Birgit Nilsson floats two high C's in the climax of Figlio del Cielo

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  • čas přidán 16. 03. 2022
  • This is an excerpt from the legendary 1961 performance at the Met of Turandot with Birgit Nilsson, Franco Corelli, Anna Moffo and Bonaldo Giaotti. Every time Nilsson floats those high C's over the ensemble in Figilo del Cielo, I think of skyscrapers. That's why I've included them in the slideshow. (Burj Khalifa, Sears/Willis Tower and the New World Trade Center)
    Because Nilsson and Corelli sung this opera so many times, the main reason you listen to a performance is for the Liu and Anna Moffo is the best I have ever heard in the role. She makes the drama real and compelling--you can feel Liu's despair at Calaf's rejection much stronger than other sopranos because she has such a great feel for words. When it gets to the torture scene, she doesn't give a fake little sigh the way most other sopranos do, instead there's a real scream of pain and the next few lines are half gritted, half spat out. Her voice is wistful and melancholy like a violin and the way she colors every phrase is simply magical. You can find her part here. If it ever gets taken off, just tell me and I'll post it myself.
    • Anna Moffo as Liù (Tur...
    Also, if you want some more from the performance, just ask me.

Komentáře • 50

  • @jacobtapianieto9655
    @jacobtapianieto9655 Před 8 měsíci +5

    Nilsson and Corelli forever!!!

  • @jaygardnertenor
    @jaygardnertenor Před rokem +56

    That’s not floating. She just keeps those C’s in a very bright, forward l, resonant place and doesn’t reach up for them. She lets the upper partials, meaning the higher frequencies, do the work. It’s a totally free, brilliant sound that cuts like a laser through the choral and orchestral forces. Such a lesson in rock solid technique. Also, she's staying engaged down low in her body and letting the breath energize the voice/feed the resonance/energize the resonance. Everyone has a different way to describe it depending on their own experience. Regardless, she had an amazing understanding of vocal technique and what her voice could do.

    • @khamikins
      @khamikins Před rokem

      shut the hell up. no one asked for a lesson. he's allowed to describe HIS post as he chooses.

    • @matthiasjacquot2018
      @matthiasjacquot2018 Před rokem +11

      No, it’s not *arbitrary imagery describing subjective experience* she’s actually doing *arbitrary imagery describing subjective experience*

    • @matthiasjacquot2018
      @matthiasjacquot2018 Před rokem

      @@kaelsurtour My pleasure dear Kael 😂

    • @daphnewilson7966
      @daphnewilson7966 Před rokem +2

      @@matthiasjacquot2018 I describe it as "getting my hair blown back in balcony circle." Lady Birgit did it to me on her farewell tour in San Francisco. Don't know how, don't care.

    • @lukasmiller486
      @lukasmiller486  Před 10 měsíci +1

      Okay, you have a point. I guess she was moving away from the recording equipment when she sung those notes.

  • @omarsomehow69
    @omarsomehow69 Před 2 lety +16

    The best top C's in the business

  • @akmalyuldashev7805
    @akmalyuldashev7805 Před 9 měsíci +3

    It’s unbelievable. I always say life is rubbish but then I hear them and…Life is beautiful 😢

  • @crisha721
    @crisha721 Před rokem +17

    She was one of a kind, such power and elegance

  • @cigarbuttmutt6023
    @cigarbuttmutt6023 Před rokem +6

    nilsson was wonderful...and corelli, wow what a C!

  • @beignet58
    @beignet58 Před rokem +22

    Corelli is no slouch either

  • @tobiolopainto
    @tobiolopainto Před rokem +7

    I agree with you about Moffo- - a wonderful musical singer! I was in the boys chorus for this opera and because I was a scroll bearer, I got to be on stage for the whole battle between Corelli and Nilsson. Nilsson won almost every time. I would not use the word "floats" to describe the singing in this part. She's bellowing for all she's worth. 'Float' usually describes the sound of Milanov or Tebaldi in the Enzo adorato scene from Gioconda. Also Moffo floats a high note in this production. Wonderful!

  • @jmiller05
    @jmiller05 Před rokem +15

    The greatest Turandot ever. Others might have been more expressive but none of them were able to conquer the mountainous tessitura as easily as Nilsson. And I agree with you, she does float those C6s (by her standards), she doesn't sing them full out.

  • @jaykauffman4775
    @jaykauffman4775 Před rokem +6

    The very operatic portrayal I ever saw!!!!

  • @nawiddiemiec99
    @nawiddiemiec99 Před rokem +3

    This performance is my fav too.

  • @Rachel-art-and-design
    @Rachel-art-and-design Před rokem +4

    It’s connection to the diaphragm. I love high notes.

  • @ER1CwC
    @ER1CwC Před 6 měsíci +1

    More like blasting! _But,_ she is not pushing, so they do not sound heavy. Amazing.

  • @michaelroberts6894
    @michaelroberts6894 Před rokem +2

    She😢had it !

  • @golden-63
    @golden-63 Před měsícem

    *Considering the climax in figlio del cielo is, in my opinion, one of the heaviest lifts in the Soprano rep, I assume that the word "floats" 2 high Cs is more than a little tongue in cheek!*

  • @jordipanadesribera6890
    @jordipanadesribera6890 Před rokem +4

    👏👏👏👏

  • @ahogbin2644
    @ahogbin2644 Před rokem +10

    Certainly one of the greats. I also adore Joan Sutherland’s version. Corelli superb too.

  • @ransomcoates546
    @ransomcoates546 Před rokem +12

    Floating?? She’s singing at the top of her lungs against a chorus.

    • @michelepearson497
      @michelepearson497 Před rokem +1

      Takes a lot of energy and technique

    • @draganvidic2039
      @draganvidic2039 Před rokem +1

      She could sing this even louder

    • @jacobtapianieto9655
      @jacobtapianieto9655 Před 8 měsíci

      And she surpasses all the sopranos of the choir in the second high C.

    • @golden-63
      @golden-63 Před měsícem

      Obviously the the uploader was being humorous in his choice of words. This is one of the toughest climaxes in the Soprano repertoire. Even the largest voices need tutta la forza to be heard over huge chorus with the Sopranos all screaming their lungs out on the high C along with Turandot

  • @giancarlopiligp
    @giancarlopiligp Před rokem +2

    Mi è parso d' udire la voce di un certo.. F R A N C O C O R E L L I 😆

  • @SymphonyBrahms
    @SymphonyBrahms Před rokem +9

    I listen to this brilliant performance, then I listen to NetrebCow and realize how sadly opera has fallen.

    • @kbhprinsesse
      @kbhprinsesse Před rokem

      NeFiasKow is the quintessence of everything that's wrong with opera today.

    • @katherinewilson1853
      @katherinewilson1853 Před rokem +5

      I'm so glad someone else feels the same way...

  • @jeffreyhoward879
    @jeffreyhoward879 Před rokem

    Floating?!

  • @thomasmichaelguenther3433

    This transfer is about a half tone too high.
    The voices of Nilsson and Corelli sound much too bright.

  • @williammorris584
    @williammorris584 Před rokem +5

    Nilsson is of course superb, but Corelli’s “No, no principessa altera” isn’t exactly chopped liver here.

    • @labienus9968
      @labienus9968 Před rokem +2

      And not just that-but nobody has done the role beter than Corelli. Nilsson is Nilsson, but there have been some other great Turandots

  • @frederickthompson2697
    @frederickthompson2697 Před rokem +3

    Strange and unrelated images of high-rises meant, I'm sure, to illustrate her high Cs. How unnecessary!! Let the MUSIC stand alone. It really doesn't need any help... F.

    • @alieshsonoma922
      @alieshsonoma922 Před rokem

      it annoyed the heck out of me

    • @rodolfolomelig8349
      @rodolfolomelig8349 Před rokem +2

      You really got angry unnecesarily. It's only a peculiae fragment of opera with a passionate title. Nothing else.

  • @kpopyaoiII
    @kpopyaoiII Před rokem +5

    I really love old school opera singers. I feel blank when the modern opera singers doesn't have enough strong, full voice when singing.
    Some normal singers mimicking opera singer without audacity like tf they're doing. They're just ruining the pieces of art. It's sounds awful and disrespecting.

    • @kbhprinsesse
      @kbhprinsesse Před rokem +6

      It does. But then it goes very well with the idiotic modern productions where people sit on the toilet dressed in suits. Ridiculous. Most modern directors/producers/designers of opera should be jailed for destroying art.

    • @lukasmiller486
      @lukasmiller486  Před 10 měsíci

      You ought to check out Giancarlo Monsalve’s blog. He’s the real deal. I don’t know why the Met hasn’t invited him with the powerful voice and presence and good looks he has.

    • @golden-63
      @golden-63 Před měsícem +1

      @@kbhprinsesse Fortunately, that directorial approach has been fading in popularity. It can work for SOME operas on occasion, but most of the time, it just doesn't.

    • @kbhprinsesse
      @kbhprinsesse Před měsícem

      @@golden-63 unfortunately, where I live it's not fading in popularity at all - almost all productions are like that, it's AWFUL!

  • @operationpaperclip3952
    @operationpaperclip3952 Před 5 měsíci

    Forgive me, but... I hear a hen cackle.
    The voices i wish i heard in opera, exist in my head.
    Although i have heard angelic voices a few times in opera. Only a few.

  • @user-hi1nf5hn6n
    @user-hi1nf5hn6n Před 11 měsíci

    Средненькая вокалистка

  • @EmilyGloeggler7984
    @EmilyGloeggler7984 Před 8 měsíci +1

    Objectively - She was a mechanical singer, like an automaton but terrible delivery. I don’t know why she never learned believable delivery but it’s a tragedy she never did. With that said, as a person, she otherwise seemed mostly kind and charming, by some accounts. On that point, one can’t fault her. It nevertheless is a tragedy that she never had fully learned all opera skills like other dramatic sopranos like Rosa Ponselle, who is superior in delivery.