Glass Shatterers! Patricia Wise - Rossini: BARBER, Una voce poco fa (in English), 1972 High F

~The "Glass Shatterers!" series focuses on sopranos who sustain High F, or sing higher.
THE SONGBIRD: Patricia Wise was born in Kansas in 1943. She studied at the University of Kansas and made her debut as Susanna in Kansas City in 1966. She joined the New York City Opera in 1968 in Ginastera's "Bomarzo" and sang there every season until 1975 (Papagena, Blonde, Susanna, Despina, Queen of Shemakha, Rosina, Lucia, Gilda, and Sophie, as well as a few small roles). She began expanding her career in Europe with appearances in important opera houses such as Covent Garden in 1971 (Rosina) and Glyndebourne in 1972 (Zerbinetta). She became a principal soprano at the Vienna State Opera in 1976 and sang many roles there until 1991 (Queen of the Night was her debut role, followed by Strauss's Sophie -- which she sang there 87 times! -- and Oscar, Gilda, Nedda, Manon, Lucia, Norina, Rosina, Nannetta, Musetta, Pamina, Konstanze, Aminta, Zdenka, Zerbinetta, Micaela, and others). I heard her exquisite Susanna in Vienna in 1985 (with no less than Lucia Popp as the Countess!). Other key engagements were Nannetta at La Scala in 1980, Lulu in Geneva in 1985, and Gilda in Madrid in 1989. She was honored as a Kammersängerin of the Vienna State Opera in 1989. Wise’s sustained High F is not at the end, so you’ll have to find it elsewhere in the aria!
THE MUSIC: Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" is one of the most popular operas in the world and has been since soon after its premiere in Rome in 1816. It is based on the first of three plays by Pierre Beaumarchais about Figaro, the sly barber in the title. The music of the opera is believed to have been composed in about three weeks. This showy aria "Una voce poco fa" introduces the clever character of Rosina in Act One and has become a touchstone for florid sopranos and mezzos.

[@Wolfcrag85]

I've always loved Patricia Wise. Beyond being very expressive, she had a great range as well as an amazing "fioriture" fluency.

[@kraus3591]

Una extraordinaria soprano lírica ligera y actriz también , y muy guapa . Yo tuve la suerte de verla en Lucia di Lammermoor en 1981 en Madrid junto a Placido Domingo . Y poco después en Don Pasquale . Extraordinaria artista !

[@sirdicaudore]

What a fantastic singer and artist!!!!!!!!

[@orion8835]

First this a terrible quality recording. Wise had a very normal human well schooled voice in the lyric coloratura fach. The voice was produced with tremendous “ih” position giving it a well bridged register quality and easier facility to the top but it left little color left in the voice. Her trill and all the other requisites of a singer were pretty much there except dynamic shading and rubato. She had excellent acuti notes AND used a bright real chest voice which made her a delight. She was tall slim and straight forward in her acting giving her an elegant stage quality. She was highly employable because the voice was slightly androgynous yet womanly and was not overly sweet. She excelled in Mozart Strauss and French opera. Her work in bel canto was serviceable and accurate if just a jumble of runs and spin. She had great rhythm, declaration and a feisty quality so when she spun the high notes it was quite violin like and as she descended into a tremulous darker middle it was quite a contrast. Her Sophie I heard was really ideal as she was able to be child like at the top and bratty and irritable in the rest of the score as required. Which most sopranos fail at. Her Susanna would have been very effective.

[@tristanhnl]

I wouldn't be complaining about the quality of the audio for the very fact that recordings capturing this soprano would be just about non-existent otherwise. We're fortunate to have these bootleg recordings. As the saying goes, count one's blessings and be content with what one has.
And to be honest, the rest of your comment baffles me. Normal? Hardly. Perhaps if we're spoiled by the likes of Sutherland, then *maybe* this is a "normal" voice. But even then, I wouldn't call it "normal". I wouldn't say rubato is a requisite for a singer either. That's an example of an artistic choice....not so much a requisite of sorts. And androgynous voice? Hm....not at all. This is very clearly a female voice....very feminine. I don't know of a single person who would hear this and think automatically, "ah a man! Must be a sopranist".