Glass Shatterers! 16 Sopranos face the two High G's in Mozart's K.316 *LIVE*
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ค. 2024
- ~The "Glass Shatterers!" series focuses on sopranos who sustain High F, or sing higher.
While in Paris in 1779, Mozart wrote the aria “Popoli di Tessaglia” K.316 for one of his favorite sopranos, Aloysia Weber. He was infatuated with her, but she spurned him and married an actor named Joseph Lange, and Mozart ended up marrying her sister, Constanze.
Aloysia must have possessed one of the most extraordinary voices of all time judging by the exquisite and extremely difficult music Mozart composed for her. This aria is the coloratura soprano equivalent of Mount Everest - very long and demanding, and notoriously ending on two High G’s (G6). See the Wikipedia entry for more details on the piece: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popoli_...!
Its phenomenal demands put the aria out of reach for most sopranos - only about a dozen studio recordings have been made over the decades (nearly all of which can be found on TH-cam), but this video showcases 16 soprano who dared to sing the aria live, with no chance to do a retake on those High G's!
They are presented in chronological order:
1. Erika Köth (1925 - 1989 - Salzburg 1958
2. Roberta Peters (1920 - 1937) - Salzburg 1964
3. Emilia Ravaglia - RAI c. 1976
4. Jana Jonasova - Salzburg 1977
5. Luciana Serra - Bologna 1980
6. Beverly Hoch - Sweden 1985
7. Susanna Rigacci - Firenze 1987
8. Natalie Dessay - Paris 1992
9. Valeria Esposito - Catania 1995
10. Erika Miklosa - Pannonhalma 2004
11. Liudmila Shikhova - St Petersburg 2006
12. Patrizia Cigna - South Africa 2006
13. Aleksandra Resztik - Poland c. 2010
14. Elizabeth Vidal - Saint Raphaël 2012
15. Ayako Tanaka - London 2013
16. Sabine Devieilhe - Rome 2018 - เพลง
It was a surprise to see my name on this list, thank you! I had to prepare this crazy aria 10 days before the concert, as the sopranos from the mariinsky theatre refused to sing it. And I'm certainly not happy with the result, but the Everest was taken, twice in a row. It was very difficult, both technically and emotionally, and besides, the concert was filmed on television...Still, I am proud to have sung it live.It's an aria for dramatic coloratura, so it's not enough just to have a free upper G, you have to live the piece, and you have to fill it with a dark full voice... Ideally, of course. Thank you!
You did an incredible job. I've heard stories of Soprano's having to spend a few hours a day for a few months practicing to produce just one note in whatever piece they are performing. To have to perform this within 10 days, what an achievement!
I think it is for a lyric coloratura because Aloysia was good at singing lyrical parts.
Actually you are one of the very few who achieved it! Brava!
Beverly Hoch is just showing off by the end. LOVE her!!!
Dessay is the clear winner here. She is an artist, with a perfect Mozart sound and technique. Hoch’s Gs are phenomenal, the interpolated one is tasteless but exciting. This is a perfect example of an aria that most sopranos should stay 1000 feet away from; the Gs are only one of its many incredible difficulties.
It's only tasteless if you don't make it! Mozart would have loved it. Believe me. When Erna Sack interpolated higher notes in his zerbinetta... he was Delighted! (I do love Dessay!)
Natalie Dessay all the way! She sounds effortless, she's the most musical and dramatic and what a glorious SOUND!
Beverley Hoch, nails it
and Dessay conquered it.
Beverly Hoch wins my vote....BRAVA DIVA!!!!
and then there's the recording where natalie just does the triplet all the way to the goddam G lol
She slayed that part 😂
Yep that recording is gold!!
Edita did the best recording of this.
Thank you for this rarity
It was a bit cheeky to include Erika Koeth (she was a superb singer with easy top notes but obviously not in good form on that day) in this selection but your comments are hilarious 😂 👍🏻. The only one I heard live is Tanaka at Cadogan Hall, London, on 2013 (small voice, not much personality but fine rendition). My top favorite in your selection is Natalie Dessay as her voice was effortless at that time and sounds airy and beautiful. I also like Sabine Devielhe’s “pratically perfect in every way”’s execution. Very musical. And I have a weekness for Hoch’s fireworks (that extra High-G is so good). I would have added Edda Moser who is for me unique in this aria (the way she sings the introduction “popolo di Tessaglia” is so dramatic and I am aware of one live recording (but her high-Gs had almost disappeared at that time). Thank you so much for this selection! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Edda Moser was extraordinary in the fact that she didn't sound like any soprano who would attempt to sing this concert aria, and she was completely capable of doing it, no question
Dessay is simply perfect...
Hoch, Dessay, and Devieilhe are the only ones confident enough in their highest register to concentrate on any of the notes other than the ones above C6, and they sing the aria beautifully. Hoch's G6s are a little whistle-y, but at least they're in tune. Of the three I prefer Dessay, but I could listen to her sing furniture assembly instructions from Ikea.
Most of the others sound like they're thinking about the G6s for the whole piece (and they only get to maybe F#6 anyway). Some get to the G6 and sing the rest acceptably. Others shout their way through the aria and/or can't even keep time with the orchestra. Jana Jonasova should not have sung this aria, although she was certainly the most fun to listen to.
LOL @ Jana Jonasova. Even with my untrained ear I was like WTF!
I know that this recording isn't live, but it is the most amazing, on-point recording in history: Edita Gruberova with the Mozarteum-Orchester Salzburg, conducted by Leopold Hager, on Deutsche Grammophon (and later on Philips).
Did Edita sing it live?
I loved your intro!!
Dessay uber alles!! 👏👏👏👏
That version by Dessay is the not her best. The second G is not as effortless as in the other live version. Also, she's the first and only Coloratura Soprano that has sung this aria with the second G while climbing the scale.
You also forgot Gruberova:
th-cam.com/video/t_5wS8PNOLI/w-d-xo.html
That's Dessay version that I adore, her second G is just like her studio performance:
th-cam.com/video/iSXoVfPa3io/w-d-xo.html
Even though it might have not been her best day, it's still solid, both G's are at place and sound great. There's is nothing to be picky about, especially in comparison to many others here (who don't even go up there or just barely squeek out something).
@@aworysse .... thank you!
BEVERLY! BEVERLY! BEVERLY! 😯😀👍🏻
Dessay, Dessay, DESSAY!
M. obviously wanted to show-off Aloyisia Weber’s ‘glib-gullet’ back in the ultra-freezing winter of 1778 [and what a voice she must have had !] but this beautiful yet infamously difficult ‘insertion’ recitativo ed aria (‘Popoli di Tessaglia’ from Jan 1778 plac’d as both a ‘gift & a singing / dramatic action lesson for Miss Weber’ into Act I scene ii of Calzabigi’s libretto for Alceste (1767) has always pos’d one of the greatest challenges for ‘high sopranos’ - face it folks, we all can’t be Aloyisia Weber … or even her infamous rival on the European operatic stage Anna Gottlieb [who was bill’d in Vienna as ‘Caterina Cavalieri’] …
These brave ladies all deserve an ‘A-for-effort’ for even attempting this highly dramatic & nearly-impossibly difficult concert Aria in the first place …
But if I were to select one from amongst such rare talents, I would say that ‘not for nothing was Oslo’s very own Beverly Hoch so nam’d - she did not even flinch at the high G (a perfect-5th above the dreaded top C for a soprano) which (for her, at least was apparently no trouble at all !) & makes the Queen of the Night’s 2 grand arias sound like a walk in the park… and her brave taking of the G-6 Octave at the very end was breathtakingly accomplish’d -so in Sommo, Ms Hoch definitely gets my vote hands down among the 16 brave young ladies on the current video …
I would love to hear/see 16 more Sopranos of our own day selected from around the world (after all, singing talent is a world-wide phenomenon)-we might be shock’d to hear what the up-and-coming divas can do !
Edda Moser sang a marvelous studio performance and was very candid in a published interview about recording it. She said it was impossible to sing it live (at least for her) due to the extremely tiring high tessitura the comes before the ascent to the 2 high Gs. I guess among live performances Natalie Dessay and Beverly Hoch, IMHO, are the two who fully realize not only the crucial passage ascending to high G, but all that came before too.
For this video I like Beverly Hosch, Natalie Dessay and Elizabeth Vidal. Also Listen to Mady Mesple and Edda Mosser they were also both great
El sol sobre agudo es un adorno de no muchas sopranos ligeras o de coloratura. Eso no significa que sean mejores que otras es su rango vocal.
This is a really special aria only for the highest of the high sopranos.
We would make the best opera version of npr's Click and Clack style commentary... just setting that card down..
I’ve heard Simone Kermes sing this aria and I think she’s the best. She remains musical throughout and her Gs seem integrated with all her notes. Her voice remains true and lovely. Well, that’s my opinion and I’m sticking with it! Some of these voices squeaked out the note for a nanosecond, very sad.
@songbirdwatcher you forgot one of the greatest : EDITA GRUBEROVA 🤷🤷🤷
N. Dessay, that's it. That's all you need to hear. She's perfection.
#6 was the first to hit that note successfully
Everyone before that strained in some way
Good heavens... you're asking me to choose between angels!
Dessay is the only one not dying, no question about it.
My vote goes to Ingeborg hallstien, though she is not included here, but I love how she executed the G6
My Ingeborg Hallstein
I'm rehearsing to record at the end of the year, I'm Brazilian, soprano leggero, my vocal extension is F3-Eb7. This aria is wonderful and challenging !
Já virei fã!
Good luck, go slay that High G😁. This aria and any mozart aria is hell.
Just subscribed!
Out of all these soprani leggeri, I would gladly pick Roberta Peters, Beverly Hoch, Natalie Dessay, Patrizia Cigna, Aleksandra Resztik, Elizabeth Vidal, and Sabine Devieilhe as my personal favorites.
La Dessay au-dessus de toutes simplement fabuleux!
Beverly Hoch by far the best.
What about Edda Moser?
No live performance of Moser.
Where’s Edda Moser???!!!
Roberta, my girl!
Where is Ingeborg hallstein, ?
This compilation was only live performances, and I don't have Hallstein doing K316 live. The Salzburg Festival archives show her having performed it there on August 6, 1961 so it may have been broadcast or recorded in house, but again, I don't have a copy. archive.salzburgerfestspiele.at/archive_detail?programid=3257&id=0&sid=45
Very interesting video! Thank you for this. But about Natalie Dessay, we can find others LIVE renditions much much better than this. (She sounds not ready for the aria here)
Luciana..please 🙄
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Dessa & Vidal... My question is: who holds the Gs the longest?
You have to be kidding me with Elizabeth Vidal, her recording is edited with echo and it’s very clear the effects and autotune on it. What a shame.
The best is Natalie Dessay!
NO WAY, wtf, can't let you say that : no autotune at all : th-cam.com/video/zZ97tCWclcQ/w-d-xo.html&start_radio=1
The best is missing: Ingeborg Hallstein
Hallstein's studio recording is excellent -- but these are all live performances only. She did sing 316 live in a Salzburg Matinee concert in August 1961, so I expect there is a recording of it somewhere! Something to keep an eye out for ...
Where can we listen to the studio recording? Thankss
Hoch, to my admittedly untrained ear.
sem sombras de duvidas a melhor execução dessa aria vai para Natalie dessay, seguido por Sabine Devieilhe, quem na minha concepção execute a aria com total segurança, segurando as notas exatamente como fora escrita , algumas chegam ser assustadores por estarem gritando, ou como se fosse um gato kk, eu ja tinha ouvido outras versões , inclusive tem uma versão de 97 com a natalie onde ela esta mais sublime ainda.... th-cam.com/video/NMR96G8gxm4/w-d-xo.html&start_radio=1 , tentarei achar o video ao vivo, estava aqui no youtube, mas nao acho... pra mim, ela ainda é INSUBISTITUIVEL NESSA ARIA ....
Literally, there is only one singer for this aria And it is Natalie Dessy
Erika Koth, Jana Jonasova and Beverly Hoch phenomenal. But, I love Edda Moser and Ingeborg Hallstein's performers.