Shirley Verrett: Rossini, L'assedio di Corinto: "Non temer, d'un basso affetto" LIVE Met 1975

[@audrathomas8552]

I was also there for BeverylySill's MET-debut, and I must agree that Verrett stole the show, with this aria. The applause went on... and on; it was the most incredible experience I had ever had in any opera house. As the applause continued, Verrett, observing perfect stage/performance decorum, stood perfectly still, and looking through my opera-glasses, I could see only her eyes moving, up and down, side to side, drinking-in the thunderous and unending applause. I shall always remember her eyes, moving all over the house, acknowledging the ovation...and those glorious cheekbones!

[@lutandomhlalase4416]

Yep she had some good bone structure

[@foropera]

Wonderful. The funny thing is that the New York Times doesn't even mention any triumph or ovation for her. Strange people writing critics...

[@christopherbrooks948]

Up close, she was even more striking.

[@davidalbro2009]

This is the most difficult aria in the repertoire besides Großmächtige Prinzessin and Shirley Verrett performed it beautifully, LIVE! I have a newfound admiration for this exceptional singer.

[@smurf902]

G.P. is a walk in the park compared to this, in fact! This requires going up and down the scale, rangy as anything I've ever heard!

[@davidalbro2009]

@@smurf902 You're going to have to look at your music again. It's not even really close. G.P. has multiple high Ds and a high G. It is full of chromaticism and large jumps. Non temer certainly has it's challenges, but based on ease of execution, most singers would want to sing Non Temer over G.P. even if they could perform the high notes in G.P. Non Temer's chromaticism is very logical due to Rossini's strong ties to Classical structure. Strauss's chromaticism is much more exotic. It's not even that close. G.P. is significantly harder both in the physical demands of the voice and the ear required to sing it.

[@carmeloserafin5101]

Splendida testimonianza...di una grande musicista.. la conoscenza perfetta dell'accento italiano ...con inflessioni francesi, che tipicizza il ruolo di un fascino androgino e sensuale ancora più ancestrale...... limato alla perfezione dalla Horne...entrambe Artiste dell'Olimpo rossiniano intrapreso già da colleghe illustri ...qui la direzione è la bella ciliegina sulla torta....giovanissimo a Spoleto ho scoperto la meravigliosa Verrett in Una Carmen Storica proprio con Schipper, e una Dalila alla _Scala e Maria Stuarda e Anna Bolena...a Firenze Stupefacente come faccia splendere gli acuti ....che meraviglia...avere la possibilità di ascoltarla.....se penso a quanto tempo fa...anni prima alla Scala una Horne al massimo del suo splendore aveva aperto le porte a questa Opera magnifica sempre con l'amatissima SILLS!....guanto sono grato a questo tre grandi interpreti americane...di avermi fatto vivere momenti di assoluta bellezza...Ognuna col proprio talento e Genio.

[@viba1657]

Великая певица! Восторгаюсь её мастерством!❤ Какая музыкальная культура, вокальное мастерство!❤

[@saleenapiano]

i was there! beverly's met debut! both divas were gorgeous, vocally and visually, and brought the house down! shirley was actually a bigger hit and after this cabaletta, the appluase went on for what seemd like forever! it was a performance i'll never forget! i taped the broadcast and listened to verrett's cabaletta daily for another year. in addition i saw beverly backstage after the performance and she had a radiant beauty from within that was mind-boggling. there are photos of her from this night and they capture some but not all of her true beauty

[@danafripp1432]

Is there anything more we could have asked for in a singing actor? I think not. I'm utterly flabbergasted. In this, we can hear the La Favorita Leonora, the Princess Eboli, and the phenomenal Lady Macbeth yet to come from the singular creation that was and is Shirley Verrett. I'm simply blown out of my hosiery!

[@andyschnabel5225]

I think she nailed Norma too.

[@ТатьянаБугрова-ь9ш]

Merci mille fois pour ce moment merveilleux!!! 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

[@vincenzomesseri3433]

Great ! Great ! Great ! Conducted by an INCREDIBLE Thomas Schippers ! We miss both !

[@tcewmg3430]

He surely was a great conductor and Madame Verrett was a Mentor to me. Awesome!!

[@monte-verdianopapasyriopou9201]

Schippers! An incalculable loss!

[@smurf902]

A wonderful companion for Sills, similar ringing sound but but richer and bigger with Verrett. I wish I could have seen both of them in their prime..

[@burtcollins239]

no other voice as this exists... I heard over the radio back in the early 70s the Siege of Corinth with Verrett and Sills.. I was in disbelief.. She is missed

[@saleenapiano]

the broadcast performance too place in 1975

[@willyboy4305]

I was there and I remember this riveting aria like it was yesterday. Shirley stole the show. A masterful performance by a master composer. Shirley was a true artist who is missed, along with the great Beverly Sills, who, I know from a personal correspondence with her, did not have a high opinion of Horne.

[@dubbelhenke854]

I don't either....she is quite good in some baroque, but I could never stand her IMO nasal singing.

[@petercallahan7321]

@@dubbelhenke854 sills and Horne had a personal dislike of each other, it had nothing to do with their artistic abilities (I’m not a fan of either lady, undoubtably fantastic as they were at their best). They had a confrontation of sorts when they sang this opera at La Scala that both wrote about in their respective memoirs. Horne was asked to sing the role at the Met and said no, which is how Verrett ended up doing it. Verrett basically stole the show IMO and many were actually somewhat surprised as she wasn’t known for Rossini at all and rarely sang roles that showcased her coloratura capabilities.

[@dubbelhenke854]

@@petercallahan7321Thank you for an interesting answer. Yes some opera artists had a bit of complaints of each other. I recently read Verretts biography and she had a few feuds herself, a bit of a tension with the magnificent Leyla Gencer - however that was just nerves and they later became friends. Also Shirley had the famous feud with Grace Bumbry, but they luckily later on cooperated instead. Reading Geddas biography, you get to hear about his feuds with Sills, Moffo, Tebaldi and others. OMG I am gossiping right now, that is not nice. There are always 2 sides to a coin.

[@davidalbro2009]

@@dubbelhenke854 I used to be obsessed with Horne. I still am. Her pecision, consistency, range...BUT over the years as I matured as a listener I came to agree that her tone suffers. Perhaps it was a trade off: her unique production lent itself to consistency and precision. But in the end her voice suffered.

[@zeynjenkins2073]

I wonder what were callas and verrett made of... They cannot be labeled... Amazing

[@jacktaggart2489]

I attended the Sat. Matinee of this 7 performance run. Extraordinary performance by Shirley. One of her great triumphs at the MET was to sing the leads in both Parts 1 and 2 in Berlioz' 'Les Troyens' on short notice. She is a treasure most others can only hope to emulate.

[@ahogbin2644]

A fabulous and utterly unique sound. I treasure her London Dalilah and a thrilling gala concert with Bumbry.

[@stefanocecc6625]

La Verrett è magnifica nel ruolo di Neocle: registro medio-acuto perfetto, basso buono (non eccelso), voce uniforme, all'epoca capace di eseguire con regale agevolezza ogni fioritura o ornamentazione. Le storiche riprese del MET della cosiddetta 'versione-Schippers' dell'Assedio sono una pietra miliare della 'Rossini renaissance'.

[@giudiciadanna4550]

Stefano Cecc, assieme all'Armida della Callas e alla Semiramide sella Sutherlan le sole riprese "decenti" di Rossini, le vere pietre angolari della Rossini renaissance...ma se non le fai cosi, Rossini...non e' Donizetti o Bellini o Verdi e le pietre diventano macigni insopportabili. La troppa filologia ammazza la fantasia.

[@amiciopera]

Stefano. Un soprano Sfigato......❤

[@charlesbrown1934]

Absolutely magnificent!

[@susannevollmer2347]

Beautiful and brillliant!💥💐

[@viorelbadiceanu8150]

Fantastic!!!! Extraordinar!!!! Thank you for posting! You made my day! :-)

[@georgescott3652]

My my! Just gorgeous singing!

[@francisanthonypeters9002]

Grande la Shirley! Bravissima belcantista! ❤

[@terrycloth6380]

Outstanding!

[@unclelouie3828]

It was "not" Beverly's night. It was Shirley's. I was there.

[@foropera]

A pity they never filmed Verrett at the Met at that time. Her Neocles, her Dido, her Azucena, Madame Lidoine, Favorita,...etc. They began only with her Tosca.

[@tamerlano]

Sills waited too long to do it...reminds me of Renee Fleming in Armida: big success when younger does not equal a big success when older.

[@celesteaida48]

A wonder…love her so much!

[@tamerlano]

She and Sills are wonderful in the recorded Anna Bolena...less so the Norma they did where, ideally, the would have reversed roles.

[@tamerlano]

The trills!

[@zeynjenkins2073]

Omg

[@о.Никандр]

великолепна абсолютно. Великий голос.

[@tomasvaitkus4139]

Jelena Vasiljevna Obrazcova adored Her...

[@dubbelhenke854]

Two great mezzos!

[@marcocavallero8094]

Abbiamo arato, io e mio fratello, gli LP della registrazione in studio dell'Assedio di Corinto. E sono passati più di quarant'anni... negli anni Novanta ascoltai la Verrett in un concerto, all'Auditorium RAI di Torino, mia città. La voce e l'interprete erano ancora in grado di rievocare la malìa dei suoi tempi d'oro.

[@tancrediarsace1271]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@mvcpastkambcstccr8563]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@danafripp1432]

My sentiments exactly!

[@giovanniarioli2971]

Mostly beautiful singers, her voice is like a sharp knife is coming sublime in your meat. Then you can't leave without the Opera.

[@savioalves1234]

Damn hahahahahha... It was just like... DAMN Shirley... HAHAHAHAHA

[@giudiciadanna4550]

Si, sara' pure piu' sopranile della Horne ma la Verrett da' a Neocle un fascino ed una umanita' sconosciuta alla Marilyn...eppoi e' una vera diva. Mezzo o soprano non sapremo mai com'era la Giuditta Pasta in questo ruolo quindi Shirley va bene cosi ed e' forse la sola a stare accanto alla Maria che avrebbe interpretato un Neocle, grosso modo, cosi! Stesso approccio teatrale/musicale.

[@donalfonsotube]

Come la Horne impossibile

[@giudiciadanna4550]

@@donalfonsotube , in teatro ho ascoltato a lungo entrambe. Entrambe brave ma il fascino della Verrett...a confronto la Horne pareva una portiera.

[@donalfonsotube]

​@@giudiciadanna4550 Grazie delle vostre considerazioni, io preferisco la Horne, e Orlando e Arsace erano perfettamente due guerrieri, anche se amo moltissimo la Verret non nelle parti in travestie. Comunque al di là delle nostre convinzioni da rispettare, meno male che ce le abbiano date date tutte e due. Viva la Verret, Viva la Horne e viva la musica,

[@fabriziomariagarzi5534]

Meglio della Horne...e ce ne voleva...oggi il deserto.

[@donalfonsotube]

Bravissima,meglio della Horne non si può

[@giudiciadanna4550]

@@donalfonsotube , si puo'. Questa e' la prova cantante. La Horne e' somma ma come interprete la Verrett e' irraggiungibile.

[@eugeniogentili1048]

La miglior cantante lirica di colore di sempre.

[@lesindorf-934videos]

Who is that male singer?

[@tcewmg3430]

I believe John Alexander. He often sang this role in this cast

[@lesindorf-934videos]

@@tcewmg3430 Arigato :)

[@Tuerrin]

*Maometto Secondo

[@patrickbridelance5815]

Quel grave affreux !!!!!

[@foropera]

Is the pitch of the tape exact? It seems that her voice is slimmer than in other sources of this evening.

[@giovanniarioli2971]

Preferisco la divinità che mi stralcia la carne con questa voce tagliente, in Verdi Donizetti, il duello con la Gencer rimane il riferimento di quell'opera. Divina