# Coloratura Sopranos born before 1900



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

This thread is simple. Share your favorite Coloratura Sopranos, provided they were born in the 19th century. 
I'll start with a few of mine:

*Elvira De Hidalgo*





*Luisa Tetrazzini*





*Amelita Galli-Curci*





*Maria Barrientos*





*Lily Pons*


----------



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

*Blanche Marchesi* (Mathilde Marchesi's daughter and student, also a teacher herself)


----------



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

I've said it once, and I'll say it again: Rosa Raisa was a dramatic coloratura in disguise


----------



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> I've said it once, and I'll say it again: Rosa Raisa was a dramatic coloratura in disguise


You're right. I've never listened to her that much. Now that I'm listening to her in Elena's Bolero I can definitely hear it.


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I guess 1914 will be out of the question then, poor Steber.


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Adelina Patti who was more than just a coloratura. She was that rare breed of soprano -- a soprano sfogato like Callas. (sometimes referred to as a soprano assoulta).


----------



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Another Marchesi Student:


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I do believe that Rosa Ponselle is correctly perceived as a soprano sfogato/assoluta as well.


----------



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

nina foresti said:


> I do believe that Rosa Ponselle is correctly perceived as a soprano sfogato/assoluta as well.


Yes Ponselle could have been a dramatic coloratura, if we consider only her fioriture and her great trill and overlook her really short top. However, one singer from the 19th century we know for sure was a true Assoluta is Pasta. She created Anna Bolena, Sonnambula and Norma. 
In this thread I'm looking for singers who specialize in the "light" coloratura repertoire, and if they happen to be also dramatic then it's fine. Ponselle's repertoire was predominantly dramatic.


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Nellie Melba 1904 Verdi (1813-1901) "Caro nome" from Rigoletto

19 May 1861 - 23 February 1931


----------



## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

At her best, I doubt if there's ever been a more _charming_ coloratura soprano than Galli-Curci. It was not only the lightness of her voice, but her charming use of downward sliding portamentos that I've always found irresistible. Why no other singer in the history of the world seemed to have used them is something that I've never fathomed... and no, I do not consider the use of slyly enticing and coy portamentos as old fashion, though apparently the rest of the world does. There was no one like her, including her irresistible and alluring feminine appeal.
:wave:


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Larkenfield said:


> At her best, I doubt if there's ever been a more _charming_ coloratura soprano than Galli-Curci. It was not only the lightness of her voice, but her charming use of downward sliding portamentos that I've always found irresistible. Why no other singer in the history of the world seemed to have used them is something that I've never fathomed... and no, I do not consider the use of slyly enticing and coy portamentos as old fashion, though apparently the rest of the world does. There was no one like her, including her irresistible and alluring femininity.
> :wave:


Galli-Curci was the first singer I ever fell in love with. My grandparents gave me some 78 rpm opera records in the '50s, and she was singing Tosti's "Serenata." When I studied singing in college I programmed that song and tried to imitate her ease, lightness and charm. Her singing had a wonderful naturalness and serenity, a seemingly artless simplicity such as no one has today.


----------



## davidglasgow (Aug 19, 2017)

Hello, a late contribution as I've just joined - a singer I would choose for this selection is Margarethe Siems, born 1879, especially singing Meyerbeer


----------



## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

_ La Paloma_ by the amazing Amelita Galli-Curci -- simply irresistable with her charming, enticing and coy portamentos that slide so naturally from one note to another. She was perhaps at the height of her vocal mastery.


----------



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

davidglasgow said:


> Hello, a late contribution as I've just joined - a singer I would choose for this selection is Margarethe Siems, born 1879, especially singing Meyerbeer


Well that's exactly the kind of contribution I was waiting for  Better late than never (and it's not really late, this is a brand new thread.)

Welcome aboard :tiphat:


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

The great Russian soprano Antonina Nezhdanova (1873-1950) in Zerline's aria "Quel bonheur!" from French composer Daniel Auber's comic opera Fra Diavolo, recorded in 1910 for the Gramophone co..


----------



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Pugg said:


> The great Russian soprano Antonina Nezhdanova (1873-1950) in Zerline's aria "Quel bonheur!" from French composer Daniel Auber's comic opera Fra Diavolo, recorded in 1910 for the Gramophone co..


Wow another great contribution! She's stunning. Flawless trills and staccati. I'm onto her other videos now.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Pugg said:


> The great Russian soprano Antonina Nezhdanova (1873-1950) in Zerline's aria "Quel bonheur!" from French composer Daniel Auber's comic opera Fra Diavolo, recorded in 1910 for the Gramophone co..


She could do anything. No one is better. Perfect technique.


----------



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Lilli Lehmann can be considered a dramatic Coloratura


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tuoksu said:


> Lilli Lehmann can be considered a dramatic Coloratura


She was that and a lot more. A soprano who sang 170 roles, including Brunnhilde, Norma and the Queen of the Night, is pretty hard to classify! It's wonderful to recall that Wagner chose her to be a Rhinemaiden and a valkyrie for the first Bayreuth Festival in 1876, when she was 28. This Mozart was recorded in 1907.


----------



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> She was that and a lot more. A soprano who sang 170 roles, including Brunnhilde, Norma and the Queen of the Night, is pretty hard to classify! It's wonderful to recall that Wagner chose her to be a Rhinemaiden and a valkyrie for the first Bayreuth Festival in 1876, when she was 28. This Mozart was recorded in 1907.


Incredible to think she was 59 in this recording!


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tuoksu said:


> Incredible to think she was 59 in this recording!


That's technique! There was no skimping back then: if you wanted to sing opera, you acquired all the skills. I always marvel at the fact that on these recordings of aging singers born in the 19th century there isn't a trace of the big vibratos (wobbles) we so often hear even in younger singers now. They knew how to control the pressure on their vocal chords, and they mastered the independence of the muscles involved in tone production and verbal articulation. Their voices aged, but rarely broke down.


----------



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> That's technique! There was no skimping back then: if you wanted to sing opera, you acquired all the skills. I always marvel at the fact that on these recordings of aging singers born in the 19th century there isn't a trace of the big vibratos (wobbles) we so often hear even in younger singers now. They knew how to control the pressure on their vocal chords, and they mastered the independence of the muscles involved in tone production and verbal articulation. Their voices aged, but rarely broke down.


Indeed. And the reason I started this thread in the first place is because I'm amazed by the ridiculous decline of the quality of singing today, although many refuse to admit it, and are dismissing it just as simply "nostalgia" or "pessimism" (well, I'm only 23 and I'm not a pessimist.) Angela Meade for instance is a very young singer who's already wobbling. And here we hear a 59-year-old maestra execute one of the most fiendishly difficult arias ever written with ease and accuracy that can't be matched today. The decline of singing quality (and the public's standards for that matter) is a fact and I guess the "teachers" and mass media are to blame.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tuoksu said:


> Indeed. And the reason I started this thread in the first place is because I'm amazed by the ridiculous decline of the quality of singing today, although many refuse to admit it, and are dismissing it just as simply "nostalgia" or "pessimism" (well, I'm only 23 and I'm not a pessimist.) Angela Meade for instance is a very young singer who's already wobbling. And here we hear a 59-year-old maestra execute one of the most fiendishly difficult arias ever written with ease and accuracy that can't be matched today. The decline of singing quality (and the public's standards for that matter) is a fact and I guess the "teachers" and mass media are to blame.


A lot of reasons are suggested for the decline in technical standards. I don't have a firm opinion on this, but I notice a few things when I listen to "golden age" singers (always keeping in mind that recordings of the time don't reveal everything). I notice an evenness of tone production, an absence of forcing, a firm legato, an ability to swell and diminish the sound evenly on any pitch, and a clarity of diction with the words seeming to "float" on the tone and leave the flow of sound unaffected. These seem to have been vocal ideals of the 19th century - of "bel canto" - and I suspect it was the advent of "realistic" operatic music - Wagner and "verismo" - that gave singers license to go for vocal effects inconsistent with vocal purity. The greatest singers have striven to maintain the ideals of bel canto regardless of repertoire - listen to Flagstad and Melchior sing the heaviest music of Wagner with tonal consistency, legato, and no need to force their voices- but to a great extent those ideals seem to have gone by the wayside and most singers now seem to be working pretty hard to sound "impressive."


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

This one is one of my favourites.


----------



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Maria Nemeth


----------



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Yet another _Marchesi _student: _Selma Kruz_






This one also has the best trill I've ever heard (



)


----------



## davidglasgow (Aug 19, 2017)

I think the following coloratura soprano records are interesting because, despite them mainly being much-recorded arias and scenes, the performances are exciting, not always tasteful, but characterful. At the same time they are also clearly enunciated and often beautiful-sounding:

Marcella Sembrich born 1858, Merce, dilette amiche recorded 1908





Celestina Boninsegna born 1877, Bel raggio lusinghier recorded 1910





Maria Galvany born 1878, Fado Portuguez recorded 1908 





Alma Gluck born 1884, Lo Here The Gentle Lark recorded 1912





Ada Sari born 1886, Il dolce suono recorded 1925


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tuoksu said:


> Yet another _Marchesi _student: _Selma Kurz_
> 
> ...the best trill I've ever heard (
> 
> ...


The trill to end all trills. And she's still on pitch when the piano comes in at the end!


----------



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

davidglasgow said:


> I think the following coloratura soprano records are interesting because, despite them mainly being much-recorded arias and scenes, the performances are exciting, not always tasteful, but characterful. At the same time they are also clearly enunciated and often beautiful-sounding:
> 
> Marcella Sembrich born 1858, Merce, dilette amiche recorded 1908
> 
> ...


This thread is paying off. I've been terribly missing out as I've never heard of Sembrich, Alma Gluck or Ada Sari before and they're ridiculously awesome. Sari's mad scene is spectacular. My god, that cadenza!
And how did I forget Maria Galvany and Boninsegna? 
Thank you, great post!


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

davidglasgow said:


> Celestina Boninsegna born 1877, Bel raggio lusinghier recorded 1910
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Given the recording technology, Boninsegna must have had not only superb technique but also an incredibly powerful and brilliant sound, sort of like Marilyn Horne.

I feel pretty certain that the Galvany recording is pitched at least a half-step too high, something not uncommon in transferring 78 rpms. It speeds everything up, has her singing sustained high Es, and gives her that funny chipmunky sound with a superfast vibrato.


----------



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> Given the recording technology, Boninsegna must have had not only superb technique but also an incredibly powerful and brilliant sound, sort of like Marilyn Horne.


Boninsegna is an amazing Verdi Soprano


----------



## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Amazing how much of Boninsegna's voice was captured even during the very early years of recording. Beautiful even if I prefer something less of what sounds to me as a chest vibrato.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Larkenfield said:


> Amazing how much of Boninsegna's voice was captured even during the very early years of recording. Beautiful even if I prefer something less of what sounds to me as a chest vibrato.


What do you mean by chest vibrato? She does have a strong chest voice.


----------



## David Phillips (Jun 26, 2017)

English soprano, Maggie Teyte, admired by Debussy, was unsurpassed as an interpreter of French song.


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Mercedes Caspir - La Traviata - BARCELONA 1914


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Toti Dal Monte, "Ah, non credea mirarti", Bellini: La Sonnambula (rec. 1929)


----------



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

The amazing Frieda Hempel


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Amelita Galli-Curci - The Barber Of Seville : Una Voce Poco Fa (Rossini) Electrical Recording
I know we had her already but this one is so good!


----------



## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Delicious. I could listen to Galli-Curci all day. Sensational upper register among her other vocal delights.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Pugg said:


> Amelita Galli-Curci - The Barber Of Seville : Una Voce Poco Fa (Rossini) Electrical Recording
> I know we had her already but this one is so good!


Those high-velocity arpeggios and staccati! Dead on pitch!


----------



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

The more I listen to her, the more she reminds me of Callas for some reason. Check out that Eb!


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Tuoksu said:


> The more I listen to her, the more she reminds me of Callas for some reason. Check out that Eb!


You must be confused, she's more in the Pons / Sills tradition.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Pugg said:


> You must be confused, she's more in the Pons / Sills tradition.


I'm guessing the reference is to certain details of phrasing, but frankly I don't hear Callas here either.


----------



## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

You will notice that some songs are edited to shorter versions or sound a bit rushed because the record media used for public then are 12 inch shellac discs at 78 rpm and they max out at 5 minutes per side or more common around 4:30 per side, any more requires a record flip to side 2 which they try to avoid...........


----------



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> I'm guessing the reference is to certain details of phrasing


Indeed, that's what I was referring to.


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Ebe Stignani & Gina Cigna "Me chiami...Mira, o Norma" Norma 1937
Born 1900 , don't shoot me.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Pugg said:


> Ebe Stignani & Gina Cigna "Me chiami...Mira, o Norma" Norma 1937
> Born 1900 , don't shoot me.


Cigna is hardly a coloratura. Do you like this performance? It sounds harsh and overwrought to me, like they really want to be doing _Cavalleria Rusticana._ The recorded sound may be partly to blame, but this strikes me as "can belto."


----------



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Pugg said:


> Ebe Stignani & Gina Cigna "Me chiami...Mira, o Norma" Norma 1937
> Born 1900 , don't shoot me.


Not only 1900, but no Coloratura either :lol: But gives me the idea to start a thread for dramatic sopranos born 1900-1920


----------



## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

Woodduck said:


> Cigna is hardly a coloratura. Do you like this performance? It sounds harsh and overwrought to me, like they really want to be doing _Cavalleria Rusticana._ The recorded sound may be partly to blame, but this strikes me as "can belto."


Gina Cigna was the MET Norma from 1937-38, in between much longer runs by Rosa Ponselle and Zinka Milanov, I am pretty sure she has the first complete recorded Norma available to public.....

*MET Norma performance archives:*

Then came Rosa Ponselle gave 7 in 1927 ---> 35 in 1932

*Then came Gina Cigna 36 in 1937 ---> 41 in 1938*

Then came Zinka Milanov 42 in 1943 ---> 57 in 1954

Then came Maria Callas 58 in 1956 ---> 63 in 1956









Gina as Norma

To answer Ducks question no she is not my favorite Norma by any means, but interesting to hear what singing style was used for Norma during different time periods......leading up to Callas


----------

