# Who's the winner: "L'atra Notte Contest: Caballe', Gheorghiu, Muzio , d.l. Angeles



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

*Who's the winner: "L'atra Notte Contest: Caballe', Gheorghiu, Muzio , d.l. Angeles*

You've been generous with my misspellings so far and must again: L'altra notte it should be.I'm confident in my spellings till it is etched in stone on the website LOL You should expect more in the future Thanks for making this a fun contest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I have no hesitation granting the palm to De Los Angeles in this particular contest. There is no striving for effect, no false histrionics, De Los Angeles simply becomes Margherita. Hers has always been one of my two favourite versions of this aria, the othe being Callas, whose quite unique accents haunt my imagination. 

There are also a couple of live versions with Callas in concert, but I seem to remember that she too slightliy overdoes the histrionics in performance. The 1954 studio recording would be my top chioce for the aria.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I voted for de Los Ángeles for this aria, so I will vote for her again.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Gheorghiu's melodramatic signaling puts her out of the running. Muzio's lack of a trill is a minor deficit for me, but her expression, though apt, is a bit unvaried. Of the remaining very fine performances, I'm a little surprised, on returning to it, to find that it's Caballe's that best captures all the drama of the aria as it depicts the characters fluctuating emotions and the text's tragic imagery. Her voice's dark, reedy coloration is perfectly suited to the dark mood of the music, and moment by moment she responds to the text with apt shifts of vocal color and without resorting to overdrawn effects; even her diminuendo at the climax is not overdone as one might expect it to be (and the breath control is fabulous). On this hearing, at least, I don't find the lovely and touching performance of De los Angeles evocative to the same degree.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I am pleased with the voting personally as it shows I was able to pick singers that appealed to a wide variety of tastes. I hope I can keep this up. Unlike the aria from Elektra, it is one most people can listen to over and over without getting worn out. I want to do the Immolation Scene but I think it is too long. Alas. I have some rather novel stuff this week with new to the contest contestants.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I am pleased with the voting personally as it shows I was able to pick singers that appealed to a wide variety of tastes. I hope I can keep this up. Unlike the aria from Elektra, it is one most people can listen to over and over without getting worn out. I want to do the Immolation Scene but I think it is too long. Alas. I have some rather novel stuff this week with new to the contest contestants.


Bonetan (I think) did the Immolation Scene with Leider, Flagstad and Traubel. I forget who took the gold.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I'd be lying to choose any of the above.
Not when I personally believe that Magda Olivero owns this aria and makes it her own.
Yes, she's got that "Golden Age tremor" so many detest about her voice, but I have grown to love it simply because everything else is so damned in place, from her fine and secure high notes, to her trills, to her excellent chest tone to her stage stuff that some would maybe consider chewing the scenery (I don't), and finally to her intellect of how to perceive a character, which she can deliver straight from the bowels of her being. 
I am also in awe of the strength in her throat muscles which are incredibly strong, even for a lady in her 60's, as she easily beats out most others younger than she.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> I'd be lying to choose any of the above.
> Not when I personally believe that Magda Olivero owns this aria and makes it her own.
> Yes, she's got that "Golden Age tremor" so many detest about her voice, but I have grown to love it simply because everything else is so damned in place, from her fine and secure high notes, to her trills, to her excellent chest tone to her stage stuff that some would maybe consider chewing the scenery (I don't), and finally to her intellect of how to perceive a character, which she can deliver straight from the bowels of her being.
> I am also in awe of the strength in her throat muscles which are incredibly strong, even for a lady in her 60's, as she easily beats out most others younger than she.


Most voices develop a slow vibrato by their 60's, but her voice didn't really age. She is coming up soon in a contest.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Most voices develop a slow vibrato by their 60's, but her voice didn't really age. She is coming up soon in a contest.


Olivero's voice had such a rapid vibrato to begin with that a little age-induced slowing down didn't hurt a bit. By her 90s her vibrato was normal.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Okay, so I am going to vote for the best of the 4 listed above.
Much as I adore Muzio (a particular favorite singer of mine) I found her all wrong for this.
Gheorghiu, who I also happen to think is a superb soprano with an unusual vulnerable quality to her voice when she stops chewing the scenery, was too busy faking despair. That left VDLA and Caballe and despite the lack of a strong chest tone at the end, I think Caballe came closest to my idea of Margherita.


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