# Single Round Soprano Contest: Robert le Diable with Anderson, Sills, and Grob-Prandl



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I almost made two rounds but thought it would be more interesting to have three such very different performances in close juxtaposition. I have no idea how you will react. These go from sublimely beautiful to thrilling. Don't miss Grob Prandl's a capella high C at the end... O MY WORD! In my opinion one of the most thrilling High C's ever recorded! With her version in German you can hear how Meyerbeer possibly influenced Wagner.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Meyerbeer is very boring. Most boring was Anderson, least was Grob-Prandl. Sills in the middle.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> Meyerbeer is very boring. Most boring was Anderson, least was Grob-Prandl. Sills in the middle.


Not saying you are wrong, but this is from Wikipedia:Giacomo Meyerbeer[n 1] (born Jacob Liebmann Beer; 5 September 1791 - 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer of Jewish birth, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner".[1] With his 1831 opera Robert le diable and its successors, he gave the genre of grand opera 'decisive character'.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Not saying you are wrong, but this is from Wikipedia:Giacomo Meyerbeer[n 1] (born Jacob Liebmann Beer; 5 September 1791 - 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer of Jewish birth, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner".[1] With his 1831 opera Robert le diable and its successors, he gave the genre of grand opera 'decisive character'.


Dear friend, people can have different opinions!


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> Dear friend, people can have different opinions!


NO NO, I wasn't saying it was my opinion that he was a great composer nor was I passing judgement on your statement. I know Meyerbeer is out of fashion now and MOST probably share your opinion. I was just saying that there was a long period of time when he was a very popular. Tastes change! I read where he was the most popular late 19th century composer, back when opera was king. He was the most financially successful composer of that period. J. S sings some Meyerbeer that I really love on her French Opera Gala that are fiendishly difficult and which I love greatly, but I have never sat through one of his operas so I can't pass an educated judgement about his music.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Here are the text and translation of this aria:

Robert, toi que j'aime et qui reçus ma fois, tu vois mon effroi!
*Robert, you who I love and who received my time, you see my fear!*
Grace, grace pour toi même, et grace pour moi! Grace pour toi!
*Mercy, mercy for yourself, and mercy for me! Mercy for yourself!*

Quoi? ton coeur, se dégage des sermens les plus doux?
*What? your heart breaks the sweetest oaths?*
Tu me rendis hommage, je suis à tes genoux, à tes genoux!
*You showed me favor, I am at your knees, at your knees!*
Grace, grace pour toi même, et grace pour moi! Grace pour toi!
*Mercy, mercy for yourself, and mercy for me! Mercy for yourself!*

O mon bien, mon bien suprême, toi que j'aime, tu vois mon effroi!
*O my dear, my most dear, you who I love, you see my fear! *
Grace, grace pour toi même, et grace pour moi!
*Mercy, mercy for yourself, and mercy for me!*

June Anderson has about the right weight of voice for this music, but God is she uninteresting to listen to! Her voice has a single, rather whiny color, and if she knows what she's singin' about she ain't a-sayin.'

After that trek through Death Valley Sills comes as a draught of fresh, life-giving water, getting more expressive mileage out of her slight instrument than she has any right to. If this woman had been born with a Tebaldi-sized voice she would have been the greatest dramatic soprano of her time.

I'm not a fan of Grob-Prandl's voice; its monochromatic brightness and very narrow, wiggly vibrato combine oddly with what is reputed to have been exceptional power - she's a sort of hochdramatische soubrette - and her thoughts about the music are quite generalized.

I consider this an easy sweep for Sills.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Here are the text and translation of this aria:
> 
> Robert, toi que j'aime et qui reçus ma fois, tu vois mon effroi!
> *Robert, you who I love and who received my time, you see my fear!*
> ...


Perhaps I should have entered Diana Damrau instead of Anderson in the contest. I knew Sills would be wonderful and Grob Prandl is very interesting to me.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Perhaps I should have entered Diana Damrau instead of Anderson in the contest. I knew Sills would be wonderful and Grob Prandl is very interesting to me.


That's OK. It's worth being reminded of why we've ignored certain singers.


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## niknik (Oct 4, 2014)

Sills for me, I think this aria along with the arias Giusto ciel from l'assedio di Corinto and Eccomi in lieta vesta (1969) from I Capuleti and Montechi are the most expressive arias singed from Beverly


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

My, how we hear things differently. This affecting little aria may not be great music, but it has a certain charm to it. Anderson makes absolutely nothing of it, whereas Sills brings an intelligence and sensitivity to it I can well understand if people prefer that version.

However, Grob-Prandl has far more _feeling_ and despite singing it in translation manages to say so much more than the two previous versions. Grob-Prandl gets my vote!

N.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I'm with Woodduck, who, as usual, leaves me with very little to add. I probably enjoyed Grob-Prandl's version more than he did but I still thought Sills made more of the aria with much less voice. Anderson did nothing for me. I voted for Sills.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Well after listening to the beautifully rendered (if not cool) delivery of June Anderson who enunciated perfectly and sang so cleanly her high notes, I was convinced I didn't have to bother with the other two.
And then came Bubbles and ... wow ... I forgot how simply superb she could be with her facility for nuance from loud to soft and her wonderful trills that some think of as too too much (not me!) but most of all she gives such interesting and thought-provoking attention to the aria that she just blew me away. 
I am not sure I prefer her voice to that of Anderson's -- as it is kind of girlish for me -- but what she does with it is creative and appealing.
I never heard of Grob-Prandl and wonder if she sang this in the twilight of her career or if she just tends to sound more mature but she did not faze me at all. I just didn't relate to her sound.
Sills by a mile.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> Well after listening to the beautifully rendered (if not cool) delivery of June Anderson who enunciated perfectly and sang so cleanly her high notes, I was convinced I didn't have to bother with the other two.
> And then came Bubbles and ... wow ... I forgot how simply superb she could be with her facility for nuance from loud to soft and her wonderful trills that some think of as too too much (not me!) but most of all she gives such interesting and thought-provoking attention to the aria that she just blew me away.
> I am not sure I prefer her voice to that of Anderson's -- as it is kind of girlish for me -- but what she does with it is creative and appealing.
> I never heard of Grob-Prandl and wonder if she sang this in the twilight of her career or if she just tends to sound more mature but she did not faze me at all. I just didn't relate to her sound.
> Sills by a mile.


Grob- Prandl is not for everyone. She was the house soprano for Vienna, which is saying a lot. Her voice was reputed to be bigger than Nilsson's and it was likely never an ingenue's voice LOL Her Turandot and Elektra were supposed to have been unbelievable. Irmgard Seefried once remarked that the "walls shook" when Grob-Prandl sang Turandot.[2] A popular anecdote states that she was once interrupted while performing as Turandot, by fire-fighters. People outside the theater had mistaken her for a fire-alarm siren.Unlike many big Wagnerians, she was dexterous enough to sing Mozart. She was a supportive, unselfish ensemble-singer. From Wiki.
I love your comments about Anderson and Sills.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

June Anderson's eyes appear to be a lovely mix of blue-green and hazel.

I just wanted to say something nice about her.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Honestly I've expected more from June Anderson, but the way she squeezes her throat on "Grace, grace" just makes me uncomfortable on an almost physical level.
Grob-Prandle sounds as if sight-reading, sorry, but this does nothing for me. There are a couple of instances of unsteady tone and while the top note is impressive, it comes out as completely out-of-character and rather jarring.
Sills is expressive and touching and her top is effortless and _grace_fully flowing (pun intended). The size of her voice is quite small, but the performance is breathtaking nonetheless. The intelligent way of nailing the top note without actually hammering it into your skull. Brava!

P.S. Maybe a second voting Act is due: we have Scotto (quality 1968 performance), Moffo, Damrau, Oropeza...
Don't overlook Scotto in this role!!!!!! she might come as a very pleasant surprise.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Azol said:


> Honestly I've expected more from June Anderson, but the way she squeezes her throat on "Grace, grace" just makes me uncomfortable on an almost physical level.
> Grob-Prandle sounds as if sight-reading, sorry, but this does nothing for me. There are a couple of instances of unsteady tone and while the top note is impressive, it comes out as completely out-of-character and rather jarring.
> Sills is expressive and touching and her top is effortless and _grace_fully flowing (pun intended). The size of her voice is quite small, but the performance is breathtaking nonetheless. The intelligent way of nailing the top note without actually hammering it into your skull. Brava!
> 
> ...


They were not on my radar and Scotto didn't show in my search. I give my audience what it wants. We will have a second round then. This was likely early on for Scotto as this is a big coloratura part aside from this lyric piece. Thanks Azol. I'll fit it in among the Xmas ditties.


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## Dimace (Oct 19, 2018)

Woodduck said:


> Here are the text and translation of this aria:
> 
> Robert, toi que j'aime et qui reçus ma fois, tu vois mon effroi!
> *Robert, you who I love and who received my time, you see my fear!*
> ...


Quality lyrics... LOL.

(you have written everything. Nothing remains to me)


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> They were not on my radar and Scotto didn't show in my search. I give my audience what it wants. We will have a second round then. This was likely early on for Scotto as this is a big coloratura part aside from this lyric piece. Thanks Azol. I'll fit it in among the Xmas ditties.


Scotto's version is in Italian and listed as such, which is why you may have missed it.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

^^^ Scotto's performance is sensitive, but unnecessarily slow and mournful. Her vocal timbre has a plaintive quality, and she has a plaintive manner of expression, often effective applied to the suffering heroines of late Italian opera - the Sister Angelicas and the Irises - but for my taste less suitable here. She's still a lot better than June Anderson, although Miss Anderson may have a lovelier eye color.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> ^^^ Scotto's performance is sensitive, but unecessarily slow and mournful. Her vocal timbre has a plaintive quality, and she has a plaintive manner of expression, often effective applied to the suffering heroines of late Italian opera - the Sister Angelicas and the Irises - but for my taste less suitable here. She's still a lot better than June Anderson, although Miss Anderson may have a lovelier eye color.


It's easy to forget that Scotto started out as a coloratura, her first big break being to stand in for Callas in *La Sonnambula* at the Edinburgh Festival, when Callas refused to sing the extra performances Ghiringhelli added without her approval. Her first recordings for DG were Lucia, Gilda and Violetta, though, as John Steane pointed out in his _The Grand Tradition_, the hghest notes, like Toti Dal Monte's, to whom he compares her, never sounded quite comfortable. Her biggest success at the time was Butterfly, which, strangely enough, was also a big success for Dal Monte.

I know what you mean, but I find her artistry here on altogether a higher level than either Anderson or Grob-Prandl. The sound of the voice always had a hint of vinegar in it, but she was certainly a thinking musician.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Well, I haven't attached the Scotto video saving it for future discussion, taking into account that Seattleoperafan has agreed to another round of discussing and voting 
Such an impatient crowd


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Azol said:


> Well, I haven't attached the Scotto video saving it for future discussion, taking into account that Seattleoperafan has agreed to another round of discussing and voting
> Such an impatient crowd


It is posted now.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Azol said:


> Well, I haven't attached the Scotto video saving it for future discussion, taking into account that Seattleoperafan has agreed to another round of discussing and voting
> Such an impatient crowd


Sorry. I didn't realise i was jumping the gun.


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