# SOPRANO TOURNAMENT: (By Request): Quartararo vs Price



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Thank you Silentio for a wonderful suggestion!

I'd like to ask everyone to keep your matchup requests to German rep sopranos and Italian rep baritones for now as I have plans for the other voice types, but I'm more than happy to do this one now 

Florence Quartararo, USA, 1919-1994






Leontyne Price, USA, 1927-






Who's singing did you prefer and why?


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I'm losing it. I swear that did not sound like Leontyne Price. Unless it was at the vey beginning of her career or something.
I very much enjoyed Quartararo's but my problem with her overwhelming vibrato was just a bit too much for me so my vote has to go to Price.


----------



## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

Norena has totally ruined this aria for me with any other singer, except a very young Rose Bampton who made an astonishing recording of it as well.


----------



## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

This is not a fair comparison. I find Quartararo a very clean singer, but the voice is of slightly lesser quality, but *only* in comparison with the young Price's sumptuous timbre and the silvery quality she had then. Interestingly, the two soprani can sound remarkably similar in certain stretches of this gorgeous aria.

One of my favorite Händel arias, especially lovely in the young Pavarotti and a radiant Montserrat Caballe. But I prefer the aria with orchestral accompaniment.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

"Care selve" must be one of the most glorious things in existence. I first heard it in Eide Norena's classic recording, and that one is a hard act to follow. But I have to say that I find Florence Quartararo equal to the challenge. She left me stunned by the seamless perfection of her singing; I was so transfixed, I didn't even want to breathe (which was fine since she obviously has enough breath for both of us), and I had to wait a while before wanting to hear anyone else. Price would shine in almost any other company, but must take second place here. I don't care for the reharmonization of the music supporting her.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> I'm losing it. I swear that did not sound like Leontyne Price. Unless it was at the vey beginning of her career or something.


I would guess it's an early recording. The voice was more silvery, less dusky. I prefer it, much as I prefer the early recordings of Sutherland.


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I'm with Wooddduck. My vote goes to Quartararo. What lovely fresh singing. The Price version is probably quite early and her voice is also in beautiful condition, but I find Quartararo's singing cleaner.

I hope people won't mind indulging me, as this aria leads me to recollect a soprano from my home town in the north east of England, Darlington. Her name was Ada Alsop and she had a modicum of success on the orotorio circuit, though probably not as much as she could have as she hated travelling and being away from home. She was a friend of my grandparents and sang at my parents' British wedding. I suppose it must have been a wedding blessing because they had already been married in a Greek Orthodox church in Drama, Greece just after the war (my father, who was an army captain, was stationed there). Ada apparently sang _Home, seet home_, which was possibly not the best choice for a young girl recently uprooted from her homeland. Anyway _Care selve_ (or _Come my beloved_ as it was called in English) was one of her party pieces and I managed to find this old 78 recording with the Boyd Neel String Orchestra on youtube. It really is very lovely. Let me know what you think.


----------



## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

I'm in Quartararo camp this time, a perfectly balanced executing, not a 100% perfect though. Singing this piece is like walking the highwire: even the smallest misstep is magnified tenfold, so it's basically who makes it across with less problems 
I'd say Arleen Auger could have been included in this tournament.


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> I would guess it's an early recording. The voice was more silvery, less dusky. I prefer it, much as I prefer the early recordings of Sutherland.


Although it is now too late, I played them again because I was feeling uncomfortable about my final decision (Price) when all along the one that really touched me was Quartararo's. So make that 2 for Price and 7 for Quartararo.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I'm with Wooddduck. My vote goes to Quartararo. What lovely fresh singing. The Price version is probably quite early and her voice is also in beautiful condition, but I find Quartararo's singing cleaner.
> 
> I hope people won't mind indulging me, as this aria leads me to recollect a soprano from my home town in the north east of England, Darlington. Her name was Ada Alsop and she had a modicum of success on the orotorio circuit, though probably not as much as she could have as she hated travelling and being away from home. She was a friend of my grandparents and sang at my parents' British wedding. I suppose it must have been a wedding blessing because they had already been married in a Greek Orthodox church in Drama, Greece just after the war (my father, who was an army captain, was stationed there). Ada apparently sang _Home, seet home_, which was possibly not the best choice for a young girl recently uprooted from her homeland. Anyway _Care selve_ (or _Come my beloved_ as it was called in English) was one of her party pieces and I managed to find this old 78 recording with the Boyd Neel String Orchestra on youtube. It really is very lovely. Let me know what you think.


A sweet voice, though I couldn't understand a single word of it. Partly the recording, no doubt.


----------



## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I find this one really, really difficult and I still can't decide after listening to both three times. Quartararo's fast vibrato disturbs me, but also fascinates me and I want to listen again. Her fine singing in terms of technique and style is very much in her favour.

I prefer Price's voice, but there is less of a sense of style and I'm not sure what the orchestra is playing. The sumptiousness of Price with that warmth or the fascinating Quartararo with those wonderful lines?

Then again, maybe I don't like either! That fast vibrato and Price can be mushy at times in a version that doesn't really sound like Handel. I can't decide!

N.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Azol said:


> I'm in Quartararo camp this time, a perfectly balanced executing, not a 100% perfect though. Singing this piece is like walking the highwire: even the smallest misstep is magnified tenfold, so it's basically who makes it across with less problems
> I'd say Arleen Auger could have been included in this tournament.


In what way do you think Quartararo falls short? Is there some small misstep that's "magnified tenfold"? I've listened to her several times and can't find anything to criticize. On the contrary, I'm amazed that in addition to her sheer vocal poise, she conveys quite a bit of emotion through subtle inflections of intensity and diction. If I ever hear a living singer this good I'll die happy.


----------



## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> In what way do you think Quartararo falls short? Is there some small misstep that's "magnified tenfold"? I've listened to her several times and can't find anything to criticize. On the contrary, I'm amazed that in addition to her sheer vocal poise, she conveys quite a bit of emotion through subtle inflections of intensity and diction. If I ever hear a living singer this good I'll die happy.


I didn't say she fell short. I said it wasn't 100% perfect but it still sounded like a miracle. What I meant by "magnifying tenfold" was the idea that long sustained notes in quiet passages actually let you hear the voice and vocal technique in much greater detail than anything else. I thought that at 2:39 there was a slightly grating additional sound as she negotiated the leap and held the note, but that could also be attributed to imperfect recording. Can't say for sure. It was about the only thing worthy mentioning but it did not detract from enjoying the performance.

Try Arleen Auger and let me know what you think. Might have been a much tougher matchup


----------



## Handelian (Nov 18, 2020)

Neither of them are really Handelian in style. For a voice Price wins hands down. Try Auger though, if such a comparison is allowed:


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

^^^ As an example of "authentic" Baroque style, Auger's is very pretty, but as sheer singing it doesn't take my breath away. Moreover, I find it rather bland and inexpressive, like so much HIP singing, especially by sopranos. It's as if they're walking on eggshells, afraid of simple, honest emotion, and I often feel that they're less interested in expressing something than in avoiding sounding too "Romantic." I've heard Auger in other music and she is (was?) a lovely singer, so I don't want to make too much of an example of her, but the field of early music HIP provides, for better or worse, opportunities for singers who just aren't gifted, accomplished or interesting enough to make much of an impression otherwise.


----------

