What a fabulous singer! It's refreshing to hear a modern singer to sing with guts. I had the pleasure of hearing her sing this role at the Met and she was stunning from her first utterance!
I agree completely. I saw her in this as well at the Met, and most recently, she did a masterclass at my university. She was extremely insightful, intelligent, and helpful to the students she worked with. Obviously her voice sparks controversy, and she has technical issues every once in a while. But what a glorious voice that we are so lucky to have today. I can listen to the best singers of the past any day, but I can't ever hear them live. I can hear this glorious singer live, and I would never give up that experience for any recording.
I strongly agree with the positive comments here. I would just add that she seems to me to be one of those singers whose voice does not record especially well. The recordings do not convey that this is a gigantic voice. In the opera house it completely dominates, and it has a great range of color and nuance. She floats high notes in a way that is very unusual for such a large instrument. Dramatically she also commits and takes risks that can be thrilling. She is a real artist.
Not too mention that her diminuendos and crescendos are so much more powerful live. I remember seeing a recital and being amazed at that huge voice just slowly disappearing or increasing in volume. And then when I heard the recording, it sounded like almost nothing.
This is the TRUTH. I've heard her live a few times and it's INSANE SINGING. It's so good. I heard her do "Ain't it a pretty night" in a concert and my mind was shattered.
I absolutely have to second what you said about her voice not recording how she actually sounds in the house. I heard her live in Tosca a couple of years ago and it was a thrilling experience. She fills the entire house with her voice and while her top definitely has metallic aspects (in the best sense of the word) it sounds much warmer and fuller live. Again thrilling is how I remember that night.
She sings this scene extremely creditably. To make uninformed comments about breath control she does not apparently have is not particularly helpful. Several inverted pedal points such as the one here exist in Donizetti's and Bellini's canon, and very few singers had, or have, the freedom to support them as written. In fact, the second suspended note--the B-flat--is not in the score at all but became iconic after Sills interpolated it in her studio recording (and on stage) of the role. Radvanovsky is the only other soprano besides Sills that I have heard singing the B-Flat, and I think she does it splendidly. Even Caballe with her seemingly bottomless breath capacity did not attempt it as far as I know... I haven't heard every performance she ever sang of Maria of course, as other people who subscribe to this rubric would like one to believe. Radvanovsky does economise on the breath by starting slightly later than is written, but sustained, floated notes such as these are very difficult to sing. It isn't a matter of opening the mouth and letting it all pour out as it seems; it takes a great deal of hard physical work. I always find the idea of little armchair operatic buffs sitting nailed to their MP3 players with a stopwatch who time long (or high) notes deeply pathetic. And claiming that the sustained note should be 20 seconds long speaks of boundless ignorance. The time one spends on any note depends on the tempo one chooses in the first instance. Who cares about three seconds in the greater scheme of things if the drama of the situation is properly conveyed?
Thank you so much for sharing Sondra Radvanosky incredible voice and virtuoso skills !! Radvanosky's 3 Queens at Met were events of rare BEAUTY and just explosions of colors, emotions and true virtuosa skills.I had a chance to hear Her and it will stay with me forever Every performance was like reaching Heavens .!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was waiting to buy those incredible performances of Sondra's 3 Queens at MET store to send them as gifts . I am still waiting ...
I agree that this is not a perfect voice but currently she is the best in these roles that we have. We need to appreciate what she offers because there is just not much out there. And it is not like she does not portray great dramatic effect. She is an outstanding soprano.
Thank you. Is it perfect? Possibly not as written. Does it convey the tragic story as Schiller intended? Of course. Donizetti wrote this as a vehicle to make us weep at the injustice. Does it? No doubt about it. People should listen with their hearts not their heads to this full blooded heartfelt interpretation.
RECITATIVOS Na ópera Maria Stuarda, de Donizetti, vem a ária Deh! tu di un umile, com os recitativos de prece. Espalhe um véu sobre eventos dolorosos. A área Espiritual é bem sutil, pois realidade transparece. A transparência ou a clarividência dos fatos vem À tona, revelando o que nós trazemos no íntimo. A prece vem antecedida pelos atos que fervem Em nossa mente, optando-nos em manter ânimo. Os tempos da pandemia são tempos redobrados Para espalhar um véu sobre os eventos dolorosos Fazendo todos ao nosso redor sentir-se amados. A egrégora, que congrega os pensamentos, traz O clima favorável no ambiente, ficamos vigorosos Realçando o que prevalece pra todos nós é a paz. (*) (*) FERNANDO PINHEIRO, presidente da Academia de Letras dos Funcionários do Banco do Brasil. - RECITATIVOS (poesia), de Fernando Pinheiro. - in O mundo de Morfeu, de Fernando Pinheiro.
She merely does not have sufficient breath control to sing this. The long note is not 17 sec, it is 20 sec as written. Nobody asks her to repeat feats of Sills and Caballe, but if Devia holds it for 20 sec at 68, maybe it's time to think about one's technique. The rest just average as well.
You've got a strange way of evaluating singers. If Devia holds the note for 20 seconds at 68, then that might be more a reflection of Devia's own excellence than Radvanovsky's technical flaws. Also, I'm not really sure where you're getting the idea that the note is written for 20 seconds, composers don't compose in seconds, they compose in beats. And how long it takes for those beats to occur is up to the conductor to determine. And if you listen to the Sills recording, she only holds the note for 18 seconds. So did Sills need to think about her technique too?
In addition, I just listened to both Devia's recent preghiera and one of her older one's and neither contain the longish note after the really long one. But Radvanovsky DOES include it. So I'm not really sure where you're getting the idea that Radvanovsky is somehow inadequate for this role. Sure, it's not her best role, but not everyone can be expected to be the best in all of them.
Sills held it for 22 sec and even longer, check her early recs (btw the 'longish' one if I remember correctly is not in the score). But the classics - yes, it's 20 sec. Why people judge sopranos by this exercise? Because it shows your breath control, you either have it or you don't and timbre/acting will not disguise it. Radvanovsky does not - well, not a shame, only 10-12 sopranos in all times could do it properly.
But that's exactly my point, why think that Radvanovsky is unable to perform adequately for this role just because she doesn't hold the note for long enough. The feat is an exceptional one and we can't even expect the most exceptional singers to be able to perform it. Different singers have different strengths. For Radvanovsky, holding notes for ridiculous amounts of time might not be one of them. So what? I generally consider beautiful phrasing, a luscious large voice, and interpretive ability, to be of much more importance than being able to hold onto a note for three seconds longer. I highly doubt that Beverly Sills herself would have listened to this performance and have had her watch out and have come away from it thinking, "Oh, if only she had held that note for three seconds longer, then she would have been adequate for that role." And that's also what makes this sort of criticism further ridiculous. When you're watching a performance, no one is going to be timing anything. The difference between a 17 second note and a 20 second note is going to be noticed by nearly no one in the audience. So why bother setting this as a criterion of evaluation at all? To make a claim that Radvanovsky needs to reevaluate her technique because she can't hold a note for 20 seconds instead of 17 seconds is a great exaggeration, and probably more an expression of personal dislike towards Radvanovsky's singing, than any sort of objective evaluation of her singing.
It's not that simple. This note shows your breath control. And the reason why she can not hold it is very much the very reason why her legato is far from perfect, why she has huge problems with pitch stability, and has got vibrato commonly referred to as 'bleating' (the frequency of vibrato is related to breath control as well) etc etc. And this is why she is not good at belcanto. This note is not a circus, it's a difference between the high and okeyish level. And no, rich voice can not compensate for these problems.
Thank you for that enlightening commentary that is in conflict with the majority of people's opinions. I shall consider your words seriously and re-evaluate my entire opinion.
More I listen to Sondra, especially her performance in Roberto Devereux, more I love her... She is just amazing... :)
Wonderful post, thank you!
What a fabulous singer! It's refreshing to hear a modern singer to sing with guts. I had the pleasure of hearing her sing this role at the Met and she was stunning from her first utterance!
I agree completely. I saw her in this as well at the Met, and most recently, she did a masterclass at my university. She was extremely insightful, intelligent, and helpful to the students she worked with.
Obviously her voice sparks controversy, and she has technical issues every once in a while. But what a glorious voice that we are so lucky to have today. I can listen to the best singers of the past any day, but I can't ever hear them live. I can hear this glorious singer live, and I would never give up that experience for any recording.
I strongly agree with the positive comments here. I would just add that she seems to me to be one of those singers whose voice does not record especially well. The recordings do not convey that this is a gigantic voice. In the opera house it completely dominates, and it has a great range of color and nuance. She floats high notes in a way that is very unusual for such a large instrument. Dramatically she also commits and takes risks that can be thrilling. She is a real artist.
Not too mention that her diminuendos and crescendos are so much more powerful live. I remember seeing a recital and being amazed at that huge voice just slowly disappearing or increasing in volume. And then when I heard the recording, it sounded like almost nothing.
This is the TRUTH. I've heard her live a few times and it's INSANE SINGING. It's so good. I heard her do "Ain't it a pretty night" in a concert and my mind was shattered.
I absolutely have to second what you said about her voice not recording how she actually sounds in the house. I heard her live in Tosca a couple of years ago and it was a thrilling experience. She fills the entire house with her voice and while her top definitely has metallic aspects (in the best sense of the word) it sounds much warmer and fuller live. Again thrilling is how I remember that night.
She sings this scene extremely creditably. To make uninformed comments about breath control she does not apparently have is not particularly helpful. Several inverted pedal points such as the one here exist in Donizetti's and Bellini's canon, and very few singers had, or have, the freedom to support them as written. In fact, the second suspended note--the B-flat--is not in the score at all but became iconic after Sills interpolated it in her studio recording (and on stage) of the role. Radvanovsky is the only other soprano besides Sills that I have heard singing the B-Flat, and I think she does it splendidly. Even Caballe with her seemingly bottomless breath capacity did not attempt it as far as I know... I haven't heard every performance she ever sang of Maria of course, as other people who subscribe to this rubric would like one to believe. Radvanovsky does economise on the breath by starting slightly later than is written, but sustained, floated notes such as these are very difficult to sing. It isn't a matter of opening the mouth and letting it all pour out as it seems; it takes a great deal of hard physical work. I always find the idea of little armchair operatic buffs sitting nailed to their MP3 players with a stopwatch who time long (or high) notes deeply pathetic. And claiming that the sustained note should be 20 seconds long speaks of boundless ignorance. The time one spends on any note depends on the tempo one chooses in the first instance. Who cares about three seconds in the greater scheme of things if the drama of the situation is properly conveyed?
Thank you so much for sharing Sondra Radvanosky incredible voice and virtuoso skills !! Radvanosky's 3 Queens at Met were events of rare BEAUTY and just explosions of colors, emotions and true virtuosa skills.I had a chance to hear Her and it will stay with me forever Every performance was like reaching Heavens .!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was waiting to buy those incredible performances of Sondra's 3 Queens at MET store to send them as gifts . I am still waiting ...
I agree that this is not a perfect voice but currently she is the best in these roles that we have. We need to appreciate what she offers because there is just not much out there. And it is not like she does not portray great dramatic effect. She is an outstanding soprano.
I think she is perfect and most beautiful voice! Magnificent voice and singing!!!!
@@valentinvladimirov6055 please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian
Diva ❤❤❤❤
Thank you. Is it perfect? Possibly not as written. Does it convey the tragic story as Schiller intended? Of course. Donizetti wrote this as a vehicle to make us weep at the injustice. Does it? No doubt about it. People should listen with their hearts not their heads to this full blooded heartfelt interpretation.
Very nice.
RECITATIVOS
Na ópera Maria Stuarda, de Donizetti, vem a ária
Deh! tu di un umile, com os recitativos de prece.
Espalhe um véu sobre eventos dolorosos. A área
Espiritual é bem sutil, pois realidade transparece.
A transparência ou a clarividência dos fatos vem
À tona, revelando o que nós trazemos no íntimo.
A prece vem antecedida pelos atos que fervem
Em nossa mente, optando-nos em manter ânimo.
Os tempos da pandemia são tempos redobrados
Para espalhar um véu sobre os eventos dolorosos
Fazendo todos ao nosso redor sentir-se amados.
A egrégora, que congrega os pensamentos, traz
O clima favorável no ambiente, ficamos vigorosos
Realçando o que prevalece pra todos nós é a paz. (*)
(*) FERNANDO PINHEIRO, presidente da Academia de Letras dos Funcionários do Banco do Brasil. - RECITATIVOS (poesia), de Fernando Pinheiro. - in O mundo de Morfeu, de Fernando Pinheiro.
She merely does not have sufficient breath control to sing this. The long note is not 17 sec, it is 20 sec as written.
Nobody asks her to repeat feats of Sills and Caballe, but if Devia holds it for 20 sec at 68, maybe it's time to think about one's technique.
The rest just average as well.
You've got a strange way of evaluating singers. If Devia holds the note for 20 seconds at 68, then that might be more a reflection of Devia's own excellence than Radvanovsky's technical flaws.
Also, I'm not really sure where you're getting the idea that the note is written for 20 seconds, composers don't compose in seconds, they compose in beats. And how long it takes for those beats to occur is up to the conductor to determine.
And if you listen to the Sills recording, she only holds the note for 18 seconds. So did Sills need to think about her technique too?
In addition, I just listened to both Devia's recent preghiera and one of her older one's and neither contain the longish note after the really long one. But Radvanovsky DOES include it.
So I'm not really sure where you're getting the idea that Radvanovsky is somehow inadequate for this role. Sure, it's not her best role, but not everyone can be expected to be the best in all of them.
Sills held it for 22 sec and even longer, check her early recs (btw the 'longish' one if I remember correctly is not in the score). But the classics - yes, it's 20 sec. Why people judge sopranos by this exercise? Because it shows your breath control, you either have it or you don't and timbre/acting will not disguise it. Radvanovsky does not - well, not a shame, only 10-12 sopranos in all times could do it properly.
But that's exactly my point, why think that Radvanovsky is unable to perform adequately for this role just because she doesn't hold the note for long enough. The feat is an exceptional one and we can't even expect the most exceptional singers to be able to perform it. Different singers have different strengths. For Radvanovsky, holding notes for ridiculous amounts of time might not be one of them. So what? I generally consider beautiful phrasing, a luscious large voice, and interpretive ability, to be of much more importance than being able to hold onto a note for three seconds longer. I highly doubt that Beverly Sills herself would have listened to this performance and have had her watch out and have come away from it thinking, "Oh, if only she had held that note for three seconds longer, then she would have been adequate for that role." And that's also what makes this sort of criticism further ridiculous. When you're watching a performance, no one is going to be timing anything. The difference between a 17 second note and a 20 second note is going to be noticed by nearly no one in the audience. So why bother setting this as a criterion of evaluation at all?
To make a claim that Radvanovsky needs to reevaluate her technique because she can't hold a note for 20 seconds instead of 17 seconds is a great exaggeration, and probably more an expression of personal dislike towards Radvanovsky's singing, than any sort of objective evaluation of her singing.
It's not that simple. This note shows your breath control. And the reason why she can not hold it is very much the very reason why her legato is far from perfect, why she has huge problems with pitch stability, and has got vibrato commonly referred to as 'bleating' (the frequency of vibrato is related to breath control as well) etc etc. And this is why she is not good at belcanto. This note is not a circus, it's a difference between the high and okeyish level. And no, rich voice can not compensate for these problems.
Leyla gencer was also excellent in this role but I think caballe was the best
Joyce DeDonato - the best of the best !
Beverly sills is the best in this aria in my opinion
Terrible.
Thank you for that enlightening commentary that is in conflict with the majority of people's opinions. I shall consider your words seriously and re-evaluate my entire opinion.