# SOPRANO TOURNAMENT: (Round 1, Match 5): Tetrazzini vs Destinn



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Luisa Tetrazzini, Italy, 1871-1940






Emmy Destinn, Czech Republic, 1878-1930






Who's singing did you prefer and why?


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I was prejudiced going into this because Tetrazzini is one of my favorite singers. Her voice is so incredibly beautiful, her chest notes always so great, her high notes so powerful.. but i think she is a bit better in pure coloratura singing.
Destinn I was not familiar with. For her to beat Tetrazzini is high praise indeed for me and she did. I thought her singing had more personality and that final trill cinched the deal. She has a very very distinctive voice and praiseworthy chest notes for a coloratura. I'm impressed. Another new singer I've learned about in this contest.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Emmy Destinn came as total surprise for me as well! There are some curious mannerisms here and there but those don't detract from the actual performance. The last trill is... thrilling and she lets us hear it for so long  But her version is less refined and nuanced (not too much piano singing, eh?) than Tetrazzini's so I guess I'd give Tetrazzini my vote in this case.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I would’ve liked to like Destiny’s better than I do, as the voice is of the proper weight for Leonora (as Tetrazzini’s is not). But there were a at least a couple of flat notes that would grate on repeated listening. Tetrazzini, of course excels in the coloratura passages. 
Both gives us more that we’d get today, for instance the D; Tetrazzini more that that, and for that we must be grateful. Destinn gives us a nice long trill, too. 

I pick Tetrazzini, mostly for singing in tune.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> I would've liked to like Destiny's better than I do, as the voice is of the proper weight for Leonora (as Tetrazzini's is not). But there were a at least a couple of flat notes that would grate on repeated listening. Tetrazzini, of course excels in the coloratura passages.
> Both gives us more that we'd get today, for instance the D, Tetrazzini more that that, and for that we must be grateful. Destinn gives us a nice long trill, too.
> 
> I pick Tetrazzini, mostly for singing in tune.


Regarding Tetrazzini, she gave the biggest opera concert in history in San Francisco to 100,000 people and witnesses said that people more than a block away heard her clearly. I don't know how weighty it was but it carried like crazy!!!!! Something that distinquished Tetrazzini from other coloraturas was she was like Sutherland and Callas and had big full high notes.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Regarding Tetrazzini, she gave the biggest opera concert in history in San Francisco to 100,000 people and witnesses said that people more than a block away heard her clearly. I don't know how weighty it was but it carried like crazy!!!!! Something that distinquished Tetrazzini from other coloraturas was she was like Sutherland and Callas and had big full high notes.


Tetrazzini certainly had a big voice, although it was brighter than Destinn's. Caruso's son said that he would restrain himself when singing with sopranos whose voices didn't carry as well as his did. He had a few exceptions, notably including Melba, whom he didn't mind singing over because he didn't like her, and Tetrazzini, who he couldn't pull back with because she would overpower _him_. She was also written by those who heard her live to dominate ensembles like the _Rigoletto_ quartet and _Lucia_ sextet. I would call Tetrazzini "dramatic coloratura" if I cared enough about that sort of thing to try and justify it. She had a very powerful voice. Both Tetrazzini and Destinn had exceptional high notes. They have clarity and strength but also depth and mellowness. Exactly what you want. Nothing shrill here.



MAS said:


> I pick Tetrazzini, mostly for singing in tune.


Destinn is a very interesting recording artist, because the testimonials from knowledgeable critics who saw her live prominently describe her intonation and sense of pitch as being perfect. That's just not the case on her recordings. I don't think we'll ever know the answer to why there is this discrepancy. Some possibilities are a) the critics were wrong, b) the recording process (I personally try not to rely on such explanations, though in some cases they are legitimate), c) Destinn did not sing as well in the studio as on stage, which could be true for many reasons. Interestingly, I find that when Destinn pulls towards head voice and softer singing, her pitch becomes truer, but when she pulls towards chest in the coordination her pitch sounds less precise. This may actually suggest that it has to do with the harmonics in her voice and how they record, but then we are left with why this wasn't true of other singers. Did she have unique overtones? Certainly possible, but again, a very difficult sort of thing to know.

I haven't made my decision yet because both versions are fantastic.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Well if one prefers the Albanese-Pons sound I guess Tettrazini would fit the bill nicely with all her fancy interpolations and good trills but her voice sounds too "girlish" for my taste and Destinn, after a slightly faltering start, takes the cake. Her trills were wonderful and her voice had a more womanly quality to it.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

vivalagentenuova said:


> Tetrazzini certainly had a big voice, although it was brighter than Destinn's. Caruso's son said that he would restrain himself when singing with sopranos whose voices didn't carry as well as his did. He had a few exceptions, notably including Melba, whom he didn't mind singing over because he didn't like her, and Tetrazzini, who he couldn't pull back with because she would overpower _him_. She was also written by those who heard her live to dominate ensembles like the _Rigoletto_ quartet and _Lucia_ sextet. I would call Tetrazzini "dramatic coloratura" if I cared enough about that sort of thing to try and justify it. She had a very powerful voice. Both Tetrazzini and Destinn had exceptional high notes. They have clarity and strength but also depth and mellowness. Exactly what you want. Nothing shrill here.
> 
> Destinn is a very interesting recording artist, because the testimonials from knowledgeable critics who saw her live prominently describe her intonation and sense of pitch as being perfect. That's just not the case on her recordings. I don't think we'll ever know the answer to why there is this discrepancy. Some possibilities are a) the critics were wrong, b) the recording process (I personally try not to rely on such explanations, though in some cases they are legitimate), c) Destinn did not sing as well in the studio as on stage, which could be true for many reasons. Interestingly, I find that when Destinn pulls towards head voice and softer singing, her pitch becomes truer, but when she pulls towards chest in the coordination her pitch sounds less precise. This may actually suggest that it has to do with the harmonics in her voice and how they record, but then we are left with why this wasn't true of other singers. Did she have unique overtones? Certainly possible, but again, a very difficult sort of thing to know.
> 
> I haven't made my decision yet because both versions are fantastic.


You, sir, are a treasure!!!!!!!!!!! Such knowledge!!!!


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

I loved Tetrazzini's voice, especially on the high notes, but Destinn was just more emotionally engaging and, to top it off, the final trill is pretty incredible, so she gets my vote. Both singers were very good here.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I've never enjoyed the timbre of Destinn's voice on recordings, but knowing what recordings of that era did to sopranos I don't judge her on that basis. It's obviously a voice with dramatic qualities that sounds constrained by the acoustic process. It's also more the sort of voice I associate with Verdi, although Tetrazzini would certainly have had the necessary power to make her more silvery instrument heard. Here Destinn is more emotive, so I give her my vote.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

nina foresti said:


> Well if one prefers the Albanese-Pons sound I guess Tettrazini would fit the bill nicely with all her fancy interpolations and good trills but her voice sounds too "girlish" for my taste and Destinn, after a slightly faltering start, takes the cake. Her trills were wonderful and her voice had a more womanly quality to it.


I feel much the same; Tettrazini just doesn't sound like what I think of as a Verdi soprano (or at any rate, a Leonora). So I give Destinn my vote, warts and all.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

Both are excellent. Destinn's high notes are incredible, and the way that she comes out of the final trill is utterly suave. She also goes almost to a straight tone on the last note, which is a very interesting effect. Overall, however, I am giving it, ever so slightly, to Tetrazzini. In particular, the clarity and beautiful shaping of the following phrases swung my judgment:


> Com' aura di speranza
> aleggia in quella stanza:
> lo desta alle memorie
> ai sogni dell'amor!


Destinn's phrasing of this beautiful passage is not as coherent, though perhaps a touch more plaintive. Still, the way Tetrazzini renders the music brings out its expressiveness in a way that I found very moving. Tetrazzini is also smother on the ornaments. It's a very close call, however, and as others have expressed in other tournaments, I might say something different on a different day.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Tettrazzini's singing is wonderfully accomplished, as you might imagine, but I don't really like her version because she doesn't have that dark timbre that I feel is absolutely necessary for the role of Leonora. To me this aria should have an atmosphere of nocturnal plangency, rather like one of Chopin's Nocturnes and that isn't suggested to me here at all.

As others have mentioned already, Destinn evidently didn't record well, but the darker timbre of her voice suits the music much better, and there is also much that is wonderfully accomplished, including that superb trill at the end. Her performance is also more emotive, so I go with Destinn.

There are others I prefer though - Ponselle, Callas in her prime and, perhaps surprisingly, Frida Leider who may have been better known for her Wagner but also had a mean trill.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I agree with all that others have said here and whilst I prefer Tetrazzini's singing here, the colour of her voice just isn't suited to the aria. Destinn has a few technical problems, but not enough to make her version as unpleasant as some performances I've heard from more recent sopranos. Destinn sings with feeling, Tetrazzini could be reciting her shopping list. Destinn got my vote.

N.


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