# Soprano High Notes Contest



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I try hard to add variety to the contests to keep them fresh.I will post the links in the next post as I can't cue up in a contest. The music continues on after the high notes but they should be obvious. VOTE FOR YOUR TOP THREE PLEASE TO KEEP IT INTERESTING. Some will only vote for Callas I'm sure. Most singers have two examples. Some of you will hate my choices but I have tried to pick some spectacular vocalism. The bottom two in both postings just has the link.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Alessandra Marc O Patria Mia






Alessandra Marc In Questa Reggia






Sutherland Maria Stuarda in her mid 40’s. Her high notes got bigger and fuller after 40






Sutherland D6 Anna Bolena at 59 years






Leontyne Price Caro Nome High E6






Leontyne Price D6 at 65 years

Leontyne Price_90th_Zweite Brautnacht


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Nilsson Isolde’s Curse at 65






Nilsson Siegfried






Callas Mexico City Eb 51






Callas Armida 52






Radvanovsky Norma trio






Flagstad in her 50’s. Is this the biggest soprano note

Kirsten Flagstad - Isolde's Narrative and Curse I’ve ever heard?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Honestly, this isn't my sort of thing. High notes heard in isolation tend to bore holes in my brain. For that reason I'm giving the palm to Flagstad, who was never a high-note stunter but whose tone was rich and full, never hard or piercing, from bottom to top. That performance of Isolde's narrative and curse - from 1948, I believe, when she was 53 - finds her in superb voice throughout. It would have beeen great if the classic Furtwangler _Tristan,_ recorded in 1952, had been made four years earlier when Flagstad and Suthaus were both nearer their primes.

It should be noted that Nilsson's Centennial Gala performance is that of a 65-year-old. Hear her in her prime in the 1966 Bayreuth recording.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Honestly, this isn't my sort of thing. High notes heard in isolation tend to bore holes in my brain. For that reason I'm giving the palm to Flagstad, who was never a high-note stunter but whose tone was rich and full, never hard or piercing, from bottom to top. That performance of Isolde's narrative and curse - from 1948, I believe, when she was 53 - finds her in superb voice throughout.
> 
> It should be noted that Nilsson's Centennial Gala performance is that of a 65-year-old. Hear her in her prime in the 1966 Bayreuth recording.


I'm odd odd odd for this group and your attitude may be the norm, so full of opera scholars like you. I'm way too lowbrow for most of you with my thrill seeking ways but you guys kindly indulge my tangents sometimes. None of you probably back up to hear a high note 12 times in a row like I can do. My fellow low brow opera buddy Ellen, the only friend who listens regularly to opera with me, LOVED this contest today riding in the car so someone enjoyed it LOL. Context is everything for most of you so forgive my obsession. Thank god most of you regularly participate in my regular contests. I'll have a regular aria contest tomorrow. Forgive me


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I'm odd odd odd for this group and your attitude may be the norm. I'm way too lowbrow for most of you with my thrill seeking ways. None of you probably back up to hear a high note 12 times in a row like I can do. Context is everything for most of you so forgive my obsession. Thank god most of you like my other contests. I'll have a regular aria contest tomorrow.


12 times? Really? You're a funny man. You entertain me. Keep it up.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> 12 times? Really? You're a funny man. You entertain me. Keep it up.


YOU entertain me and I actually learn a thing or two from you


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## Georgieva (7 mo ago)

Voted for Callas Aida Mexico City 51.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Georgieva said:


> Voted for Callas Aida Mexico City 51.


I used it in a speech on Callas that I posted to Youtube. I predict it might win. Thanks for playing. It is mind boggling.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Not my thing, I'm afraid. I could be excited by high notes when I was young, and I suppose the sheer craziness of Callas's high Eb in the 1951 *Aida *still thrills me. It's such a huge note and it lasts so long, but in general I'm more interested in what the singer does in the rest of the opera. I have a feeling that I'd still be voting for that, if I were to listen to them all, but the prospect of listening to a bunch of soprano high notes one after another doesn't really fill me with joy.

Sorry, John, I'm going to sit this one out.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Not my thing, I'm afraid. I could be excited by high notes when I was young, and I suppose the sheer craziness of Callas's high Eb in the 1951 *Aida *still thrills me. It's such a huge note and it lasts so long, but in general I'm more interested in what the singer does in the rest of the opera. I have a feeling that I'd still be voting for that, if I were to listen to them all, but the prospect of listening to a bunch of soprano high notes one after another doesn't really fill me with joy.
> 
> Sorry, John, I'm going to sit this one out.


You are a context only kind of guy and it makes you a better opera fan than me I'm certain. I don't know what kind of madness possessed me to post this except that I find it so fun and my opera pal Ellen and I live in a different universe at times and we had such delight in this exercise. We have a lot of fun in our madness  I'm going to post another contest as no one is going to enjoy this but me I'm afraid.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Having no idea what others are saying, my ears are saying: Two Marcs and a Rigoletto Price!! I'll bet I stand alone once again. Ah well, so be it....

Having now read others' opinions I must add that I kept wishing that they were all singing the same note from the same opera. It's very tough that way.

I also think that the chosen Radvanovsky ("La Regina") note was a sad choice for her wonderful voice.

Too many insecure wobbles for me with Callas. (sorry Divina fans! running quickly for cover....)


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> Having no idea what others are saying, my ears are saying: Two Marcs and a Rigoletto Price!! I'll bet I stand alone once again. Ah well, so be it....
> 
> Having now read others' opinions I must add that I kept wishing that they were all singing the same note from the same opera. It's very tough that way.
> 
> ...


Everyone HATED this. At least they don't hate me  I'm crazy as a mad hatter sometimes apparently. I love things about opera sometimes that elude everyone else in the group. Sorry sweetie! My other contests have gotten good responses lately at least. I posted a real pretty one today. Some may put you on their ****list for what you said about LaDivina


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Everyone HATED this. At least they don't hate me  I'm crazy as a mad hatter sometimes apparently. I love things about opera sometimes that elude everyone else in the group. Sorry sweetie! My other contests have gotten good responses lately at least. I posted a real pretty one today. Some may put you on their ****list for what you said about LaDivina


Yes John, they might. But then they already know I am a Maria devotee -- just never have been a dedicated fan of her highs when compared to many others. I am sure the Tebaldi lovers will hate me for the same exact reason too.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Everyone HATED this. At least they don't hate me  I'm crazy as a mad hatter sometimes apparently. I love things about opera sometimes that elude everyone else in the group. Sorry sweetie! My other contests have gotten good responses lately at least. I posted a real pretty one today. Some may put you on their ****list for what you said about LaDivina


Probably because, I don't know what Nina was listening to, but that Eb in the Aida scene is huge, secure as a rock and doesn't have a trace of wobble. Nor does anything in the *Armida *excerpt. I'm completely perplexed.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

The only high note contest that ever really interested me was one on YouTube featuring a dozen or so tenors attempting the high C of Siegfried's "Hoi ho! Hoi he!" in Act 3 of _Gotterdammerung._ It's interesting because Wagner rarely asks for high Cs from any singer, and because tenors with big, dark voices effective in his tenor roles might be either awkward (if they can even get up there) or thrilling at that altitude.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> The only high note contest that ever really interested me was one on YouTube featuring a dozen or so tenors attempting the high C of Siegfried's "Hoi ho! Hoi he!" in Act 3 of _Gotterdammerung._ It's interesting because Wagner rarely asks for high Cs from any singer, and because tenors with big, dark voices effective in his tenor roles might be either awkward (if they can even get up there) or thrilling at that altitude.


Saw that one. Do singers sometime skip it like Flagstad did her high C's later on?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Saw that one. Do singers sometime skip it like Flagstad did her high C's later on?


Yeah. It really doesn't matter much if you substitute a G or something else, hit it glancingly, or just shout. But if you're Melchior you hold it a bit and stun people.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I really appreciate the many of you who actually voted. Callas won by a mile as I predicted.. I posted Nilsson's Siegfried on Youtube, got 40000 views and almost 500 likes, so I am not the only one who likes Birgit's C's. Just not here  What made it stand apart was it was recorded from the back of Bayreuth and her sound was aloud to bloom like it did in a house and not on studio recordings. The overtones were insane. Why couldn't Maria's Armida be recorded like that.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I really appreciate the many of you who actually voted. Callas won by a mile as I predicted.. I posted Nilsson's Siegfried on Youtube, got 40000 views and almost 500 likes, so I am not the only one who likes Birgit's C's. Just not here


To really appreciate the _musical_ - as opposed to the circus - value of Nilsson's upper register, listen to Act 2 of _Gotterdammerung_ where she's taken to the Gibichung's hall as Gunther's bride-not-to-be and all hell breaks loose.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I always find high notes is Wagner weird - they’re not a the end oh a phrase but in the middle somewhere, unlike their Italian counterparts which are usually at the end, proper climaxes. And I don’t like “stunt singing” per se. What’s Radvanovsky’s note, or Flagstad’s for that matter? Gave Sutherland one, just because.


Seattleoperafan said:


> I'm odd odd odd for this group and your attitude may be the norm, so full of opera scholars like you. I'm way too lowbrow for most of you with my thrill seeking ways but you guys kindly indulge my tangents sometimes. None of you probably back up to hear a high note 12 times in a row like I can do. My fellow low brow opera buddy Ellen, the only friend who listens regularly to opera with me, LOVED this contest today riding in the car so someone enjoyed it LOL. Context is everything for most of you so forgive my obsession. Thank god most of you regularly participate in my regular contests. I'll have a regular aria contest tomorrow. Forgive me





Tsaraslondon said:


> Probably because, I don't know what Nina was listening to, but that Eb in the Aida scene is huge, secure as a rock and doesn't have a trace of wobble. Nor does anything in the *Armida *excerpt. I'm completely perplexed.


The *Armida* scene has so much extraneous radio noise and overtones in the recording that it sounds like Callas’s voice is wavering like crazy.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

MAS said:


> The *Armida* scene has so much extraneous radio noise and overtones in the recording that it sounds like Callas’s voice is wavering like crazy.


The recording certainly doesn't help, but, as someone who recognises Callas's wobbles when they are there, I don't hear a wobble here.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> I always find high notes is Wagner weird - they’re not a the end oh a phrase but in the middle somewhere, unlike their Italian counterparts which are usually at the end, proper climaxes. And I don’t like “stunt singing” per se. What’s Radvanovsky’s note, or Flagstad’s for that matter? Gave Sutherland one, just because.
> 
> 
> The *Armida* scene has so much extraneous radio noise and overtones in the recording that it sounds like Callas’s voice is wavering like crazy.


Flagstad's was an A5, where her voice peaked. Radvanovsky hit the D Callas did. I included it for Nina but she hated it


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> To really appreciate the _musical_ - as opposed to the circus - value of Nilsson's upper register, listen to Act 2 of _Gotterdammerung_ where she's taken to the Gibichung's hall as Gunther's bride-not-to-be and all hell breaks loose.


I'll check it out in the car today!


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Flagstad's was an A5, where her voice peaked. Radvanovsky hit the D Callas did. I included it for Nina but she hated it


It doesn’t sound like the same note at all.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> It doesn’t sound like the same note at all.


Well. Radvanovky has a big voice by today's standards but..... Callas was another thing altogether. I heard Goerke do it 20 years ago and her high D was ginormous and spot on. No recording still, though, although I had a tape back in the day. Her voice is too big now to sing Norma today. She was sometimes off pitch though, maybe because she had just lost 40 pounds.


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## Dogville (Dec 28, 2021)

Considering both the sheer bravura of La Callas' performance and the fact that this is the recording that got me into her, I have to give the crown to the 1952 Armida. They might not be the most beautiful sounds and the vibrato on them is slow (still not a wobble!) but the high notes in that Armida clip (truly the entire performance) are the most exhilarating sounds I have ever heard. What's truly amazing is that all of the _sopracuti_ she interpolates here save for the final High D sound like they are coming straight from the middle voice with no conscious effort. No one in the history of the world has _*ever*_ been able to sound like this and if all other Callas records were burned and destroyed, this one performance would be enough the claim her as the Greatest Voice of All Times.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Dogville said:


> Considering both the sheer bravura of La Callas' performance and the fact that this is the recording that got me into her, I have to give the crown to the 1952 Armida. They might not be the most beautiful sounds and the vibrato on them is slow (still not a wobble!) but the high notes in that Armida clip (truly the entire performance) are the most exhilarating sounds I have ever heard. What's truly amazing is that all of the _sopracuti_ she interpolates here save for the final High D sound like they are coming straight from the middle voice with no conscious effort. No one in the history of the world has _*ever*_ been able to sound like this and if all other Callas records were burned and destroyed, this one performance would be enough the claim her as the Greatest Voice of All Times.


May I quote from my own review,



> The cumulative power of the finale is simply staggering, where, with a voice of massive power, Callas peals forth vengeful coloratura flourishes with insouciant ease, capping it with a top Eb of huge proportions. You have to hear it to believe it, indeed, were it not for recorded evidence, you would not believe it possible.


Callas in Armida – Florence 1952


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Well. Radvanovky has a big voice by today's standards but..... Callas was another thing altogether. I heard Goerke do it 20 years ago and her high D was ginormous and spot on. No recording still, though, although I had a tape back in the day. Her voice is too big now to sing Norma today. She was sometimes off pitch though, maybe because she had just lost 40 pounds.


I think it’s because that note doesn’t have much metal or edge to it in Sondra’s voice.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Dogville said:


> Considering both the sheer bravura of La Callas' performance and the fact that this is the recording that got me into her, I have to give the crown to the 1952 Armida. They might not be the most beautiful sounds and the vibrato on them is slow (still not a wobble!) but the high notes in that Armida clip (truly the entire performance) are the most exhilarating sounds I have ever heard. What's truly amazing is that all of the _sopracuti_ she interpolates here save for the final High D sound like they are coming straight from the middle voice with no conscious effort. No one in the history of the world has _*ever*_ been able to sound like this and if all other Callas records were burned and destroyed, this one performance would be enough the claim her as the Greatest Voice of All Times.


Plus all those high C's she sings which don't sound like she is at the top of most dramatic soprano's voices. She was a freak. Sutherland was her only competition on big notes above the staff but to me there is no doubt that here Callas was even bigger and more thrilling than those glorious notes Sutherland sang. Sutherland's were beautiful and lush and got bigger as she aged, but pre diet Callas's were like a wall of sound that walloped you LOL. I can't imagine what they sounded like live.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Plus all those high C's she sings which don't sound like she is at the top of most dramatic soprano's voices. She was a freak. Sutherland was her only competition on big notes above the staff but to me there is no doubt that here Callas was even bigger and more thrilling than those glorious notes Sutherland sang. Sutherland's were beautiful and lush and got bigger as she aged, but pre diet Callas's were like a wall of sound that walloped you LOL. I can't imagine what they sounded like live.


Sutherland’s were also without metal and edge and not wild like Callas’s often were. You got the impression of danger and they had such thrust and power, like a sword to cut through anything the orchestra could throw at her.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> Sutherland’s were also without metal and edge and not wild like Callas’s often were. You got the impression of danger and they had such thrust and power, like a sword to cut through anything the orchestra could throw at her.


Sutherland got a lot more metallic after 50, but never to the extent of Callas. They could do what other singers could not do above the staff.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Callas for me, as well as Nilsson. Flagstad is great too but Nilsson is at least her equal here and far better in other places in comparison. My favourite Callas high note is probably the high D in the 1955 Norma though. Remarkably large and secure for post-weightloss Callas, and feels so musical too, like Norma raising a dagger over the stage, setting the scene for what is to come.


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