Tosca: “Vissi d’arte”

[@jennyolsson4040]

I absolutely LOVED this performance! The drama , the singing, the love and the hate and the hopes. We had a terrific evening and for me a highlight of those operas I have watched from Metropolitan. Thank you for making this accessible for us even in the countryside of Sweden ❤️❤️❤️

[@sirrondis]

This is a slowly paced and rhythmically controlled version of Vissi d’arte. I don’t hear a wobble. I hear a well calculated vibrato. A heart rending, gorgeous rendition full of deep, tragic pain. I truly don’t understand the trashing of this great artist.

[@twinlights11]

I believe some Milanese may have their pantalones in a twist.

[@gilliantherese7202]

I saw this Tosca performance this past weekend, it was gorgeous.💜

[@darnfirefingers]

So, I am an opera lover and has heard this aria many times. I enjoyed this performance very much but I am profoundly surprised by the haters in this comment section. It makes me want to root more for Lise Davidsen! You go girl!

[@pedromiramon]

@@darnfirefingers agreed. All those haters couldn’t even read the simplest score or know the amount of work behind an artists training. Yet they’re so quick at passing judgement. I want to see them on that stage attempting a fraction of what “singers these days” do. They’d soil their pants on a whim.

[@bozidarsicel3884]

@@darnfirefingers Stating the facts is not hatred. Your comment is out of place in this issue. Unfortunately in this case, my opinion has nothing to do with interpretation. It's matter of taste of an individual. The problem with Ms. Davidson's of this aria is that there is no one single aspect if singing that's not wrong. Saying that, I'm really, the most sincerely, happy for every person who enjoyed it.

[@pedromiramon]

@@bozidarsicel3884 go teach her how to do her job! Who she thinks she is!

[@nathanswanson1040]

@@darnfirefingers You’ll find there’s always lots of haters in the opera world. Opera lovers tend to fall in deeply in love with particular singers and become die hard fans to the point that they feel the need to complain and tear down anyone else who dares take the opera stage. Lol There are still a lot of people who can’t get over that Callas and Sutherland are dead. There is also a lot of “vocal experts” who love to critique singing and show off how much they know about vocal pedagogy. Most of the people sound stupid to anyone who has actually studied voice or worked as an opera singer because half the time they don’t know what they are talking about.

[@nathanswanson1040]

@@bozidarsicel3884 I disagree and I am voice teacher and have worked as an operatic baritone. The issue hear wasn’t her technique but that the tempo was too slow, and it wasn’t right for the aria or the voice. That’s not her fault as she is paid to follow the conductor. The vocal line had sustained breath support throughout, no vocal aspirations which indicates legato singing. She was singing with a centered vibrato and was in tune throughout except in one place where it was emotionally appropriate not to be. It was a good performance for this aria at that tempo with that size of voice. You sound stupid, fyi, to anyone who has a voice degree.

[@robertpratter5971]

These negative comments are born out of musical ignorance. I am sure conductor picked the tempo he wanted and it was effective. Her voice soars from the depths of despair ( no chest voice ? Bah!) to heavenly heights. And her ability to go from triple forte to pianissimo without a break was magical. Bob in Bryn Mawr

[@XXX-ix9qq]

I heard her live on multiple occasions and she's barely audible and clearly struggled in the lower half of her tessitura.

[@alvarotebeldi]

Pensavo che le clip fossero destinate a farti venire voglia di vedere lo spettacolo…

[@christinagipperich2780]

I was there last night and it was an incredible experience. The house was full, the sets were amazing, and the performers were absolutely divine. This scene got a standing (at least from my second).

[@doGreatartistsgrowontrees]

In these times of despair for the art form, everything and everyone get a standing at the Metropolitan, and everywhere else too.

[@travisfowles4968]

Wow lots of experts in the comments

[@richardc8738]

They have lots of records - and lots of opinions

[@lucianmarina8691]

@@richardc8738 let them listen to the records, i love the slow pace

[@pedromiramon]

@@travisfowles4968 right? There’s a line at the Met of future Toscas, can’t wait to see their performances… 🙄

[@smurf902]

Do you have MINUMUM $185 FUCKING BUCKS TO HEAR HER SING LIKE GARBAGE???? NO??? NOT EVEN IN NYC PROBABLY YOU'RE FROM.... Jesus Christ. She's an entertainer. People are paying THROUGH THE FUCKING NOSE. The Met is THE MOST FAMOUS HOUSE IN THE WORLD. Take your sniveling ass elsewhere. Sing in tune, with line, and with secure notes and pianissimi or get off the fucking stage!

[@pedromiramon]

@@smurf902 daddy, chill!

[@christinegeorge9532]

Well she’s made me cry bravo❤

[@kellicoffman8440]

Just saw the met in theater performance I enjoyed it

[@MrQbenDanny]

BRAVA!!!! Love the conversational tempo rhythm and the sincerity. The finale is in the searching process, and that will arrive in time. The costume is dreadful. Looks like something for Garcia Lorca's "The house of Bernarda Alba." GLAM UP this magnificent Diva with a sensational new creation. She deserves it. She's a great star.

[@magdikoczian3891]

Beautiful voice❤❤❤❤❤

[@lmf5299]

I recently saw Ana María Martínez singing Tosca in Pittsburgh. It's a very large theater and it was almost sold out. She was astonishingly good. Why doesn't the Met let her sing there regularly? It's beyond me. And it's ridiculous! I want to see her at the Met much more often. Don't neglect a major, world class talent like hers. Have Ana María Martínez sing at the Met regularly, she would be an asset to the Met, never a hindrance. She is a crowd magnet and a crowd pleaser and an important international star. It's your loss not having her there. Bring her back soon and not as a substitute but as the important star she is.

[@jjlungdoc7472]

Agree 100% but Gelb never liked ANM. That simple.

[@FinneganDuncan]

I was also there! Fantastic soprano. Whole cast was easy to adore.

[@lmf5299]

@FinneganDuncan Agree totally with you. 👍

[@beebenton7820]

Staging looks sumptuous 😮

[@lokinvar1]

I was at the 11/23 matinee performance where Ms Davidsen gave what i thought was a Tosca for the ages . Rather than the narcissistic coquette who gets in over her head and jumps off the roof, ( see Georgiu, et al) Ms Davidsen showed us a profound and thoughtful woman who despite all attempts has no choice but to suicide . She uses her incredibly subtle and expressive instrument to create a Tosca that is at once refreshing and at the same time demanding of the utmost attention.

[@oberon481]

A friend who was there described Yannick's conducting as "pretentious". Lise does not have a wobble, but her vibrato is widening as time goes on. She does not have a feeling for the Italian language. Her greatest performances at The Met to date were as Ariadne in the Strauss opera. She is supposedly to be the Met's next Lady Macbeth, Isolde, and Brunnhilde.

[@JvdvanDyne]

I loved Lise Davidson’s Leonore & Ariadne - superb! She was also a delightful Rhine Maiden, I think, from what I’ve seen and heard the German Repertoire is more suited to her vocal and dramatic talents - I hope that she continues to explore roles in that arena, but the fact of the matter is she is what today would pass for an opera star! That’s name that people recognize and will fill seats. I mean it’s not the worst Tosca I’ve heard, and I don’t think that the crew will be placing a trampoline behind the turret in the final scene as they did for Eva Marton in the 1980s- so you know it could be worse…. Happy to see opera still relevant and attracting new new fans in this century of high tech and very limited attention spans! Vissi d’arte indeed!

[@kamalcampbell2254]

I loved the show in Riverside Square Mall in Northern NJ

[@meisterwue]

And the audience today....no longer educated enough to realize it .....

[@operas6]

I am very educated and I totally realize.

[@georgekoutsoudopoulos]

Snobbish much?

[@smurf902]

​@@georgekoutsoudopoulosnot snobbery, it's having taste and having an opinion. R u paying $185 MINIMUM to hear singing that you hate? Upward to $600 a seat? I think not.

[@WilliamFrom-cg1mb]

@@smurf902 exactly! And people so quick to shut down educated criticism of vocal technique and performance on here "because its not nice!!!" are pitifully and totally ignorant of the indisputable fact that opera is a HIGH ART, no different in principal from great literature, painting, and sculpture. No lack of criticism in those fields. Lack of honest, critical commentary in opera is a disservice to art form reaching its greatest heights.

[@Rodriguez-rb5cj]

Brava 🥰🥰🥰

[@nattie-k8380]

So ponderous and heavy everything

[@arugula_fan]

yes

[@sirrondis]

What do you want? Tweety bird lightness in this great tragic aria?

[@nattie-k8380]

@ I would love to listen to someone like Daniella Dessi as Tosca, someone who be able to sing Puccini not Wagner

[@micaelabonetti949]

Grazie, nattie, la penso come Lei.​@@nattie-k8380

[@samba152]

The best voice of opera today. Her vibrato is her strenght and not to much as other commenting here are trying to argue about.

[@sirrondis]

Why are these idiots calling her marvelous vibrato a “wobble?” One commented “No breath.” If she had no breath she would be deceased.

[@MegaSubconscious]

Lise Davidsen is by far the best Wagnerian soprano we've had in a long time - but she's just not the best Verdi/Puccini soprano. However, she still would have been much better off with a faster conducting. Maybe Nézet-Seguin thought he was directing Leontyne Price? Come on man, adapt to the singers on stage

[@sirrondis]

The slower tempo profoundly revealed the pathos and tragedy of this great aria.

[@nathanswanson1040]

Totally agree. It would have been better with a faster tempo.

[@hrh4961]

@@sirrondis It also revealed what a lousy conductor N-S is. Even at that glacial pace, he was behind the singer too many times.

[@sirrondis]

@@hrh4961 Callas was ALWAYS ahead of the beat, as well all all singers with great rhythm.

[@hrh4961]

@@sirrondis What you write makes no sense.

[@bombayteddy]

Brava! Power, intelligence, beauty of tone - she has them all. But she should watch that vibrato...

[@WilliamFrom-cg1mb]

VISSI D'WOBBLE

[@pedromiramon]

wow, so clever, or should I say... vissi d'clever!

[@Beadle_Bamford]

I guess the comment is rather vissi d'umb.

[@WilliamFrom-cg1mb]

@@Beadle_Bamford wow you must have a BA in clueless studies

[@doGreatartistsgrowontrees]

The excessive vibrato verging on a wobble is concerning for someone her age. Does it have something to do with how she moves her jaw, perhaps? In other words, poor technique? This “Vissi d’arte” reminds me, in its effortfulness, of her Forza “Pace” which she sang this past summer at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna under Andris Nelsons and the VPO. Then as in here, she showed little affinity for the Italian language and her breathing was too laborious. It felt as if she would not be able to manage to finish the piece. She did, however, but nothing memorable, at least not in the way things should be memorable.

[@Opera1sLife]

Yep…. She is not good. Saw her in Germany two months ago. Those educated on the art, really educated, know this ain’t it….

[@WilliamFrom-cg1mb]

@@Opera1sLife Indeed. Sadly, I think Davidsen has, at most, a good 2-3 years left before the voice is totally unlistenable due to over-the-top wobbling and flatness of pitch. What a shame!

[@Opera1sLife]

@ I was actually just reading her review from a critic that watched her met performance and told my boyfriend the same thing. He isn’t as knowledgeable with the voice, so when I told him what the article was saying about how great her voice is he seemed shocked because he witnessed her performance in Germany with me.

[@doGreatartistsgrowontrees]

“How she moves her jaw”, meaning, a trembling jaw which is an unsustainable technique. As she grows older and presumably takes on more demanding roles, this can only spell trouble, audible already.

[@mag.michaelkaufmann4986]

u forogot to mention how her acting here looks as If she‘s playing Hanna Reitsch in the Fuhrerbunker, begging to fly the Goebbels children out of Berlin; not like a pious prayer at all.. I heard Davidsen in Peter Grimes and three times as a magnificent Sieglinde at WSO, but I‘m not sure If Tosca is for her…

[@gettyO89]

I was there, incredible Lise ❤❤❤listen to that laser beam sound @ 3:03

[@iloveopera1951]

Yup, a loud scream, followed by a crack, nothing to do with Puccini

[@joancarrington7635]

@@iloveopera1951 you obviously know nothing of Puccini. And that was the character crying, not a crack.

[@iloveopera1951]

@ a character is not crying during an opera, it’s singing the notes and acting the role. Puccini and Davidsen are like water and oil

[@josemanuelvizcayalopez6103]

Resembles Nilsson's!

[@SoLNaTaL555]

Nope for this... Everyone saying brava for everything now a days.

[@smurf902]

One needs to know their limitations. Casting at the Met doesn't know it nor do her agents.

[@davidallen3687]

It's just too slow, which exposes the voice dreadfully. I do think she has a lot of potential and I love a powerful voice.

[@pedromiramon]

@@davidallen3687 just play it at 2x…

[@ashleybremner7474]

Doesn't do it for me folks. Wobble, woofy, nasal, bad diction, vowels not Italianate enough, non legato good top though, that's it, sorry

[@PAVELKALASHNIKOV-bn7gb]

Amaaaaaazing performance!!! ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️ Such a wonderful, rich, gifted, dramatic soprano 🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@Helloyoutubes]

A totally wonderful performance. No histrionics, but achingly true .Bring on Fidelio

[@operazioneopera]

Piuttosto è il direttore d'orchestra che sarabbe da tirargli i pomodori in faccia. Ha fatto di tutto per "ammazzarla", con questi tempi noiosi, lentissimi e brutti, perchè non conosce i tempi "Pucciniani..."

[@wotan10950]

Very beautiful and heartfelt rendition. For the people who criticize, hey, Birgit didn’t sound Italianate either, and Rysanek spent her entire career searching for the correct intonation!

[@flicfan416]

Roundabout way of saying it's rather flat.

[@doGreatartistsgrowontrees]

So loved reading your description of Rysanek that I will quote it: “And Rysanek spent her entire career searching for the correct intonation!”

[@Thearchivebeyondimagination]

The best Wagnerian Tosca was ever La Nilsson. What are you talking about?

[@doGreatartistsgrowontrees]

@ …who also suffered from serious intonation problems.

[@cherylbean5881]

What a voice

[@tristanhnl]

Those who keep saying she has a wobble or that she doesn't sing with legato, clearly don't know what those terms mean. I'm not exactly a fan of Lise Davidsen, but much of the criticism levied against her is hogwash.

[@Capetenor1]

There is some truth to the criticism based on what I hear. I will be at the Met Tuesday and that will tell the story.

[@nathanswanson1040]

@@tristanhnl I agree, the vocal line is definitely connected and the legato is clearly there. There are no aspirations which is what you would hear if it wasn’t being sung with legato. It’s clear that the people saying it doesn’t have legato have never studied voice (or if they have they have had bad training) and they have no clue what to listen for.

[@WilsonWatt-q2e]

Is the conductor trying to see how slowly the orchestra can play. She might have a chance of being a really great Tosca with aumore competent conductor. This is just crappy because of the inordinately slow tempo.

[@operas6]

You have already commented and no one really cared.

[@Carlos-yl8oc]

She is wonderful.

[@michaeltortora8563]

Incompetent conducting. Too slooooooow.

[@pedromiramon]

@@michaeltortora8563 you know there’s the 2x speed option, right? Idiot

[@quisnessness]

Who decided to conduct this so ponderously??? Made one of the most beautiful arias into a plodding monologue. And I don't want to criticize her voice but at the very least she isn't suitable for verismo.

[@pandacol4127]

Stunning 🥰

[@byronloyd2489]

Her commitment is moving, but early on the portameni seem mechanical. Like Nilsson she has a silvery and powerful and nicely held Bb. She'll get there.

[@smurf902]

Glad im seeing Radvonovsky instead. Musicians understand why

[@heidiankers108]

As superbly touching and accessible as Lise makes this, it may not please all.

[@katiabarcenas8002]

¡¡¡ Bellísima voz!!! ❤❤❤

[@pedromiramon]

Fabulous!

[@davidcolville5601]

Ridiculously slow tempo. No wonder she kept losing control of the voice.

[@meisterwue]

A lot of things we have to accept....f ex famous names singing famous opera-parts....but I prefer when voices (famous or not famous) able to create a part , because we need no famous names but we need on stage famous parts sung by voices accepted while able to sing those famous parts......

[@MusicLover-kd6jt]

A big voice is not always a good voice…I am amazed and sad of how much opera has declined in the past decade...and this is supposedly considered the highest standard today 😐 Not a ‘Tosca’ by any means, a lot of tension in her voice, no legato, the phrasing is embarassing, at the end she was out of breath …I think she should stick to Wagner, where she truly excels, and be careful with her voice - she is not even 40..too much too soon? Only time will tell

[@pedromiramon]

blah blah blah, if you can do it better, by all means...

[@bozidarsicel3884]

Pixel perfect picture of miserable situation in our times Opera world. Opera is, today, just like our every day's reality, doom and gloom. Thanks to Providence, we have our old, but forever alive recordings.

[@MusicLover-kd6jt]

@ very strong argument..You win 😂

[@pedromiramon]

@ well, there’s a good reason she’s on that stage and not you… 😉

[@pedromiramon]

@ wow! Such an impressive set of credentials! You clearly know better than those stupid singers… delusional

[@Michael29889]

Fantastic … 🌹☀️🍀

[@williesullivan3985]

It's the lack of legato for me and tte questionable intonation.

[@Opera1sLife]

I saw her in Germany two months ago and it was terrible. Could not understand a word she said and she was so nasal. Like here. Voice was lost to the orchestra on middle and low voice. She had very powerful high notes though. I’ll give her that…other than that, not good

[@saulgonzalez2112]

Es lamentable ver la decadencia en la música, mas en algo tan bello cómo la ópera. Lo dijo María Callas, cuándo la ópera es cantada correctamente no es algo aburrido de ver, de lo contrario se vuelve aburrido y no querrás escuchar más.

[@Daria-qb3hh]

Undeveloped voice unfortunately, and that jaw shaking = tension, the sound is not produced freely, no "core", no real chest voice, poor breathing technique and overall poor technique causing issues mentioned in other comments. The timbre is beautiful though and higher notes are not bad at all.

[@ManfredKrammer-u3p]

Puccini is about emotion and she mastered it.

[@pedromiramon]

@@Daria-qb3hh if you can do better, by all means. What’s stopping you? You seem to know better than those stupid singers in stage….

[@sirrondis]

@@ManfredKrammer-u3p a deeply felt, heart rending reading of this tragic aria.

[@catherinecozzano2580]

Much too slow and too much vibrato. No emotion at all. 👎

[@pedromiramon]

@@catherinecozzano2580 and I guess you could do it much better, right? Can’t wait for your rendition.

[@nathanswanson1040]

@@catherinecozzano2580 agree on the slow part, but no emotion? That just makes you sound stupid.

[@MaritinaTampakopoulos]

😢

[@juha4595]

What for Metropolitan put this internet?😮

[@yacovlevi]

A am not a fan of The Met as an opera house at all. It is rather ugly. It is like wanting A Patek Watch and being given A Rolex or wanting Rolls but given A Mercedes C Class.

[@MarioMio]

Quite flat several times 😔

[@belcantotenor24]

There’s nothing I ought to add that hasn’t been said so I won’t kick the artist when she’s down. 😢 disappointed to witness the fast decline.

[@nathanswanson1040]

So I expected this to be bad based on the critiques, but honestly it was a great performance. The legato is there. There is absolutely no interruption in the breath support or vocal line. She is also perfectly on pitch the entire time, and those saying she is flat are just wrong. The vibrato is centered and stays in tune and it’s not a wobble. She has more vibrato because the voice is big, and that comes with the territory. If you want less vibrato hire a singer with a tinier voice. It’s a good performance. That said, the conductor took way too slow of a tempo, but that is his fault and not hers. The Met needs to scold the man wielding the baton because it’s cruel to do that to the singer and the audience. It killed the aria.

[@sirrondis]

Well said. I’m flabbergasted at the comments of these people. Most are probably Opera Queens who presume to know more than they do. Dilettantes!

[@nathanswanson1040]

@@sirrondis That’s because everyone has their favorite singers and falls in love with dead sopranos. lol There’s always going be those opera lovers who can’t get over Callas, Sutherland, Sills, Tebaldi, or whoever and just can’t enjoy who is singing now. It just like people who hate on Renee Fleming and call her “La Scoopenda” even though Fleming is a wonderful soprano.

[@robertkosowski3484]

lack of legato and poor intonation

[@yonkoff]

It's mainly because of the conductor's tempo.

[@karldelavigne8134]

Reminds me how great Magda Olivero and Zinka Milanov were.

[@sirrondis]

Magda? I loved her too but hers was also an often derided vibrato.

[@AngelBarrioTenor]

MOSCA 🪰

[@whejylx]

Лиз спела не идеально, но очень хорошо. Плохие отзывы пишут конкурентки и неудавшиеся примы с маленьким голосом😊

[@MusicLover-kd6jt]

😂😂😂

[@ednewyork1]

the MET keeps telling us she's a star. this is not even third rate. it's 100th rate. utter nonsense.

[@maximilianowe5506]

She is in fact one of the greatest! But everyone has bad days, and this was sadly Lises bad day…

[@Thearchivebeyondimagination]

A true spinto, but i hope she would made some sort of the change of her tehcnique. The legato is not exist and entire voice production is crude. Ingolata. With abandoned middle and bottom. But a huge, beautiful Nordic voice, nevertheless.

[@iloveopera1951]

Hard to listen to, it’s simply unlistenable

[@meisterwue]

iloveopera, yes, the same for my ears .....no real Tosca

[@Sopranistineberhard]

I am incredibly critical of operatic technique. I am a professional opera singer myself. Listening to these recordings on KZbin would bring me to the same conclusion as you have, EXCEPT in a live theatre her voice is PHENOMENAL. I am honestly at a loss to explain it other than to say the voice is one of the best I’ve heard in a very long time. I adore her live, and for those who can, I recommend seeing her live. I really don’t think the compression of our phone speakers does any favours to an operatic voice. It really is a live medium at its greatest. Lise is a mind-blowing live singer!

[@iloveopera1951]

@ I saw her live a couple of times. The only impressive thing about her voice is the big volume of the voice, but I don’t think opera singers should be so easily impressed by a large voice, while the intonation, the legato, the Italian style and pronounciation are simply not there! Another bothersome detail about her voice is the very strong wobble, from the first note even if it’s not a high note, and this is because her bad singing technique, her jaws are moving in every direction and this is certainly unnatural. She got out of the breath at the end of the aria, so everything seems to be very efortfull for her and you can see she is not at ease in this video

[@margheritapastore2852]

Ho sentito di meglio. Qualcosa di più delicato e di meno forte!

[@callas7736]

🤮🤮🤮🤮

[@師太滅絕]

Good interpretation, but i think her voice wobbles a little too much.

[@eddielew2292]

She sings out of tune, no legato, no breath; her voice is in tatters. Nezet-Seguin allows this? If his orchestra played the way she sings, he’d be appalled. During the Bing years she would not have gotten into the theater unless she bought a ticket, much less on stage.

[@pedromiramon]

by all means, teach us how to do it, on that stage, we'll wait...

[@sirrondis]

Out of tune! Where? No breath? How do think she manages that huge, tragic sound? Your comments are not only mean-spirited but are also pretentious and nonsensical.

[@sirrondis]

@@pedromiramon Thank you for succinctly puncturing that pretentious nit wit.

[@pedromiramon]

@ you think this idiot is pretentious? See the “Vissi d’wobble” comment… people these days…

[@eddielew2292]

I’m 80 years old living in NY. My first Tosca was in 1957. I saw more Toscas than you have hair on your head, including Callas. Her tone sags from the first note of the aria to about :08 and 1:42 to 1:48 is unsupported. She completely runs out of breath from approximately 3:05 to 3:18, which is unacceptable for a major singer. Her voice is threadbare. There are many great renditions of Vissi d’arte on You Tube, but you probably have no clue who they are. I suggest start with Caballe and hear what a supported tone sounds like, and of course Callas for searing drama, supported tone and incredible vocal color. Educate yourself.

[@jdeeside]

Awful

[@francobertacci819]

🤮

[@carlopara]

i do not like all that vibrato. too much

[@ovidiuionescu3105]

🤔 a kind of Tosca but...not for me!

[@y.s320]

She has beautiful voice. But…too tall.a little scary…

[@DM-sz5mc]

I'm not a fan of this performance. A bit too slow, poor messa di voce. However, I understand that some people might like it. For me, Sondra Radvanovsky is unique as Tosca🩵