13 Dramatic Sopranos sing Isolde's High Cs (Tristan und Isolde)
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- Опубликовано: 10 июл 2024
- Part 2 of my "Dramatic sopranos sing..." series. This time the lightning High Cs in the prelude to the Act 2 Love Duet (Isolde! Geliebte!). Apparently, very difficult as many older sopranos would regularly dodge them.
Featured artists:
Frida Leider
Kirsten Flagstad
Margaret Harshaw
Martha Mödl
Getrude Grob-Prandl
Astrid Varnay
Birgit Nilsson
Gwyneth Jones
Catarina Ligendza
Linda Esther Grey
Waltraud Meier
Nina Stemme
Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet
Next in this series will be the Siegfried high C.
Nilsson and Flagstad. Jones, shout.
Very lyrical timbre from Nilsson there.
Varnay!! ❤❤
Martha Mödl mit ihrer warmen, wunderschönen Stimme und diesem rollenden "R" ist für mich als Isolde nicht zu toppen.
Nilsson & Flagstad for ever because of their beauty of tone…
In no particular order: Kirsten Flagstad, Martha Mödl, Birgit Nilsson, Gwyneth Jones, Gertrude Grob-Prandl, and Astrid Varnay,
Nilsson, Flagstad, Grob-Prandl are the obvious answers. I don't like Varnay's sound as Isolde generally, but she does great here. ( I love Varnay as Brunnhilde.)
Gwyneth Jones the best!
The Isoldes I love in terms of the High C produced are Frida Leider, Kirsten Flagstad, Martha Mödl, Gertrude Grob-Prandl, Astrid Varnay, Birgit Nilsson, and Gwyneth Jones.
Charbonet sounded some what like what was happening to her was real 🤭🤣
Brava, Dame Gwyneth.
Grob-Prandl had a voice even bigger than Nilsson's, and her high Cs just pop out. The last lady seemed really over-parted. For many, Leider's Isolde remains unequalled, and she sang it as if it were Norma.
Maybe bigger but certainly not as glorious high notes…
Jones simply the best
As I like to call these compilations: "Aural Porn!" For a bit of trivia, Helen Traubel, one of the great voices of all time, admitted in her autobiography, St. Louis Woman, that she simply skipped the high-Cs in the roles!! Can you imagine anyone doing that today!
She attempted the Gott. high C in concert performance (not particularly well): ruclips.net/video/C3iipZU0-cQ/видео.html
But yes, it does seem people were much more forgiving of singers leaving out notes (or taking liberty with the score in general) in the past.
@@dramaticsoprano5168 Yes, I saw your video a few months ago, and here was my comment: 'I saw three of these singers as Brunnhilde: Jones, Behrens, Polaski. I saw several of the other singers, too, but in other operas. Let's face it, Flagstad had the supreme voice, but Nilsson is the Queen of the High-Cs. Jones and Behrens were pretty great too. But that high-C is a killer because most of Brunnhilde's music sits low, and then you have to launch a high-C seemingly out of nowhere. Traubel was a great singer, if a bit short on top."
Nilsson's high Cs in this clip are not so radiant. In Bohm's live recording her C's are so visceral and beyond compare.
Thanks for the comment. I don’t doubt there are many better examples out there for other artists as well. But with so many different recordings, it’s impossible for me to always pick out the best (usually I just choose the most viewed or top listing). I guess that’s something people need do consider when reviewing who ‘sings it best’.
I think next time I will include the year and other details for the recordings I select so there’s some context at least.
that live recording is still for me the definitive Tristan
@@dramaticsoprano5168 No problem, it's not a criticism; just a comment with some info.
It is known that Nilsson was a lot better live, than in studio. Bohm recording is live and the one in this clip is the Decca recording in studio.
Grey, Jones and Meier.
Astrid Varnay is the best!
Nilsson, for making you do a double-take and ask "Oh, those were the high C's?" Charbonnet's second high C sounds, shall we say, pained-not inappropriate considering what I think the Tristan just did to her. Wacky staging.
I thought he was going to mount her right there! Ha ha!
I thought the same thing 🤣
yea what was the point of ... whatever that was?
The by far most majestic High C´s were produced by the great Flagstad. After that i prefer the C´s from Mödl because of the warm sound. The last in my list is Harshaw, next to pitch problems her sound is not pleasing, she sings pretty overstrained.
i agree with you. I like Grob-Prandl too
@@Duketributechannel , i have to confess that i never got warm with Grob-Prandl because of her fast vibrato. I prefer wider ones. But this is a personal opinion of course. Regards from the north of Germany :)
and nilsson????@@Sir.Larselot
@@Matthew9.__ , no doubt that Nilsson was a fantastic singer. But I'm so sorry, her icy sound was never my cup of tea. I prefer a warm quality in the color of a voice.
how is martha modl better than nilsson??? martha modl pushes and screams! especially her high notes unlike flagstad and nilsson. Flagstad and Nilsson are the best !!! @@Sir.Larselot
I like Meir b st
Harshaw sounds like she's screeching instead of singing..
She does not screech and modern sopranos are often false darkened without chiaroscuro.
Harshaw was always better as a mezzo than soprano. I guess she could never quite figure out her highest notes.
I like the first 4 and Astrid Varnay.
My favorites here are Flagstad and Grob-Prandl. To think people say Flagstad had no high C, yet her notes sounds bigger in a primitive 30s recording than everyone else!
It’s a shame Eileen Farrell never sang these Cs.
@@dramaticsoprano5168 I don’t like Grob Prandl, she sounds throaty and her musicality is terrible.
@@BaroneVitellioScarpia1 I agree Grob-Prandl had technical flaws, the biggest IMO was her very pitchy vibrato which I’m surprised isn’t a issue for more people.
I still enjoy her recordings regardless because it’s rare for such a large voice to be so fearless in the upper register. Her agility was also impressive (Reiza, Isabelle, even Pamina).
@@dramaticsoprano5168
Flagstad had a high C in the beginning of her career.
@@dramaticsoprano5168 Eileen Farrell DID sing those high C’s!! February 26, 1969 with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. The Tristan was Jess Thomas. Gala 3 CD set GL100.613
Це повинно бути схожим на жіночий оргазм, мати якісь ознаки недозволеного, навіть непристойного. І при цьому бути прекрасним. На мій смак це вдається найкраще Birgitt Nilsson. Її звуки такі гарні, що навіть лякають.
Grob-Prandl is the best Isolde
Flagstad easily is the best among these, the rest sound lackluster and lack passion in the role. It is a shame you don’t include Farrell, though, as with Flagstad, she had both passion and technique.
farrell's technique was not great, she was pushing and forcing