# Final Round: Di Tanti Palpiti. Horne, Caballe, von Stade



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I have ZERO idea who will win this.
Please see the links below.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

It is not lettting me cue up. See times on the last two.



Caballe around 3;38




von Stade around 4:08


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

It is amazing how elegant Horne’s was in that early Decca recital - later she would learn how to insert a quasi-aspirate between notes to make them sound sculpted; now she moves smoothly between the notes with the exception of a couple of downward runs where I begin to notice that sculpted quality. 

The young Caballe remains a surprise but she sings every quickly, deftly, but like a throwaway display. The piano accompaniment is good, but I miss the orchestra. This wouldn’t be my first choice anyway she aspirates quite frequently to help herself move, but it’s a recording to play for friends to astonish. 

Flicka is charming, but too slow. I need more butch flair.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

No contest for me.
What was Montsie doing, trying to be a Bartoli pretender or something? This is the second aria lately where she was rushing to the bar.
von Stade sang beautifully but rather mundane and not very exciting.
But Jackie hit the nail on the head. She did one beautiful job and easily got my vote.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

With the characterful Kasarova eliminated, I'm left to choose between three very good singers. Horne is smooth as silk but doesn't seem to be singing about anything. Caballe is afraid she'll miss the bus. I think I'll take Von Stade, who's given herself more than enough time to catch the bus, but does at least occasionally suggest that the text is more than solfeggio.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> With the characterful Kasarova eliminated, I'm left to choose between three very good singers. Horne is smooth as silk but doesn't seem to be singing about anything. Caballe is afraid she'll miss the bus. I think I'll take Von Stade, who's given herself more than enough time to catch the bus, but does at least occasionally suggest that the text is more than solfeggio.


I haven't listened to her in YEARS, but ages ago I went through a von Stade phase. There were three noteworthy things about her: 1. She was gorgeous to watch on video and looked great in pants roles, 2. Unlike Didonato and the gorgeous, excellent German singer von something or other ( I'm old) she always sounds like a mezzo in her vocal color. 3. Her voice is very beautiful and has a distinctive sound ( which is very important to me).


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I voted for all three of these ladies in their individual rounds, so I thought this would be a difficult choice, though, as it turns out, not as difficult as I expected. I suppose I should give Caballé some sort of medal for getting round the notes as well as she does at that speed and it is quite a feat. The audience obviously appreciated her efforts and for anyone who knows her later work, it comes as qute a surprise.

Listening to Von Stade straight afterwards, her tempo does now seem too slow, and yet... there is something about her unforced natural joy and radiance that make me like her performance best out of the three. I do have a soft spot for Flicka and she is one of my favourite singers, so, though she is the least flashy, she gets my vote.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I haven't listened to her in YEARS, but ages ago I went through a von Stade phase. There were three noteworthy things about her: 1. She was gorgeous to watch on video and looked great in pants roles, 2. Unlike Didonato and the gorgeous, excellent German singer von something or other ( I'm old) she always sounds like a mezzo in her vocal color. 3. Her voice is very beautiful and has a distinctive sound ( which is very important to me).


If it’s Anne Sophie Von Otter you’re referring to, she is Swedish. I know the name is probably German.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I’m so glad Flicka is getting so many votes!


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> If it’s Anne Sophie Von Otter you’re referring to, she is Swedish. I know the name is probably German.


Yes. Didn't know that.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Uh....why is Caballe doing that fake "baroque" coloratura that modern Handle and Vivaldi singers do when she had perfectly good coloratura in other rep? 
For Horne, I hear the opposite: normally her singing sounds weird and artificial to me, but here she sounds more natural, with clear, elegant coloratura. This is a pleasant surprise. She gets my vote on this one.


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> Uh....why is Caballe doing that fake "baroque" coloratura that modern Handle and Vivaldi singers do when she had perfectly good coloratura in other rep?


Rossini encouraged fireworks vocal displays and his own written embellishments, though numerous and flamboyant, were not considered excessive in that era. Naturally there were some critics, especially the French, who disapproved of the ornamentation of melodies, but audiences loved them. Rossini’s tendency was to write out embellishments that other composers left to the charge of the singer, but singers routinely included a variety of arbitrary embellishments anyway. Like the composers of the Baroque era, Rossini did not mean to have his repeated phrases sung in the same way each time, as is evidenced by the myriad of writings from the period and notes on his scores for the singers.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

RICK RIEKERT said:


> Rossini encouraged fireworks vocal displays and his own written embellishments, though numerous and flamboyant, were not considered excessive in that era. Naturally there were some critics, especially the French, who disapproved of the ornamentation of melodies, but audiences loved them. Rossini’s tendency was to write out embellishments that other composers left to the charge of the singer, but singers routinely included a variety of arbitrary embellishments anyway. Like the composers of the Baroque era, Rossini did not mean to have his repeated phrases sung in the same way each time, as is evidenced by the myriad of writings from the period and notes on his scores for the singers.


You mistake me. The embellishments themselves are not the problem. It's that she uses the fake, huffing-and-puffing, "baroque" style of coloratura (a la Bartoli....). This is 100% unnecessary, because, in other recordings (ex: Semiramide, Armida), she sings with clean, natural coloratura. More like Sutherland, Sills or early Callas.


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> You mistake me. The embellishments themselves are not the problem. It's that she uses the fake, huffing-and-puffing, "baroque" style of coloratura


I see. I didn't realize your position was this technically nuanced.


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