# Round One: Vieni! t'affretta! accendere. Rysanek and Verrett



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Second round is Caballe and Bumbry. The winners will compete against Callas for first and second place. I considered Nilsson but she normally doesn't do well in Italian opera here except for Aida. Shaughnessy is invaluable in finding the best videos for the artists.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Rysanek sings this more effectively than I would have expected. It has lots of fierce high writing, and high is where she likes to be. She's pretty fierce too. She has no chest voice, though, while Verrett, a mezzo, can take the fierceness all the way down. Verrett's high notes are predictably less free and soaring, though she handles them gutsily. I like Rysanek's wild abandon, but Verrett gives us more variety of expression, and that's going to tip the balance for me. She also gets a much better comprimario playing the servant; that other guy should be back in the kitchen cooking haggis, or whatever Scots subsisted on back then.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

The *Macbeth *that was mounted for Callas by the Metropolitan Opera was given to Leonie Rysanek, who was also given the recording that followed, from which this excerpt was taken.
So, in another of those what if happenings, this could’ve been Callas’s “complete” Lady Macbeth. 

Rysanek is not the most accurate of sopranos, and her singing here isn’t, but she acquits herself surprisingly well, absent the expected intonation problem here and there and the odd off-center high note, but which are otherwise glorious. She manages the _coloratura _well enough without being proficient. 

Verrett is often considered second only to Callas and I can’t find fault with much of her singing and she is in very good voice here. I saw her twice in the role in San Francisco, ten years apart, and she is as good onstage as she is vocally in this video. She is a bit stretched by some of the _acuti _and she forgets to sing the words when the line goes high and complicated, but she is otherwise exemplary.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

MAS said:


> The *Macbeth *that was mounted for Callas by the Metropolitan Opera was given to Leonie Rysanek, who was also given the recording that followed, from which this excerpt was taken.
> So, in another of those what if happenings, this could’ve been Callas’s “complete” Lady Macbeth.


It would've been great had Callas participated in a Saturday matinee broadcast. My interest in this opera falls considerably when she isn't in it. I saw it at the Met with Sherrill Milnes as Macbeth, and I'm rather ashamed to admit that the only thing I can remember about it was Milnes' impressive physique.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> It would've been great had Callas participated in a Saturday matinee broadcast. My interest in this opera falls considerably when she isn't in it. I saw it at the Met with Sherrill Milnes as Macbeth, and I'm rather ashamed to admit that the only thing I can remember about it was Milnes' impressive physique.


HA! I love both your and Mas' take on the singing. Jay Hunter Morris was certainly no Melchior, but he was so godlike gorgeous the way they fixed him up in Siegfried that I didn't care, I am ashamed to say. I love listening to him talk as he sounds like a country music star being from TN.


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## Francasacchi (7 mo ago)

Woodduck said:


> Rysanek sings this more effectively than I would have expected. It has lots of fierce high writing, and high is where she likes to be. She's pretty fierce too. She has no chest voice, though, while Verrett, a mezzo, can take the fierceness all the way down. Verrett's high notes are predictably less free and soaring, though she handles them gutsily. I like Rysanek's wild abandon, but Verrett gives us more variety of expression, and that's going to tip the balance for me. She also gets a much better comprimario playing the servant; that other guy should be back in the kitchen cooking haggis, or whatever Scots subsisted on back then.


Rysanek does much better in this part than Abigaille. The "weird" sounds she sometimes makes in her unstable blocked lower middle register work well in this part.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Bit of background on the aria courtesy of the Aria database -



Or tutti, sorgete - Cabaletta for "Vieni t'affretta"
from Act I, Scene 2 of the Italian opera Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto: Francesco Maria Piave

Role: Lady Macbeth, the wife of Macbeth
Voice Part: soprano Fach: dramatic coloratura
Setting: A hall in Macbeth's castle, Scotland
Synopsis: Lady Macbeth has just read a letter aloud from Macbeth saying that he has been appointed Thane of Cawdor and, right before he was appointed Thane, a group of witches prophesied that he would be both Thane and King soon. Told that King Duncan and Macbeth have arrived at the castle, she plans to "help" the prophecy along by killing Duncan and sings to herself, trying to convince herself not back out of her plan.

Translations/Aria Texts:
Translation into English by Ugo Berardi (added 2000-01-06)

*Or tutti sorgete, Lady Macbeth's aria from Macbeth*

Or tutti sorgete, ministri infernali, And now all you, infernal ministers, rise up,
Che al sangue incorate, spingete i mortali! you who thrust and urge the mortals to blood!
Tu, notte, ne avvolgi di tenebra immota; You, night, wrap us in motionless darkness;
Qual petto percota non vegga il pugnale the dagger doesn't see which breast it strikes!


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

O blasphemy! Shame on me. I am a lover of Verrett strongly and her voice. I happen to lprefer Rysanek for her acting more than for her voice, but this time Leonie came through with flying colors and her last note was exemplary as well.
(Shirley forgive me! I still adore you the best)


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> O blasphemy! Shame on me. I am a lover of Verrett strongly and her voice. I happen to lprefer Rysanek for her acting more than for her voice, but this time Leonie came through with flying colors and her last note was exemplary as well.
> (Shirley forgive me! I still adore you the best)


She's coming. She's fabulous. Be patient.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Lady Macbeth without a chest voice? Well that sure made things easy. Verrett slays in this role. Not just strong but venomous, ambitious and...just a little bit petty. No contest here whatsoever.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

These are the two Macbeth recordings that I don't need in my collection. Callas, Souliotis and Cossotto are my go tos in this aria. I like Verrett, but in the past I've found her version too smooth and beautiful to be convincing as Verdi's Lady who he wanted to have an ugly voice.

I haven't listened to the Rysanek in years and only heard it once. (The performances at the Met that this recording was based on is in the 'Verdi at the Met' box set, but I've onlly listened to that once too.) She certainly has the right kind of sound for the role and whilst she isn't particularly italianate she does sing it better than most. The high notes at the end are something else and it's not something pleasant. However, I'm prepared to overlook the technical shortcomings since the wildcat, devilish energy in her interpretation works in this role.

Verrett is quite different. She pays more attention to the words and their meaning than Rysanek and whilst she doesn't have that she-demon quality, her dark tone presents a differently sinister Lady. It's a gorgeous sound, gorgeous singing and intelligently expressed.

I like them both in different ways.

Verrett is the better artist, but I like my Lady wild and off the wall. Rysanek gets my vote for the sheer excitement of her version.

N.


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## Dogville (Dec 28, 2021)

Ditto what everyone says about Rysanek’s chest voice. It’s so disappointing that she never managed to bring the huge column of sound she had at the top down to the bottom of the voice. A large, dark chest voice is vital in this role and I think a lot of the expression is lost here.

Verrett handled the difficulties of the role better and I think she is the more committed interpreter of the two. I like this version better than the live La Scala. That being said, her voice sounds too pretty for me and does not really possess the hollow, chocked quality that Verdi reportedly wanted, so I have a hard time truly buying into her Lady. Another minor issue I have is that Verrett's American accent permeated everything she sang, and that is the case here. I'm going to be honest and say that I think Verrett suffers because She Who Must Not Be Named set the standard for how Lady M should sound like and how she must be sung, otherwise I would think Verrett is flawless.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Rysanek manages the coloratura much better than I would have expected and the high notes are certainly fabulous. However, as others have pointed out, she doesn't really have the power down below that is so important for a Lady Macbeth. 
The Abbado recording has always been my go to studio recording of the opera and much of the reason for this is because of Verrett. Lady Macbeth is one of those roles that has often been sung by a mezzo and, despite her forays into soprano territory, I've always considered Verrett more of a mezzo. Her lower voice is obviously much more powerful and she presents a more complex, more interesting interpretation. Verrett gets my vote.


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