# Round 2: Come in quest´ora bruna. Freni, te Kanawa, Farrell



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

See post below for videos


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)




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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Now we're talking! No excuses need be made for these voices, and I enjoyed all three performances.

Freni is unfortunately disadvantaged by a shallow, tinny-sounding live recording; it doesn't disguise the quality of her music-making, but I hesitate to compare her with the well-recorded Te Kanawa, who sounds creamily delectable here as she always did, even when she was, on occasion, boring. Fortunately this aria doesn't overtax her dramatic imagination, and we have serene beauty throughout, with a thrilling ascent to the climactic Bb.

But the singer who pinned me to my chair and sent chills through my neural pathways was Farrell. Her dynamic shading and varied articulation, creating an undercurrent of passion reflecting the quiet but insistent energy of the cantilena's rhythmic accompaniment, is notably different from the smoothly lovely and more anonymous effect of Freni's and Te Kanawa's interpretations, and she kept me eager to hear what came next. I knew from Farrell's first phrases who I'd pick in this round.

I'm thinking, based on this and other things we've heard her do, that in her prime Farrell had a more or less ideal "late Verdi" voice, rich and full throughout its range and capable of any expressive effect required by often extremely challenging music (I don't know whether her coloratura was good, but Verdi's late works don't call for it).


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Now we're talking! No excuses need be made for these voices, and I enjoyed all three performances.
> 
> Freni is unfortunately disadvantaged by a shallow, tinny-sounding live recording; it doesn't disguise the quality of her music-making, but I hesitate to compare her with the well-recorded Te Kanawa, who sounds creamily delectable here as she always did, even when she was, on occasion, boring. Fortunately this aria doesn't overtax her dramatic imagination, and we have serene beauty throughout, with a thrilling ascent to the climactic Bb.
> 
> ...


I was hoping at least one person was as blown away by Farrell in this. It is one of my favorite things I've heard her do and it allows the sheer beauty of her voice to shine. I used to have her Verdi collection which consisted of her arias and separately her duets with Tucker. During this period Milanov and Leontyne Price were better known for their Verdi, but I prefer her. In her big aria from Ernani her coloratura was better than either of these. She wasn't interpretively a Callas, but she was solid musician and brought emotional depth to the music plus having one of the biggest and most beautiful sopranos around. Ponselle, Callas and sometimes Tebaldi were for me the only Verdi sopranos who could upstage her in my book.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I was hoping at least one person was as blown away by Farrell in this. It is one of my favorite things I've heard her do and it allows the sheer beauty of her voice to shine. I used to have her Verdi collection which consisted of her arias and separately her duets with Tucker. During this period Milanov and Leontyne Price were better known for their Verdi, but I prefer her. In her big aria from Ernani her coloratura was better than either of these. She wasn't interpretively a Callas, but she was solid musician and brought emotional depth to the music plus having one of the biggest and most beautiful sopranos around. Ponselle, Callas and sometimes Tebaldi were for me the only Verdi sopranos who could upstage her in my book.


I'm very much with you on Farrell, and really appreciate your inclusion of her in these contests. Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, Tchaikovsky... All superb. We can understand why Callas remarked that if the Met didn't have Farrell it couldn't be taken seriously.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> I'm very much with you on Farrell, and really appreciate your inclusion of her in these contests. Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, Tchaikovsky... All superb. We can understand why Callas remarked that if the Met didn't have Farrell it couldn't be taken seriously.


Back when I got started in Opera L around the start of the New Millennium she had lots of fans but a lot of that older generation that remembered her have died out by now. My big opera mentor 30 years ago who owned the biggest classical record store in Seattle at the time thought very very highly of her, too. My sister who sang opera and taught voice and who almost never likes singers is very impressed by Farrell and says her vocal production is flawless. If you listen to her talk and to her sing pop music her lower soprano octave sounds identical and very natural in all instances plus she has a whole octave below that like Ponselle did.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

As Woodduck noticed, Freni’s recoding sounds weirdly recessed, though, according to the YouTube video, it’s taken from the legendary Abbado studio recording - though it doesn’t sound it. 
I’m sticking to Te Kanawa, who was my first Amelia Grimaldi in San Francisco and I can’t forget the sound in my mind’s ear and picture she presented there; though I can’t gainsay others’s impression of Farrell.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

I find Te Kanawa fairly dull most of the time, despite the pretty sound. Freni is okay but Farrell is wonderful. I wish she had been more recorded.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I find this one very tough to judge because all of the voices are stunning.
I am sorry to have to listen to poor Freni getting short shrift on her negative recording which seems unfair to her but guess what! she came through it all with flying colors anyway and being that she is normally, of the 3, one of my favorites, I am giving the crown to her although they all deserve it.


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## Francasacchi (7 mo ago)

Farrell. What a voice and interpretation.


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## Francasacchi (7 mo ago)

What is interesting here is heavier voices like Farrell (who never sang the role on stage), Varnay, and Milanov have gravitated toward the role of Amelia in Boccanegra which can be sung by lyrics (like the role of Desdemona).


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Francasacchi said:


> What is interesting here is heavier voices like Farrell (who never sang the role on stage), Varnay, and Milanov have gravitated toward the role of Amelia in Boccanegra which can be sung by lyrics (like the role of Desdemona).


I wonder if it's mainly this wonderful aria that draws them to _Simon B._ Who wouldn't want to sing this? It's been an earworm for me for two days, and I'd be singing it if I could still sing.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> I wonder if it's mainly this wonderful aria that draws them to _Simon B._ Who wouldn't want to sing this? It's been an earworm for me for two days, and I'd be singing it if I could still sing.


I think it is one of the most beautiful soprano arias. Sorry I picked out the wrong Freni. I am going to enter her in the next round in a better recording as I had only two.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> As Woodduck noticed, Freni’s recoding sounds weirdly recessed, though, according to the YouTube video, it’s taken from the legendary Abbado studio recording - though it doesn’t sound it.
> I’m sticking to Te Kanawa, who was my first Amelia Grimaldi in San Francisco and I can’t forget the sound in my mind’s ear and picture she presented there; though I can’t gainsay others’s impression of Farrell.


Sorry for the bad sound on Freni. Studio recordings are usually good. Will put her in a better recording for the next round. I slip up occasionally. I had a chance to hear Te Kanawa in concert and passed it up but now regret that decision. Funds were tighter back then.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Sorry for the bad sound on Freni. Studio recordings are usually good. Will put her in a better recording for the next round. I slip up occasionally. I had a chance to hear Te Kanawa in concert and passed it up but now regret that decision. Funds were tighter back then.


The version that you used is a rather dodgy copy of this original live recording which has been authorized for use and provided to YouTube by Naxos of America. There are usually label-authorized versions of most of what you're looking for with significantly better sonics instead of using these kinds of overly-compressed uploads that are top-heavy with special effects done by well-meaning but technically challenged fans.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

The Farrell video is label authorized and the clarity is readily apparent - It was the best version that you could have used for your competition.

The Te Kanawa version is another copy of an original recording done by a fan with added special effects. This is the label authorized recording provided by Universal Music Group -


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

As everyone else has noted the Freni recording is awful and doesn't really give a proper impression of her in this aria. It sounds as if it has been recorded on somebody's phone, as you can hear all sorts of other noises going on as well. Had it been a good transfer of the Abbado studio recording, which I listened to only recently, I would probably have chosen her, as I think it one of her best Verdi roles.

That leaves me with Te Kanawa and Farrell. I hear what everyone else is saying about the Farrell recording, and I largely agree, so why is it that I'm a little reluctant to vote for her? She lightens her voice very convincingly, but down below she doesn't really sound like an Amelia/Maria to me, just a tad mature. She is more interesting than Te Kanawa, but Te Kanawa has by nature what Farrell has to strive for and I find myself preferring Te Kanawa just beause she has the sound of the character in her voice.

Incidentally, my personal favourite remains De Los Angeles, who sings the role on the Gobbi recording. She is perhaps more fallible vocally, but she too has the sound of the character in her voice and is incredibly touching in the rest of the opera. I also like Ricciarelli, who sings the role on the Gavazzeni recording, which was issued just before the Abbado.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Shaughnessy said:


> The version that you used is a rather dodgy copy of this original live recording which has been authorized for use and provided to YouTube by Naxos of America. There are usually label-authorized versions of most of what you're looking for with significantly better sonics instead of using these kinds of overly-compressed uploads that are top-heavy with special effects done by well-meaning but technically challenged fans.


I take it you want me to use this version. It never showed up in a search and I was going to use one from a video broadcast.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> As everyone else has noted the Freni recording is awful and doesn't really give a proper impression of her in this aria. It sounds as if it has been recorded on somebody's phone, as you can hear all sorts of other noises going on as well. Had it been a good transfer of the Abbado studio recording, which I listened to only recently, I would probably have chosen her, as I think it one of her best Verdi roles.
> 
> That leaves me with Te Kanawa and Farrell. I hear what everyone else is saying about the Farrell recording, and I largely agree, so why is it that I'm a little reluctant to vote for her? She lightens her voice very convincingly, but down below she doesn't really sound like an Amelia/Maria to me, just a tad mature. She is more interesting than Te Kanawa, but Te Kanawa has by nature what Farrell has to strive for and I find myself preferring Te Kanawa just beause she has the sound of the character in her voice.
> 
> Incidentally, my personal favourite remains De Los Angeles, who sings the role on the Gobbi recording. She is perhaps more fallible vocally, but she too has the sound of the character in her voice and is incredibly touching in the rest of the opera. I also like Ricciarelli, who sings the role on the Gavazzeni recording, which was issued just before the Abbado.


The birdy with patience gets the worm.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Shaughnessy said:


> The Farrell video is label authorized and the clarity is readily apparent - It was the best version that you could have used for your competition.
> 
> The Te Kanawa version is another copy of an original recording done by a fan with added special effects. This is the label authorized recording provided by Universal Music Group -


How do you find these things out? I search and search setting these contests up and I can get no such information. Sorry I am so misinformed.... actually not informed is more accurate. Most Youtube videos present no information.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Seattleoperafan said:


> How do you find these things out? I search and search setting these contests up and I can get no such information. Sorry I am so misinformed.... actually not informed is more accurate. Most Youtube videos present no information.


I don't know how to explain it but I just have kind of a knack for finding recordings - For example -

If you want something like a recommendation for the best Shostakovich string quartets I can bring this up - It's a label authorized 7 CD set of the complete string quartets by the Borodin Quartet -



https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kA515c9Uti6X93STqED_8oS2F0EgGldyM



If you want the complete remastered 53 Callas Tosca, it's here -



https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mWsbAew5ovM2aD8q_5PG9n4C3xg2NiwsY



If you want the complete remastered 65 Callas Tosca, it's here -



https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lbahCHzJHTGFkbccckZaYWk8U_wAUBUrQ



This new release by Fatma Said "Kaleidoscope" just came out 3 days ago - it's right here - Lovely voice...



https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_npyJ3SYCON3i16tuG9c-AyZZmn8UWTYjo



Opera's Greatest Heroines - Traubel - Galli-Curci - Ponselle - and others...



https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m86NF7F22mRjYZB2iW8UhvAAIU-oJrTck



How about six hours and 18 minutes of Janet Baker?



https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k1xBg8TlJpCEfFXguAJU87vsOnFOHcrZo




I can't find everything - Unless the label has uploaded a copy, it's only going to exist, if at all, as a "fan recording" which is better than nothing but they just get kind of carried away with the special effects and as much as we wish that they would just knock it off already, apparently they're completely unable to resist doing so..

I would be more than willing to assist your threads in any way that I can - Just start a conversation by clicking on my avatar and then "Message" - Send me the three selections you have in mind and I'll try to find the best recordings that I can. If you don't mind, if I find something that I think you might find interesting, I will send it along with your requests.

In the conversation, I'll present the selections as links that you can click on and you'll be taken directly to the YouTube page - Just insert the links the way you have been.

- Shaughnessy


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Shaughnessy said:


> I don't know how to explain it but I just have kind of a knack for finding recordings - For example -
> 
> If you want something like a recommendation for the best Shostakovich string quartets I can bring this up - It's a label authorized 7 CD set of the complete string quartets by the Borodin Quartet -
> 
> ...


OMG! I'll write you now.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> As everyone else has noted the Freni recording is awful and doesn't really give a proper impression of her in this aria. It sounds as if it has been recorded on somebody's phone, as you can hear all sorts of other noises going on as well. Had it been a good transfer of the Abbado studio recording, which I listened to only recently, I would probably have chosen her, as I think it one of her best Verdi roles.
> 
> That leaves me with Te Kanawa and Farrell. I hear what everyone else is saying about the Farrell recording, and I largely agree, so why is it that I'm a little reluctant to vote for her? She lightens her voice very convincingly, but down below she doesn't really sound like an Amelia/Maria to me, just a tad mature. She is more interesting than Te Kanawa, but Te Kanawa has by nature what Farrell has to strive for and I find myself preferring Te Kanawa just beause she has the sound of the character in her voice.
> 
> Incidentally, my personal favourite remains De Los Angeles, who sings the role on the Gobbi recording. She is perhaps more fallible vocally, but she too has the sound of the character in her voice and is incredibly touching in the rest of the opera. I also like Ricciarelli, who sings the role on the Gavazzeni recording, which was issued just before the Abbado.


I must agree about Te Kanawa as well. If I hadn't chosen Freni it would have been Te Kanawa and you expressed exactly why.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Freni in her absolute prime. Just wow! I really like Freni and this is my favourite of her Verdi roles along with Desdemona. This is going to be hard to beat.

Te Kanawa has possibly the most beautifully pure voice of all time, but she lacks the artistry to do this aria justice. There's very little in the way of interpretation, but the phrases are bruised and she seems to have an instinctive lack of musicality.

The Farrell surprises me. She's not a singer I have really enjoyed in the past, but this aria suits her and she suits it. This is a superb performance (and the conducting is possible the best of the three).

It's between Freni and Farrell and I don't want to penalise Freni due to her version being a live one rather than her studio recording.

I go for Freni for that miraculous top that seems as infinite as the Ligurian skies and seas.

N.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> I'm very much with you on Farrell, and really appreciate your inclusion of her in these contests. Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, Tchaikovsky... All superb. We can understand why Callas remarked that if the Met didn't have Farrell it couldn't be taken seriously.


I wish her Immolation Scene wasn't too impractically long as I think it can compete with the best out there. She felt singing Wagner complete roles could have effected her voice in the long run, but was amazing in concert pieces. Her ending of Siegfried is amazing. She sounded great at 70 in pop so her gamble paid off. She liked singing recitals as she could get home to her family without extended stays in a city. I think she mainly sang operas in NY where she lived.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I wish her Immolation Scene wasn't too impractically long as I think it can compete with the best out there. She felt singing Wagner complete roles could have effected her voice in the long run, but was amazing in concert pieces. Her ending of Siegfried is amazing. She sounded great at 70 in pop so her gamble paid off. She liked singing recitals as she could get home to her family without extended stays in a city. I think she mainly sang operas in NY where she lived.


Her immolation scene with Bernstein, paired with the Wesendonk Songs, was one of my first LPs. Superb disc. She definitely limited her opera career so as not to interfere with family life. Our loss.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> Her immolation scene with Bernstein, paired with the Wesendonk Songs, was one of my first LPs. Superb disc. She definitely limited her opera career so as not to interfere with family life. Our loss.


I read she was bored with opera and preferred singing the Blues (shorter pieces).


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

MAS said:


> I read she was bored with opera and preferred singing the Blues (shorter pieces).


Maybe so, but if she was bored it doesn't show in her singing.


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## Francasacchi (7 mo ago)

She started out with a successful.radio show where she literally sang everything. She did admit to being bored with some opera roles she sang on stage (Trovatore Leonora). Now her Medea, though lacking the verbal specificity and unique acumen of Callas, is still thrilling. Her singing to me always had a sculpted grandeur, classical but not cold. Her LP Arias in the Grand Tradition, with the Beethoven, Gluck, and Weber repertoire, shows her at her best. Yet she delivers one of the most exciting performances ever recorded, To this we've come, from.Menotti's The Consul, which shows she could connect dramatically with American works instinctively. Bing did not know how to connect with her. She should have been singing Wagner at the Met. But there was the presence of Nilsson. And like Traubel, also uniquely endowed for Wagner, Farrell was her own person in a healthy "down home" way despite the exalted grsndeur of their voice and repertoire. This dynamic Bing could and would not understand and showed in his treatment of other American singers like Steber, Resnik, and Sills.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> Maybe so, but if she was bored it doesn't show in her singing.


No, I meant singing opera performances. Most singers prefer the rehearsal process to singing performances. The rehearsals are more fun, working to put the piece s together to form the show, etc.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Francasacchi said:


> She started out with a successful.radio show where she literally sang everything. She did admit to being bored with some opera roles she sang on stage (Trovatore Leonora). Now her Medea, though lacking the verbal specificity and unique acumen of Callas, is still thrilling. Her singing to me always had a sculpted grandeur, classical but not cold. Her LP Arias in the Grand Tradition, with the Beethoven, Gluck, and Weber repertoire, shows her at her best. Yet she delivers one of the most exciting performances ever recorded, To this we've come, from.Menotti's The Consul, which shows she could connect dramatically with American works instinctively.


She also sang Marie, most beautifully, on the first complete recording of _Wozzeck,_ opposite the superb Mack Harrell, under the equally superb Mitropoulos (Harrell, Farrell & Mitropoulos is a fiction writer's ideal law firm). My first recording of _Messiah_ was Bernstein's, with Farrell the fine soprano soloist. She sounded nothing like an early music specialist, thank goodness.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

I was too late...


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Francasacchi said:


> She started out with a successful.radio show where she literally sang everything. She did admit to being bored with some opera roles she sang on stage (Trovatore Leonora). Now her Medea, though lacking the verbal specificity and unique acumen of Callas, is still thrilling. Her singing to me always had a sculpted grandeur, classical but not cold. Her LP Arias in the Grand Tradition, with the Beethoven, Gluck, and Weber repertoire, shows her at her best. Yet she delivers one of the most exciting performances ever recorded, To this we've come, from.Menotti's The Consul, which shows she could connect dramatically with American works instinctively. Bing did not know how to connect with her. She should have been singing Wagner at the Met. But there was the presence of Nilsson. And like Traubel, also uniquely endowed for Wagner, Farrell was her own person in a healthy "down home" way despite the exalted grsndeur of their voice and repertoire. This dynamic Bing could and would not understand and showed in his treatment of other American singers like Steber, Resnik, and Sills.


I was given the LP of her Medea and it is so beautiful. I have her Immolation Scene and it is too long for a contest but she one of the very best at singing that scene. It got rave critical praise. I would put her just under Flagstad in a list. Perhaps if there is interest I could give start times and we could begin that scene when the really big singing starts just about midway through that scene.


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