# Round 1: Pace, pace mio dio! Farrell, Steber, Nilsson



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

See note below


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

This is my birthday week so I am starting some really blockbuster contests this week with one of the great Verdi arias for soprano: Pace Pace Mio Dio. There will be 10 contestants with Callas competing against the winners of the other rounds. I start out with some powerhouse video performances with all three sopranos at their vocal peaks. I know a significant number of you hate Nilsson, but if you listen to her version critically I think you will agree that no one used greater vocal dynamics in singing the aria than she did. Give her a fair listen. Farrell is unusually emotionally involved in her rendition. I don't know if Steber sang the role, but she sang the pants off of the aria! To keep you from getting tired of the aria I will have two rounds between the Pace rounds, including a huge tenor contest with 9 tenors. I hope you enjoy.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Hi John:
What you referred to as Birgit's "greater vocal dynamics" left a big chunk of interior depth of feeling missing from her version. Try as she may, Farrell just wasn't up to it very much either even though she too was vocally secure.
For me it was a runaway for Steber, lord love her, who had a fine tempo and a richness of tone along with a strong inner passion.
I imagine we shall be hearing Tebaldi and Price among your other choices.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> Hi John:
> What you referred to as Birgit's "greater vocal dynamics" left a big chunk of interior depth of feeling missing from her version. Try as she may, Farrell just wasn't up to it very much either even though she too was vocally secure.
> For me it was a runaway for Steber, lord love her, who had a fine tempo and a richness of tone along with a strong inner passion.
> I imagine we shall be hearing Tebaldi and Price among your other choices.


Tebaldi yes. I was not planning on Price as she normally isn't liked in this crowd. Along with middle and late Sutherland, Horne, Eaglen, she has been greatly panned on this forum. If someone else wants her in I'll make room for her. She is the darling of my home state and a sentimental favorite with me.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Farrell’s version can’t be counted due to the missing music; the first “Pace” and its _messa di voce _which should’ve begun the aria is missing entirely - as is the introduction with its “Fate” motif. In addition, it’s accompanied by piano, already a handicap. But the setting is spectacular! I also feel she’s just singing notes, as usual. There are much better sung and deeper interpretations. The voice, also as usual, is magnificent.

As is Nilsson, whose version is very well sung, but rather neutral, too. The initial _Messa di voce _is merely a _decrescendo_, and a few notes are missing in the aria’s opening. That darn TV timing! But she does give us a grand gesture by the end with that sweeping scarf.

Steber stars with a nice_ piano, crescendo, _then slow _descrescendo _on the first “Pace” and tears into it right from the start. Leonora’s emotions are pouring out of her, the words inflected and the voice pulsing with rich overtones and as magnificent a high note as the others’s.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Tebaldi yes. I was not planning on Price as she normally isn't liked in this crowd. Along with middle and late Sutherland, Horne, Eaglen, she has been greatly panned on this forum. If someone else wants her in I'll make room for her. She is the darling of my home state and a sentimental favorite with me.


How can you have a Pace contest without Leontyne, even if you think people dislike her? I don’t hate Nilsson or Price. Price was the go to Leonora in her day, though I think one of her recordings of the role came too late.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> How can you have a Pace contest without Leontyne, even if you think people dislike her? I don’t hate Nilsson or Price. Price was the go to Leonora in her day, though I think one of her recordings of the role came too late.


Done. I try to count the pulse of the group but sometimes fail. I love her voice so much.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

MAS said:


> How can you have a Pace contest without Leontyne, even if you think people dislike her? I don’t hate Nilsson or Price. Price was the go to Leonora in her day, though I think one of her recordings of the role came too late.


 I assume Ponselle is also a given.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

None of these three versions entirely satsifies me, but I largely agree with MAS.

Nilsson sounds like a fish out of water to me. The voice is as usual completely secure, though there is the occasional flatness, her top B, if not quite _dolce, _is steady as a rock, but it seems to come out of nowhere and isn't really attached to the notes before it. Nor is there any real idea of Verdian style. I have to say I liked her version the least.

Farrell is better, but as MAS notes, the first note is missing, and the top B on _Invan la pace _is too loud. The voice is magnificent of course, but I don't get any real engagement with the text. It's all a bit generalised.

Which leaves Steber, who sings with more feeling, more attention to the text and with a voice that is just as magnificent as Farrell's. She was an easy winner for me in this round, though there are others I would prefer and who I assume are coming up in other rounds.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I re-wrote the first section of my post to make clearer that the first few measures of Eileen Farrell’s version are missing entirely. She starts on the second “Pace.”


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Whenever Nilsson sings Verdi, or anything requiring the shaping of a soft, lyrical cantilena, I sense an effort to keep control of a slightly unwieldy instrument. She usually manages it, just, but moments of suspect intonation and a smeariness in anything resembling coloratura reveal a mismatch of voice and music. Part of the problem is simply that her voice is so sharply focused as to pitch - unlike many singers whose vibratos can partly obscure small inaccuracies - that even the slightest deviation from true pitch is apparent. Such an odd singer! I say all this as one who has enjoyed her in more suitable repertoire. (It may be worth reiterating that the metallic sound of her voice as it comes through a microphone and TV studio and out of my computer speakers isn't the sound I heard at the Met.)

From her beautifully executed messa di voce at the start onward, Eleanor Steber proves herself fully up to the demands of the music. Hers isn't an ideal Verdi voice, perhaps; a little more strength at the bottom would be welcome, but singing as confident and committed as this is hard to criticize.

It's too bad that Farrell's performance omitted the opening messa di voce, as I have no doubt she could have done it beautifully given the dynamic control she exhibits elsewhere. I very much like her voice in this - she has the lower register fullness I miss in Steber, though she doesn't float high notes as easily - and she does more to vary her dynamics in response to the text. I don't mind the piano accompaniment, and the absence of orchestral support makes Farrell's ability to project the changing emotions of the scene the more impressive.

I have a dilemma in choosing between Steber's perfect command of the music and Farrell's more varied and evocative - more theatrical - presentation. But given that Farrell's is a great voice well used despite a few imperfections, and one well-suited to the repertoire, I think I'll go with her.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Eileen Farrell - deciding factor - she liked hanging out with the stagehands and was fond of trading off-color jokes - I like that in a gal.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Shaughnessy said:


> Eileen Farrell - deciding factor - she liked hanging out with the stagehands and was fond of trading off-color jokes - I like that in a gal. I actually preferred a different version =
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sorry I missed your video. I was so taken with the dramatic setting of the one I used that I ignored this.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Another full Farrell recording.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Sorry I missed your video. I was so taken with the dramatic setting of the one I used that I ignored this.


Actually, I'm the one who should apologize. You put a great deal of thought into crafting this thread and it can be disheartening to receive a response of this nature. I greatly enjoy your threads, watch the videos, read the comments, and then watch them a second time in an effort to understand the critiques that were offered. You have a cultured readership - providing insightful analysis and thoughtful insight - unlike the riff-raff that seem magnetically drawn to me.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> Another full Farrell recording.


I wore this disc out at some point. I think she is a marvelous Verdi singer with the beauty and size of voice you rarely hear. Sorry I missed the mess up at the beginning. I often don't notice such things.. I was attracted to the high drama of the video setting. I can be shallow that way.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Shaughnessy said:


> Actually, I'm the one who should apologize. You put a great deal of thought into crafting this thread and it can be disheartening to receive a response of this nature. I greatly enjoy your threads, watch the videos, read the comments, and then watch them a second time in an effort to understand the critiques that were offered. You have a cultured readership - providing insightful analysis and thoughtful insight - unlike the riff-raff that seem magnetically drawn to me. It took days to work up the courage to even enter the thread - one half intimidated, one half daunted and one half self-conscious. It's a place that I come to in order to learn the art and craft. I can't contribute anything of real value other than being willing to accept the role of "audience member"... one willing to clap like a trained monkey when the "Applause" sign lights up.


Aren't you nice! I learn so much from the posters here on these contests. They put up with my occasional fumbling LOL


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> Hi John:
> What you referred to as Birgit's "greater vocal dynamics" left a big chunk of interior depth of feeling missing from her version. Try as she may, Farrell just wasn't up to it very much either even though she too was vocally secure.
> For me it was a runaway for Steber, lord love her, who had a fine tempo and a richness of tone along with a strong inner passion.
> I imagine we shall be hearing Tebaldi and Price among your other choices.


I can be swayed by diva fabulousness and Nilsson was impeccable in her attire and manner. She could be a very striking person when she was young in videos. I am rather a queen at times I am afraid LOL Glamor is of higher priority in a video than emotions to me. I know you are disappointed in me. Emotions are more important in recordings when I can't see the artist. Farrell never looked better than in this video of her. Often she looked like a cleaning lady. In my defense, the great Callas never became the great superstar she became until she became svelt and glamorous. It put her on the center of the world stage, which she was not on when dowdy and overweight, even though just as talented.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> In my defense, the great Callas never became the great superstar she became until she became svelt and glamorous. It put her on the center of the world stage, which she was not on when dowdy and overweight, even though just as talented.


I'm not quite sure that assumption is correct, John, though it might have something to do with the fact that she didn't make her US debut in Chicago until 1954 after she had lost weight. She was already quite a big star in Europe by then. The ovation that greets her when she makes her entrance as Armida in Florence in 1952 is testament to that. By 1954, she had three La Scala seasons under her belt and a recording contract with EMI, and her recordings of *Lucia di Lammermoor*, *I Puritani *and *Tosca *had definitely put her on the map. There is no doubt that the weight loss contributed to her glamour, but she was already quite a big star before that, at least in Europe.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I'm not quite sure that assumption is correct, John, though it might have something to do with the fact that she didn't make her US debut in Chicago until 1954 after she had lost weight. She was already quite a big star in Europe by then. The ovation that greets her when she makes her entrance as Armida in Florence in 1952 is testament to that. By 1954, she had three La Scala seasons under her belt and a recording contract with EMI, and her recordings of *Lucia di Lammermoor*, *I Puritani *and *Tosca *had definitely put her on the map. There is no doubt that the weight loss contributed to her glamour, but she was already quite a big star before that, at least in Europe.


You are correct in all that you say but perhaps I should have used the word "celebrity" instead. "Media darling" possibly. She did have a great international reputation in Italy and Mexico and S America before 52. I think you also have to factor in the increased acting freedom that her weight loss seemed to inspire onstage. Yes, America discovering her was a big deal but unusually photogenic looks by that point certainly didn't hurt in attracting front page attention, not that her talent didn't back all that attention up. As in all things Callas... it is never just one thing. She did record her great studio recording of Norma when she was heavy, but most of her studio recordings didn't happen till after she had transformed herself and back then recordings really helped put a career on the map.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> You are correct in all that you say but perhaps I should have used the word "celebrity" instead. "Media darling" possibly. She did have a great international reputation in Italy and Mexico and S America before 52. I think you also have to factor in the increased acting freedom that her weight loss seemed to inspire onstage. Yes, America discovering her was a big deal but unusually photogenic looks by that point certainly didn't hurt in attracting front page attention, not that her talent didn't back all that attention up. As in all things Callas... it is never just one thing. She did record her great studio recording of Norma when she was heavy, but most of her studio recordings didn't happen till after she had transformed herself and back then recordings really helped put a career on the map.


Actually *Norma *was recorded in 1954, post weight loss and shortly before she made her US debut. She also recorded *La Forza del Destino*, *I Pagliacci*, *Il Turco in Italia *and her first two recitals that year. This was all after the La Scala *Alceste*, where she already looks pretty slim.










But you are right to say the weight loss changed her as an artist. Giulini, who conducted that *Alceste* but had also conducted her when she was heavy, said 


> She became another woman and a new world of expression opened to her. Potentials held in the shadows emerged. In every sense, she had been transformed


.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Actually *Norma *was recorded in 1954, post weight loss and shortly before she made her US debut. She also recorded *La Forza del Destino*, *I Pagliacci*, *Il Turco in Italia *and her first two recitals that year. This was all after the La Scala *Alceste*, where she already looks pretty slim.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The Norma fooled me then as all the photos in the booklet show her quite heavy. Sorry. I should shut up about Callas around you whiz kids.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Shaughnessy said:


> Eileen Farrell - deciding factor - she liked hanging out with the stagehands and was fond of trading off-color jokes - I like that in a gal.


Hah! And Steber wasn't?
How about the famous "Baths" in New York where she got down and dirty with her fans in the steam room and gave off with some pretty fancy highs while dressed in nothing but a towel, just like they were. She's the Queen of down-to-earth.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> Hah! And Steber wasn't?
> How about the famous "Baths" in New York where she got down and dirty with her fans in the steam room and gave off with some pretty fancy highs while dressed in nothing but a towel, just like they were. She's the Queen of down-to-earth.


!!!!!!!!!! Did not know. I am not that familiar with Steber other than loving her recordings, but I think I should get so!!! I did hear her live, though. That is a juicy tidbit. Of course most of those opera queens are gone to Elysian Fields. Today at a similar venue the gays would have zero knowledge of opera. Nilsson I know more and that she likely had second best collection of celebrity jewels after Liz Taylor.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> Hah! And Steber wasn't?
> How about the famous "Baths" in New York where she got down and dirty with her fans in the steam room and gave off with some pretty fancy highs while dressed in nothing but a towel, just like they were. She's the Queen of down-to-earth.


I had no idea, but 



















How amazing!


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I had no idea, but
> 
> 
> 
> ...


We must remember, she was at the end of her career when she took on that Continental Baths engagement, and had other problems. But the most famous performer there was Bette Midler.

Here’s Steber:


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

MAS said:


> We must remember, she was at the end of her career when she took on that Continental Baths engagement, and had other problems. But the most famous performer there was Bette Midler.


Bette Midler I knew about of course.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Bette Midler I knew about of course.


Unlike Steber, Midler was at the start of her career.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

It was a heavy choice. I'm a perennial fan of Nilsson, but Steber here is amazing.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

Tebaldi is my favorite in this part. Especially La Forza from San Carlo, with Bastianini, Domínguez and others. And of course I enjoyed live performances with soloists not widely known.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

ColdGenius said:


> Tebaldi is my favorite in this part. Especially La Forza from San Carlo, with Bastianini, Domínguez and others. And of course I enjoyed live performances with soloists not widely known.


You’re consigning _Corelli _and _Christoff_ to “others?” That is also my favorite *Forza*.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

Yes. I'm sorry. 
Now such a cast is impossible.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

superfluous post (mine)


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Y'all call me a fach purist sometimes, but this time, Steber gets the win.


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