# Round Two:Io Son L'umile Ancella. Gheorghiu and Tebaldi



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Adriana Lecouvreur, Act 1 Scene 3: "Ecco, respiro appena … lo son l’umile ancella" (Adriana) · Angela Gheorghiu · Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden · Ion Marin 




 Adriana Lecouvreur: Ecco respiro appena - Io son l'umile ancella 

ARTIST 
Renata Tebaldi, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

This is hardly fair, Gheorghiu vs prime Tebaldi in a role tailor made for her gifts. Tebaldi. Easy!


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

This is hardly fair, Tebaldi vs prime Gheorghiu in a role tailer made for her "gifts" - Attractive, check - Ample bosom, check - Shapely bottom, check - Ankles thinner than calves, check...

Gheorghiu. Easy!


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Op.123 said:


> This is hardly fair, Gheorghiu vs prime Tebaldi in a role tailor made for her gifts. Tebaldi. Easy!


Tebaldi has not always fared well in contests here so it is nice that she has a fan here! I love listening to her unique voice.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I think it is eminently fair and a fine match because it shows two different ways of approaching the same aria -- each with 2 expert singers delivering their own unique pluses.
For those who relish power and strength in their voices Tebaldi has to be a big win.
For those who prefer a vulnerable throat tone with a sound of beauty that is hard to beat Gheorghiu wins the day.
Both are top stars but for me Tebaldi is singing lots of powerful highs sans the feeling behind them and therefore Gheorghiu gets my vote because I prefer sensitivity coupled by a unique sound in my arias first.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I'm beginning to wonder what I want to hear in this aria. I'm even beginning to wonder whether I want to hear it at all. Tebaldi has exactly the right sort of voice, as Op. 123 says. But she was a fundamentally pedestrian musician, and I often find myself wondering why she does and doesn't do some of the things - usually concerning dynamics - which she does and doesn't do. She'll weaken the overall shape of an aria with some arbitrary dynamic effect - "ooh, this phrase is nice, let's make a crescendo!" - and it all ends up sounding like the same generic "Italian opera" exhibition. It bores me. Fortunately, however, this almost-boring piece requires little more than straightforward lyricism, and Tebaldi's boring self sounds quite at home.

I don't find Gheorghiu boring, and her timbre is appealing, but she's a little underpowered, and I do think that her expressiveness often has a calculated, too-controlled feel. Had she not waited so long to let her voice out full in the middle of this, and were her conductor less soporific (there's an opportunity to goose the tempo a bit), I might find her a winner. As it is I have to fall back on Madama Generica, who doesn't quite plumb the shallows to the bottom but who sounds right for the part.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Tebaldi is probably more enitled vocally, but she's a bit stolid and not particularly interesting. Gheorghiu has a lighter voice, but it's a very beautiful instrument and she does much more with it. Maybe the art doesn't always conceal the art (and I sometimes feel that, in her phrasing, Gheorghiu 'ghosts' Callas) but, as someone who prefers too much intelligence to too little, I'm voting for her.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I know I wrote something about these two videos, and preferred Tebaldi over the artificial and underpowered Gheorghiu (I thought).


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> I know I wrote something about these two videos, and preferred Tebaldi over the artificial and underpowered Gheorghiu (I thought).


In some things Gheorghiu is wonderful but she is no Tebaldi. You don't think of this initially as a big spinto aria till you hear it by someone who isn't. Sutherland is huge in this and the power is so wonderful at the end. You never really hear of anyone singing this who didn''t have a good set of strong pipes. I wonder why so many wore an enormous turban headpiece. I liked it but just wondered why. It was very drag queeny on Sutherland and Caballe.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> In some things Gheorghiu is wonderful but she is no Tebaldi. You don't think of this initially as a big spinto aria till you hear it by someone who isn't. Sutherland is huge in this and the power is so wonderful at the end. You never really hear of anyone singing this who didn''t have a good set of strong pipes. I wonder why so many wore an enormous turban headpiece. I liked it but just wondered why. It was very drag queeny on Sutherland and Caballe.
> View attachment 180764


I said so before, but Sutherland allowed some costumes that were ridiculously large for her and made her look enormous. It’s as if they decided to “go big” because she was tall enough and she didn’t complain…


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## ewilkros (8 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I wonder why so many wore an enormous turban headpiece


Adriana is about to go onstage as a character in *Bajazet*, which is set in the Ottoman empire.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

ewilkros said:


> Adriana is about to go onstage as a character in *Bajazet*, which is set in the Ottoman empire.


That make sense although Joan Sutherland looking Turkish doesn't. They never did the opera here. I love the Nora Desmond turban look.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Seattleoperafan said:


> That make sense although Joan Sutherland looking Turkish doesn't. The never did the opera here.* I love the Nora Desmond turban look.*


Said no straight guy ever -


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I like Gheorghiu and for those who thinks she's too much of a diva to be a good actress, well here (and more so in Tosca) she plays herself. However, this is from a concert before she had sung the role on stage and it's... dull. At least Olivero and Caballe did something with this aria.

Tebaldi is an artist that I enjoy listening to, but I think that I don't. Tebaldi here is stupendous. She gives a performance that's less pretentious and more musically appealing than Caballe's and whilst she doesn't have the variety of light and shade of Olivero she also doesn't have the vulgarity! This is an easy winner.

N.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

The Conte said:


> I like Gheorghiu and for those who thinks she's too much of a diva to be a good actress, well here (and more so in Tosca) she plays herself. However, this is from a concert before she had sung the role on stage and it's... dull. At least Olivero and Caballe did something with this aria.
> 
> Tebaldi is an artist that I enjoy listening to, but I think that I don't. Tebaldi here is stupendous. She gives a performance that's less pretentious and more musically appealing than Caballe's and whilst she doesn't have the variety of light and shade of Olivero she also doesn't have the vulgarity! This is an easy winner.
> 
> N.


I don't follow what you mean by "Tebaldi is an artist that I enjoy listening to, but I think that I don't"?


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> In some things Gheorghiu is wonderful but she is no Tebaldi. You don't think of this initially as a big spinto aria till you hear it by someone who isn't. Sutherland is huge in this and the power is so wonderful at the end.


Funnily enough I don't think of this aria as being a big sing. I got to know it from Callas's version (she never sang the role, but recorded the two big arias for her 1954 _Lyric and Coloratura _recital) and she sings it with delicacy and restraint, which is how I like it. Gheorghiu filled that brief better for me.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I don't follow what you mean by "Tebaldi is an artist that I enjoy listening to, but I think that I don't"?


I think I don't like Tebaldi, but when I listen to her I often enjoy her singing. I like her far more than I think I'm going to.

It would have been clearer to say, "Tebaldi is an artist that I enjoy listening to, but I think that I won't"

N.


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## damianjb1 (Jan 1, 2016)

Tebaldi for me by a mile. 
Gheorghiu's version sounds very under-sung. I was surprised to see it's a live recording. To me it sounds very studio bound.
My all time favourite though is still Magda Olivero.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

As @Woodduck famously said, this aria is less effective when sung with taste. I need the weird things Magda Olivero was doing with it in the previous round.

Angela Gheorghiu is making an attempt to be dramatic, but is not over the top enough for me.

Tebaldi wins eventually, because her voice sounds great at the long sustained note.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

BBSVK said:


> As @Woodduck famously said, this aria is less effective when sung with taste. I need the weird things Magda Olivero was doing with it in the previous round.
> 
> Angela Gheorghiu is making an attempt to be dramatic, but is not over the top enough for me.
> 
> Tebaldi wins eventually, because her voice sounds great at the long sustained note.


I am the first to admit that discerning the emotions are not as easy for me to pick out as the rest of you. Tebaldi's smooth creamy legato is so gorgeous to me and the effortless power and grandeur of her fully unleashed voice make me very very happy. I am often more into the sheer sound of voices than many of you. I am happy with less. You BBSVK are a much better critic than me


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I am the first to admit that discerning the emotions are not as easy for me to pick out as the rest of you. Tebaldi's smooth creamy legato is so gorgeous to me and the effortless power and grandeur of her fully unleashed voice make me very very happy. I am often more into the sheer sound of voices than many of you. I am happy with less. You BBSVK are a much better critic than me


Frankly, I don't know what emotion is correct here. I have a vague idea, Adriana wants to be a good actress and wants her acting to be the truth itself. Boring... Where is the romantic love, lust, and disfunctional families ? I need something to wake me up here, not the accurate portrayal of the emotions.

Tebaldi's voice _is_ beautiful.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

BBSVK said:


> Frankly, I don't know what emotion is correct here. I have a vague idea, Adriana wants to be a good actress and wants her acting to be the truth itself. Boring... Where is the romantic love, lust, and disfunctional families ? I need something to wake me up here, not the accurate portrayal of the emotions.
> 
> Tebaldi's voice _is_ beautiful.


  I want to wear that huge turban so bad. If you took it off to drive could it fool the cops into thinking you have a passenger and you could drive in the multiple occupancy lanes


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

BBSVK said:


> Frankly, I don't know what emotion is correct here. I have a vague idea, Adriana wants to be a good actress and wants her acting to be the truth itself. Boring... Where is the romantic love, lust, and disfunctional families ? I need something to wake me up here, not the accurate portrayal of the emotions.
> 
> Tebaldi's voice _is_ beautiful.


I'm with you in not finding any compelling emotional content in the aria, but from my limited acquaintance with the opera I'd say it presents a perfect opportunity for a diva to portray a diva, which is why approximately 93.752% of the work's cult following is gay men (don't ask me how I know that, I just do). I think the wisteria-scented music speaks pretty well for itself and doesn't need to be analyzed for meaning. This stuff isn't deeper than a makeup tray. The essential thing for the real-life diva, I think, is just to sing lusciously, letting her voice pour out, following the rise and fall of the music, lingering here and pressing more urgently there. I suspect Olivero has the right idea: take divahood seriously, and don't be afraid of some histrionic display, which isn't the same thing as the vocal display of Caballe with her narcissistic, all-purpose pianissimo. There are divas and there are Divas; Tebaldi was a less flamboyant Diva, but qualified by virtue of her two-foot-wide coiffure, which would have kept her afloat in the Titanic disaster or allowed her to sing "Vissi d'arte" while standing on her head.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I want to wear that huge turban so bad. If you took it off to drive could it fool the cops into thinking you have a passenger and you could drive in the multiple occupancy lanes


OK, our discussion finally prompted me to do my homework and look up the libretto:


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

BBSVK said:


> OK, our discussion finally prompted me to do my homework and look up the libretto:
> View attachment 180849


The lyrics are exactly why I prefer a more restrained approach. There is no big drama here and I think it shoud be sung simply and delicately. After all the accompaniment is quite gentle too.

As I've mentioned before, I don't much like the opera, but I do have the Levine recording and Scotto tasteful singing does at least make it palatable to me. Callas is wonderful in this aria and, even more so, in _Poveri fiori_. Both singers tend to play down the histrionics, which is probably why I prefer them.


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## tsquare07 (Sep 22, 2018)

Woodduck said:


> I'm with you in not finding any compelling emotional content in the aria, but from my limited acquaintance with the opera I'd say it presents a perfect opportunity for a diva to portray a diva, which is why approximately 93.752% of the work's cult following is gay men (don't ask me how I know that, I just do). I think the wisteria-scented music speaks pretty well for itself and doesn't need to be analyzed for meaning. This stuff isn't deeper than a makeup tray. The essential thing for the real-life diva, I think, is just to sing lusciously, letting her voice pour out, following the rise and fall of the music, lingering here and pressing more urgently there. I suspect Olivero has the right idea: take divahood seriously, and don't be afraid of some histrionic display, which isn't the same thing as the vocal display of Caballe with her narcissistic, all-purpose pianissimo. There are divas and there are Divas; Tebaldi was a less flamboyant Diva, but qualified by virtue of her two-foot-wide coiffure, which would have kept her afloat in the Titanic disaster or allowed her to sing "Vissi d'arte" while standing on her head.


@Woodduck
So do you think Callas adds another layer of meaning when she sings it? Or it stays the same for you? Just curious. I ask coz you don't mention her.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

tsquare07 said:


> @Woodduck
> So do you think Callas adds another layer of meaning when she sings it? Or it stays the same for you? Just curious. I ask coz you don't mention her.


Why don't you save it because Callas is in the next round. I'm not done with the contest yet


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> I'm with you in not finding any compelling emotional content in the aria, but from my limited acquaintance with the opera I'd say it presents a perfect opportunity for a diva to portray a diva, which is why approximately 93.752% of the work's cult following is gay men (don't ask me how I know that, I just do). I think the wisteria-scented music speaks pretty well for itself and doesn't need to be analyzed for meaning. This stuff isn't deeper than a makeup tray. The essential thing for the real-life diva, I think, is just to sing lusciously, letting her voice pour out, following the rise and fall of the music, lingering here and pressing more urgently there. I suspect Olivero has the right idea: take divahood seriously, and don't be afraid of some histrionic display, which isn't the same thing as the vocal display of Caballe with her narcissistic, all-purpose pianissimo. There are divas and there are Divas; Tebaldi was a less flamboyant Diva, but qualified by virtue of her two-foot-wide coiffure, which would have kept her afloat in the Titanic disaster or allowed her to sing "Vissi d'arte" while standing on her head.


 This is my favorite. BTW I love the words to the aria because it is not about romantic love for a change. Tebaldi's huge face and short neck helped her project an enormous sound but she looked like a man in a dress with normal sized hair. With big hair she looked like a fabulous drag queen 😜 BTW, there is a little 85 year old lady in an old Caddy I often see in a daily bank run for clients that has this same hairdo in white. She must see her hairdresser daily.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

From wikipedia on the play Bajazet, which Adriana is preparing to play: "The action is particularly complex, and can only be resolved by a series of deaths and suicides."


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> This is my favorite. BTW I love the words to the aria because it is not about romantic love for a change. Tebaldi's huge face and short neck helped her project an enormous sound but she looked like a man in a dress with normal sized hair. With big hair she looked like a fabulous drag queen 😜 BTW, there is a little 85 year old lady in an old Caddy I often see in a daily bank run for clients that has this same hairdo in white. She must see her hairdresser daily.
> View attachment 180867


An impressive hairstyle 
But Tebaldi was beautiful, at minimum in the footage of La Gioconda.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Seattleoperafan said:


> *... I want to wear that huge turban so bad...*


Said no straight guy ever... Wait... Whaaat?... Not even Liberace ever said that -


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