These recordings sound like science fiction. How she can sound so light yet full at the same time is unique to early Sutherland and early to mid-Sutherland up in the stratosphere.
I agree with your analysis on Sutherland. In the 70's she was still the greatest coloratura, and in the 80's she was still amazing, but it's just that her former standard of singing was as close to perfect as we are ever going to hear. Her detractors will obviously deny it, but in terms of technique and musicianship there's no better combination than the early Sutherland. Everything was there. And, after that, it still was, but maybe in a slightly less flawless shape, but still unsurpassable!
and she was born to sing bel canto operas? why is she worse than callas there? she is emotive here and she has acceptable diction and in these early years
@Matthew9.__ because singing is more than high fast notes and pretty trills. A singer has text, one has to communicate a story. To do this, you need to know the language you're singing. Sutherland, like Leontyne Price never bothered to learn Italian. It's not just a matter of diction, there rarely are accents, colours and the flow of the language. Her English diction is also sometimes mushy but at least her phrasing and intention is clear because she knows what she's saying. In Italian, she's hopeless.
Well, that's exactly what I wanted to express :-)! The early recordings are just so good that I strongly feel that even if she hadn't reocrded anything after 1962, she would still be legendary. Still, I am glad she continued her career for so long ;-)! Maybe the later recordings are different from the early ones, but it doesn't mean that they are bad, they're just that: different :-)!
Joan is absolutely awesome here. As she always has been in everything she sung. Her trills and high and precisely notes are amazing. She is wonderful! A great artist in it's full way!
Bravissima!!!! Now that's absolute purity of tone. Her trill...Perfection. Her coloratura...Perfection. La Stupenda is at her best in Baroque and Bel Canto roles. The beauty of her voice here shames phrase.
I had these on cassette and my dog ate it - so lovely to have them back! Dame Joan had a special affinity with this style- a certain simplicity married to sparkling virtuosity. Thanks for posting
The right title of the second aria is: FURIA DI DONNA IRATA from the opera: "La buona figliuola" from Cecchini... What an extraordinary music sung my such a stunning and miraculous voice!
I consider Joan Sutherland one of the great singers of my life time - and I don-t just mean a great voice. These early recordings ARE magnificent but at the same time they are the sounds of a doll or young girl rather than a woman and I am glad that she developed a fuller, richer sound that enabled her to express human emotions rather than mechanical prettiness however delightful. But I am also glad to have these samples of her clear, silvery, virginal prime.
You are mistaken here. The "Furia di donna" is clearly the sound of a woman who is furious at the world. It is distinguished from the other two arias which express gentler emotions and should sound like a young girl in love.
Se le aprecia su voz juvenil en las tres arias grabadas en los 60's. Su timbre angélico es más alto y agudo. Su immaculada voz es sensacional, cómo lo ha de ser mas adelante con la madures de las cuerdas vocales del larynx.
Light as thistle down moving which floats on the air sweet Gratitude's debt to this cottage I bear of autumn's rich store I bring home my part a weight on my head but gay joy in my heart. That is the third aria's text
@@theon9575 fuck off troll. A pity is the same rabble screaming the same nonsense on videos of an artist who was one of the supreme talents of an art form more difficult than any in existence. I had no trouble listening to the words coming out of her mouth. All I did was write down what I heard for people whose first language isn’t English. I do the same with Italian, German, and occasionally Russian arias conversely. Please one up La Stupenda by generating the sound she possessed in her prime while also singing with perfect diction. I’ll wait… Grow up and get over yourself. You’re a nobody picking at a operatic diva who could’ve obliterated you with an E-flat. I understand that insecure pettiness is a side effect of envy but it’s not a good look. I’ve never had trouble (saving one recording) where I couldn’t determine the words Sutherland was singing. Put on your less bitchy big girl pants and move on if you don’t want to hear her. It’s that simple.
You'r absolutely right :), thanks for the correction. Light as thistledown moving Which floats on the air Sweet gratitide's debt To this cottage I bear. Of autumn's rich stores I bring home my part, A weight on my head, But with joy in my heart.
Light as Thistledown is a song I heard recently on radio and immediately fell in love with. Such a beautiful melody. I notice only two versions of this song on RUclips, unfortunately after listening to both several times I still can't make out all the words. Can anybody here help me out? Joan's voice is magic!
You are right, in your info.: There is really something in the interpretation. I think it is freshness and directness, aside from the other qualities. Thanks for uploading.
Great singer but above all a great person. That one can hear in her voice. Too bad she didn t sing more baroque music, she makes it sound easy, flowless, playful, more than any other singer.
Fu la prima con Bonynge ad affrontare seriamente questo repertorio. Musicalita', civetteria, virtuosismo, languore, stile, come la Callas ineguagliabile e purtroppo insuperabile. Non ci sono sopranisti, contraltisti e consimili che "tengano".
I think that there is a tendency to over analyse singers' voices and techniques and denigrate voices that are different to their favourites. This, to my mind is a mistake. There is no-one that I admire more than Dame Joan, but there are many wonderful artists with us now who are unique and Sutherland who didn't have a mean bone in her body would, I'm sure agree.
Also I understang your point about the Art of the Prima Donna vs. later recordings. My path was almost the same: first, recordings from the 80s and some from the 70s (I just loved the voice) - then the Art of the Primadonna, Don Giovanni (the 1959) and Emilia di Liverpool (a dramatic reevaluation, shifted to the early recordings) - another reevaluation (acceptance of both periods, though the early recordings are still the favorites :-))!
But lets not talk about who is better then who, shall we, I will never intend to reject your knowledge, by all means! I'm young, but I'm taking my studies really seriously, so of course am I carefully transcribing the copies I've got from all over Europe... Old German is one heck of a dance on thorns.... But I manage. My life has always been devoted to the Early Music. The only thing I want is truth, so it is my mission to investigate as closely as possible - so that I can show you all one day:)
The Piccinni is so perfect, her interpretation reminds me of more a heavy bel canto role... but it works! I love her dramatic interpretation, and her diction is crystal clear! Her voice was more youthful (also pre-surgery). I still like the recordings thoughout the 60s into the mid seventies... at her prime!
(Furia di Donna irata in mio soccorso in voco, a Che mi accresce il foco un disperato e amor) though the spelling maybe wrong that is the text for the second aria.
These are great examples of Joan's singing earlyish in her career(1963 I think ) Lovely singing. By the way Joan did sing a lot of baroque music (Handel) in the late '50s here in England.
I'm looking for sheet music for the first two songs... I can't find anything available to order over the internet. Does anyone know where I can find them? Thanks!
@baritonebynight I understand your skepticism :) As you say; there is a lot of conflicting ideas about early voice! I agree, but what we know is that this great sound we have to day - this continuous avalanche-like trembling didn't come until the Romantic Era. Vibrato existed, of course - some used it more than other, but in the modern manner a la Reneé or Cecilia ... no... This is described even by many American musical critics of the 19th century as new and disturbing, also fascinating.
@unskathd The answers you have received here are almost correct. According to the booklets of both "The Age of Bel Canto" and "Acis and Galatea", which both contains recordings of this aria with Sutherland, the correct text is: Light as thistledown moving Which floats on the air Sweet GRATITUDE's debt To this cottage I bear Of autumn's rich store I bring home my part A weight on my head But GAY joy in my heart
IMO with the release of pre-Lucia recordings @ 1954 -1959 of Joan - she was a great singer then. Lucia let everyone else know what London and a few other places knew.
Thank for sharing, can you kindly inform me you know where I can find the music of William Shield's "Light as thistledown"? I have been looking every where and I just can't seem to find it. Please please let me know how I can find the score of the piece if you know . Thank you so much .
Light as thistledown moving Which flows up the hill Sweet gratitide's debt To this cottage I bear. Of autumn's rich store(s) (?) I bring home my part, A weight on my head, But with joy in my heart. I think that's it, though I'm not 100% sure about the last word in the first strophe of the second part. Still, I think that's it :)! Hope this helps.
@KarlAmade I'm a professional singer and studied music history and vocal ped in school. Its my experience that there is a lot of conflicting ideas about early voice so I have a problem with being "historically informed:". It depends on what historian you talk to. What makes you right and another historian with equal or more resources than you do wrong?
@KarlAmade Dame Joan sang a lot of Baroque music. I believe it was after 1957 performance of Alcina that the Italians dubbed her "La Stupenda". I don't agree about the "historically informed" part. We don't have recordings from that time period so scholars have conflicting evidence to support what historically accurate means. There are several vox humana stops on baroque era organs suggesting that vibrato was present. Vibrato occurs naturally in any well trained voice that is well supported.
esa forma de cantar y utilizar la voz...............es descomunal..........................los harmonicos.................son de cuento..................y su impostacion.........es una locura de seguridad absoluta............................no en vano..............crecio ella jugando a cantar con su madre.......................era un juego de niña............que desarro mas tarde aun mas.......de ahi la importancia.........del ensueño..............y ella era de cuentos de hada....................en terminos operisticos...................
@galehout Sicuramente il marito l'avrà influenzata, ma anche con l'età, la voce cambia e lì l'intelligenza fa la differenza vedi Mariella Devia,cioè nel mantere un equilibrio, infatti moltissimi grandi cantavano anche a 60 e passa anni..
@gioniv era molto più brava all'inizio, secondo me si è rovinata facendosi assecondare troppo dal marito direttore. qui infatti il direttore è un altro e lei è spedita, brillante, precisa, perfetta nella dizione inglese e molto accettabile in quella italiana
@baritonebynight Well, I am historical musician, I have a gigantic "library" with manuscripts of Musicology from Pytagoras to early 20th century. Things as it is today started to evolve from about 1830. Before then they didn't focus on the "sound" we demand today, "great voices" and that stuff... in context to that one needs vibrato to accomplish such greatness... which I find disturbing in any ways. Don't misunderstand, I don't say that I dislike vibrato, only modern continuous vibrato.
These recordings sound like science fiction. How she can sound so light yet full at the same time is unique to early Sutherland and early to mid-Sutherland up in the stratosphere.
Intonation through out the scale seems perfect to me too!
Perfezione assoluta. Meraviglia delle meraviglie.
I agree with your analysis on Sutherland. In the 70's she was still the greatest coloratura, and in the 80's she was still amazing, but it's just that her former standard of singing was as close to perfect as we are ever going to hear. Her detractors will obviously deny it, but in terms of technique and musicianship there's no better combination than the early Sutherland. Everything was there. And, after that, it still was, but maybe in a slightly less flawless shape, but still unsurpassable!
perfect Sutherland stuff. She was born to sing Baroque.
and she was born to sing bel canto operas? why is she worse than callas there? she is emotive here and she has acceptable diction and in these early years
@Matthew9.__ because singing is more than high fast notes and pretty trills. A singer has text, one has to communicate a story. To do this, you need to know the language you're singing. Sutherland, like Leontyne Price never bothered to learn Italian. It's not just a matter of diction, there rarely are accents, colours and the flow of the language. Her English diction is also sometimes mushy but at least her phrasing and intention is clear because she knows what she's saying. In Italian, she's hopeless.
Dame Joan Sutherland tenía el mejor instrumento del mundo para este tipo de repertorio. Me gustaría escucharla cantando Vivaldi
The early Sutherland was perfection in a voice
A God-given voice and beauty.
I must say this is one of the most beautiful things I've heard!
Well, that's exactly what I wanted to express :-)! The early recordings are just so good that I strongly feel that even if she hadn't reocrded anything after 1962, she would still be legendary. Still, I am glad she continued her career for so long ;-)! Maybe the later recordings are different from the early ones, but it doesn't mean that they are bad, they're just that: different :-)!
Live she was surprisingly similar to her earlier recordings until about 1980.
Joan is absolutely awesome here. As she always has been in everything she sung. Her trills and high and precisely notes are amazing. She is wonderful! A great artist in it's full way!
i realize it is pretty off topic but do anyone know of a good site to stream newly released tv shows online?
@Emory Uriel i watch on FlixZone. You can find it by googling :)
@Maximiliano Rey Yea, have been using FlixZone for months myself :D
@Maximiliano Rey Thanks, I signed up and it seems like a nice service :) Appreciate it!
@Emory Uriel no problem :D
Bravissima!!!!
Now that's absolute purity of tone. Her trill...Perfection. Her coloratura...Perfection.
La Stupenda is at her best in Baroque and Bel Canto roles.
The beauty of her voice here shames phrase.
I had these on cassette and my dog ate it - so lovely to have them back!
Dame Joan had a special affinity with this style- a certain simplicity married to sparkling virtuosity.
Thanks for posting
Fabulous early memories of Joan. WHAT a singer - Voice of the Century indeed. Brava Diva! Thanks LindoroRossini.
The right title of the second aria is: FURIA DI DONNA IRATA from the opera: "La buona figliuola" from Cecchini... What an extraordinary music sung my such a stunning and miraculous voice!
she has such a BEAUTIFUL VOICE!!!
Einfach FANTASTISCH!! Welch eine Freude, da zuzuhören!!!!!!!
Glorious. Simply sublime. The incomparable Joan Sutherland.
Absolutely magical. Beyond perfection.
I consider Joan Sutherland one of the great singers of my life time - and I don-t just mean a great voice. These early recordings ARE magnificent but at the same time they are the sounds of a doll or young girl rather than a woman and I am glad that she developed a fuller, richer sound that enabled her to express human emotions rather than mechanical prettiness however delightful. But I am also glad to have these samples of her clear, silvery, virginal prime.
For me, Callas, Caballé and Sutherland are the best sopranos in good quality recordings...
You are mistaken here. The "Furia di donna" is clearly the sound of a woman who is furious at the world. It is distinguished from the other two arias which express gentler emotions and should sound like a young girl in love.
Infinite tenderness and beauty
I'm 13 and in love.
Tres maravillosas Arias barrocas
AWESOME!!!!!
Maravilha! Muito grato.
Beautiful. Thanks for posting.
Se le aprecia su voz juvenil en las tres arias grabadas en los 60's. Su timbre angélico es más alto y agudo. Su immaculada voz es sensacional, cómo lo ha de ser mas adelante con la madures de las cuerdas vocales del larynx.
magnfique, quelle virtuosité!
Superbe !
Light as thistle down moving which floats on the air sweet Gratitude's debt to this cottage I bear of autumn's rich store I bring home my part a weight on my head but gay joy in my heart. That is the third aria's text
Yes. It's a pity the singer doesn't make the words clear, as if they didn't matter.
@@theon9575 fuck off troll. A pity is the same rabble screaming the same nonsense on videos of an artist who was one of the supreme talents of an art form more difficult than any in existence. I had no trouble listening to the words coming out of her mouth. All I did was write down what I heard for people whose first language isn’t English. I do the same with Italian, German, and occasionally Russian arias conversely.
Please one up La Stupenda by generating the sound she possessed in her prime while also singing with perfect diction. I’ll wait…
Grow up and get over yourself. You’re a nobody picking at a operatic diva who could’ve obliterated you with an E-flat. I understand that insecure pettiness is a side effect of envy but it’s not a good look. I’ve never had trouble (saving one recording) where I couldn’t determine the words Sutherland was singing. Put on your less bitchy big girl pants and move on if you don’t want to hear her. It’s that simple.
You'r absolutely right :), thanks for the correction.
Light as thistledown moving
Which floats on the air
Sweet gratitide's debt
To this cottage I bear.
Of autumn's rich stores
I bring home my part,
A weight on my head,
But with joy in my heart.
excellent. especially the last two
Light as Thistledown is a song I heard recently on radio and immediately fell in love with. Such a beautiful melody. I notice only two versions of this song on RUclips, unfortunately after listening to both several times I still can't make out all the words. Can anybody here help me out? Joan's voice is magic!
I see hear what you mean and agree!
You are right, in your info.: There is really something in the interpretation. I think it is freshness and directness, aside from the other qualities. Thanks for uploading.
Great singer but above all a great person. That one can hear in her voice. Too bad she didn t sing more baroque music, she makes it sound easy, flowless, playful, more than any other singer.
Fu la prima con Bonynge ad affrontare seriamente questo repertorio. Musicalita', civetteria, virtuosismo, languore, stile, come la Callas ineguagliabile e purtroppo insuperabile. Non ci sono sopranisti, contraltisti e consimili che "tengano".
I think that there is a tendency to over analyse singers' voices and techniques and denigrate voices that are different to their favourites. This, to my mind is a mistake. There is no-one that I admire more than Dame Joan, but there are many wonderful artists with us now who are unique and Sutherland who didn't have a mean bone in her body would, I'm sure agree.
Proof that there's life before death!
Also I understang your point about the Art of the Prima Donna vs. later recordings. My path was almost the same: first, recordings from the 80s and some from the 70s (I just loved the voice) - then the Art of the Primadonna, Don Giovanni (the 1959) and Emilia di Liverpool (a dramatic reevaluation, shifted to the early recordings) - another reevaluation (acceptance of both periods, though the early recordings are still the favorites :-))!
@gr8tfascination It's in volume 2 of "The Art of Joan Sutherland", published by Josef Weinberger.
But lets not talk about who is better then who, shall we, I will never intend to reject your knowledge, by all means!
I'm young, but I'm taking my studies really seriously, so of course am I carefully transcribing the copies I've got from all over Europe... Old German is one heck of a dance on thorns.... But I manage. My life has always been devoted to the Early Music. The only thing I want is truth, so it is my mission to investigate as closely as possible - so that I can show you all one day:)
The Piccinni is so perfect, her interpretation reminds me of more a heavy bel canto role... but it works! I love her dramatic interpretation, and her diction is crystal clear! Her voice was more youthful (also pre-surgery). I still like the recordings thoughout the 60s into the mid seventies... at her prime!
These recordings are from 1960. The sinus surgery was performed in early 1959 right after her Covent Garden Lucia.
(Furia di Donna irata in mio soccorso in voco, a Che mi accresce il foco un disperato e amor) though the spelling maybe wrong that is the text for the second aria.
Oh rapture!! :)
Don't you wish you could sing like that????? :-)
These are great examples of Joan's singing earlyish in her career(1963 I think ) Lovely singing. By the way Joan did sing a lot of baroque music (Handel) in the late '50s here in England.
From her first Decca album, recorded 1959 or 1960 and released in 1960.
I'm looking for sheet music for the first two songs... I can't find anything available to order over the internet. Does anyone know where I can find them? Thanks!
@baritonebynight
I understand your skepticism :)
As you say; there is a lot of conflicting ideas about early voice! I agree, but what we know is that this great sound we have to day - this continuous avalanche-like trembling didn't come until the Romantic Era. Vibrato existed, of course - some used it more than other, but in the modern manner a la Reneé or Cecilia ... no... This is described even by many American musical critics of the 19th century as new and disturbing, also fascinating.
who can tell me the name of these three songs ? thanks
@unskathd The answers you have received here are almost correct. According to the booklets of both "The Age of Bel Canto" and "Acis and Galatea", which both contains recordings of this aria with Sutherland, the correct text is:
Light as thistledown moving
Which floats on the air
Sweet GRATITUDE's debt
To this cottage I bear
Of autumn's rich store
I bring home my part
A weight on my head
But GAY joy in my heart
name of the airs please
IMO with the release of pre-Lucia recordings @ 1954 -1959 of Joan - she was a great singer then.
Lucia let everyone else know what London and a few other places knew.
Thank for sharing, can you kindly inform me you know where I can find the music of William Shield's "Light as thistledown"? I have been looking every where and I just can't seem to find it. Please please let me know how I can find the score of the piece if you know . Thank you so much .
gr8tfascination It is published by Kalmus. I used to have the score but lost it when I moved to a new apartment.
Light as thistledown moving
Which flows up the hill
Sweet gratitide's debt
To this cottage I bear.
Of autumn's rich store(s) (?)
I bring home my part,
A weight on my head,
But with joy in my heart.
I think that's it, though I'm not 100% sure about the last word in the first strophe of the second part. Still, I think that's it :)! Hope this helps.
the second line is actually "which floats on the air"
@KarlAmade I'm a professional singer and studied music history and vocal ped in school. Its my experience that there is a lot of conflicting ideas about early voice so I have a problem with being "historically informed:". It depends on what historian you talk to. What makes you right and another historian with equal or more resources than you do wrong?
@KarlAmade Dame Joan sang a lot of Baroque music. I believe it was after 1957 performance of Alcina that the Italians dubbed her "La Stupenda". I don't agree about the "historically informed" part. We don't have recordings from that time period so scholars have conflicting evidence to support what historically accurate means. There are several vox humana stops on baroque era organs suggesting that vibrato was present. Vibrato occurs naturally in any well trained voice that is well supported.
Oh God if she had been historically informed... what an early music Goddess she would be... that voice is going to haunt me rest of my life.
au debut c'est marquer ambient c'est faut c'est tut sauf de ambient
Read "About the video", second paragraph.
Varázslatos.
xD
esa forma de cantar y utilizar la voz...............es descomunal..........................los harmonicos.................son de cuento..................y su impostacion.........es una locura de seguridad absoluta............................no en vano..............crecio ella jugando a cantar con su madre.......................era un juego de niña............que desarro mas tarde aun mas.......de ahi la importancia.........del ensueño..............y ella era de cuentos de hada....................en terminos operisticos...................
@galehout Sicuramente il marito l'avrà influenzata, ma anche con l'età, la voce cambia e lì l'intelligenza fa la differenza vedi Mariella Devia,cioè nel mantere un equilibrio, infatti moltissimi grandi cantavano anche a 60 e passa anni..
@gioniv era molto più brava all'inizio, secondo me si è rovinata facendosi assecondare troppo dal marito direttore. qui infatti il direttore è un altro e lei è spedita, brillante, precisa, perfetta nella dizione inglese e molto accettabile in quella italiana
@baritonebynight
Well, I am historical musician, I have a gigantic "library" with manuscripts of Musicology from Pytagoras to early 20th century. Things as it is today started to evolve from about 1830. Before then they didn't focus on the "sound" we demand today, "great voices" and that stuff... in context to that one needs vibrato to accomplish such greatness... which I find disturbing in any ways. Don't misunderstand, I don't say that I dislike vibrato, only modern continuous vibrato.
@OShaughnessyC
proof that there's life after death =)
Rarities, thanks.