Tim Ostendorf discusses 3 versions of Sutherland singing the finale from La Sonnambula

Tim Ostendorf, baritone and innkeeper, is back after a year to discuss three versions of Joan Sutherland singing the finale from Bellini's La Sonnambula (and by "discuss", that means to blather on using a fake accent and silly faces).

[@artdanks]

BRAVA!! And a bravo to you, Tim, for putting this together! It's a great comparison of our La Stupenda! I had never heard that early live performance. It was amazing! And my favorite of the 3! It really showed the brilliance of her earlier years. Although she was still amazing throughout her entire career, I always felt that the "thicker" sound later on sounded a bit too "covered", muddying up the sound from what she sounded like before. That's just my take though. Either way, these are all fabulous! Thank you for posting!!!

[@timostendorf6920]

Thanks! I feel the video was a little rougher than usual - but it's been over a year since I've posted. I need to get back in the swing of things! So glad you enjoyed it, though.

[@artdanks]

@@timostendorf6920 I actually liked it just the way it was. Sorta like just hanging out with a good friend, listening to opera. 😊

[@santi7616]

Wow, what a surprise, it's the best way to start the weekend, find a video by you, I missed them! Welcome again. Thanks for the video,really, it's super interesting, like all yours. Regards this subject. I have at home the version she recorded with Monti and Coren, and I like it a lot because although the sound is better in the version with Pavarotti, obviously, I recognize that the voice was really fabulous during those early 60's. although I also enjoy her studio version of Anna Bolena who recorded it in 1985 I think, and I also enjoy it very much, because also the master of Bonynge conducting the score by Donizetti, really unique. so I really like all versions of Sutherland because her voice is truly unique and extraordinary. Thanks again for this interesting video. We wait more impatiently, your videos are missing ¡¡¡ :-) best regards

[@sutherland9]

I have a feeling that Joan was thinking to herself "if only I could sing a sustained High-F before the final B-flat major chord!"

[@ahogbin2644]

A fun comparison of these cabalettas for which much thanks. I'm sure you know that this was Bonynge's favourite role for her but he said that the studio recordings were entirely unrepresentative of what she was like in the theatre. It's said that at one of the Covent Garden performances in 1960 she did interpolate a top F at the end but no recording has ever emerged of this. There is also a pirate in very poor sound of one of the Australian performances in 1965 with Pavarotti which is astonishing too. I don't think she sang it on stage past 1969 as she said she was a "bit long in the tooth" for the role. I was lucky to hear her in all her roles in London from 1980 onwards plus a few concerts in the UK and a rather glamorous Paris recital at the Palais Garnier. On top form, Sutherland was certainly the greatest voice I ever heard in the theatre.

[@williammaddox3339]

She sang it at the Met in 1975, which I believe were her last performances of the role.

[@ahogbin2644]

@@williammaddox3339 Sorry to contradict you but not according to the biographhies. 1969 was the last stage performance in the US - San Francisco I believe. Of course she recorded it for a second time in 1980 with Pavarotti and Ghiaurov.

[@williammaddox3339]

@@ahogbin2644 Thanks - I could have sworn I had seen a copy of the Met's magazine from 1975 that had a dual Bellini cover with Caballe singing Norma on a broadcast and Sutherland the following week doing Sonnambula. I must have apparently dreamed this. I checked the Met archives and this did not happen.

[@ahogbin2644]

@@williammaddox3339 Maybe Puritani? In which case, it was 1976.

[@williammaddox3339]

@@ahogbin2644 I believe you are correct. In 1976 Puritani and Norma were performed on the same Saturday in February.