The Biggest Soprano Notes (E5-E6)

A compilation video of some of the largest and most exciting notes ever hit by sopranos. Somewhat inspired by the popular compilations of coloraturas hitting high notes in the 'stratospheric' range, but more tailored towards the heavyweights.
Some disclaimers:
- Artists do not appear in any specific order for each note (i.e., they are not ranked).
- I included as many artists as possible but it is impossible to include everyone.
- I have other 'Best of' compilations on my channel. If I missed an obvious moment, it may be that it is already showcased in another one of my videos.
- The emphasis here is on 'big', not so much perfectly produced. I am aware that not every note here is perfectly produced and on-pitch.
- Recordings are not always indicative of size in the house, so I do not claim this list to be an objective and all-encompassing list. That said, every note note included is definitely huge and thrilling.
0:00 Intro
0:23 E5
Astrid Varnay
Kirsten Flagstad
00:44 F5
Helen Traubel
Kirsten Flagstad
1:30 F♯5
Gertrude Grob-Prandl (this is written pp...)
Helen Traubel
Rosa Ponselle
2:16 G5
Kirsten Flagstad
Renata Tebaldi
2:44 G♯5
Gertrude Grob-Prandl
Kirsten Flagstad
Rosa Ponselle
Eileen Farrell
3:48 A5
Astrid Varnay
Helen Traubel
Zinka Milanov
Birgit Nilsson
Kirsten Flagstad
5:09 B♭5
Renata Tebaldi
Birgit Nilsson
Kirsten Flagstad
Rosa Ponselle
Eileen Farrell
Ghena Dimitrova
7:23 B5
Maria Callas (this is a written B-flat but she hit a B)
Renata Tebaldi
Anita Cerquetti
Gertrude Grob-Prandl
Birgit Nilsson
Astrid Varnay
Leonie Rysanek
Elena Souliotis
Zinka Milanov
Rosa Ponselle
Kirsten Flagstad
Ghena Dimitrova
Rosanna Carteri
10:41 C6
Birgit Nilsson
Maria Callas
Kirsten Flagstad (written B but she hit a C)
Renata Tebaldi
Gina Cigna
Gertrud Bindernagel
Zinka Milanov
Elena Souliotis
Regine Crespin
Gertrude Grob-Prandl
Grace Bumbry
Ingrid Bjoner
Birgit Nilsson (from 1964 not 1969)
14:11 C♯6
Astrid Varnay (written C but she went sharp)
Ghena Dimitrova
Gina Cigna
Maria Caniglia
Zinka Milanov
Maria Callas
Birgit Nilsson
Gwyneth Jones
15:57 D6
Emmy Destinn
Gina Cigna
Maria Callas
Leonie Rysanek
16:52 E♭6
Maria Callas
Virginia Zeani
Joan Sutherland
Cristina Deutekom
Maria Callas
18:19 E6
Joan Sutherland (this is actually from Semiramide)
Maria Callas
Luisa Tetrazzini
#soprano #highnotes

[@giovic9802]

Callas has sung an F6 in "Per me propizio il fato" from Armida by Rossini Sutherland has sung an F6 in "o zittre nicht" and in "Ich bin die erste sängerin" from Der Schauspieldirektor by Mozart

[@pixelchords3201]

This has to be one of the greatest compilations of soprano highlights on KZbin. I appreciate your channel a lot for showcasing the heavier sopranos!

[@omarsomehow69]

Many people can argue about the size, but the most focused of them all was La Birgit for sure. The voice was cold as a night in Siberia, but cut everything else like it was no tomorrow.

[@divinitesdustyx5312]

If we are talking about focused then one could bring up Sutherland, but that doesn't mean much without the weight...

[@omarsomehow69]

@@divinitesdustyx5312 Sutherland sang with white voice and "fissa" on top. She had focus and "bloom", but only above C - sharp. No comparison with La Nilsson.

[@Operafreak9]

Suthetland and focused do not go together

[@Operafreak9]

And never cold!

[@cmarley4259]

Great video - I watched it through twice. Thank you for putting it together!

[@DM-wj8br]

These divas are incredible. More proof that a high note doesn't have to be C6 or above to be impressive.

[@mrrkdino]

Ponselle and Tebaldi hand power and beautiful voices unlike many of the others here.

[@babydrane]

That B from Flagstad is all we really needed. This is a very mixed bag indeed.

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

Well honestly, quite a few of these are not well produced, but that wasn't really an important a criteria as pure 'volume' when I was selecting clips. That said, there is a many I enjoy too. Although not as big as some others, Rosanna Carteri's B in Suor Angelica is one I find myself replaying a lot.

[@babydrane]

@@dramaticsoprano5168 Yeah, some of them did shock me like Zeani and Souliotis. We have to make some sacrifices for volume.

[@divinitesdustyx5312]

A very good compilation of some of the greatest sopranos on record. The standouts are Birgit Nilsson, Kirsten Flagstad and Rosa Ponselle, but the others are great too.

[@ritahunterlafavorita]

That a5 by Flagstad as Michal.....the duration....can we just take a moment to appreciate that high note for THAT LONG....just amazing!!!! Roughly 17 seconds hahaha I just love her!!!!

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

Hi Mairywn. I wish I had consulted you before making this video so I could have included your mother for some of these notes! I would have liked to have included her in the C-sharp category. There is a high C-sharp at the end of Macbeth Act 1 (the one Dimitrova sings in this video). That would have probably fit well. Do you know if she ever took it?

[@ritahunterlafavorita]

@@dramaticsoprano5168 Let me have a look into that for ya darl

[@ritahunterlafavorita]

@@dramaticsoprano5168 Do you mean at the end of O Gran Dio?

[@ritahunterlafavorita]

@@dramaticsoprano5168 Just listened to the 1847 version that was done at the Proms and that high C# is there...I will check in other recordings that I have on my hard drive. That said, I have started to go through the endless boxes of cassettes and box one had a QUITE a few Macbeths from Melbourn and Sydney.

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

@@ritahunterlafavorita Yes, that is the one!

[@user-en2fx3vl6h]

amaizing job!!! delightful! thank you so much!!!

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

Thank you for your continued support!

[@draganvidic2039]

At least Nilsson had the most focused and penetrating high C of them all even if some other had bigger volume in the middle and lower register. In Rasponi’s chapter ”The huge voices” there are Grob-Prandl, Elena Nicolai, Ebe Stignani and Eva Turner. Dimitrova and Nilsson were still singing and Flagstad was featured elsewhere.

[@nosehook324]

Tebaldi ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@Celina-mc7et]

Maria Callas forever

[@jamescantorne3720]

wagnerian sopranos are almost not forgotten at all, while those who are in verismo or other than wagner were almost unknown. People who are into opera, on average, knows Leider, Traubel, Modl, and others while Petrella, Bruna Rasa, Pedrini, Cigna, and others were unknown to some if not most. And honestly, thanks to this kind of channel - I've known their gem voices.

[@ginopietracupa4305]

14:00 Nilsson C very beautiful

[@crisha721]

All are great, but the truly big, rich, full, omnidirectional voices that also sound BEAUTIFUL are: 1) Kirsten Flagstad: she's huge in all of her range 2) Depending on the vocal register there is a tie between: Birgit Nilsson in the Bb-C# range / Joan Sutherland C#-E (I missed her D's in this video, they are bigger than her E's) / Rosa Ponselle in G-Bb and on the chest register 3) The rest..... Callas is the best interpreter and has some of the greatest vocal moments, but she's not consistent as the ones mentioned above

[@gree.1596]

Anna Moffo sung a huge E6 in "Mercè Dilette Amiche" studio record, and Mariella Devia sung a gigantic E6 in "Bel Raggio Lusinghier" at Teatro La Fenice Anyway, thank you for this wonderful video!! Very good job!

[@KajiVocals]

It astounds me how rare a free-voiced soprano is in opera. Most of these are very tense.

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

Any examples you would consider free-voiced vs those you consider tense?

[@KajiVocals]

@@dramaticsoprano5168 Doesn't really apply to this video but Dimitrova's pianissimi are free kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y4DVeYKZraZnndk Galli-Curci (a coloratura) is an example of a voice without much unnecessary constriction as a whole. Honestly, Sutherland in her prime is doing pretty well too. I'm not sure if you know her but Ernestine Schumann-Heink (a contralto) applies too. Also unironically I would consider much of Ponselle's singing before 1925 very very very very very well-produced. And I know she had a high E-flat as reviews point it out. Nilsson as her moments too.

[@omarsomehow69]

Well, the free voice or whatever wouldn't help to get through 100 pieces of orchestra and let alone to soar above it. Even La Nilsson sometimes have to push herself to maintain volume. But that was later in career for sure.

[@KajiVocals]

@@omarsomehow69 Tensing your voice has nothing to do with more projection. Perceives size or punchiness is not indicative of true size or squillo.

[@omarsomehow69]

@@KajiVocals and how many spinto/dramstic sopranos posses this quality (except for La Nilsson) , especially above the stuff?

[@Pachinanonim]

La voz Helen Traubel la encuentro similar a la Flagstad, Squillo en todas partes.

[@user-gw5nn2mm8k]

Astrid Varnay, Kirsten Flagstad. Ghena Dimitrova, Helene Traubel - the biggest voices at all. Nilsson and Grob-Prandle - great top notes.

[@brunobalzano7566]

Maria!!! ❤

[@Pachinanonim]

9:43 Sharp 😮

[@user-ge5th1ix1p]

Флагстад люблю, но как жаль, что качество записей раннего голоса оставляет желать лучшего. Гроб-Прандль, Джонс и Нильссон шикарны на верхах, но Гена Димитрова громче всех. Астрид Варнай имела раскидистый, мощный голос, очень тёмный почти контральтовый тембр и потому удивительно как ей удавалось выстраивать убедительно эффектный верх... Сазерленд и прочие колоратуры я бы в этот сборник не стал включать, ведь группа посвящена драматическим сопрано.

[@operaforever8545]

это записи, записи обманчивы, и очень сильно. Голос Димитровой был даже меньше голоса Нильссон, в рецензии Нью-Йорк таймс критик писал, что ее голос по силе "между Тебальди и Нильссон". Почему я говорю "даже меньше Нильссон"? Потому что голос Нильссон, хоть и был огромным, уступал по силе Джонс, а голос Гроб-Прандль был еще больше

[@correasilvio2010]

Leyla Gencer

[@88sacl]

18:22 is not from "Beatrice di Tenda", it's form Rossini's Semiramide (Bel raggio lusinghier).

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

Thanks for the correction (is the year correct?), will add a note in description.

[@88sacl]

@@dramaticsoprano5168 as far as I am aware, the year could be either 1962 (Arkadia) or 1966 (Decca), but the sources I refer to say that it could be 1962, but I'm not 100% sure about it (kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYi2l6Kci5mZitk and it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiramide_(Rossini) ).

[@anonymous-cq7wj]

yea not surprisingly it seems that full dramatic sopranos top out at a D at best. Above that it's all dramatic coloraturas

[@Pachinanonim]

1:35

[@frb1808]

I feel Moser should also be in this video. KZbin has recordings of her singing "Der holle rache" live. Yes, she's a spinto, but so is Deutekom, Milanov, Zeani, and Tebaldi. Both spinto and dramatic sopranos are known for vocal heft: the questions is which has more of it. Nevertheless, both produce tectonic high notes that descend to hearers like a thunderclap.

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

Yes for sure. I was not only considering dramatics or spintos when making this anyway. And just a disclaimer, I don't claim this selection as the be and end all. It was just what I was able to find in a reasonable amount of time. Commenters are always welcome to share their favorite highlights and I'll try to fit them in future videos.

[@omarsomehow69]

Zeani was a lyric soprano who sang coloratura roles at the beginning of her career. And Moser wasn't a spinto soprano either.

[@frb1808]

​@@omarsomehow69 Yeah, regarding Zeani, that's possible (though from what I hear, she did have a full-bodied voice), although for Moser, she indeed is. Dramatic coloratura sopranos are usually spinto or dramatic sopranos who can do coloratura.

[@omarsomehow69]

@@frb1808 that's not the same. Dramatic coloratura soprano has lesser weigh the both spinto and dramatic soprano. It's not like you will put Moser in the same place with Tebaldi, Nilsson, Kniplova, Farrell or Flagstad.

[@frb1808]

​@@omarsomehow69 Nilsson, Farrell, and Flagstad are dramatic sopranos, but so is Sutherland, and Sutherland remains to be a coloratura soprano. Also, Moser (and Deutekom, I should include) sang some Verdi heroines. At least on record, Moser sang Elisabetta in "Don Carlos" and Deutekom Amelia in "Un ballo", Abigaille in "Nabucco", and Lady Macbeth in "Macbeth". Sutherland herself sang Leonora in "Il trovatore" (although late in her career).

[@correasilvio2010]

Leyla Gencer the best!

[@correasilvio2010]

Leyla Gencer?

[@Pachinanonim]

9:44

[@PeterSlazy]

Sutherland E6 is Semiramide, not Beatrice di Tenda

[@costingeorgescu3314]

Callas😍Omg,😍

[@davideferrari5702]

La Tebaldi... potenza volume bellezza .

[@mrrkdino]

👍👍

[@user-ge5th1ix1p]

Astrid Varnay has the biggest voice of all. Especially her great bottom.

[@ginopietracupa4305]

Astrid Varnay simply does not how to sing

[@user-ge5th1ix1p]

@@ginopietracupa4305 что за чушь?! Варнай величайший мастер, великий голос на века!

[@ginopietracupa4305]

@@user-ge5th1ix1p Astrid Varnay has an a technique os an amateur, she does not how to sing the high notes properly, Varnay is an excited screamer.Varnay is zero as a singer In comparison with Nilsson, Nilsson will also be cold, but none sing better you can say that she has no strong first octave... ok but as singing she doesn't miss a beat does everything dynamic, legato

[@user-gw5nn2mm8k]

@@ginopietracupa4305 я уже встречал этот нелепый комментарий. Полагаю, исходит он от обыкновенного тролля. Полнейший бред!

[@user-gw5nn2mm8k]

Astrid Varnay is the largest voice I have ever heard.

[@ginopietracupa4305]

14:55 Caniglia attempt to the Dflat is painful

[@Pachinanonim]

Renata Tebaldi no estaria de acuerdo contigo.

[@ginopietracupa4305]

@@Pachinanonim lo hablaste en privado con Tebaldi tu ?

[@Pachinanonim]

​@@ginopietracupa4305 Renata Tebaldi admiraba a Caniglia. Si su idola admira a Caniglia callese y por lo menos respete el arte de Caniglia. Es como si un fan de Callasian insulte el arte de Ponselle.

[@ginopietracupa4305]

@@Pachinanonim Su razonamiento es inutil 100%, que tiene que ver con que a Tebaldi le gustara Caniglia con que el intento al REbemol de Caniglia sea un desastre ? que habla usted de respetar a un artista porque le gusta otro artista ? es usted deficiente ?

[@user-mo5nu8ue1k]

Says please , what name of aria at 10:10 ?

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4fHepKjo6-Kjrs

[@user-mo5nu8ue1k]

@@dramaticsoprano5168 , thank you very much

[@user-mo5nu8ue1k]

@@dramaticsoprano5168 , я почему то подумал на Элизабет из Дон Карлоса , хоть меня и удивил гармонический язык не присущий Верди как минимум в этот период его творчества

[@user-mo5nu8ue1k]

@@dramaticsoprano5168 , Спасибо огромное вам за ваш труд

[@user-mo5nu8ue1k]

@@dramaticsoprano5168 , как часть вашей аудитории, я хотел бы попросить и в дальнейшем снимать видео про вокальные диапазоны ( please more vocal ranges )

[@user-ge5th1ix1p]

Хелен Траубель, кстати, тоже весьма хороша. Я её ставлю выше чем Нильссон в Вагнере.

[@glennsepulveda4856]

Montserrat Caballe, Don Carlos(ending)Verdi..Casta Diva..🤔

[@Pachinanonim]

Ghena Dimitrova tiene un rango de C#6 a F#3 Si hablamos solo de canto.

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

The C# here is very sharp and closer to a D. She could probably go higher.

[@PABLOGARCIA-gb5ih]

Montserrat Caballé??

[@jorgealbertolettera4027]

Pregunto lo.mismo. Muy buen compilado, pero se extraña la belleza superlativa de Montserrat Caballe.

[@tsquare076]

I think early Callas voice is bigger than Sutherland but less cutting Nilsson. But Bonynge said that early Callas voice is as big as Flagstad's. Interesting. Still i don't think Callas is a true dramtic though. If anything it's very well developed high tessitura voice.

[@pixelchords3201]

I think “as big as Flagstad” was a common blanket compliment back then. People said it about Farrell, Nilsson, Prandl, and I’ve even heard an usher make a similar statement regarding Sutherland. It is quite clear that Callas’ voice was nowhere near the size of Flagstad as this proven here and in several other comparison videos.

[@tsquare076]

@@pixelchords3201 the thing is he (Bonynge) heard both Callas (Norma 1952) pre-1955 and Flagstad (Kundry 1951) at Covent Garden. That's why it's so strange.

[@Khalid7a]

@@pixelchords3201 Farrell, it's true. Her along with Ponselle, Flagstad, Milanov, and Tebaldi were the biggest voices ever recorded at the Met. Grob-Prandl not sure. Nilsson and Sutherland definitely not. While it's impossible to judge how big the voice is when mics tend to capture bright voices more than dark ones. And Callas had a voice as dark as the night. From what I've heard from an old man in London who heard Callas in in Norma both in 1952 and 1957. He said that her voice in 1952 was absolutely huge and effortless. It sounded like it fills the opera house that you don't know where the voice comes from. But in 1957 her voice was average at most. Sutherland and Nilsson didn't have big voices, but their voices were very focused that it could cut through the orchestra easily. And Sutherland was always surrounded with tiny voices like Horne, Tourangeau and Aragall anyways.

[@pixelchords3201]

@@tsquare076 Well that is strange considering Flagstad's 1951 Kundry is one of the loudest operatic recordings out there (Callas sounds tiny by comparison in her 1949 recording).

[@pixelchords3201]

@@Khalid7a While, Farrell obviously had a big voice, to me it sounds like she is always at full throttle and pushing, whereas other big voices like Flagstad, Ponselle and Traubel sound as though they are floating effortlessly.

[@ubedajils]

María Callas, incontestable ❤

[@ginopietracupa4305]

12:30 Milanov C is shouted and fisso, does not vibrate

[@omarsomehow69]

Recording being made by amatuer equipment during radio broadcast. It didn't capture the full vibrations of the voice, because the C i not shouted, but firm and huge. And Tebaldi, for example, in 1964 recital album, the C was flat. And let's not even talk about 1970 version. It was a chainsaw sound.

[@ginopietracupa4305]

@@omarsomehow69 Milanov C YES is shouted and fisso 1944. What the hell has to do here Tebaldi ? Yes in the 1964 Tebaldi C in ma dall arido stello divulsa is flat but in the 1970 is ON PITCH and Tebaldi voice does not change its sound at all in the C, does not loose quality never hurts and is not screamed at all. Milanov is who shouts here in 1944. You have a problem with Tebaldi, you like more Zinka Milanov, ok is your taste, BUT Tebaldi's voice does not CHANGE on top, while Milanov's top has NOTHING to do with her middle, the voice od Milanov changes on top and is clear, fissa. Tebaldi's vocal instrument is all the same quality througout the range. You beleive Milanov is one of the better voices, you are wrong. The best soprano voices of the XX century are Flagstad, Tebaldi and Ponselle. and Zinka Milanov will never be named as a unique or out of the ordinary voice. Instead Tebaldi yes, What it happens in the 1970 Ballo in maschera is Tebaldi cannot sustain much the C, but the C is on pitch and the voice does not change in the C, in the 1970 Un ballo in maschera Tebaldi Cis much more beautiful, infinitely more beautiful than this shout Milanov produces here. Do you know what Zinka Milanov is next to Tebaldi? Milanov is a chicken, she always sings like a chicken and always has the voice of an old woman. For you to like Zinka Milanov more than Tebaldi you have to taste like an old woman with a smell of moths, you have to taste like a senile woman Werner. Milanov IS THE SENILE VOICE PAR EXCELLENCE AND HER ART IS THE SAME

[@ginopietracupa4305]

@@omarsomehow69 All Milanov 1944 Ballo in maschera broadcast is dreadful, she sings with hard voice, no flexible, no legato line and shouted and with verista style, so out of style in Verdi. Milanov Ballo in maschera today it is completely outdated, obsolete, it belongs to the wax museum, old as Zinka Milanov and old as the mentality of a Milanov fan

[@omarsomehow69]

@@ginopietracupa4305 it seems like you have problems with Milanov, Nilsson and everybody else, so my duty is make a correction of certain points which being made by you, to give an example that Tebaldi also could have some problems at the same passage or even worse. in 22/04/1944 tape, the C is not shouted, but it is big and firm. A mediocrely - emitted wouldn't soar above orchestra, because it is also has to do with projection as well. In this radio broadcast she was in excellent voice. When it comes to Tebaldi's Un Ballo in Maschera grand aria, well, 1964 was flat, yes. 1970 on pitch, but the C let's not even comment on his, because it's not even strident, it's a chainsaw sound. It was not good at all. Milanov had a fine voice for sure, not without issues, but who doesn't have them. There are many great soprano voices of the last century: Destinn, Tetrazzini, Ponselle, Flagstad, Tebaldi, Nilsson for sure, Duetekom and many others. I mean, it's like you blame someone else who like Milanov or Nilsson or Tebaldi on certain event that you don't like, while listen to Eva Marton or Joan Sutherland, for example. In 1970 recording, Tebaldi sang with a hard voice and steely strident top. It is huge, with typical great Italian style of La Tebaldi, but it was late for her. Milanov, however, was a reference in this particular role.

[@ginopietracupa4305]

@@omarsomehow69 For a Milanov fan like you, Milanov doesn't shout. For a Milanov fan, Tebaldi C in 1970 sounds like a chainsaw. Depends on who's a fan I have a friend who is a musician in Spoleto and a singer and he thinks the same as me, that Zinka Milanov is bad in Ballo in maschera 1944, that she sings it with a hard voice, without legato, and out of style, outdated, it's totally gone surpassed by the singers who came after her, and as the C is the thing that the only thing you hear in sopranos, for you to be a good soprano is A, Bflat, B, C, Dflat, that's as far as listening to a voice, you don't notice other things. Well for this gentleman who is a musician in Spoleto and has a career in music of 30 years, he also says that Milanov C is shouted and fisso.

[@feeniix6]

What’s aria is Dimitrova singing the C#6

[@omarsomehow69]

The end of 1st act of Lady Macbeth

[@feeniix6]

@@omarsomehow69 thank yoy

[@juanjosedubal]

cheeeeee y la Caballé?

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

I don’t think Caballe had a big voice but I may be wrong?

[@juanjosedubal]

@@dramaticsoprano5168 pues si

[@omarsomehow69]

@@juanjosedubal Caballe wasn't that big. People who witnessed her said that the voice is clearly audible, but there is no impact. In bel canto, however, everything fits her like a glove, expect for trills which she never had.

[@Pachinanonim]

​@@dramaticsoprano5168 Su voz es mas grande que la de Dueketeom, Zeani, Sutherland y otros más. En peso su voz es similar a la de Milanov.

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

@@Pachinanonim Maybe so, but the mentioned singers had high notes that heavier voices couldn't hit, so by default they would score places in the upper range (C#6-E6). Caballe did not.

[@user-go4ym5ck8n]

Too little Deutekom

[@babydrane]

Agreed. Possibly the biggest, clearest and most free of the coloraturas.