# Round 1: Son Vergin Vezzosa: Gruberova, Sills, Sutherland



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

This might be my favorite aria.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Im not a huge fan of *I Puritani*, though it was one of Callas's early successes and actually launched her into international fame, due to the juxtaposition of that opera and *La Valchiria* (*Die Walküre*). Need i have mentioned her? probably not. :devil:

All three of these sopranos are famous _coloraturas_ and justly so. Gruberova is the one I know the least, having never got onto her bandwagon. Her divisions are not quite defined to my ears and she has a habit of smoothing out their contours. The timbre of her voice sounds a bit nasal to me.

I first heard Sills live in 1971 when she was a huge star in the U.S. and we in San Francisco heard her often during that decade. Interestingly, one of her first assignments at the SF Opera was in Wagner. 
Her shallow toned voice and tremulous vibrato never captured my heart, though she was always extremely musical. As usual, she overdoes the decorations. This is a showpiece and Bubbles delivers in that vein.

Sutherland's rendition is clean, the voice exceptionally clear and the execution, as usual, pretty flawless. I'll give her the palm.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I'm a sucker for polonaises - in this case a "polacca," the exuberant and showy Italian version of the Polish dance rhythm that attracted composers all over Europe. This one is essentially a showpiece, and with that in mind I have to say that Silvery Bells just knocked me for a loop. The distant, resonant acoustic puts her already slender voice at a disadvantage - she sounds like she's in the ladies room - but I don't care. Points to Sutherland for managing to be spectacular with a bigger voice and for not being entirely incomprehensible, but when Sills finished her wild and happy ride I just laughed out loud. Her coloratura is second to none, and nobody communicates like she does the sheer joy of singing.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

MAS said:


> I first heard Sills live in 1971 when she was a huge star in the U.S. and we in San Francisco heard her often during that decade. Interestingly, one of her first assignments at the SF Opera was in Wagner.


What role did she sing? The forest bird?


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> Im not a huge fan of *I Puritani*, though it was one of Callas's early successes and actually launched her into international fame, due to the juxtaposition of that opera and *La Valchiria* (*Die Walküre*). Need i have mentioned her? probably not. :devil:
> 
> All three of these sopranos are famous _coloraturas_ and justly so. Gruberova is the one I know the least, having never got onto her bandwagon. Her divisions are not quite defined to my ears and she has a habit of smoothing out their contours. The timbre of her voice sounds a bit nasal to me.
> 
> ...


Callas will close out this contest in her early recording from 52. Next will be historic sopranos and their take on this lovely aria.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> What role did she sing? The forest bird?


It was in 1953, before my time at SF Opera. She sang Gerhilde in *Die Walküre* in addition to the fifth servant in *Elektra*, Elena in *Mefistofele* and Donna Elvira in *Don Giovanni*. She made her fame elsewhere and returned in 1971 a star, as Massenet's *Manon*.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

MAS said:


> It was in 1953, before my time at SF Opera. She sang Gerhilde in *Die Walküre* in addition to the fifth servant in *Elektra*, Elena in *Mefistofele* and Donna Elvira in *Don Giovanni*. She made her fame elsewhere and returned in 1971 as Massenet's *Manon*.


Fascinating. I know Sills worked hard to get where she got. She noted the irony, after her sensational performances of Cleopatra at NYC Opera, of critics calling her an "overnight success."


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Gruberova is easily outclassed here. It sounds as if it might be late career and she smudges quite a bit of the coloratura.

Elvira suits Sills a lot better than the Tudor queens and Normas she sang, but I don't really like the over-decoration she indulges in. I've also never really taken to her shallow, fluttery tone, though she was a most musical singer. The slightly boomy recording doesn't help either.

Sutherland is recorded much better (I'm assuming this is from _The Art of the Prima Donna_) and is at her early career best. I agree Elvira is at her happiest here, but for the most part she is a rather melancholy character and Sutherland's elegiac singing of the middle section reminds us of that, whilst the coloratura is dazzling. I'm happy to prefer a Sutherland performance for once.


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## niknik (Oct 4, 2014)

Is quite unfair for Beverly to have been used her live and not her studio recording and for Joan a studio recording


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

niknik said:


> Is quite unfair for Beverly to have been used her live and not her studio recording and for Joan a studio recording


I put up what shows up for me on Youtube. That was the only Sills I saw. Here is the studio Sills. Sutherland's live video seems just as good to my ears.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I put up what shows up for me on Youtube. That was the only Sills I saw. Here is the studio Sills


It's interesting to see the Westminster logo on the Sills video. That was a recording company presumably bought for her by Sills's husband Peter Greenough so she could record whatever she wanted. Later, when Sills was signed by EMI, those recordings appeared under their aegis. Later still, Deutsche Grammophon re-issued them.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I find Sills' version too fast. (Yes, it's quite something that she can sing the coloratura at that speed, but that doesn't mean that she should.) I like her general tone and there's a lot of character here, even though all the vocal extras distract from that and make this more about vocal display. 

Gruberova doesn't fare as well. She sounds too matronly and I couldn't concentrate on her after a while as her singing is too plain.

Sutherland is on a different level here. She sounds even more like the young innocent than Sills and we get a more rounded character portrayal accompanied with a good, healthy dose of coloratura. Sutherland wins by a mile!

N.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

The Conte said:


> I find Sills' version too fast. (Yes, it's quite something that she can sing the coloratura at that speed, but that doesn't mean that she should.) I like her general tone and there's a lot of character here, even though all the vocal extras distract from that and make this more about vocal display.
> 
> Gruberova doesn't fare as well. She sounds too matronly and I couldn't concentrate on her after a while as her singing is too plain.
> 
> ...


I never got into Gruberova much but I think she is in at least one other contest as she was a major coloratura. I know what dates are safe to post for Sutherland and Callas but have no clue about Gruberova. Are any of you knowledgeable about her peak recording years? I'm the ONLY person here who likes more mature Joan so I only post her stuff up to the Art of the Prima Donna but she does well in the early stuff like in this contest. What guide should I use for Gruberova? She sang up to around 70 years, although I don't know how well. Her Queen of the Night was well known.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> It's interesting to see the Westminster logo on the Sills video. That was a recording company presumably bought for her by Sills's husband Peter Greenough so she could record whatever she wanted. Later, when Sills was signed by EMI, those recordings appeared under their aegis. Later still, Deutsche Grammophon re-issued them.


The THINGS some of you have filed away in your brains!!! Bravo. Unlike my sister, Sills didn't have to work for a living as she married well... as did Nilsson. Nilsson was not allowed to use her money for living expenses by her wealthy husband. That is how she got the biggest prize in classical music from her foundation.
I talked with Sills, she loved my flattery, and she was a beautiful woman in person! She sang Traviata at our Coliseum but was miked. I was in high school.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> The THINGS some of you have filed away in your brains!!!


Lots and lots of useless information in there! :lol:


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Gruberova is one of those few singers who I really do just hate. An ugly, aspirated voice and never musical which counts her out. I'm not much a Sills or Sutherland fan either but the best here is Sutherland for sure.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Op.123 said:


> Gruberova is one of those few singers who I really do just hate. An ugly, aspirated voice and never musical which counts her out. I'm not much a Sills or Sutherland fan either but the best here is Sutherland for sure.


You can vote for Callas like most everyone else at the end round


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> You can vote for Callas like everyone else before the contest is over. Stand in line. I'll give you your chance. Humor me because I do these contests and I worship Sutherland. I am about the only one here except for millions of fans on Youtube. For everyone else Sutherland, even early, is always a begrudging vote. It is beyond me


Hey, Sutherland is winning this one, isn't she? Those who voted for her seem to think she wins easily. The only reason I voted for Bubbles is that her speed-of-light coloratura and her incomparable spirit of fun made me take momentary leave of my senses without giving me a hangover, an experience all too hard to come by in the age of Covid and Putin.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Hey, Sutherland is winning this one, isn't she? Those who voted for her seem to think she wins easily. The only reason I voted for Bubbles is that her speed-of-light coloratura and her incomparable spirit of fun made me take momentary leave of my senses without giving me a hangover, an experience all too hard to come by in the age of Covid and Putin.


You are correct and i edited my content. She is doing okay so far but will lose to Callas by a landslide I predict as she will here in every other contest pitting them against each other I 'm sure. I am resigned.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

In the interests of fairness, I looked up a studio recording of Sills, but still.....Sutherland by a small margin. Sutherland and Sills were the queens of fast, clean coloratura, but Sutherland gives _shape_ to the coloratura in a way no one has yet been able to match. Where Sills had a "pretty voice" (if a bit shrill at times), Sutherland's voice had a glorious, heroic shimmer and noble legato line to go along with it (the latter heard less in this rep). It was as if rich, harmonic overtones formed the foundation of her voice, rather than simply being a biproduct.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> In the interests of fairness, I looked up a studio recording of Sills, but still.....Sutherland by a small margin. Sutherland and Sills were the queens of fast, clean coloratura, but Sutherland gives _shape_ to the coloratura in a way no one has yet been able to match. Where Sills had a "pretty voice" (if a bit shrill at times), Sutherland's voice had a glorious, heroic shimmer and noble legato line to go along with it (the latter heard less in this rep). It was as if rich, harmonic overtones formed the foundation of her voice, rather than simply being a biproduct.


I never thought I would see a post like this in our forum


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

No contest!
Gruberova's strident notes sounded like a fishwife.(running for cover).
Sills was singing like there was no tomorrow.
Sutherland gets the garland of roses for an exqusite portrayal. Her voice was at its peak.


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