Rosa Ponselle, soprano - Bizet - Carmen - 'Habanera' (video - 1936)

[@rarevisionog]

She dazzles us with her complete reach and mastery of her entire range lol. Those miraculous lows, that middle voice and that headvoice.

[@bridgetisadreamer]

Now I feel I truly understand why she is held in such high regard! Highly highly deserved!!

[@vanmusician]

This was a screen test for a possible Carmen movie. There was no director so she's improvising her movements. Such a shame she never made a movie - the greatest soprano voice in history.

[@jimdrake-writer]

Actually, George Cukor directed this screen test. I interviewed him at length by phone, and included his recollections and comments in my 1997 biography of Ponselle.

[@kgjhskgskgskgskdgfsk]

@@jimdrake-writerwhere can I read your book? :)

[@trentonwilliams9921]

Absolutely! There have been many great soprano voices, but nobody had a voice to equal Rosa Ponselle! She had the most gorgeous, dark, Rich, and beautiful voice of all time. And in addition to that, she was a very gorgeous woman too.

[@azucenathegysy]

Her voice is so crisp and clear for the time this was recorded in!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@eytonshalomsandiego]

i have to admit i have fallen madly in love with this woman. ok, i am exagerrating , but who could not fall in love with this singer's singing!

[@jmj4879]

Wery great voice!

[@marisarossi6692]

troppo brava.

[@bodiloto]

Divina . ❤

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

Bravo off the charts.

[@EmilyGloeggler7984]

A true opera performer who could act with her voice and body believeably with little to no overacting/campiness.

[@TheCarnivalguy]

As far as MGM was concerned, contract negotiations haggled on. Ms. Ponselle was unmovable in the amounts she wanted. One MGM executive exclaimed “Ms. Ponselle must be picking numbers from a phone book”! This test footage is a gem. Ponselle had trouble with her high notes fairly early in her career, hence the foray into mezzo parts. Rosa Ponselle cannot be overlooked when discussing the greatest voices of the 20th century. Cheers

[@toscadonna]

Rosa’s sister was a contralto, and I often wonder if Rosa wasn’t actually more of a mezzo to begin with? I was misdiagnosed as a soprano for many years, and it wreaks havoc on the voice to have to maintain the high tessitura of the soprano with the bigger cords of a mezzo. People think it you have high notes that you’re a soprano, and if you don’t, you’re a mezzo. 😂But it’s not the simple. Rosa was superb in everything she did, and I think she’d have had just as great a career if she’d just sang mezzo roles after age 40.

[@jamesryan6008]

This was when The Metropolitan Opera mounted a production of "Carmen" for her. I was surprised to discover that it was a failure for her( at least with the critics).

[@trentonwilliams9921]

The critics were stupid! After all, their name “critics” means they have to criticize in order to keep their job. But in this case, they were morons. Uneducated morons.

[@raymonte8182]

A piece of Opera History. Todays greats will be future You tube history, all should be enjoyed

[@mmjhcb]

Today's greats? You mean there ARE some?

[@andrewvincenti2664]

😂

[@mariopiernes6944]

The krakatoa erupted long before she was born because it could not hold a candle to her!

[@Il_toscano_genoano]

:)

[@georgedupenym4890]

I think she is not singing in the right key.

[@toscadonna]

Correct. She’s singing it 1/2 step up from the original key of F Major.

[@trentonwilliams9921]

Who cares!!!! Most gorgeous voice and woman you will ever hear!!!

[@mirnacudiczgela1963]

I suppose it is because she is a soprano while Carmen was written for mezzos.