My father introduced me to opera when I was 7 years old and played me old recordings of Galli-Curci, Tetrazzini, Peters, Pons, Ponselle etc. which literally put me in a trance (I've been addicted to coloraturas ever since). He told me that none of them were as good as Joan Sutherland who was the best he had ever heard. He was at her Met debut in 1961. I went to my first live opera when I was 8 at the Arena di Verona. One of my parent's friends was singing the lead in Ernani. It wasn't until about 7 years later that I bought Sutherland's first complete Lucia recording. On first listen the voice sounded too "operatic" and not like the bells I heard in the other singers of this fach. I listened again. By the third listen it was the only voice I wanted to listen to for 20 years. A friend of mine was a fan of "someone else" and we had a drop the needle comparison session, which prompted her to say "you're right. She's just better". I saw Sutherland live many times in the 70s and 80s. I was 7 in 1970. Even later in her career the voice was unique. It sounded like it came out of her whole head and out of the walls and sat on your shoulder and went into your ear. I saw the Met Lucias in 1982 (all of them). I hate my parents for being there in 1961. LOL. I went to her memorial in 2010 in NYC (I was a friendly acquaintance of Marilyn Horne). Someone who knew her well and who was with her at her very last performance said that afterwards, with flowers in her hands, she turned to him and said "I just realized, I never have to open my f*cking mouth again." And she burst out laughing. A truly amazing and unique person and, in my opinion, the greatest soprano who ever lived.
You might enjoy my talks on Ponselle and Tetrazzini and my one on Melba and Stignani is rather funny. You made my day. I copied your response and posted it on my opera forum where I do daily aria contests.
@@jondavwal13 No, but I bet it was great. This is on TalkClassical Opera and I interact with a wide variety of members from all over the world. It is my only connection to the opera world besides my sister, who was an opera singer in Germany.
You made my morning. I did this 10 years ago but technology is so much better now and I prefer this version. I LOVE Joan. This is the 3rd talk I have done on her. Have a wonderful day. Come check out TalkClassical/ Opera where we discuss opera online and I do daily aria contests.
I love this! I worked front of house at Covent Garden selling programmes in the eighties and also worked a bit in the press office. I looked in Dame Joan's file. The splash after that first Lucia was amazing. Oh, and regarding the running around while singing business - she was great friends with The Two Peters, regular patrons (accountants to Paul Raymond himself) and she once told them: 'My goose was cooked when they realised I could still sing coloratura while running up and down stairs. Every new production from then on had stairs in it, waiting for me...'
Love your video, as an Australian I first heard her via radio after she did Lucia,my Mother was a Mezzo Soprano and we grew up with singing and good music. Music is the ultimate drug and Opera brings it all together with fantastic sets and costumes. Love your backdrop set in this video.😘😘
Enjoyed your video. I was so lucky to hear her in the 1980s mainly at Covent Garden but also in Paris, Glasgow and Newcastle. The voice was as you say enormous and seemed to envelop the theatre. Her 1985 Lucias were astonishing.
I first heard Joan live in 1965 and then again in 1973 - both occasions at the top of her game. Her voice was simply a phenomenon, possibly unique in the history of opera singing. By the 80’s the voice had darkened and could at times sound a bit muddy in the middle register but she could still reach the high notes in a way no other singer could.
Nice to read your comment! She was likely exhausted and could have a meal, a glass of wine and go to bed LOL. One of the nice things about her was that offstage she was reported to be very down to earth and modest. The great thing was she could go onstage and be confident and very grand, which her role as a diva required. She knew it was like a " drag" character and could leave it behind. Most people are terrified of public speaking but I love it and when I am onstage I am relaxed and confident as a speaker and it allows me to be my best without fear. I think it was the same with her. She had worked for years to be able to do performances like that ! You might enjoy my earlier An Introduction to Joan Sutherland speech.th-cam.com/video/qCWxX1KHafo/w-d-xo.html If you aren't familiar with her you also might enjoy my speech on The Great Opera Diva Rosa Ponselle, my other favorite singer, who , along with Flagstad and Joan had the 3 greatest voices of the 20th century.
Who cares really The end result was what mattered and she had tremendous stage presence by the time she made her big hit, Lucia at Covent Garden. She was large and had no confidence she could look presentable onstage early on it was reported in the research I posted but her mentors turned her into a wonderful stage presence. I remember growing up in Miss. back in the 60s and you almost never saw women 5'8", which was her height. She was one of the greatest divas onstage but was a very down to earth woman in real life.
There are so many inaccuracies here it's difficult to know where to start. I'll just say that, as for the Lucia mad scene cadenza and her physical agility dashing about the stage (paralleling what she could do with her enormous instrument), this was Ms. Sutherland's idea - not Zeffirelli's. The idea that she had to rely on him, or anyone, to convince her that she could perform this role, is absurd. When David Webster greenlighted this new production specifically for her, she and her husband grabbed it and never looked back.
I used Sutherland and Zeffirelli and even Marilyn Horne talking about this collaboration in The Reluctant Prima Donna. Of course, they could be lying like Donald Trump. Watch from here:th-cam.com/video/U3m4oksrNWg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=WArgsPLXz1HZxBCI&t=1154
If you are talking about me, I have two talks on Callas on TH-cam. They were done when I was younger and I have come to appreciate more some of her post weight loss performances. I am a fan, though I am a bigger Sutherland fan. I prefer her voice.
We all have heard about Callas and appreciate her “big ugly voice”. She was dramatic on stage but her voice became strained. She was always a fascinating personality and the voice grabs your attention,,,,,not always in a good way.
Dame Joan was not a farm girl. She grew up in the city of Melbourne and she was never “clumsy as an ox.” You have embellished her life with many inaccuracies. Do better research.
Farm. Messed up and put in a correction ( thanks) but she was clumsy at the start according to: Encyclopedia.com www.encyclopedia.com › women › sutherland-... One of her teachers, Edward Downes, secretly tried to have her dismissed from the opera school because he considered her clumsy and incapable of direction. Also from Classical Source: In her early years Joan was physically unconfident; she was quite tall and she felt awkward on the stage. But Norman Ayrton helped her with that, and she did exercises at the barre. The Economist www.economist.com › obituary › 2019/06/22 Jun 22, 2019 - Obituary: Franco Zeffirelli died on June 15th ... He also persuaded Sutherland, so stout and awkward, to loosen up, which made all the difference.
@davida,,,Sutherland grew up in Sydney ,,,not Melbourne. The Farm girl statement is how she looked. If you need confirmation watch her in the movie “On our selection”. She was a big lady with a big jaw and she needed to learn stage craft. Thank God she was always true to her roots,,,,the voice was unique and phenomenal.
My father introduced me to opera when I was 7 years old and played me old recordings of Galli-Curci, Tetrazzini, Peters, Pons, Ponselle etc. which literally put me in a trance (I've been addicted to coloraturas ever since). He told me that none of them were as good as Joan Sutherland who was the best he had ever heard. He was at her Met debut in 1961. I went to my first live opera when I was 8 at the Arena di Verona. One of my parent's friends was singing the lead in Ernani. It wasn't until about 7 years later that I bought Sutherland's first complete Lucia recording. On first listen the voice sounded too "operatic" and not like the bells I heard in the other singers of this fach. I listened again. By the third listen it was the only voice I wanted to listen to for 20 years. A friend of mine was a fan of "someone else" and we had a drop the needle comparison session, which prompted her to say "you're right. She's just better". I saw Sutherland live many times in the 70s and 80s. I was 7 in 1970. Even later in her career the voice was unique. It sounded like it came out of her whole head and out of the walls and sat on your shoulder and went into your ear. I saw the Met Lucias in 1982 (all of them). I hate my parents for being there in 1961. LOL. I went to her memorial in 2010 in NYC (I was a friendly acquaintance of Marilyn Horne). Someone who knew her well and who was with her at her very last performance said that afterwards, with flowers in her hands, she turned to him and said "I just realized, I never have to open my f*cking mouth again." And she burst out laughing. A truly amazing and unique person and, in my opinion, the greatest soprano who ever lived.
Of my 60+ videos this is my favorite response.
@@nwdixieboy Thank you.
You might enjoy my talks on Ponselle and Tetrazzini and my one on Melba and Stignani is rather funny. You made my day. I copied your response and posted it on my opera forum where I do daily aria contests.
@@nwdixieboy I will give them a look tomorrow. I’m in Europe. Did you ever participate in The NY Times opera forum when it existed?
@@jondavwal13 No, but I bet it was great. This is on TalkClassical Opera and I interact with a wide variety of members from all over the world. It is my only connection to the opera world besides my sister, who was an opera singer in Germany.
Exquisite ~ I love Joan; her voice and her story. Thank you for posting. ❤️
You made my morning. I did this 10 years ago but technology is so much better now and I prefer this version. I LOVE Joan. This is the 3rd talk I have done on her. Have a wonderful day. Come check out TalkClassical/ Opera where we discuss opera online and I do daily aria contests.
I love this! I worked front of house at Covent Garden selling programmes in the eighties and also worked a bit in the press office. I looked in Dame Joan's file. The splash after that first Lucia was amazing. Oh, and regarding the running around while singing business - she was great friends with The Two Peters, regular patrons (accountants to Paul Raymond himself) and she once told them: 'My goose was cooked when they realised I could still sing coloratura while running up and down stairs. Every new production from then on had stairs in it, waiting for me...'
And she was still running around singing in the 80's. She could sing from any position!
Love your video, as an Australian I first heard her via radio after she did Lucia,my Mother was a Mezzo Soprano and we grew up with singing and good music.
Music is the ultimate drug and Opera brings it all together with fantastic sets and costumes.
Love your backdrop set in this video.😘😘
Enjoyed your video. I was so lucky to hear her in the 1980s mainly at Covent Garden but also in Paris, Glasgow and Newcastle. The voice was as you say enormous and seemed to envelop the theatre. Her 1985 Lucias were astonishing.
I am envious that you heard her live! Thanks for watching and commenting. This video has been well received but few comments. John
I first heard Joan live in 1965 and then again in 1973 - both occasions at the top of her game. Her voice was simply a phenomenon, possibly unique in the history of opera singing. By the 80’s the voice had darkened and could at times sound a bit muddy in the middle register but she could still reach the high notes in a way no other singer could.
She was the greatest and for forty years.
What does Joan S do when she goes home after a performance this stellar? Wish I'd heard her live....
Nice to read your comment! She was likely exhausted and could have a meal, a glass of wine and go to bed LOL. One of the nice things about her was that offstage she was reported to be very down to earth and modest. The great thing was she could go onstage and be confident and very grand, which her role as a diva required. She knew it was like a " drag" character and could leave it behind. Most people are terrified of public speaking but I love it and when I am onstage I am relaxed and confident as a speaker and it allows me to be my best without fear. I think it was the same with her. She had worked for years to be able to do performances like that ! You might enjoy my earlier An Introduction to Joan Sutherland speech.th-cam.com/video/qCWxX1KHafo/w-d-xo.html
If you aren't familiar with her you also might enjoy my speech on The Great Opera Diva Rosa Ponselle, my other favorite singer, who , along with Flagstad and Joan had the 3 greatest voices of the 20th century.
@@nwdixieboy Are you ducking? LOL.
She was INDEED the most wonderful singer of the twentieth century!!!
Clumsy is a subjective word
Who cares really The end result was what mattered and she had tremendous stage presence by the time she made her big hit, Lucia at Covent Garden. She was large and had no confidence she could look presentable onstage early on it was reported in the research I posted but her mentors turned her into a wonderful stage presence. I remember growing up in Miss. back in the 60s and you almost never saw women 5'8", which was her height. She was one of the greatest divas onstage but was a very down to earth woman in real life.
There are so many inaccuracies here it's difficult to know where to start. I'll just say that, as for the Lucia mad scene cadenza and her physical agility dashing about the stage (paralleling what she could do with her enormous instrument), this was Ms. Sutherland's idea - not Zeffirelli's. The idea that she had to rely on him, or anyone, to convince her that she could perform this role, is absurd. When David Webster greenlighted this new production specifically for her, she and her husband grabbed it and never looked back.
I used Sutherland and Zeffirelli and even Marilyn Horne talking about this collaboration in The Reluctant Prima Donna. Of course, they could be lying like Donald Trump. Watch from here:th-cam.com/video/U3m4oksrNWg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=WArgsPLXz1HZxBCI&t=1154
Careful when you criticise.
Are you the official Archivist.
THIS MAN NEVER HEARD ABOUT MARIA CALLAS??????????
If you are talking about me, I have two talks on Callas on TH-cam. They were done when I was younger and I have come to appreciate more some of her post weight loss performances. I am a fan, though I am a bigger Sutherland fan. I prefer her voice.
We all have heard about Callas and appreciate her “big ugly voice”.
She was dramatic on stage but her voice became strained.
She was always a fascinating personality and the voice grabs your attention,,,,,not always in a good way.
Dame Joan was not a farm girl. She grew up in the city of Melbourne and she was never “clumsy as an ox.” You have embellished her life with many inaccuracies. Do better research.
Farm. Messed up and put in a correction ( thanks) but she was clumsy at the start according to: Encyclopedia.com
www.encyclopedia.com › women › sutherland-...
One of her teachers, Edward Downes, secretly tried to have her dismissed from the opera school because he considered her clumsy and incapable of direction.
Also from Classical Source: In her early years Joan was physically unconfident; she was quite tall and she felt awkward on the stage. But Norman Ayrton helped her with that, and she did exercises at the barre.
The Economist
www.economist.com › obituary › 2019/06/22
Jun 22, 2019 - Obituary: Franco Zeffirelli died on June 15th ... He also persuaded Sutherland, so stout and awkward, to loosen up, which made all the difference.
@davida,,,Sutherland grew up in Sydney ,,,not Melbourne.
The Farm girl statement is how she looked.
If you need confirmation watch her in the movie “On our selection”.
She was a big lady with a big jaw and she needed to learn stage craft.
Thank God she was always true to her roots,,,,the voice was unique and phenomenal.