The first Lucia was Fanny Persiani, a light high voice, not a dramatic coloratura like Pasta. The idea that Lucia should be sung by a darker or more dramatic voice began with Callas. So, saying Peters is too vocally light for the role does not take into account historical context. Pagliughi is actually close to perhaps what Persiani may have sounded like that, or Tetrazzini, who had a very strong lower register.
Sutherland under Serafin was something wonderful. i REALLY love her early recordings. that's a green-cover album (that I forgot the name) that omg, her E-flats are just unbelievable. she still had some accent on her Italian, but you could understand consonants. Ghiaurov is one of my favourite artists of all time, was so glad to see him here finally, I had no idea Caballé had recorded Lucia... what a shame. but she and Carreras also did Medea and was also a mess, so you know at some times she just didn't care much and just did what she wanted to.
In 1953, Callas gives a transcendent interpretation: the trills are astonishing, the legato is a model and the voice is rock solid from top to bottom; this version of Lucia is is one of her very best studio recordings (possibly the best of all) and a landmark in the history of recorded sound. Unfortunately, there are damaging cuts everywhere and the other singers are miscast. In 1959, the voice is a shadow of its former self and the details that stood out with amazing clarity in the earlier version have become smudged. She abbreviates the flute cadenza, which I think is a good thing as it is an unstylish, late nineteenth century addition that actually detracts from the beauties of Donizetti's score; more puzzlingly, she alters the melodic line in the famous sextet, presumably for purposes of vocal survival. There are the same shocking cuts as in 1953, and the rest of the cast is even less dependable (Tagliavini is way past his prime, Cappuccilli is uninspired and Ladysz shouldn't have been hired at all). Due to the massive cuts, neither of these recordings is an accurate representation of what Donizetti actually wrote, but Callas's genius still makes the 1953 recording an indispensable one as long as people also listen to a more recent and more complete version. The 1959 recording is largely forgettable and is probably the one complete Callas set that I wouldn't recommend to a first-time listener. I agree with you about the 1955 recording from Berlin, which I have never been able to enjoy as much as most people seem to do.
I agree 100%. Nobody has portrayed the obsessive madness of the girl better than Callas. I like what Aprile Millo said about it: "Listening to Callas is like reading Shakespeare: you’re always going to be knocked senseless by some incredible insight into humanity. She is a huge bonfire! The thread, the "inner serpent" that she would get in certain music was so complete - for example, in the Lucia recording, the phrase "Alfin, son tua." Lucia, at her absolute happiest moment, would have said to Edgardo, "I am finally yours." For me, the woman Lucia came to life in that moment, and I understood why she was out of her mind, you know? You’ve got it all in that one phrase."
Gilbert Duprez was certainly not a dramatic tenor in the way we see a dramatic tenor today or at least compared to dramatic tenors from the 50's and 60's. At most Gilbert Duprez might have been a lyric spinto tenor or he was just a normal lyric tenor. The dramatic tenor, as we think of it today is a much later invention. Bel canto wasn't really written for dramatic voices. There is only a few such roles, the best example is Pollione in Norma. The original Pollione, Domenico Donzelli, was a baritenor in those times. Orchestras became much bigger with much more brass instruments as verismo became popular. Orchestras started playing brighter and higher. Around the 1920's steel strings started being used extensively. Voices needed to be much bigger as time went on. The dramatic tenors of today is more like baritenors or even baritones during the main bel canto period. A real dramatic tenor today cannot really sing Edgardo. Tamagno for example only sang the role when he was young, when his voices became heavier he couldn't sing the role anymore. The only real robusto version you are going to get is the Corelli version. But lyric spintos like Filippeschi and Lauri Volpi are quite good in the role.
Thanks for the video, but I have to point out that calling Robert Lloyd a lyric baritone is idiotic. He had easily enough low notes for a bass, including every note of Osmin. His technique was unorthodox for sure, but just because you don't agree with a singers technical approach doesn't mean they are singing the wrong fach. Also, I wouldn't be so quick to call people inaudible unless you've heard them live or read it from actual reviews of their performances.
Well, as with all my videos this is a review of RECORDINGS not the singers. It might not be the best thing for me to do to call out the singers, but it's what I hear from the recordings. I'm far too young to have heard any singers to have been listed in all of my videos.
@@BestOperaMoments Sure, no hard feelings, you're doing great for a young person who has been into opera for just a few years (as I undestrand). I would just give a friendly advice as to not buy into all the hate-campaigns against some singers that are going around on youtube.
revivaljesus: On a previous answer, Best Opera Moments indicated that he made errors on this video because he was sick. Evidently it must have been a cold and his ears must have been plugged due to s cold!!
Do you have any idea if the premieres of these bel canto operas were completely uncut? I have never gotten a clear idea of when and how the ‘traditional’ cuts of the standard repertoire began.
Placido Domingo once said Pablo Elvira was the greatest baritone he ever heard. His Enrico in the Sutherland telecast is miraculous. No other Enrico had that kind of power, except perhaps Bastianini.
Gruberova should have stopped singing long before she did. She was incredible in Mozart and Strauss (with her own unique style), and I don't think her Zerbinetta has ever been equalled. I never found her idiomatic in the Italian repertoire. Early Sutherland was wonderful, and you could kind of understand the words, though as hard has she tried, she was never able to shade and color her voice in a way that truly brought Lucia to life. But the vocalism was breathtaking. I agree that her first Lucia was her best, and it was downhill from then on, though I prefer her first Decca recording with Pritchard over that with the mediocre Bonynge. And I also never understood the fuss over the Berlin Lucia; I would much rather take her 1953 EMI or the Mexico City recordings. Moffo was a natural and idiomatic singer, and she always sounded natural in this role.
Agree with all that you've said above, except for Gruberova - her fundamental problems did not stop at having a voice way too tiny for any sort of opera, she also had terrible technique i.e. scooping at the very start of her career, and her phrasing is horrendous. Take a look at Barone's series on her; although it might be amplified to some extent, all that was stated there is irrefutable.
@@BestOperaMoments I didn't hear her live, but a few friends that did said her voice was much sweeter live and had a wonderful projection. One of them call it a "sound cone" the way the voice came forward at you. Her technique was unorthodox, but somehow worked well in Mozart and Strauss.
Why the need to show us 70-year old Gruberova to make your point? At least have the decency to play an earlier recording of hers when she was in her prime. I could make you listen to Sutherland - arguably the best Lucia ever - when she was in her 50s and 60s, with the mad scene transposed to a contralto key (we all know she transposed virtually everything and sang her arias lower each year). Would that be better than Gruberova in the final stages of her carreer? I don't think so.
@@BestOperaMoments All the good points you mention for Leyla Gencer are exactly what Gruberova was famous for, and not only that, she did it better than anyone else who has ever lived: dynamic control (pianissimo), vocal acting (floating notes = delirious) and strong high E-flat. In fact, her high E-flat was objectively measured as being stronger and having more overtones than Sutherland's. The study that came to that conclusion was discussed in Neil Rishoi's biography on Gruberova. Also, according to a survey conducted for the same study, Gruberova's Lucia was generally preferred over Sutherland's. Gruberova's high pianissimi were her trademark, as were her floating notes above the staff. Both Leyla Gencer and Sutherland sounded awful after their 50s and you know it. Neither of them were singing aged 70, let alone Lucia di Lammermoor or similar roles. Who knows Gencer anyway?
@@russki1978 A**HOLE!! Plenty of people know, appreciate and love Leyla Gencer. It was sad that she never appeared at the MET. That she and Joan Sutherland weren’t singing when 70 had to with the decision to retire or retire LUCIA from their stage repertoire. Sutherland was singing Lucia with Carlo Bergonzi in a 1985 Covent Garden revival and doing it very well. That she transposed some of the higher notes when she was 59 is understandable and acceptable. I would have payed to see/hear both women. YOU KNOW NOTHING OF WHAT YOU WRITE AND SS I SAID ARE AN A**HOLE!!
Excuse me....Domingo " a tragedy"? At 81 years of age he is now singing succesfully as a baritone..made a shrewd move , transposing down from tenor....sang Rigoletto at 69 , quite succesfully.....do your homework sir.
Rob Cardinal: Please, do YOUR homework. Domingo is NOT singing successfully as a baritone; he just won’t stop and will likely keep going until he dies or his unwanted advances to women keep him offstage
Here are my takes on how I would assess different singers of Lucia Ashton from Lucia di Lammermoor. Beverly Sills, despite her commitment to her work ethic as an artist and singer, was far more reliable as Rosina, Philine, Olympia, the Queen of Chemakha, Konstanze, and Gilda than as Violetta, Lucia, Norma, Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, Elisabetta I, and Palmira combined. Roberta Peters was far more reliable singing as Zerbinetta, Fiakermilli, Rosina, Oscar, Despina, Susanna, and Zerlina than singing as Lucia, Gilda, Queen of the Night, and Violetta combined. My ideal Lucias aside from Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, Leyla Gencer, and Anna Moffo are Mercedes Capsir, Toti dal Monte, Dolores Wilson, Lina Pagliughi, Amelita Galli-Curci, Graciela Pareto, and Luisa Tetrazzini.
@Walter Monteagudo Sutherland was a lyric soprano with decent agility. Her voice was never even spinto even less was it dramatic. The weight of Sutherland’s voice lyric soprano. Spinto is Tebaldi and Maria Caniglia(both Caniglia and Tebaldi considered themselves real lyric sopranos and not spinto).
@Walter Monteagudo Her voice bigger than Caballe? This is where you are completely DELUSIONAL. Caballe’s voice was heavier and Caballe’s support was incredible. Much better than Sutherland. Sutherland’s voice was lyric. Dramatic? Maybe from the anal cavity but not the oral cavity.
@Walter MonteagudoSutherland's voice carried like no other indeed but it wasn't big as Tebaldi for instance, yes she almost every time overpower singers next to her but she was always surrounded by tiny voices like Horne, Tourangeau, and Aragall. However amid a high orchestra her voice barely cuts through instead of ride like big voices. Also Zeani and Gencer aren't coloraturas at all, their voices had the natural flexibility of lyric voices like Freni and Caballé.
The first Lucia was Fanny Persiani, a light high voice, not a dramatic coloratura like Pasta. The idea that Lucia should be sung by a darker or more dramatic voice began with Callas. So, saying Peters is too vocally light for the role does not take into account historical context. Pagliughi is actually close to perhaps what Persiani may have sounded like that, or Tetrazzini, who had a very strong lower register.
That's true. But I prefer a soprano who can bring out the dramatic facades of the role.
Sutherland under Serafin was something wonderful. i REALLY love her early recordings. that's a green-cover album (that I forgot the name) that omg, her E-flats are just unbelievable. she still had some accent on her Italian, but you could understand consonants.
Ghiaurov is one of my favourite artists of all time, was so glad to see him here
finally, I had no idea Caballé had recorded Lucia... what a shame. but she and Carreras also did Medea and was also a mess, so you know at some times she just didn't care much and just did what she wanted to.
My two favorite Lucia recordings are Sutherland (Decca, 1961) and Moffo (RCA, 1965)
In 1953, Callas gives a transcendent interpretation: the trills are astonishing, the legato is a model and the voice is rock solid from top to bottom; this version of Lucia is is one of her very best studio recordings (possibly the best of all) and a landmark in the history of recorded sound. Unfortunately, there are damaging cuts everywhere and the other singers are miscast. In 1959, the voice is a shadow of its former self and the details that stood out with amazing clarity in the earlier version have become smudged. She abbreviates the flute cadenza, which I think is a good thing as it is an unstylish, late nineteenth century addition that actually detracts from the beauties of Donizetti's score; more puzzlingly, she alters the melodic line in the famous sextet, presumably for purposes of vocal survival. There are the same shocking cuts as in 1953, and the rest of the cast is even less dependable (Tagliavini is way past his prime, Cappuccilli is uninspired and Ladysz shouldn't have been hired at all). Due to the massive cuts, neither of these recordings is an accurate representation of what Donizetti actually wrote, but Callas's genius still makes the 1953 recording an indispensable one as long as people also listen to a more recent and more complete version. The 1959 recording is largely forgettable and is probably the one complete Callas set that I wouldn't recommend to a first-time listener. I agree with you about the 1955 recording from Berlin, which I have never been able to enjoy as much as most people seem to do.
I share the same sentiments as you do.
I agree 100%. Nobody has portrayed the obsessive madness of the girl better than Callas. I like what Aprile Millo said about it: "Listening to Callas is like reading Shakespeare: you’re always going to be knocked senseless by some incredible insight into humanity. She is a huge bonfire! The thread, the "inner serpent" that she would get in certain music was so complete - for example, in the Lucia recording, the phrase "Alfin, son tua." Lucia, at her absolute happiest moment, would have said to Edgardo, "I am finally yours." For me, the woman Lucia came to life in that moment, and I understood why she was out of her mind, you know? You’ve got it all in that one phrase."
i hate Scotto but i had to get that CD because Bastianini and di Stefano are wonderful there.
So glad I'm not the only one. She's awful!
Apparently, the first soprano to include a flute in the cadenza was Teresa Brambilla, the first Gilda.
Gilbert Duprez was certainly not a dramatic tenor in the way we see a dramatic tenor today or at least compared to dramatic tenors from the 50's and 60's. At most Gilbert Duprez might have been a lyric spinto tenor or he was just a normal lyric tenor. The dramatic tenor, as we think of it today is a much later invention. Bel canto wasn't really written for dramatic voices. There is only a few such roles, the best example is Pollione in Norma. The original Pollione, Domenico Donzelli, was a baritenor in those times. Orchestras became much bigger with much more brass instruments as verismo became popular. Orchestras started playing brighter and higher. Around the 1920's steel strings started being used extensively. Voices needed to be much bigger as time went on. The dramatic tenors of today is more like baritenors or even baritones during the main bel canto period. A real dramatic tenor today cannot really sing Edgardo. Tamagno for example only sang the role when he was young, when his voices became heavier he couldn't sing the role anymore. The only real robusto version you are going to get is the Corelli version. But lyric spintos like Filippeschi and Lauri Volpi are quite good in the role.
Thanks for the video, but I have to point out that calling Robert Lloyd a lyric baritone is idiotic. He had easily enough low notes for a bass, including every note of Osmin. His technique was unorthodox for sure, but just because you don't agree with a singers technical approach doesn't mean they are singing the wrong fach. Also, I wouldn't be so quick to call people inaudible unless you've heard them live or read it from actual reviews of their performances.
Well, as with all my videos this is a review of RECORDINGS not the singers. It might not be the best thing for me to do to call out the singers, but it's what I hear from the recordings. I'm far too young to have heard any singers to have been listed in all of my videos.
@@BestOperaMoments Sure, no hard feelings, you're doing great for a young person who has been into opera for just a few years (as I undestrand). I would just give a friendly advice as to not buy into all the hate-campaigns against some singers that are going around on youtube.
revivaljesus: On a previous answer, Best Opera Moments indicated that he made errors on this video because he was sick. Evidently it must have been a cold and his ears must have been plugged due to s cold!!
Do you have any idea if the premieres of these bel canto operas were completely uncut? I have never gotten a clear idea of when and how the ‘traditional’ cuts of the standard repertoire began.
I frankly have no clue... I'd look into it for a bit though.
Placido Domingo once said Pablo Elvira was the greatest baritone he ever heard. His Enrico in the Sutherland telecast is miraculous. No other Enrico had that kind of power, except perhaps Bastianini.
Gruberova should have stopped singing long before she did. She was incredible in Mozart and Strauss (with her own unique style), and I don't think her Zerbinetta has ever been equalled. I never found her idiomatic in the Italian repertoire. Early Sutherland was wonderful, and you could kind of understand the words, though as hard has she tried, she was never able to shade and color her voice in a way that truly brought Lucia to life. But the vocalism was breathtaking. I agree that her first Lucia was her best, and it was downhill from then on, though I prefer her first Decca recording with Pritchard over that with the mediocre Bonynge. And I also never understood the fuss over the Berlin Lucia; I would much rather take her 1953 EMI or the Mexico City recordings. Moffo was a natural and idiomatic singer, and she always sounded natural in this role.
Agree with all that you've said above, except for Gruberova - her fundamental problems did not stop at having a voice way too tiny for any sort of opera, she also had terrible technique i.e. scooping at the very start of her career, and her phrasing is horrendous. Take a look at Barone's series on her; although it might be amplified to some extent, all that was stated there is irrefutable.
@@BestOperaMoments I didn't hear her live, but a few friends that did said her voice was much sweeter live and had a wonderful projection. One of them call it a "sound cone" the way the voice came forward at you. Her technique was unorthodox, but somehow worked well in Mozart and Strauss.
Why the need to show us 70-year old Gruberova to make your point? At least have the decency to play an earlier recording of hers when she was in her prime. I could make you listen to Sutherland - arguably the best Lucia ever - when she was in her 50s and 60s, with the mad scene transposed to a contralto key (we all know she transposed virtually everything and sang her arias lower each year). Would that be better than Gruberova in the final stages of her carreer? I don't think so.
I could choose an earlier recording of hers and there would still be the same problems. I just chose this to magnify my point.
@@BestOperaMoments All the good points you mention for Leyla Gencer are exactly what Gruberova was famous for, and not only that, she did it better than anyone else who has ever lived: dynamic control (pianissimo), vocal acting (floating notes = delirious) and strong high E-flat. In fact, her high E-flat was objectively measured as being stronger and having more overtones than Sutherland's. The study that came to that conclusion was discussed in Neil Rishoi's biography on Gruberova. Also, according to a survey conducted for the same study, Gruberova's Lucia was generally preferred over Sutherland's. Gruberova's high pianissimi were her trademark, as were her floating notes above the staff. Both Leyla Gencer and Sutherland sounded awful after their 50s and you know it. Neither of them were singing aged 70, let alone Lucia di Lammermoor or similar roles. Who knows Gencer anyway?
@@russki1978 A**HOLE!! Plenty of people know, appreciate and love Leyla Gencer. It was sad that she never appeared at the MET. That she and Joan Sutherland weren’t singing when 70 had to with the decision to retire or retire LUCIA from their stage repertoire. Sutherland was singing Lucia with Carlo Bergonzi in a 1985 Covent Garden revival and doing it very well. That she transposed some of the higher notes when she was 59 is understandable and acceptable. I would have payed to see/hear both women. YOU KNOW NOTHING OF WHAT YOU WRITE AND SS I SAID ARE AN A**HOLE!!
@@BestOperaMoments I have seen Gruberova quite often. I have no clue what you are talking about. You are just impertinent.
11:20 that almost made me cry instantly
Gruberova. Holy Sh!t
14:47 you got the years of the recordings completely wrong, the one with Di Stefano is from 1953 while the one with Tagliavini is from 1959
I was sick when I made this video
Excuse me....Domingo " a tragedy"?
At 81 years of age he is now singing succesfully as a baritone..made a shrewd move , transposing down from tenor....sang Rigoletto at 69 , quite succesfully.....do your homework sir.
Rob Cardinal: Please, do YOUR homework. Domingo is NOT singing successfully as a baritone; he just won’t stop and will likely keep going until he dies or his unwanted advances to women keep him offstage
@@johnpickford4222 well...a chacun a son gout.
Here are my takes on how I would assess different singers of Lucia Ashton from Lucia di Lammermoor. Beverly Sills, despite her commitment to her work ethic as an artist and singer, was far more reliable as Rosina, Philine, Olympia, the Queen of Chemakha, Konstanze, and Gilda than as Violetta, Lucia, Norma, Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, Elisabetta I, and Palmira combined. Roberta Peters was far more reliable singing as Zerbinetta, Fiakermilli, Rosina, Oscar, Despina, Susanna, and Zerlina than singing as Lucia, Gilda, Queen of the Night, and Violetta combined. My ideal Lucias aside from Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, Leyla Gencer, and Anna Moffo are Mercedes Capsir, Toti dal Monte, Dolores Wilson, Lina Pagliughi, Amelita Galli-Curci, Graciela Pareto, and Luisa Tetrazzini.
Zeani is pure lyric soprano and not spinto.
Yup. What I meant was that she could successfully sing spinto repertoire.
@Walter Monteagudo Sutherland was a lyric soprano with decent agility. Her voice was never even spinto even less was it dramatic. The weight of Sutherland’s voice lyric soprano. Spinto is Tebaldi and Maria Caniglia(both Caniglia and Tebaldi considered themselves real lyric sopranos and not spinto).
@Walter Monteagudo Her voice bigger than Caballe? This is where you are completely DELUSIONAL. Caballe’s voice was heavier and Caballe’s support was incredible. Much better than Sutherland. Sutherland’s voice was lyric. Dramatic? Maybe from the anal cavity but not the oral cavity.
@Walter MonteagudoSutherland's voice carried like no other indeed but it wasn't big as Tebaldi for instance, yes she almost every time overpower singers next to her but she was always surrounded by tiny voices like Horne, Tourangeau, and Aragall. However amid a high orchestra her voice barely cuts through instead of ride like big voices. Also Zeani and Gencer aren't coloraturas at all, their voices had the natural flexibility of lyric voices like Freni and Caballé.
@@beachfanatic2010 Sutherland had only "decent" agility? Whatever vocal faults she may have had, she had miraculous agility.
In 1959 Lucia recording, Tagliavini and Callas had been past their prime.