# SOPRANO TOURNAMENT: (Round 1, Match 6): Caballe vs Price



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Montserrat Caballe, Spain, 1933-2018






Leontyne Price, USA, 1927-






Who's singing did you prefer and why?


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

Both are a step down from the previous two renditions. The trills are noticeably worse and the tone production, though the timbre is better captured by the respective recordings, is more effortful. Still, a lot of great stuff here. Between these two, I pick Caballe by a considerable margin. Her breath control is better, her phrasing more defined and with greater clarity and creativity, her lines hold together better, the low notes are clearer and stronger. Price was variable. There was a lot to like in her voice when it was on form, but there was also frequently shrillness and a hollow quality that I find to be present in a lot of her recordings. She was very well received at a time when there were still great singers for comparison, so perhaps she is like Destinn and sounded better live. At any rate, she has rarely been one of my preferred sopranos.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

So hard. Both sooooo fabulous. This aria really plays to Caballe's strengths....gorgeous, long legato, beautiful singing in abundance and ravishing pianissimos, her only flaw is she has only so so trills. Some of her extended breath lines were amazing. Even with all that going for her I still give the garland to Leontyne because of the strength of her chest voice, her perfect trills and most importantly, one of the most ravishing sounds I have ever heard from any singer. This was at her vocal peak and her voice was liquid gold. She started having some problems later, but at a recital at age 70 she still sounded thrilling at times. To sing more beautifully than Caballe is saying A LOT.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

vivalagentenuova said:


> Both are a step down from the previous two renditions. The trills are noticeably worse and the tone production, though the timbre is better captured by the respective recordings, is more effortful. Still, a lot of great stuff here. Between these two, I pick Caballe by a considerable margin. Her breath control is better, her phrasing more defined and with greater clarity and creativity, her lines hold together better, the low notes are clearer and stronger. Price was variable. There was a lot to like in her voice when it was on form, but there was also frequently shrillness and a hollow quality that I find to be present in a lot of her recordings. She was very well received at a time when there were still great singers for comparison, so perhaps she is like Destinn and sounded better live. At any rate, she has rarely been one of my preferred sopranos.


Viva, I can't remember and find the two previous renditions of this aria. Do you remember show sang them????


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Viva, I can't remember and find the two previous renditions of this aria. Do you remember show sang them????


Tetrazzini and Destinn


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

vivalagentenuova said:


> Tetrazzini and Destinn


I feel stupid. Yes they were both wonderful. Thanks.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

They are two of the most gorgeous voices qua voices of our time. They both indulge themselves on the sheer beauty of them. 
Caballe has the advantage of astonishing breath control that allows her to take two phrases in one breath in a sustained pianissimo on _Deh non dirgli improvido & Le pene _.
Neither takes the D written into the score, but that's not a great loss (Miss Price takes it in the complete recording under Mehta). 
Miss Caballe treats us to her faux trills, Price to her better ones. Caballe's cadenza consists of a meander through some of the notes that comprise the written one. Miss Price's better resembles the traditional one.

I like them both, but if I had to live with one, I would choose Miss Caballe, despite her self-indulgence.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Caballe does more with the music, though one of the things she does is let the momentum sag while she shows off her pianissimo. This annoys me greatly and has put me off many of her performances. Price, on the other hand, shows her usual lack of imagination and musical specificity, and her very insistent vibrato, while not defective in any way, is simply too attention-getting for me. I suspect you really have to like the sound of her voice to like what she does in Verdi. I'm tempted to pass on this one, but I'll give it to Caballe just for not sounding generic.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Both absolutely gorgeous voices, eminently suited to this music, though neither of them is as technically accomplished as the previous two ladies (Tetrazzini and Destinn), trills often being ill defined and the fioriture sounding more effortful. As noted, neither attempts the top D, but I don't really miss it. Too often the note is too loud and obtrudes on the nocturnal atmosphere. (Sylvia Sass, in what may have been a trick of the recording studio, sings it pianissimo in her Decca version and it sounds exactly right.)
Price doesn't seem to have anything special to say about the music. She just pours out the voice and largely leaves it at that. There is nothing specific or revelatory in her reading. She once said in interview that she couldn't help it, but she just loved the sound of her own voice, and, in a sense, that's what I get here; a feeling that she went into the recording studio, sang through the aria, listened to it once and pronounced herself delighted. Well I guess it is a beautiful sound.

Caballé also has a beautiful instrument and this was recorded when she too was in her prime. She is much more imaginative in her phrasing and her performance is not generic in the way Price's is. However, she is beginning to over-indulge her trademark pianissimi high notes and I rather feel we end up getting too much of a good thing. That said, I much prefer her version as she seems to have something specific to say about the music and her singing sounds less effortful than Price's. So Caballé is an easy winner for me.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Initially upon seeing this new tournament round I thought you are going to pick another Leonora for comparison (Pace mio Dio) 
What I don't like about Price here is performance being too generic. Both ladies display their technical strengths, but in case of Leontyne Price some aspects of it (strong vibrato, trills, breathing etc) just get in the way of music, it's all too distracting. And I don't object Caballe using her trademark sustained pianissimi - I bask in them, in fact. The things she could do using this technique are just mindbending ("mindnumbing" some cynics would probably say ).
So the second video is great. The first one is special.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

This is rather like the Ponselle vs. Tebaldi contest for me. Caballe's was the version I was less familiar with and the fact that I expected Price to win meant that I was swayed by the surprise of how good it was.

These contests are really tough, can we do one with Netrebko in again? :devil:

N.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

The Conte said:


> This is rather like the Ponselle vs. Tebaldi contest for me. Caballe's was the version I was less familiar with and the fact that I expected Price to win meant that I was swayed by the surprise of how good it was.
> 
> These contests are really tough, can we do one with Netrebko in again? :devil:
> 
> N.


Both ladies went a little downhill from where they were when they recorded this, but one can also say that I can't think of a single singer that sang Verdi on their level since they retired, except for possibly Aprille Millo, who I heard didn't have a voice that wasn't as big as these ladies. If I'm wrong, tell me. It would be interesting to see how young Gwyneth Jones did against these ladies as she was simply amazing in Verdi early on. Really and truly.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

My favorite soprano aria so I am fussy.
Aside from Sondra Radvanovsky who, for me, takes the true prize, and being that I am judging these two extremely fine sopranos, I find myself choosing the one I never thought I would because I normally prefer Price("Pace pace mio dio") to Caballe but I shall now go up there and put my vote in for Caballe despite the fact that others have better trills, when she nailed one at the end it was lovely. Hers was simpler and more heartfelt.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I feel stupid. Yes they were both wonderful. Thanks.


Say, what about a real war of voices in this particular aria: Callas vs. Radvanovsky (I can hear the snickers already)


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

nina foresti said:


> Say, what about a real war of voices in this particular aria: Callas vs. Radvanovsky (I can hear the snickers already)


When I heard Sondra in the role (live, in San Francisco), I thought she was second only to Callas, especially in "_d'amor sull'alli rosee_." But she sang the entire role honorably, with no shirking of any of the challenges.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> When I heard Sondra in the role (live, in San Francisco), I thought she was second only to Callas, especially in "_d'amor sull'alli rosee_." But she sang the entire role honorably, with no shirking of any of the challenges.


I doubted what you said till I listened to Sondra sing it and I was truly amazed!!!!!!!!!! She checked off every box on a checklist you expect for this aria to be done perfectly with many diminishments to piannissimos that were very effectivel. Truly outstanding.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Both absolutely gorgeous voices, eminently suited to this music, though neither of them is as technically accomplished as the previous two ladies (Tetrazzini and Destinn), trills often being ill defined and the fioriture sounding more effortful. As noted, neither attempts the top D, but I don't really miss it. Too often the note is too loud and obtrudes on the nocturnal atmosphere. (Sylvia Sass, in what may have been a trick of the recording studio, sings it pianissimo in her Decca version and it sounds exactly right.)
> Price doesn't seem to have anything special to say about the music. She just pours out the voice and largely leaves it at that. There is nothing specific or revelatory in her reading. She once said in interview that she couldn't help it, but she just loved the sound of her own voice, and, in a sense, that's what I get here; a feeling that she went into the recording studio, sang through the aria, listened to it once and pronounced herself delighted. Well I guess it is a beautiful sound.
> 
> Caballé also has a beautiful instrument and this was recorded when she too was in her prime. She is much more imaginative in her phrasing and her performance is not generic in the way Price's is. However, she is beginning to over-indulge her trademark pianissimi high notes and I rather feel we end up getting too much of a good thing. That said, I much prefer her version as she seems to have something specific to say about the music and her singing sounds less effortful than Price's. So Caballé is an easy winner for me.


Good take. I can be a bit partial to Price as we are both from Mississippi and like her I get carried away with the splendor of her voice, but she is not a great artist (though she is the queen of Zweite Brautnacht) and I agree, Caballe did more with the piece. I had two conversations with the playwright Terrence McNally ( Masterclass, Lisbon Traviata) and he said when I asked him about the the most beautiful voice he ever heard live that it was Caballe, and he knew a thing or two about opera.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I doubted what you said till I listened to Sondra sing it and I was truly amazed!!!!!!!!!! She checked off every box on a checklist you expect for this aria to be done perfectly with many diminishments to piannissimos that were very effectivel. Truly outstanding.


On a "Callas First and Only" site like this one, that is a true compliment.
Sondra shocked me too!


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

nina foresti said:


> On a "Callas First and Only" site like this one, that is a true compliment.
> Sondra shocked me too!


There are some dissenters, thank you very much.


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## Aerobat (Dec 31, 2018)

Oh, that was a shock. Price is one of my favourites from this generation. But for many of the reasons mentioned, plus how totally expressive her performance was, I've had to go with Caballe.


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## Saxman (Jun 11, 2019)

Caballe sounds flat throughout, so Price, despite those trills and effects.


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