Dame Joan Lucia's 'Mad Scene' (NY, 1982)

In Memoriam - Selected scenes to hommage Dame Joan.

[@romeuneto2866]

This lady was one of the best superstar soprano of all times. This version of Donizetti masterpiece at the Met is the best ever.

[@TheWiseMonkey8888]

Yeah... 9:46 ... 11:44 :D

[@samueljaramillo4221]

I agree, the Met at its best.

[@ivanbendana551]

@@samueljaramillo4221 Both of you are wrong. Sutherland, with a powerful voice, never had de tone color of a true coloratura soprano because his voice did not sound like a bell, as those voices like Amelita Galli-Curci, Lily Pons, Roberta Peters, Ruth Welting, Beverly Sills and many other coloratura soprano in our times. Also, Sutherland never had the ample fiato in this E-flat of the mad scene than, for example, Roberta Peters´. This comments are true evidences to check. However, Sutherland´s voice was wonderful, imposing and able to play a lot of operatica parts than the were beyon the reach of the true coloratura sopranos. Greetings,

[@nigelbatie7058]

@@ivanbendana551 😅🤣😂😅🤣😂

[@jcmunich1]

I have heard better performances. She is clearly past her prime here.

[@alanhadley1286]

The ovations say it all. The audience knows a true artist when they hear one. DJS was 56 at these performances in 1982 and had been performing this role every year since 1959! She was matchless in this repertoire, and still is. No one then or since comes close. Incomparable.

[@kevincoxhead7137]

Apart from the incredible singing.. oh, those bows! NO one gave a bow like Joan. That head thrown back.. the shoulders back and chest broadened... magnificent in every way. The throw back of the head always gets me. BRAVA!!!!

[@karldavies9938]

A phenomenon. No one has emerged to fill her shoes.

[@machovoce6826]

The return of Dame Joan Sutherland to the Met. One of the great moments in that company's history.

[@stevendaniel8126]

I heard JS in this role almost 20 years before this performance. She was indestructible.

[@suzannederringer1607]

I saw her in this MET production back then. Thanks for the reminder of how wonderful she was - and what the MET did in those days.

[@michellejunelambert9605]

Wow! I have never heard such a long applause in my life. Divine.

[@jg90049]

You should have been there!

[@vincenzomesseri3433]

I was there! INCREDIBLE night!!!

[@lorenzorossi6567]

Davvero? Una serata storica!

[@vincenzomesseri3433]

@@lorenzorossi6567 si veramente storica!

[@blessOTMA]

I was not prepared for this performance ....of a miracle. I thought it would be a trip down memory lane! It's over 20 years since Joan's first appearance in this role, yet at many moments she melts the time between the decades! At other times, all the years are there and far from detracting, they add a tremendous richness to the performance. Everyone on the stage and audience, know they are witnessing time stopping greatness...another dimension! I'm shouting with them at the end!

[@SarahFearnley958]

I’m still pretty new to opera and I am so grateful for these recordings that allow me the tremendous privilege of listening to incredible singers of the past. La Stupenda indeed! I wish I had been able to hear this live.

[@malcolmattwells]

The best Lucia ever, I saw her 5 time post 1980 and I have never seen a singer that can match Joan 🥰

[@markdarenvillanueva7740]

Callas

[@brucehogman8948]

I attended the Met performance. Chills and more chills, shaking in my seat. Crazy opera plot. 1815 opera yet lived that day. Today, I can view these performances and compare her mastery. The performance of her retirement in Australia is just as good or even better. Ages well. Ages spectacularly well. Commands the stage and theater.

[@MyTimeOutt]

Utterly incomparable, without peer.....I will always be so very grateful to the student librarian of Jordan College of Music, Butler University, Indianapolis, who introduced me (college freshman, orientation week) to the voice of Dame Joan Sutherland. It was the gift of a life time! Thank you!

[@asdrubalperez1507]

I was in one of those shows. Spectacular. Dame Joan is inscribed in the history of opera as one of the best. No more to add.

[@copelandtenn]

I’ve watched a good number of opera videos on YT. Never seen a performance like that. Never seen a crowd’s response like that. Dame Joan set the bar… Amira, you see what is possible with continued study, training, and discipline.

[@herrbrucvald6376]

JS performing the Mad Scene from Lucia. Is there a more iconic moment in the history of world theatre? Sutherland + Donizetti = divine

[@jyim0310]

This mad scene made the world mad.

[@aprendizercomygor]

And most people who heard her on the stages, even in this late phase of her career, are unanimous in considering that she sounded much better live, because her large and thick voice wasn't always captured ideally by the microphones, and its vibrato was less pronounced when the voice projected throughout the theater naturally, from meters away. I mean, she is already stunning in this videotaped performance, after more than 30 years of singing career, so it's almost unbelievable (and yet it does seem to be true) that what people really heard there was even more impressive than what we're listening through the limitations of a YT video. The reaction of the audience says it all: it must've been something really exceptional that blew their minds.

[@BellaFirenze]

Joan Sutherland, la voce del secolo. Bravissima. Marcella Sembrich was the first Met Lucia in the company's opening season in 1883. Lucia returned in 1892 for a single performance with one of the iconic songbirds of the 19th century, Adelina Patti. The next year, another legendary soprano, Nellie Melba. In 1911, the phenomenal Italian coloratura Luisa Tetrazzini made her Met debut as Lucia. Her career with the company was short, and she was succeeded in the role by noted sopranos Frieda Hempel in 1913 and Maria Barrientos in 1916. One of the most sensational singers of the century took over the part in 1921: the legendary Italian Amelita Galli-Curci. Though she remained the most prominent Lucia through the 1920s, Galli-Curci sang less well as time went on, probably due to a thyroid goiter that eventually required surgery. In 1924, another Italian, Toti Dal Monte, made her Met debut as Lucia, and although she was highly regarded for the part in her native land, her success in New York was limited. Then came, in 1931, the soprano who would dominate the role of Lucia for the next 25 years. French soprano Lily Pons. Pons’s long reign in Lucia at the Met ended with a complete change in how the opera was viewed. Maria Callas sang only six performances of the part at the Met in 1956 and 1958, but her intense acting, musicality, and attention to text made for a powerful theatrical experience. Taking Lucia seriously became the prevailing attitude of singers, conductors, and directors. It showed even when one more brilliant virtuoso, Joan Sutherland made her Met debut in the part in 1961. Though she was by no means an actress in the mold of Callas, she had carefully worked on her portrayal with director Franco Zeffirelli in London. And not since the days of Melba and Sembrich had New York heard this kind of dazzling vocalism in Lucia. Twenty years after her Met debut, Sutherland sang Lucia again in the company’s first telecast of the opera. Approaching the age of 60, the Australian diva could still astound audiences, and along with the stylistically elegant Edgardo of Alfredo Kraus, the pair provided a glimpse of what gives Lucia di Lammermoor the popular appeal it has always enjoyed at the Met.

[@stevendaniel8126]

Saw and heard her in 1964 on the Met tour. Atlanta. Will hear that performance in my memory until I die........

[@allanmoore4353]

Unfortunately i was too young to see Sutherland's earlier performances of Lucia but i did see one of these. She was stunning.

[@miguelsalinas4143]

Maravillosa, Estupenda, Bellísima, no hay palabras para la Mejor Soprano del Mundo!!!

[@jorgealbertolettera4027]

Imposible no emocionarse ante el canto y la interpretación de la maravillosa, única e insuperable José Sutherland. No necesitó de pavadas ni exageraciones. Era puro talento.

[@samueljaramillo4221]

Absolutely beautiful unforgettable performance by Sutherland in this beautiful sumptuous Met production. This is the way operas should be staged instead of those ugly cheap modern dress productions we see so much of now. All these New batch of designers have a lot to learn.👏👏👏

[@allenjones3130]

I agree with Mr. Jaramillo. I could have done without all that fake blood, though.

[@luvmuzik4me]

You are so right.

[@johnpickford4222]

@@allenjones3130The blood was initiated by Franco Zeffirelli when he directed her at Covent Garden 1959. He argued that it would have been impossible for the character to stab her husband and not get some on herself.

[@58silviamaria]

The best Lucia in the world 🌎 stunning marvellous 🤩👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@italovasquez5508]

WOW hard opera to sing and perform. She nailed it

[@jorgealbertojoselettera4829]

Divina la Sutherland!!!!! Bravísima!!!!!

[@honamlee7953]

Thanks your loading this wonderful performance.

[@YortOK]

She also never collapsed as well as she does in this performance. And she was in her 50's with bad knees.

[@machovoce6826]

And a bad back. It's called being a professional - a concept wasted on contemporary singers.

[@nikolasmata5186]

Thank you for publishing this. I lost this performance and I couldn’t find it for years.

[@dodotassi]

La migliore Lucia in assoluto

[@maestromuffin1]

I was there and my heart became heavy when she transposed to A flat in the first section. I had just seen Gianni Rolandi at NYCity opera some months before....she's no Joan but it was much more satisfying. That being said, I'm still glad I got to hear Joan live....and met her after the opera.

[@hhardin8500]

Yes Gianni was wonderful

[@feeniix6]

Legendary Diva!

[@pierpaolodemattia7370]

Lucia storica ❤️❤️

[@crazyorganist1609]

That finalE flat was massive . Her voice was a perfect example of when a voice gets the care and attention it needs and when the soprano sticks to the repitoire that suits her. Today's sopranos can't touch the technique of Sutherland, Nilsson and Callas

[@julieportnoy5302]

Callas is my favorite singer but there is nothing like this. Joan was La Stupenda for a reason

[@ginopietracupa4305]

final note is flat

[@crazyorganist1609]

@@ginopietracupa4305 it wasn't

[@samueljaramillo4221]

@@ginopietracupa4305 Listen again. It was not

[@malcolmattwells]

Live her voice was so huge and amazing

[@andrewwalker3312]

it just dont get any better than that

[@harpercraft9354]

12:05: High D Flat 20:59: High E Flat

[@esterbruno8604]

Fantastica! 💘

[@salvatorelotta5130]

Ineguagliabile !

[@dmp7252]

I'm not a huge fan of her singing in general - but the woman is one of the few MEGA TITANS of opera - (yes, she's in that very exclusive club of: Callas, Nielsen, Leontyne Price, etc.) This Sutherland rendition has yet to be rivaled. Also, there's added drama given she's singing this role as an older woman, clearly somewhere in her 50s. So, seeing her collapse and fall to the floor and hair flying, of course, gives the whole affair added drama. Not to mention, you can see how taxing it was on her. She barely had enough energy to walk out to take her well-deserved bows. But amazing, 1982, and here we are in 2023, and there have been some phenomenal renditions, but none seem to meet the moment like this one.

[@stevecampo1618]

Sutherland was in a league of her own. At her best, there was no one who could come close to her coloratura ability. However, what truly set her apart was the size and richness of her voice, as well as the consistency of vocal quality throughout her range. Many coloratura voices have a rather unsatisfying, light and bird-like sound. They also often suffer a disconcerting change in vocal quality above Db6 or thereabouts. Roberta Peters (who I saw live many times) is an example of a typically light coloratura with a disappointing flavor-change at the top of her range. Anna Moffo, who I also saw many times, showed early promise but quickly deteriorated. Mid-career, even on her best nights, her top notes took on a hard, metallic quality altogether different from her warm, sensual middle voice. Of Sutherland's heavyweight contemporaries, Maria Callas typically had to sing cabalettas at inappropriately slow tempi. Christina Deutkom, who I saw a number of times, possessed a relatively heavy voice but one that lacked the "joyousness" of Sutherland's sound and took on a hard quality at the top of her range. There's one Sutherland recording in particular that is so breathtaking in coloratura virtuosity that the first time I heard it I literally burst out laughing! It's RIDICULOUSLY amazing. And she sounds like she's having so much fun... Do a search on KZbin as I've written below: [1965] Joan Sutherland sings Sempre Libera. Has ANYONE ever done ANYTHING as well as Joan Sutherland could sing?

[@crisha721]

well said!

[@highbaritone]

Lucky enough to have worked with her twice and I think been able to call her a friend. I could not believe the sound that poured out of her. The most remarkable trill. Not one singer who ever worked with would say otherwise. Great post. Thank you.

[@crazyorganist1609]

Well said

[@MrStpendouslvforjo]

I agree with every word you wrote. I also really admired Beverly Sills for her strong and passionate delivery- even though she had that disappointing (to me) girlish coloratura sound. Sills also had quite a great agility with great accuracy! I really liked the even quality and excellence of Anna Moffo. I've never heard her not great singing - I think she had a lovely pronunciation and quite excellent coloratura ability... Of course each singer is only human and has good, great and not so great days. I like to call Joan Sutherland in her mid and late career the "Flagstad of coloraturas"!

[@SymphonyBrahms]

Dame Joan Sutherland was great. And so was Beverly Sills. I saw both of them perform and they were both brilliant.

[@orlandoguerreroromero5549]

The best Lucia

[@delibeslakme6451]

Perfeccion!!!

[@danconstantine4247]

Amazing by comparison.

[@user-fw3el4gr3o]

Exceptuando Maria Callas, que para mim é incomparável, está é sem dúvida a melhor Lúcia que já ouvi❤🌷

[@crisha721]

Is this recorded in 1982,? it's very similar to the 1986 performance but her voice sounds more fresh here. However, there is something special about the 1986 performance, it has so much emotion that it even makes me want to cry.

[@timtonruben359]

This is for sure the 1982 version.

[@willen2416]

This was the Live From the Met telecast shown in 1982 with the incomparable Alfredo Kraus as her beloved Edgardo. Dame Joan was in her late 50’s when she performed this Lucia, but she was magnificent. ( And that’s a gross understatement.) When she completed her unforgettable mad scene the Met audience went wild and would not let her leave the stage as they applauded and cheered wildly. She took a rare bow on each side of the stage before finally departing. And as a kind gesture to the great Krause she did not come out for a final curtain call at the end of the opera, since the final act really belongs to Edgardo as he shows his pathos and dies at his own hand to join his beloved Lucia. This bel canto masterpiece is my all time favorite opera. (The entire performance of this opera is available on DVD.)

[@crisha721]

@@willen2416 thank u

[@jaykauffman4775]

She’s doing the same moves Zeffirelli taught her in 1959

[@RichardSparks1970]

Its always a pleasure to see her on stage, Its a wonder to watch. I wonder why they key change at 5:06 - it loses something. I don't mean to be picky its still an wonderful performance and Dame Joan is the best of them all, but I wonder why this decision?

[@uliwidmaier5192]

Age. She had to take it down to make it feasible at that late stage in her career.

[@shannonlewis8906]

@@uliwidmaier5192 they brought it back for the last half.

[@starlove7474]

The first high note is not an Eb but a Db.

[@phantomphan873]

We went from Sutherland, to peretyatko. How

[@samueljaramillo4221]

Sutherland got old and died.

[@ir3356]

@@samueljaramillo4221 THANK YOU

[@Tkimba2]

@@samueljaramillo4221 no

[@samueljaramillo4221]

@@Tkimba2 Yes!

[@eberhardthauer3818]

Nach Callas:Genial - unerreicht!!!

[@stephanstachorski]

Lucia's grandmother ...

[@jjgghhjk]

shut up

[@aprendizercomygor]

It's called opera, not cinema, let alone Broadway musical. Suspension of disbelief and focus on what really matters (voice + music + drama) are essential to understand and appreciate it properly. Clearly you lack those qualities.

[@jjgghhjk]

@@aprendizercomygor the best Lucia performer ever in my opinion.

[@thearcticlord3920]

Voice like a bloody train whistle. The cast and orchestra stand no chance.

[@stephanstachorski]

Lucias Großmutter ....

[@Grigoriygb]

It's impossible to listen to this emotionally false performance.

[@machovoce6826]

Wrote the know-nothing shill.

[@samueljaramillo4221]

The know it all speaks👎

[@josepacifico-mc9pr]

SIN PALABRAS!!!!!.....

[@jcmunich1]

Don’t like the voice at 2:05 and after. She’s is clearly not in her prime anymore. Lucia is supposed to be young woman.

[@misanthropelife]

Well i doubt if you can find any young soprano of the present who can sing lucia better than her during her later years 😂😂😂

[@machovoce6826]

A stupid, sexist and ageist remark from someone who thinks themselves woke, no doubt.

[@samueljaramillo4221]

Singers are in their prime for a short time.

[@machovoce6826]

@@samueljaramillo4221 I would amend that slightly to read, "Singers with faulty technique are in their prime for a short time."

[@dmp7252]

Why on earth are you nitpicking over @2:05? Do you realize the people in that audience were some of the more hard-core opera fans in the world? Trust me, if there was a problem with this performance here, they would have let it be know. Instead, they gave Joan an epic standing ovation. I have yet to see a young soprano sing this role with this amount of gravitas, and BELIEVABLE drama, oh, and actually knock the key notes out of the park. Joan does all three. Look, I'm no fan of Sutherland - I really used to watched her because she gives more than is demanded from the score, she has impeccable breath control, and she is able to hits the next-to-impossible high notes opera queens love. But give credit where credit is due. This rendition stands unrivaled today.