Young Nicolai Gedda's Ultra Forte D5s against dame Joan's Full Body D6s and his Studio F5

Disclaimer - I own nothing

[@ThomasDawkins88]

Wow, you can actually hear him under a Sutherland C and D. Not many tenors can claim that. Nilsson would still render him (and anybody other than Corelli) completely inaudible though, not that Gedda ever sang Calàf apart from the aria...

[@raymondnatanson4616]

I couldn't agree more . Joan Sutherland is fantastic but Nicolaï Gedda is incredible ! He could sing in any language perfectly & is one of the finest Tenors there has ever existed .

[@raymondnatanson4616]

Sorry typing mistake : " there has ever been "

[@arnoldamaral7406]

@@raymondnatanson4616 Your forgiven Raymond. Your penance will be to go to 5 performances of Nebtrebko where ever you may be. LOL That's such a great quality when people like you apologize for a typo.And isn't this channel great. Take care my friend. 😷 Arnold Bourbon Amaral

[@raymondnatanson4616]

Thank you Lohengrin for so many fabulous recordings that you grace us with . I would like to ask you to always give us the Singers names & also the names of the Operas from which you give us excerps . We often have to guess even if we are knowledgeable about Operas & Singers . The dates of the recordings also , if possible . Many thanks in anticipation , Raymond Natanson.

[@LohengrinO]

@@raymondnatanson4616 the singer is always Niki Minaj 🥰

[@justinodiaz6501]

This is indeed from our Philadelphia performance in 1963 ...I remember it very well...how could I forget?...I was 23 !

[@kevinpollockmusic3646]

I bet that was an incredible experience to sing with the 2 of them, Justino!

[@judynelson5038]

Mr. Diaz: If you remembered, the applause after this duet was well over 5 minutes long!

[@ivansperanza]

Justino Diaz....the Puerto Rican Bass??

[@justinodiaz6501]

@@ivansperanza ...yes Ivan, there’s not many of those around...lol

[@claesrobertnyman]

Lucky you!

[@trilobit4]

I cannot believe this. I fell under the chair listening to this. He was able to face Dame Joan. Neverending admiration for both singers.

[@josevillagarciamunoz3426]

Puritani! OMG!!! Fantastic. Both. Wonderful and powerful fullvoice D5. Divine Joan with her perfect high notes. And an awesome F5

[@elsaasta5164]

... Si è fantastico sentire Nicolai Gedda di una bravura incredibile!! Un duetto con Dame Joan Sutherland stellare da brivido. Tutti i Grandi Artisti del tempo andato sono dei veri "" mostri sacri""che suscitano in noi appassionati di Lirica... Il rimpianto è la tristezza della loro assenza. Un grazie dal cuore a te caro Lohengrin0 ❤️🙋🌹❤️🙋🌹Elsa

[@voceangelo]

Gedda's D is rock solid against the tidal wave of Sutherland's voice. Just incredible. What a find! I also venture to say that even with the F in the recording, impressive as it is, I prefer the D in the live recording. He was a miracle.

[@LohengrinO]

yes because the D5 is in full body male voice and a miracle while the F5 is approached falsetto ... still it shows the range of his voice... it is kinda unfair but males going above D5 enter the female range

[@Paddy818]

Lohengrin O Beautiful attack on that F! He was so elegant in all he sang!

[@LohengrinO]

@@Paddy818 ...and the D5s my God... been hearing him in my head all day... he was a Blizzard

[@Paddy818]

Lohengrin O Truly! He’s my idol!!

[@kevinpollockmusic3646]

@@LohengrinO Gedda maintained that he REFUSED to sing Falsetto and his teacher Novikova taught him that it took the squillo out of the voice and so he refused to teach it or use it. He maintained that those sounds were not falsetto, but voix mixte. He could crescendo and diminuendo that mixed voice - falsetto, you cannot. The F5 was recorded when he was approaching 50....In the 1960's, he could knock it out so big!

[@rakellcolotta3675]

I could listen to this FOREVER

[@trilobit4]

I keep coming back to it, it's unbelievable. I would demolish the theater if I heard something like that. Nicolai Gedda has completely crushed me several times in the last few weeks. I always knew he was great, but such great? It doesn't matter what language he sings. He may lose it, but he'll get his whole soul into it. Losses happen to everyone. Mostly it is above average and in many cases completely intergalactic and completely unbeatable. He was probably the best in his rank - in his rank - keypoint.

[@kevinpollockmusic3646]

Yes!!!! Absolutely the best and most versatile and THE BEST HIGH NOTES EVER from 1954 - 1969...NO ONE could touch them when he was in his prime.

[@brucebrewertenor771]

Wonderful Gedda ! Thank you for this version

[@christophecesar4761]

His high D made his career. In 1952 Walter Ledge heard him in Postillon de Lonjumeau with the famous high D and signed a contract with him which launched his career.

[@LohengrinO]

thank you so much for this information, it inspired my current post

[@vuxdinh]

It is true that the D5 note in Le postillon de Lonjumeau made Gedda's career. it was his debut performance at Royal Swedish Opera while he was just a student at Royal Opera. His performance was well received. Walter Legge didn't hear that performance. Walter was in Stockholm at a later time listening to many singers in the hope of finding a tenor who can sing in Russian for his new recording (Boris Godunov). Gedda was a quarter Russian and was fluent in Russian. A friend of Gedda introduced them together and he auditioned for Walter by singing several songs but not Le postillon de Lonjumeau. Walter was impressed and signed a contract with Gedda. That was his first recording and also first time flying out of Sweden (they recorded in Paris). That was the beginning of his international career. Nonetheless, Gedda's D5 was and still is the best. No one in recent memory has hit that D5 as clear, bright and ringing as Gedda did live and in recording. His upper register was truly a league of its own. Thank you for posting this recording.

[@raybercse1]

Gedda is absolutely phenomenal with high notes that take over the universe. He is the perfect partner for Sutherland. Very few tenors can keep up with her on the high notes because she dominates them most of the time. Is this from the 1963 Philadelphia concert version of Puritani?

[@LohengrinO]

it is for sure 1963, no idea about location

[@kevinpollockmusic3646]

@@LohengrinO it IS Philadelphia! I had a friend with the full pirate recording.

[@tonytony8747]

Here is Sutherland/Gedda, in their Legendary 1963 Sonnambula at the Met. Both of them at their ultimate Prime. Sutherland's E-flat is dazzling! www.metopera.org/season/on-demand/opera/?upc=811357010235

[@claesrobertnyman]

I agree that he is the perfect partner, and he was also one of a kind. I heard him singing here in Stockholm many times, both opera and concerts. A perhaps more unknown side of him was his sense of humor. I will always remember him with warmth.

[@МихаилХристов-л6г]

Absolutely!

[@jordipanadesribera6890]

Thanks for posting.

[@ednatrumbull]

WOW!

[@NLidar]

Sometimes I find operatic moments, such as this one, completely absurd. How is it that such monumental, colossal and mainly impossible sounds like these get produced in the throat of a "mere" human being? Sounds as big as this one, forever reverberating throughout a hall of 2000+ people and even OUTSIDE (Grob-Prandl) from the frame of a man or woman of the human race? If I didn't know what opera was, I would never believe these exceptional sounds come out of the human race. Opera like this is truly a superpower. What do I prefer, to fly or to be able to sing like Gedda?

[@slothisasin8240]

The answer to that question is simple. We have airplanes these days, but so few could ever sound like Gedda.

[@gadenkrotis540]

I often find myself wondering exactly the same thing... Quite incredible to think the sounds came from the human being.

[@MrQbenDanny]

VIVA!!!! "YOU'RE NEVAH GONNA HEAR IT BEDDA THAN GEDDA".

[@raymondnatanson4616]

Well found , you have a good sense of humor but he really was one of the finest Tenors & certainly the most discret !

[@claesrobertnyman]

Incomparable, both of them. I have the complete recording (from Philadelphia?), I recommend it.

[@vladimirsolodovnikov945]

ЭТО ФАНТАСТИКА , НЕВЕРОЯТНО...! Мегазвезды !

[@EloOso-l2c]

😮😮😮 Gedda!!! 🧎🧎🧎🧎🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️ ❤❤❤❤

[@ramongerman6440]

Ohhh my gosh he dare to face Dame Sutherland I’m impressed 🤯🤯

[@MrEjfnyc]

Last section is Sills from the studio recording when Gedda is about 10 or 15 (?) years older and Sills is the wobbly Elvira.....

[@UMVELINQANGI]

Awesome

[@joshuamcpherson007]

Gadda's high Ds really had no equal amongst tenors...IMHO. That said, combined with Sutherland's huge high D, the sound would send a 747 spinning into the nearest mountainside.

[@LohengrinO]

I mean... they all appeared in mid 50s-60s... all together, all Gods... cant someone appear now before Im dead? or is it t hat Talents dont find their way up in our days?

[@joshuamcpherson007]

@@LohengrinO I really believe that truly great singers, giants of voice, come together and create a Golden Age...maybe when the planets align? In between these times, we have what we have.

[@kevinpollockmusic3646]

@@LohengrinO There will never be more like that! It's over! They all rush into big roles and don't build their voices and it's all about being svelte and no one slowly builds their voices like this anymore.

[@comment6864]

@@kevinpollockmusic3646 it's an expensive world, you gotta make a living somehow

[@kevinpollockmusic3646]

@@comment6864 yes, I know!😂

[@ralphromeobascones9688]

2:54 and the Voice of the Century obliterated everything around her.

[@helenespierman151]

Defines the term "awesome!!

[@shipincognitoandanonymous609]

2:54 *TIMEPAUSE*

[@eduardomedrano1972]

Gedda supertenor...lyric-coloratura assoluto!

[@alfredbernasek3912]

ER WAR DER ABSOLUTE MEISTER DES HOHEN D

[@Jean-MarieBoitte]

existe t il un tenor,capable de faire des notes si haute??

[@Jean-MarieBoitte]

autre que gedda!

[@alioffe4321]

Joan's holding back!!!, which is really sweet of hers

[@LohengrinO]

on the main D though I think she screams her guts out... no?

[@terrycloth6380]

Ali Offe Sutherland is not holding back

[@alioffe4321]

@@LohengrinO top D was her biggest and greatest note. she could have gone louder, and held the note much longer. The best in the biz. I dont hear any strain in her voice, too. Gedda, however, is really pushing to the limits here. What i find most amazing here is that during the soft passages she keeps her voice lighter and softer than usual, which very musical of hers. I think she wanted to create a sort of contrast. So, when singing the top notes explosively, the effect was much greater.

[@MrJazzmeaux]

She's not holding back. She's at full power at the top.

[@alioffe4321]

@@MrJazzmeaux we have bigger Ds of hers than this on record.

[@canaleteatrale6662]

greatest tenore ever

[@GiacomoGazzaniga-c1n]

He covers her!

[@TimothyJonSarris]

Il primo re insieme, lei lo batte sicuramente. La seconda oppure il finale, sono più uguale nel volume.

[@JoanSutherlandFan]

I believe, Joan here, is controlling her power to be in tune with Gedda and create a contrast between their voices. *She literally drowns him using her middle voice in Son geloso's duet from La Sonnambula performances. Those trills filling the opera house and covering Gedda. What I considered very insane and devilish.

[@kevinpollockmusic3646]

You can hear both of them coming in and out. I know he could hold his own....I think a lot of what you’re hearing is them moving up and downstage. They are moving around during the performance and the mics are stationary.

[@dodotassi]

il suono è molto brutto