# First Round: Zweite Brautnacht. Pauly and Voigt



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I am likely alone in this as usual, but this is one of my very very favorite arias!!!!!!! It is so exciting!!!!! It is one of the few dramatic soprano arias that goes above high C, and it is such an exciting climax to the aria. In addition to the ones included in this contest I greatly enjoy Eaglen and Marc and would have loved to have heard Sutherland in this soaring aria, but none of them would do well here. Voigt here is from her heavy days when her voice was at it's peak. I haven't included her in contests before but I thought she had a really really beautiful voice in her days before the little black dress. I heard her just after her weight loss and like Callas her best qualities were still there in the early years after her weight loss and the problems began after that. Enjoy! BTW, Voigt had one of the best encores I've ever heard live: she sang "I love a piano" and accompanied herself spectacularly. Pauly was fabulous and has done really well here before.


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## Shaafee Shameem (Aug 4, 2021)

I’ve read that Rose Pauly was Strauss’ favourite Elektra. One can see why. Her instrument, gleaming but warm, with a radiant and effortless upper register, seems perfectly suited to the music of Strauss.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Shaafee Shameem said:


> I’ve read that Rose Pauly was Strauss’ favourite Elektra. One can see why. Her instrument, gleaming but warm, with a radiant and effortless upper register, seems perfectly suited to the music of Strauss.


Nice to hear from you, friend! She was fabulous.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Was this really from before Voigt's weight loss? To me she sounds overparted, thin, stressed and, at the climax, desperate. I've heard some other early things in which she sounded better. I'm inclined to think that her main problem wasn't losing weight but rather misclassifying herself as a dramatic soprano.

Pauly is markedly superior from the first note.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Deborah Voigt sounds much like after her surgery, the tone thinner, sour, the upper voice sounding squeezed. This aria is not for the feint of heart - I can’t think of anyone who has sung this aria who sounds easy. They all sound stressed to me.

Pauly, anyway.

P.S. I don’t think Voigt records well; she sounds much better in-house (pre-surgery). There’s an earlier Voigt version of this aria, I think.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> Deborah Voigt sounds much like after her surgery, the tone thinner, sour, the upper voice sounding squeezed. This aria is not for the feint of heart - I can’t think of anyone who has sung this aria who sounds easy. They all sound stressed to me.
> 
> Pauly, anyway.
> 
> P.S. I don’t think Voigt records well; she sounds much better in-house (pre-surgery). There’s an earlier Voigt version of this aria, I think.


Check the previous post. I found one from a complete performance that sounds good to me. Sorry this was the only one I initially found.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Was this really from before Voigt's weight loss? To me she sounds overparted, thin, stressed and, at the climax, desperate. I've heard some other early things in which she sounded better. I'm inclined to think that her main problem wasn't losing weight but rather misclassifying herself as a dramatic soprano.
> 
> Pauly is markedly superior from the first note.


I found this from a live performance that sounds much better but knew better than to substitute it for what you already commented on.
MEDIA=youtube]f35R9PrcDn0:3790[/MEDIA]


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## Georgieva (7 mo ago)

Rose Pauly!


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## ALT (Mar 1, 2021)

Frankly, don’t know why anyone would bother to learn, let alone sing, the role. This, to me, is third rate Strauss. The aria here is an incoherent mess and best left unsung.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

ALT said:


> Frankly, don’t know why anyone would bother to learn, let alone sing, the role. This, to me, is third rate Strauss. The aria here is an incoherent mess and best left unsung.


Thank you for trashing what I said in the intro to this contest was one of my favorite arias. You are a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

ALT said:


> Frankly, don’t know why anyone would bother to learn, let alone sing, the role. This, to me, is third rate Strauss. The aria here is an incoherent mess and best left unsung.


It is what it is, c'est la vie, chacun a son gout, and what's it to ya Buster? "Third-rate Strauss" is only one rating below the composer's own estimate of himself as a "very good second-rate composer." My own view is that plenty of third-rate music, some of it cheek-by-jowl with first-rate and second-rate music from popular works, gets performed every day. My way of dealing with my disappointment is not to advise the sopranos of the world on what to leave unsung, but simply to decide what to leave unheard. It works like a charm, and everyone goes home happy.


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## ALT (Mar 1, 2021)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Thank you for trashing what I said in the intro to this contest was one of my favorite arias. You are a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.


It wasn’t directed at you personally. We all like what we like, without apology or justification. That said, the work and the aria remain third rate to these ears.


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## Francasacchi (7 mo ago)

Rose Pauly was a fantastic Elektra too. She also sang Carmen and Eboli!


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I used to have the recording with Gwyneth Jones, but I don't think I listened to it that often. I remember loving Barbara Hendricks in the secondary soprano role, though.

Voigt does indeed sound better in the second clip, well less shrewish anyway, but, whichever clip you choose, Pauly is a clear winner.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

Occasionally two last operas when I could travel in Europe, before the famous virus, were by Strauss, Die ägyptische Helena was one of them. It was a pretty La Scala production with Rikarda Merbeth and Eva Mei. Maybe it's not a repertoire hit, but it contains much beautiful music and humor, a contralto singing a mussel for example. 
Here Rose Pauly was unattainable. But, seen in the theater, Voight would be interesting too. I respect her much and am fully by her side in that notorious dress affair. I think she has made a good job, the second recording, notice it's a live performance, is better.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Woodduck said:


> "Third-rate Strauss" is only one rating below the composer's own estimate of himself as a "very good second-rate composer."


Still first-class


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I used to have the recording with Gwyneth Jones, but I don't think I listened to it that often. I remember loving Barbara Hendricks in the secondary soprano role, though.
> 
> Voigt does indeed sound better in the second clip, well less shrewish anyway, but, whichever clip you choose, Pauly is a clear winner.


I heard Jones sing it at 15 played by my German professor in '71. It was early so she should have been better but it didn't wow me when I relistened to it. You really need to see Jones sing. Next round: WOWS!!!!!!!!!!! I promise.


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