# Greatest High Note In The History of Opera



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I'd like to know what you think is the most thrilling high note or notes in the history of opera for you. I have a three way tie:
!. Maria Callas interpolated high Eb in Aida at 4.50 :



. There is a great story about this one if you don't know it. Just ask if you are unfamiliar with it.
2.Maria Callas 3 high D's at the end of this aria from live Armida from 1952 and the fireworks begin around 4:50 :



. The last high D is simply of unimaginable size. It wasn't so much a beautiful sound as it was absolutely thrilling!!!!!
3. Equal to Callas in a very different way is this climax to a big scene from Maria Stuarda by Sutherland in the 70's. She had lost the ability to sing high E by this point in performance But her high notes were considerable bigger and had many more overtones than when she was younger. Her notes above high C rivaled Nilsson's in size and was equaled by NO ONE in rich, round beauty. Starts at 6:00:


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

I would add this to the Callas collection:


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

Yes yes yes to Callas and Sutherland.

Filippeschi in Vespri Siciliani




2:08

Corelli in Romeo et Juliette




3:13

Jones in Turandot




5:26

Rysanek in Lohengrin




0:39

Merrill and Tucker in Forza




3:30


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## Sieglinde (Oct 25, 2009)

That Finalmente, holy $hit. These two were absolute beasts


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Revitalized Classics said:


> Yes yes yes to Callas and Sutherland.
> 
> Filippeschi in Vespri Siciliani
> 
> ...


Those were fun! I would love to hear from someone who heard Jones and Nilsson live and compare the size of their voices. I heard Jones live but it was backstage and I was 15 and didn't know what a rare sight I was seeing. If only I could go back in time.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

. I didn't know this but La Divina was recorded doing the high Eb in Aida not once but twice and the sound on this version from a year later is infinitely better and twice as loud.... but the story is not as fun. I urge you to check this out if you are unfamiliar with the later version as the high note is much much more clearly recorded. It is a revelation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

Lauri-Volpi in Ugonotti (02:22, but also 04:30 and 06:02)





Khanaev in Siegfried (08:05)





Kozlovsky in Barbiere (particularly 03:03)





Caballe in Don Carlo (01:00 )





Verrett in Don Carlo (03:56)


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## Phantoms of the Opera (Feb 5, 2020)

Not the greatest but one of the highest ever recorded. Mado Robin reportedly could sing higher than this but never recorded her high D!






For ease and sweetness you can't beat Lily Pons:






For sheer amazement, Leyla Gencer landing on that infamous Aïda high C _pianissimo_ and just floating it there forever is almost miraculous (about 2:44 in the video):






My teacher, Rae Woodland, had some of the most awesome high notes. She once popped the lights in Sadlers Wells singing Queen of the Night! No recording of that occasion, unfortunately, but here she is singing it in the Royal Albert Hall:


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## Duncan (Feb 8, 2019)

Soprano Audrey Luna Makes History At New York's Metropolitan Opera - 
Audrey Luna hits an A above high C in her performance in "The Exterminating Angel." That's believed to be the highest note ever hit on the Met stage. Nov 10, 2017.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/arts/music/metropolitan-opera-high-note-exterminating-angel.html

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*Opera Singers - The Soprano High C (C6) - High Notes Battle*






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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

When I was 16 a friend of mine asked me to listen to a particular tenor who had a high note that was totally spectacular.
Much as I liked opera from hearing my soprano mama singing around the house, I was a neophyte when it came to arias.
And so he played "che gelida manina" from _La Boheme _and when he came to the note "la espe-e-e-e-ranza" I absolutely was opera hooked. That tenor was Richard Tucker, and I've yet to hear anyone beat that note today.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

@Seattleoperafan
Well, I heard Nilsson, Jones and, especially Rysanek live, on stage in San Francisco in the 1970s and 1980s, though I no longer have the evidence as those above.
*Nilsson* I heard in some of her Wagner roles, most especially Die Walküre. Interestingly, while i could clearly hear her over the orchestra, I didn't get the impression that her voice was _loud_ as such. But considering the _orchestra_ was loud, one could imagine that, if one could hear her _over_ the orchestra... she was like a great pair of speakers, where you can't tell it's loud until you try to talk, and can't hear yourself.
By *loud* I mean *Gwyneth Jones*. Now *she* you could tell was loud. When she let loose her high Cs in the attempted rape scene in Tosca (no, no, NO!) or in the Third Act, "Io quella LAMA" you could feel paint flakes fall to the ground, even in the balcony. 
*Leonie Rysanek* doesn't have a reputation for a big voice, but when she let loose her super high notes in, say Die Frau Öhne Schatten, in her dream scene, or when Siegmund pulls the sword from the tree and she screams (it's not in the score) AHHH, no one would deny she was *loud!* and mostly *piercing*.


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I'd like to know what you think is the most thrilling high note or notes in the history of opera for you. I have a three way tie:
> *!. Maria Callas interpolated high Eb in Aida at 4.50 :
> 
> 
> ...





> When she sang that legendary E flat happened all what the diva was pursuing, the theatre became a mad house in frenetic applause and Kurt Baum exploded. During the curtain calls at the end of the second act, Baum, in English, told her "You will never sing in America, this was a real 'porcheria'", she just answered smiling and going out to accept the love of the audience, "We will see"


Kurt who????? Ha ha..............:devil:

This Aida 1951 performance has better sound (two performances 1950 & 1951 have this note), Simionato in later interview said the sensation on stage was like a dazzling star that shimmered eternally in the night sky.......






More Callas from her three performance run of Nabucco in 1949 Naples, duet climax 2:24 listen how long the note is sustained and its power and amplitude (her "salgo gia" climax also incredible)


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Most spectacular note in opera recording history * E flat by J. Sutherland @ 2:15 _ Norma / Act 2


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I'd like to know what you think is the most thrilling high note or notes in the history of opera for you. I have a three way tie:
> !. Maria Callas interpolated high Eb in Aida at 4.50 :
> 
> 
> ...


I always get a smile on my face when listening to 52 Armida, the lead up runs done with unmatched clarity and fullest degree of difficulty, trills scales etc are just breathtaking then the final assault seems to be misjudged and Maria has set the bar to high and run out of headroom but the thunderous climax rises further still delivered with *masterful ringing tone and then the gentle release*, the opera gods were pleased this night.......

Recent Callas "live" boxset remaster.....


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