The Art of the Prima Donna
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Free Music Notes for The Art of the Prima Donna
Free Music Review: Impossible arias sung by the Golden voiced Joan Sutherland!
Hit: 5 Stars
Yes! I got this for my Christmas present, and am thrilled to death. I already have this on cassette and lp, but this is my first Cd with Sutherland because I'm a starving artist. But it is superb, far more luminous than the lp or the cassette. The sound is so life-like! Finally, a medium that allows the Sutherland voice to be heard as it should be. Every aria is a tour de force of the highest caliber.The most remarkable thing is the huge top. It is both enormous and has a brilliant vibrato. Funny thing that as Sutherland ages, the high notes got smaller and smaller. But not here, this is Sutherland at her best. I think if Birgit Nilsson had an E flat, that's what it would sound like, Wagnerian in size. Almost every aria has an high E flat or E. Besides the high notes is the most true to form of a trill that exist. An actual trill, not a tremolo like other divas.
I believe that when Donizetti and Bellini wrote for Pasta, Grisi, and Malibran, this is the kind of soprano he had in mind when he wrote these near impossible arias. A true diva from the golden age. Of course, the difference between these divas of the past and Sutherland is the enormous size of Sutherland's instrument. Plus the fact that all those divas of Bellini's time transpose these arias down one full step or more.
Sutherland doesn't do that. Even though she has a right to do so because the tones today are now almost a full tone higher than they were in the 17th century, so a high C then is only a B flat today. So an E flat today is much higher than an E flat in Donizetti's time. So all of Sutherland's E flats are actually high Fs! Imagine that.
If there is a single cd I can have on a desert island, this would be it. This is, without a doubt, the most taxing program that any prima donna has attempted in a single recital, every arias is a tour de force, stretching the limits of the human voice in all but Sutherland. In fact, this seems easy for her - it's effortless. I challedge anyone to find a coloratura today, or anyday, who can match up to La Stupenda.
IMCOMPARABLE!
Free Music Review: The AMAZING Joan Sutherland
Hit: 5 Stars
I love opera. I'm a contralto, but I wish I am a soprano. That is because I'm so in awe of the amazing Joan Sutherland. To get to the point, how can she sing in the highest stratosphere without strain? I have problems with a G, yet she seems to have no problems with notes approaching the G an octave above. I guess it's genetics. But I feel that she is the essence of perfection. Talk about gorgeous tones, especially when she goes above the staff. I highly recommend this to anyone who is an opera buff. I've never heard anything like it. Other great cds are the requiem with Price/Bjoeling, and Beverly Sill's Julius Caesare. Great stuff.Free Music Review: the recital of a lifetime
Hit: 5 Stars
This recital by a very young Joan Sutherland, was one of her earliest, and by far her best. It has been beautifully remastered, showing the Sutherland sound in all her past splendor.The condition of Sutherland's golden voice here is indescribably gorgeous. The ring in her soprano is thrilling. The trills are just about as good as it can get ( Remember, there are two notes in a trill, a phenomenon that only La Stupenda can accomplish ). The scales and arpeggios are so accurate that it is simply a marvel! But it is the enormous size of the voice, especially at the top half of the stratosphere that makes Dame Joan beyond comparison.
The highlights here are - everything! A two cd set that sets the standard for all coloratura sopranos of the past, present, and future. First, the difficulty of the program. I read that Sutherland recorded all of these arias in one take in a time frame of two days. I don't remember ever hearing so many extreme high notes in one sitting ( up to E natural, and there are three of these in Semiramide's "Bel raggio" alone ) . Another several high E in the "Bell song". If you think that Sutherland's singing of the "Bell Song is super in her recording of Lakme, you should listen to this one." The staccato is fast. In bel canto, the shorter a staccato is, the more precise the technique. Meaning, that when she attacks a staccato, she releases it in the split of a second. Of the coloraturas of the last century, Only Amelita Galli-Curci has a better staccato than Sutherland ( but of course Galli-Curci did not have nearly the voice or trill as Sutherland ).
The aria from Les Hugenots is a shere technical achievement that is so stunning that words can't describe. Let's just say, in that aria ( and all the other arias in this recording, as well ), she attacks every trill, scale, and high notes with such ease that you would think that she was an instrument like a flute, not a human being.
The great aria "Marten alle arten" is a concerto for soprano and orchestra. And it is thrilling to hear the aria sung as Mozart would have envisioned - with its long phrases taken without any breaths. ( Beverly Sills also sings this aria extremely well ).
The mad scene from Il Puritani is glorious! Sutherland sounds so sad and convincing, which was something that she was not known for. The high E flat that crowns the end of the aria is one of her very best.
Now, if you want to hear what a trill is supposed to sound like, I suggest the "Jewel Song".Now, that's what a trill is suppose to sound like - its two notes completely separate from each other. A trill is the most difficult element in coloratura singing, and having a great trill can make a great coloratura soprano a legend. Of the opera singers of the last century, only the following had a "real" trill: Joan Sutherland, Beverly Sills, Maria Tetrazinni, and Nellie Melba.
Finally, let me comment on the vast improvement of Decca's state of the art remastering of this classic recording. Decca's engineers have basically restore the true Sutherland sound. And in doing so, future opera fans will hear what a true coloratura is supposed to sound like.
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Free Music Review: best ever!
Hit: 5 Stars
I rate this cd as the best representation of the art of the colorature in recording history-and that is no exaggeration. I am absolutely confident that every opera buff who listens to this recording will be blown away by Sutherland's shere mastery of technique and overwhelming sound. Ms Sutherland remains the one and only...the greatest coloratura ever heard...Free Music Review: Incredible Sound, Astounding Performance ---A MUST HAVE
Hit: 5 Stars
It goes without saying that "The Art of the Prima Donna" is not only a remarkable recording that should be in every collection, but also this remastering places it in a VERY special category.Joan Sutherland, in her first major commercial album, put down for history and all time one of the most complete, virtuosic, vocally astounding recordings in existence. Many accounts have told of these recording sessions at Kingsway Hall being cold and not so pleasant conditions. They also tell of Sutherland putting these performances away in one or two takes-for the most part the first, compete take is the one we wind up hearing (she was consistent in this for years to come). The 24-bit remastering/enhancement now makes this an absolute must-have. I think it really makes it clear that the Decca recording engineers new what they were doing in the beginning! This blows away the previous two releases on CD of this album.
For the first time, Sutherland's huge top (in her prime!) is reproduced without compression and distortion. There is a fresh feeling of the youthful brightness of the voice and the POWER and SIZE of it. High B's and C's sound like F's and G's, they are so broad and large. One is for the first time on recording given a hint of the impact this voice had live in a hall.
It is almost redundant to expound on one phenomenal performance after another on this recording. High E's abound, coloratura that is FAST, immaculate and simply astonishing in piece after piece. I have long lamented that the "Ave Maria" section of the "Willow Song" from "Otello" is not here (probably never recorded due to album length limitations). The "Let the Bright Seraphim" is one for the history books-never had to be sung again after this recording! This is also before the period of very covered vowels-how brightly and clearly Sutherland sings all of this repertoire! Her voice has a shimmer and sheen in this reissue that was lacking in other releases.
Sutherland gives a very broad range of herself at such a young age (34) and I probably would have agreed with the critic at the time who said that this recording was a joy and yet sad, for after this what else could a singer possibly do? What indeed!
Probably the best Semiramide scene she recorded, and rarely after this performed in the higher key of E (Sutherland later recorded and often performed it in E-flat). I can't say enough how wonderful this recording is and how magnificent it is to listen to!
Decca have used the same technology to remaster the early Lucia recorded a year or two later with Cioni, and it sounds equally improved over all previous releases. THEY MUST DO THIS TO THE TURANDOT RECORDING!!!!!