# Soprano Dalilas



## Francasacchi (7 mo ago)

Several sopranos have recorded the arias, but has any soprano sang the whole role? Jessye Norman did sing Act 2 in concert in the early 80s when she was branching out into contralto repertoire


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I think it would be unlikey, as the _tessitura _lies very low, that many sopranos have sung Dalila complete, even on recordings. As far as those go, there are very few around.


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## OffPitchNeb (Jun 6, 2016)

If you look at the discography here, the answer is: not much.





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CLSASAMS.HTM






www.operadis-opera-discography.org.uk





But there are plenty of sopranos singing the arias. Callas recorded all three arias, and they are very nice. 

Here is the great Felia Litvine:





,

and Rosa Ponselle:


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I don’t think you could’ve said Ponselle was a soprano at the time of the recording above.
Litvine I have never heard so can’t comment until I hear further.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Jessye Norman billed as a soprano but she sang The Brahms Alto Rhapsody, both the mezzo and soprano parts in the Verdi Requiem ( the only person I can think of that did that and nailed both parts), the mezzo part in Oedipus Rex and as much mezzo lieder and Mahler as Christa Ludwig.. Mas is right about Ponselle when she recorded this but she could have sung Delilah at 25. One of the most beautiful versions of Mon Coure.... was by Farrell in Interrupted Melody.


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## Francasacchi (7 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Jessye Norman billed as a soprano but she sang The Brahms Alto Rhapsody, both the mezzo and soprano parts in the Verdi Requiem ( the only person I can think of that did that and nailed both parts), the mezzo part in Oedipus Rex and as much mezzo lieder and Mahler as Christa Ludwig. Marjorie Lawrence, the gorgeous Wagnerian soprano, sang Delilah I believe. Mas is right about Ponselle when she recorded this but she could have sung Delilah at 25. One of the most beautiful versions of Mon Coure.... was by Farrell in Interrupted Melody.


Marjorie Lawrence never sang Dalila in real life. That scene in the movie Interrupted Melody was fiction.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Francasacchi said:


> Marjorie Lawrence never sang Dalila in real life. That scene in the movie Interrupted Melody was fiction.


delete


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Francasacchi said:


> Marjorie Lawrence never sang Dalila in real life. That scene in the movie Interrupted Melody was fiction.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Jessye Norman billed as a soprano but she sang The Brahms Alto Rhapsody, both the mezzo and soprano parts in the Verdi Requiem ( the only person I can think of that did that and nailed both parts), the mezzo part in Oedipus Rex and as much mezzo lieder and Mahler as Christa Ludwig.. Mas is right about Ponselle when she recorded this but she could have sung Delilah at 25. One of the most beautiful versions of Mon Coure.... was by Farrell in Interrupted Melody


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## Francasacchi (7 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> La chanteuse d’opéra: The Interrupted Melody of Marjorie Lawrence
> 
> 
> DAH Blog
> ...


It is not listed in her repertoire in the definitive biography Wotan's Daughter. There is no record of her singing it on stage or in concert. That blog post is confusing the movie biopic with the reality. She sang the big aria in English in recitals in Australia before coming to Paris and recorded it in French for the movie, but Farrell ended up doing the singing.


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## Francasacchi (7 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> delete


No


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Francasacchi said:


> It is not listed in her repertoire in the definitive biography Wotan's Daughter. There is no record of her singing it on stage or in concert.


Sorry I was misinformed and deleted error. I am not an expert like you on her life.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

OffPitchNeb said:


> If you look at the discography here, the answer is: not much.
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It's amazing. Both are superb. Litvine sings the aria divinely, staying a soprano. And Poncelle shows the richest lower voice, especially heldentenor-like final.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Ever hear of Rise Stevens?


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> Ever hear of Rise Stevens?


She was the great Carmen and Delilah at the Met but I don't know of her ever singing soprano. I think she holds the record for the most Carmen's at the met. She would have looked believable alluring for Samson.


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## Otis B. Driftwood (4 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> She was the great Carmen and Delilah at the Met but I don't know of her ever singing soprano. I think she holds the record for the most Carmen's at the met. She would have looked believable alluring for Samson.


I'll take that as an excuse to post this;


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

OOps-you are correct. I always mix up sopranos who sing mezzo roles.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> One of the most beautiful versions of Mon Coure.... was by Farrell in Interrupted Melody.


Let's hear her, shall we?






I must say, the hybridization of Ms. Farrell and Ms. Parker makes for a creature perilously close to perfection. Ms. Parker looks the way Ms. Farrell sounds.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> Let's hear her, shall we?
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I loved her in that movie & that role, however apocryphal. The script changed almost everything about her life, but the final scene, as she goes onstage to sing the _Liebestod _(I think), is great.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> I loved her in that movie & that role, however apocryphal. The script changed almost everything about her life, but the final scene, as she goes onstage to sing the _Liebestod _(I think), is great.


So many great scenes for me but near the top is when Parker rolled around in a wheelchair singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow in a version where Farrell gave Garland the closest competition she ever had in that iconic song all the while giving succor to the handsomest group of injured soldiers you ever saw. Why I would remember that I can't recall?


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Let's hear her, shall we?
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> 
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> ...


I thought I had done a Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix contest for you guys with her in it but I can't find it anywhere in a search. It is one of my very favorite arias ( a woman seducing a hunk you know with music by a fav composer of mine) and I know some great versions. Unless you remember me doing it I'll create one now for down the road right now. It might be unfair to use this video as it would have things stacked in it's favor  I checked and I don't think I can use Farrell in that competition because that is her only version of Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix and it is cut in half so I don't think you guys would count that.


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## Francasacchi (7 mo ago)

MAS said:


> I loved her in that movie & that role, however apocryphal. The script changed almost everything about her life, but the final scene, as she goes onstage to sing the _Liebestod _(I think), is great.


 Yes indeed it is! I do wish Farrell had recorded a complete O don fatale. It's.not complete on the soundtrack LP (which I own). By the way, Lawrence did sing Carmen, but not until 1940 in San Francisco.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I thought I had done a Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix contest for you guys with her in it but I can't find it anywhere in a search. It is one of my very favorite arias ( a woman seducing a hunk you know with music by a fav composer of mine) and I know some great versions. Unless you remember me doing it I'll create one now for down the road right now. It might be unfair to use this video as it would have things stacked in it's favor  I checked and I don't think I can use Farrell in that competition because that is her only version of Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix and it is cut in half so I don't think you guys would count that.


I only remember seeing an old contest, not made by you, where the videos were blinded, but not available on youtube at the time I looked at it. Perhaps it was made by schigolch, I am lazy to verify it.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

@Seattleoperafan , your "like" gave me new youthful energy to find it: 









Opera Wars


Dalila's wonderful aria, "Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix", is placed in the second act of the opera Samson et Dalila, by Camille Saint-Saëns. The aria is written in D flat major, and orchestrated with harp, flute, oboe, clarinet, horns and strings. In the opera, Samson sings "Dalila! Dalila! Je...




www.talkclassical.com


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

BBSVK said:


> @Seattleoperafan , your "like" gave me new youthful energy to find it:
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> ...


I've banged on about this in the past, but it does seem to me to be important. Saint-Saëns wrote that the phrase, _Ah, réponds à ma tendresse _be sung in one breath. Almost all versions I've heard break up the phrase by adding a second _réponds _which gives the singer the chance to snatch a second breath, which is easier to do the second time she sings the phrase, when she sings _verse moi, verse moi l'ivresse. _Typically it is Callas, a soprano, who sings what Saint-Saëns wrote, even singing _verse moi, verse moi l'ivresse _without a breath the first time round, though she does snatch a quick breath the second time round. I've often wondered if that was the reason she refused to allow the aria to be released while she was still alive. It was omitted from her first French recital and only saw the light of day after her death. She must have been being pretty picky, because her rendition is as near perfect as could be; seductive, sexy and dangerous.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> Let's hear her, shall we?
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You and Seattle beat me to it.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> You and Seattle beat me to it.


It's OK. There's plenty of both of them to go around (no, I don't mean me and Seattle).


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