searchers3225]

This was done with direct sound recording-meaning Ponselle was actually singing as the camera was filming. Virtually all singing in musical films since 1929 was lip-synced (prerecorded).

[@davidjohnson9796]

No - this was not always the case. At least as late as 1935 there were direct filming of a singer, e.g. Irene Dunne in Roberta.

[@Valkyrien369]

Can you please confirm it is 100 % sure a live recording and not lip-synced?? I'm trying to figure out the singing technique of Rosa Ponselle and to actually see what she is doing with her mouth tells a lot about the technique that adds to what I hear and have read.

[@Ramon34able]

Per un provino a fini cinematografici, Donna Rosa, indubbiamente hollywoodiana, bella, hot... Ed anche brava-brava!

[@andrealupini6769]

peró niente male davvero! fa tabula rasa in questo ruolo e senza nessuna eccezione ! ed è bellissima!

[@bodiloto]

Splendida ! Divina ! 🌹❤️

[@EmilyGloeggler7984]

Indeed, you are correct on that point.

[@bodiloto]

@@EmilyGloeggler7984 Piccolina, studia , impara …. Buon anno ! E durante 2022 hai tantissimo tempo per imparare l’italiano… Così finalmente avrai la possibilità di apprezzare veramente lo stile interpretativo italiano vero. Ciao il vecchio

[@btsbwl7264]

This is absolutely amazing

[@alainlecopain]

Ashley S I

[@Ramon34able]

Eccellentissima, specie nel contesto hollywoodiano delle riprese! Bella e brva-brava

[@rayito2005]

Grandiosa Rosa .

[@shirleyrombough8173]

With all of her gorgeous singing and her beauty she never forgets her perfect French pronunciation. Bravissima!

[@GehanCooray]

It's definitely not "perfect" French, but at least it's not anglicized with diphthongs and such the way Nellie Melba and even Robert Merrill sang. Rosa is the total package when it comes to her singing, acting and MINDFULNESS of the text even if she wasn't a native level French speaker.

[@moirbasso7051]

She had a great smile, besides one of the most flawlessly produced voices in all of Classical music. It's only as you listen to her recordings and compare them to other singers, both past and present, that you realize how stellar her technique was.

[@josephalexandergemmell9979]

right!

[@道-p2e]

So true, 💯👍

[@jorgemunoz3545]

Absolutely AMAZING. She has got the soul of CARMEN.

[@jeanettecook1088]

What talent and skill... lovely lady as well. 🎉

[@hollowclarisaa5802]

she's a godess 💖

[@Dadacomero]

UNICA bellissima bravissima :D

[@1357911LVGS]

Incredible!!!!

[@antoniopapini7445]

inolvidable registro

[@albertoaguiardacruz7047]

ALBERTO AGUIAR DA CRUZ: MAIS UMA DEMONSTRAÇÃO SOBERBA E ARREBATADORA DA BELA, GRANDE E EXTRAORDINÁRIA DIVA DO CANTO LÍRICO, ROSA PONSELLE. QUEM TEVE OU AINDA TEM O PRIVILÉGIO DE OUVIR E VER ESTAS INTERPRETAÇÕES INSUPERÁVEIS DE ROSA PONSELLE, CONSIDERE-SE MUITO FELIZ E REALIZADO.

[@davidsimmons654]

She is so amazing, suprised she never went fully into film. She would’ve eaten the competition at the time easily!

[@davidjohnson9796]

She wanted too much money. She asked Louis B. Mayer for $250,000 - unheard of at the time - and he of course politely refused.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

I doubr going into film would have been as satisfying as opera. Remember Mario Lanza who was so successful in film. He sorely regretted not devoting his professuonal efforts to opera. Especially after perfirming the great Caruso in that film. He was derided and disnissed as a singer but in the end he was the best but sorely unappreciated during his lifetime.

[@EmilyGloeggler7984]

It is a shame. Unfortunately, like Caruso, and later Callas - they were only briefly in films, but they were like resplendent stars that shined bright and left a trail that is hard to follow but one can learn from them. ^_^

[@rarevisionog]

​@@davidjohnson9796 Quite appropriate. That was the hallmark of a true diva haha

[@emtnz1569]

Maravillosamente natural.:....

[@murilooliveira9602]

Rosa Ponselle foi sem dúvida uma cantora de ópera maravilhosa. Escuto constantemente essa ópera.

[@hectorhugomoyano9518]

BELLEZA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@TitoManlioCerioli1373]

Nonostanti canti in francese la sua rimane la Carme della versione italiana assai diversa dall'originale Francese, eppure sa aggiungere tocchi squisitissimi di perfetta aderenza al gusto francese, è uno strano mix fra due diversissime tradizioni, ha una grandissima sicurezza vocale, una tecnica perfetta, un sontuoso e sensuale registro di petto. Inoltre sa recitare benissimo ed è talmente scatenata nella seghidiglia che il cameramen non riesce a seguirla, infine ma non ultimo è una gnocca pazzesca!!! Questo si che è vera perfezione

[@joeleferri8026]

Les tringles des sistres tintaient, non la Seguidille

[@chbo8039]

Beautiful

[@道-p2e]

She is beautiful, the most beautiful one...

[@antoniolucriantonio5986]

grandes musicas iimortas não devemos deixar cair no esquecimento da humanidade

[@dorje1975]

@millriv Yes, I made mistake. But to my knowledge, Rosa went to the Hollywood to make this casting in autumn 1938.

[@theoldmet]

October, 1936 it was.

[@MrFalconford]

dearest darling if you look at the beginning of the screen test it reads 1936, details are important

[@esterbruno8604]

Bellissima in tutto! 💕💕💕

[@EmilyGloeggler7984]

Proof you can have believable vocal and acting performance. Mario del Monaco and many others could learn some tips from her, sadly, they didn't.

[@esterbruno8604]

@@EmilyGloeggler7984 Still saying bad things 'bout Del Monaco and every singer that is different from Caruso? 🙄 BTW, the singers you're referring, that you hate so much that you call them "the worst I've ever heard"(!!!), they have a fantastic technique and they are absolutely believable. So, proof you apparently care only about performance... that's not right. Only because they don't act the exact way you want (there are many types of interpretation, you know), it doesn't mean that from being great singers they become automatically "terrible", "awful", "one of the worst I've _ever_ heard"... Damn, these are strong words! And you use them for what? 'Cause they don't have the performance *you* want. A kinda weak motivation, isn't it? Technique is more important than acting in Opera; technique is the basis of singing, no technique, no performance. If a singer doesn't act like you want, he doesn't become automatically bad; he's still great, and so is Del Monaco and the singers you hate (which are many). And they don't act badly at all, 'cause, as i said, there are many types of nice interpretations, and they act differently from Ponselle, but really well too.

[@dileepaappuhamy4017]

Thank you so much. This is my favorite opera

[@isammolina4842]

Gran influencia para Callas.

[@fabriziogarzi9892]

Non c'e' alcun punto di contatto e quando la Ponselle cantava al Met Callas era in Grecia e non sara' andata al Met ad ascoltarla e non credo ascoltasse i dischi ad Atene come li ascoltiamo noi oggi.

[@andrewmargrave7518]

Carmen's tessitura is rather low for Ponselle, although her low-mezzo timbre, unusual in any soprano voice, is right for Carmen. She sings and acts magnificently. The sound quality is bad. The pianist is superb.

[@author7027]

. i had a teacher of that time, she was 10 years younger. she said that good old Italian school was still in America. my teacher was not beautiful but she had an extraordinary technique.

[@ElyWill]

Tell us more! I’m looking for old school Italian singing videos and training. Big beautiful core singing from sopranos to mezzos bottom to top is lost in modern opera now.

[@author7027]

@@ElyWill this school was based on pronunciation, our exercises were many on stacatto, it was like talking, but also there were legato in octava interval , when high position was found on stacatto. high position is something like the voice sound in the nose , but it is not in the nose but higher.for this one should have a vocal ear. the breast is important but rather additional.all high notes have connection with the brest but important is not to go out of the head resonator. we were not talking about this theory , my teacher gave exercises and you can feel is your voice in a high position or not. you just do the exercises and automatically get into high position. she said that to feel everything properly one should train 9 years. but its individual.some body can catch it faster may be.

[@author7027]

@@ElyWill kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2bNZqOGe52Fbas&ab_channel=illrec kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnuWnol3hMyihaM&ab_channel=100Singers these i see as examples of singing in this school

[@author7027]

@@ElyWill this is a clear good example kzbin.info/www/bejne/eovNqIWEa9tsmKc&ab_channel=MichaelKalm she sings in a very clear way showing this school

[@gustavocancela639]

La favorita de Callas

[@AB-rb2hk]

Divina

[@GaryNReese]

Incredible. Why did her career, the greatest of any American soprano, end after this?

[@ciroalb3]

Depression. They cut her salary to $1000 max and half for smaller roles. She was always a bundle of nerves, didn't need the money, and married. All reasons to retire.

[@EmilyGloeggler7984]

ciroalb3 Sadly, she made a bad marriage and it ended in divorce. The whole thing messed her up but at least she never stopped singing and that voice remained intact.

[@davidjohnson9796]

@@ciroalb3 No. They didn't cut her salary. She wanted to do Adriana Lecouver and Johnson, the Met Manager, hated the opera and wouldn't mount it for her. The rest of your reasons are correct.

[@ciroalb3]

@@davidjohnson9796 you're right about Adriana, also, the critics weren't wild about her Carmen, but they cut everyone's salary for the Depression. Gigli refused to take the cut and went back to Italy where he could live like a king and be treated like a god.

[@davidjohnson9796]

@@ciroalb3 Actually they had begun to cut salaries in 1934. This was the reason Frieda Leider cancelled her contract for that year - making way for the now-historic debut of Flagstad. As for Ponselle's salary, I don't think they did - or very little. I still think her Carmen (especially the March 1937 version - best sound BTW) is one of the greatest of all exponents in this role. She "lived" each role she sang and was considered one of the greatest actresses on the operatic stage. She never need a Zeffirelli or a Visconti like Callas did to turn her into a great stage actress (who, without those great directors was NOT so great an actress as is generally thought - one needs only to read the reviews - another Callas myth!)

[@victorberistain9536]

La mezza di Voce de Ponselle era increíble, casi una fuerza y oscuridad de hombre, punto a su favor es haber sido tan sexy, no entiendo porque jamás filmaron la película de “Carmen” con ella, quizá lo querían hacer basado en la pasada “Carmen” pues fue un éxito con la Soprano Geraldine Farrar, claro está que la voz de Rosa habría sido mejor pues era una Soprano de dimensiones oscuras, la Voce de pecho emulaba a las grandes Contraltos de principios del siglo XX.

[@MonastraOperaSymphonyClassical]

"Messa di voce", estimado. Con ss, no zz. He visto este error muy repetidas veces. Messa di voce, o sea cantar del pp al ff y volver al pp. Un abrazo

[@bodiloto]

@@MonastraOperaSymphonyClassical la messa della voce è una cosa molto diversa della mezza voce … la mezza voce fa parte della messa di voce …. il vecchio

[@lucete7240]

This video of rosa ponselle singing carmen is not on the right pitch...guess it's because of recording problems😢 there's a video in youtbe which corrected to the right pitch by youtuber barone-scarpia

[@babithehuman2505]

I can't seem to find it :(

[@道-p2e]

Bravo㊗㊗㊗㊗

[@mikec6822]

Does anyone know if there's any more video footage of Rosa circulating?

[@alexvaliansky7707]

As far as I know, nothing came of this test. It’s a certainty that Jeanette MacDonald did not want to have Rosa Ponselle at the studio.

[@canpete1]

unreal

[@celtik05]

Muito graciosa.

[@durcheinander5554]

I can see why Callas admired her so much. Callas is like her direct successor.

[@mmjhcb]

durcheinander Ponselle had no successor -- direct or otherwise.

[@paragod333]

Only Ponselle had a beautiful voice, unlike Callas.

[@robertn800]

Actually Callas was her Superior- Maria sang 88 Normas, perhaps the most difficult Opera for a soprano. Rene’ Fleming was going to sing at Met in 2003 but cancelled at the last minute, vowing never to sing it. Callas had a short but blazing, legendary career. No soprano can even come close. 💔 Rosa has a certain charm but I’m one of those Callas fanatics, so I can’t judge her singing, but the acting looks sorta clownish.

[@道-p2e]

@@paragod333 I must agree, though I love Callas' singing technique greatly.

[@IoannisLiappas-qo2yn]

Divain

[@mariopiernes2773]

She would have blown away the Manhattan Project, and and all the mega nuclear bombs that came afterwards.

[@davidmuller9938]

She was a true Falcon.

[@tommyo777]

Meriden natives Rock!

[@道-p2e]

Proud of native produce from Meriden CT!!!

[@helenarodriguez1432]

3:04

[@davidgoulet399]

What a voice!, and when she was right for somethng, there were few better, but Carmen is not the role for her IMO. She pushes the tempo in the gypsy song and her choice to shout some of it distorts the line. She seems to be trying very hard to please. In the Habanera, she's more aggressive than seductive. There is a historic broadcast of Carmen during this same time period, starring Ponselle and Thill. A MET broadcast but from Boston during the spring tour.She sounds great, but,gainiNG,the character is aggressively one dimensional.

[@vincec8218]

Pot calling the kettle black

[@vincec8218]

This is Opera sucks. Hateful channel of wannabes

[@frankfeldman6657]

I agree. It's too fast, she's BS ing the scales. But she was amazing.

[@mmjhcb]

@@frankfeldman6657 ROFL

[@davidjohnson9796]

The best version is March 1937. Here her interpretation has been considerably refined. But don't forget, she went to Europe to study the role with Carre, who was at the first performance of Carmen decades earlier, and also studied the role with other famous Carmens.So she hardly was unaware of the original conception. It's modern interpretations that have influenced us Actually the faster tempo is more in keeping with what Bizet wrote.

[@fejkakaunt]

Wikipedia says Ponselle's voice was "large and opulent". Some youtubers call it dramatic. IMHO though her voice was rather average in size. It's the lovely, distinctive timbre that made it special.

[@dorje1975]

What a strange comment... She sings aria for mezzo here, but she was a dramatic soprano! And you call it "average in size"? :) Just listen to the recording made in 1954, where she sings D in minor octave (Death and the Maiden by Schubert).

[@jimdrake-writer]

+fejkakaunt: Why do you suppose that the morning after her debut in "Forza," the eminent critic James Huneker described her as "the possessor of a voice of cavernous power and fine musical quality," and the "Dean of Critics" W. J. Henderson wrote that "she is the possessor of one of the most opulent dramatic soprano voices that present-day operagoers have heard"? Every critic, every contemporary artist (Fritz Kreisler, Mischa Elman, Artur Rubinstein) and conductor (Tullio Serafin, Wilfrid Pelletier), and every colleague who sang with her said that the size and power of her voice ranked with those of Caruso, Ruffo, and Mardones.

[@theoldmet]

Yes, she had a very large voice, though not so well conveyed in this film. The acoustics of the studio they were filming in sound quite dead. This test is from October, 1936, not 1938. She (as it turned out) was retired from the opera stage by 1938.

[@mmjhcb]

If anyone ever wonders how many "thought-challeged" people exist in the world, he need look no further than KZbin.

[@ksionc100]

RMPsumma, the irony here is that you failed to form a counterargument.

[@856285]

@LaDivaWorld- you think you know what your talking about but you know nothing. and i'm not the only one who says that. quite a few people are laughing at you.

[@Berichterstatter01]

lol Carmen ended her operatic career they say...

[@lucialp1937]

Undoubtably Ponselle has a lovely, expressive voice and sings a very fine Carmen. But her acting? Somehow she tries too hard. A tad more understatement would be nice. Yes, Carmen was an extrovert, but compare this one to Supervia or the sultry Berganza... Ponselle is too crass. Just an opinion, take it or lynch it! :-)

[@paragod333]

This was HOLLYWOOD screen test after all. Not a subtle artistic performance. Probably just what they wanted.

[@mmjhcb]

Lynch it!

[@smemr]

Perhaps it is because on-stage performances are performed with greater expressiveness to give a better effect for the audience while the screen allows for more subtlety. I have heard many actors comment about this.

[@babithehuman2505]

@@smemr This. People find old opera singers to over-act because they're just too used to cinema (as well as some modern singers). In a big opera scenario the public won't the character's feelings otherwise.

[@Tenortalker]

No-one could doubt that Ponselle was a very great singer, among the greatest ever recorded of any voice category. In answer to your comment about her acting in this role it is true she received some criticism from the New York critics , particularly Olin Downes, when she first sang the role at the Met (1935.) She had prepared the role with Maria Gay Zenatello who had been a famous Met Carmen , but also a controversial one. Maria had given an exciting , fiery Carmen, far removed from the picturesque , but still basically prima donna, ladylike gypsy offered by other singers of her time. She even bit into an orange and spat out the pips before launching into the Habanera! It is possible that seeing Ponselle, their noble Norma and Giulia ( La Vestale,) playing Carmen in such an overt manner caused the critics to react badly to her portrayal , although apparently the public loved her in it. The fact that it was basically a low tessitura role also relaxed her to do some fine singing. She had been stressed about the high notes in some of her soprano roles for some time - even if she certainly possessed them. There is a live recording of one of her last Carmens where she sounds in such good voice that one cannot imagine she was about to retire. It was such a pity that it all came to an end so soon. It would have been good to have her filmed in a complete role for posterity too. Sadly that wasn't to be.

[@Amanda-sf3fx]

I am sure the afficionados of early 20th century singers will be wowed by this, but I just don’t like her middle register at all. It’s unsupported. And the gear changes are too obvious when she goes into chest voice.

[@Itoldyouso15]

I don't understand all the fuzz about her, I just can't. Don't try to convince me with this "greatest of all time" thing. She's just not.

[@vyeagra420]

listen to her lows and chest voice notes

[@fzb5383]

Messy...

[@esterbruno8604]

Messy?! What the...

[@mmjhcb]

@@esterbruno8604 I agree. What the . . .? Messy goes with Ponselle like nude goes with Dior.

[@道-p2e]

hearing aid needed!!!

[@robert111k]

Juas. Cantaría bien, pero qué poco salero tenía la pobre.

[@Miyoshi186]

A quien esta viendo?? Como hay gente ciega

[@robert111k]

@@Miyoshi186, ¿en serio?

[@KrishnaSimone]

Aa que se refiere salero?

[@robert111k]

@@KrishnaSimone, aje, pellizco, duende, gracia...

[@lunetelalune2783]

But her diction...

[@antoniopedrolisboa]

Perfect. The french alphabect is completely nasal. If she pronunciate, without adaptation non nasal, the throat closes. When the air goes to nose, the throat closes

[@esterbruno8604]

Just fantastic!

[@LaDivaWorld]

Say what you want, but neither her portrayal of Carmen nor her improvisation of the original Bizet's melody impress me. Her Carmen is ,at times, a very funny one and ,at other times, is a well behaved girl, likely what Ponselle was herself. A true Carmen is neither one, and Merime's novel clearly gives you an image of Carmen. As for her free interpretation of Bizet, I would personally treat very poorly any singer who would dare to change a single note of my score or any score of a composer..Those free interpretations of famous lines are miserable attempts of mortals to embellish on immortal genius which had conceived them in a first place for the humanity to cherish. I absolutely hate any attempt at improvisational garbage. My advice to any singer who wants to be great one day: do not screw with the given original score. Understand what a composer intended to express then follow the freaking lines to the note and forget you even matter. Music matters, not you. If you are not a composer, especially a great one, don't think you can compose and thus add anything valuable to the immortal music. Be the pure unaltered instrument, the trusting mind who surrenders totally to the genius and intends to deliver precisely the genius music, not your own crap. When a composer writes music, he knows the value of each note, and places each note intentionally. You, on the other hand, are an instrument who without a musician don't know your own power. You can be a genius instrument in the hands of a genius performer, but never a composer yourself or a performer. Know your place at all times. I, as a listener, know each note of this score by heart, and I absolutely hate what Rosa did to this piece! A most beautiful voice is a most beautiful voice which is only going to last while a singer is living. Bizet's music is going to live on,while no one in a 100 years will remember Rosa's name just like no one remembers any of the great singers of the past 300 centuries. I buy a music instrument which will do the job in my hands, and I don't want a freaking instrument with a mind of its own. I compose music and expect musicians to deliver precisely and I don't want any freaking musician to change my score. If anyone wants to change anything, they are welcome to write their originals. Yes, I challenge an authority, and I don't care about your scolding. I care more about Bizet than your preaching. No wonder this woman was criticized for her Carmen at the Met: I wouldn't hire her for this role either, not for the stage, not for film.. Just a beautiful voice and impeccable technique isn't enough. I speak for all composers here. Per scrivono, if I am not mistaken, which from Italian means AS WRITTEN! Sing it as it is written and don't piss off a composer's spirit. Maria Callas did just that, thank God, one great singer who understood music and put her own ego behind the immortal music.

[@jenniestein]

A tad presumptuous of you to say you speak for all composers, no? I'm a composer, and you don't speak for me. Some of my compositions require strict adherence to the score, but others have been, if not improved, at least given a totally different and worthwhile coloring from a player's perspective. Certainly, there are arias, operas and whole genres that don't lend themselves to improvisation. And there are composers who are insistent that their music be sang note for note, like the songwriter Irving Berlin. But many of his songs sound better--yeah, I said it, better, not just as good--as interpreted by a 'freaking instrument'.It's a silly comparison to say no-one remembers singers of the past 300 years. No-one remembers non-composer intrumentalists (female and male) before the 19th century, and their compositions far outshines their prowess as instrumentalists (with the exception of Paganini). Singers of the 19th century are remembered as well as instrumentalists, but perhaps you are not interested in them. Carmen was actually commonly improvised on up until, as were all operas before from the beginning of the genre--it was expected of a good singer! Verismo with its more declamatory style changed everything. That and Toscanini's rigid, if otherwise marvelous style becoming the norm throughout opera conductordome. I'd say the ego in question here is your own.

[@mmjhcb]

LaDivaWorld Good Lord! It took you a freaking novel to get to what we all knew was coming -- Callas. Callas did this; Callas did that. Callas was perfect (LOL). Callas was no Ponselle, certainly not vocally. Furthermore, interpretive liberties have been taken forever in the arts. I am not opposed to such liberties in general. It depends on how many there are and to what degree they are taken. Ponselle's are not out of bounds in the least. Furthermore, the Met execs certainly signed off on the Ponselle Carmen production. FURTHERMORE, in preparation for Carmen, Ponselle went directly to Albert Carre for advice on the role. That's THE Albert Carre who had worked under Bizet when Carmen was first produced at the Opera-Comique in 1875 -- the one human being who knew more about the opera than anyone alive. In short, you have merely posted a l-o-n-g-g-g-g-g-g ill informed comment. P.S. I'll also bet you're quite the little composer.

[@stone8193]

Lol this guy is an absolute lunatic. Ponselle WAS the genius. True genius does not play by the rules. And when they break them they do with their own brilliance and intuition. The best composers would disagree with you

[@SymphonyBrahms]

Ponselle was one of the greatest sopranos who ever lived. And one of the greatest singing actresses who ever lived. Her interpretation of Carmen is brilliant, magnificent, and legendary. And may I presume to ask, what operas have you had produced?

[@catherine_moss_soprano]

LaDivaWorld how does your butt not just ache after writing that? So much of what you wrote was condescending to composers and performers, but the best part is that the vast majority of it is just WRONG! The reason people aren’t as aware of Ponselle has nothing to do with her interpretation and EVERYTHING to do with recording availability. In comparison to people such as Di Donato or Norman, she has a much smaller discography readily available on places like KZbin. Thus, she is discussed and referenced far less as there is little easy access source material. Her interpretation fits Carmen wonderfully in my opinion and of course it was controversial. Any good performance WILL be because someone will be giving it 120% what they believe is right and there will always be traditionalists and elitists that believe their version is the ONLY version. Tbh the version you’re posing she presented makes the most sense and brings depth to the character that is oftentimes lacking. As for improvisation an dedication to the line of whatnot, that’s boring. Nothing is so outlandish that you didn’t know what she was singing and it was a nice change from what is beaten so thoroughly into the standard cannon. The ability to improvise is highly regarded in the musical world because it shows the capability and understanding a performer has for the work. Plus, if you’re exoticizing an entire culture (which is what Carmen does) that has a musical basis improvisation (to an extent), to not improvise when you can and bring whatever elements of the ACTUAL culture you can is plain lazy. Yes, there are instances where improve might not be the best idea, but I would advise you avoid a great majority of music if that is your stance.