# Favorite high notes



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I would go with 3: 
1.Callas's the final high D from
Rossini - Armida - D'amore Al Dolce Impero (1952 Live)




. I could and have played this over and over and over. Callas should have done studio recordings before she lost weight! Her pre weight loss notes above the staff were not to be believed.
2. Joan Sutherland's high D from the big trio at the end of Act 2 in Norma from her first studio recording.
3. Sutherland: the isolated high E in the middle of Bel Raggio from Semiramide in the Art of the Prima Donna, the greatest vocal recital of all time.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Here is a fast second for Sutherland's "Art of the Prima Donna Bel Raggio". Awesome.
Richard Tucker singing Rodolfo's "La speranza" from "La boheme".

(Longest held note: Franco Corelli's Parma "E lucevan le stelle" from Tosca -- Caballe's last note in "Don Carlo").


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

in no particular order

Joan Sutherland
1) Eb at the end of Santo di Patria
2) high E from Beatrice di Tenda 
3) final note at the ending of Casta Diva (in the high key)
**4) a pianissimo note in the middle of the bel song
5) high E from Cambiale di Matrimonio
6) high E in Perche non ho from Donizetti's Rosmonda d'Inghilterra 
7) a giant D at the end of the Norma Trio

other female artists 
1) Aprille Millo's high Eb in the Aida Triumphal March
2) Callas's interpolated Eb in her duet with Nabucco (talk about CLASH OF THE TITANS!)
3) Leontyne Price's high C in O Patria Mia
4) Nilsson's pianissimo C# at the end of the Sleepwalking Scene in Macbeth (surprised the hell out of me. I didn't know she could do that  )
5) Ewa Podles's high D in Sudò il guerriero
6) various high notes sung by Ebe Stignani (too lazy to look them up, but she had an amazing upper extension for a dramatic mezzo)
7) Shirley Verrret's high D from the Norma Trio

males
1) Sherrill Milnes' interpolated high B at the end of Rigoletto
2) Jonas Kaufman's high C at the end of La Donna e Mobile
3) Corelli's high C in di Quella Pira
4) Hakan Hagegard's high As in Estuans Interius (Carmina Burana)
5) Samuel Ramey's high G as Zaccariah (wow...)
6) any of Samuel Ramey's high notes in Attila
7) Samuel Ramey's high Fs in Sorgete Sorgete (Maometto Secondo)
8) any of Nicolai Gedda's high Cs and Ds in various duets with Sutherland
9) same for Alfredo Kraus (the only two tenors who could keep up with Sutherland and still be heard on a high note)

**the one I'm talking about starts around 3:56


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Favorite recorded high notes of specific singers? The ones that come immediately to mind are:

Joan Sutherland, "The Art of the Prima Donna": 
-- the "tu fai nel *ciel*" in the ending of "Casta Diva" (_Norma_)
-- the ending of "Sovra il sen" (_La Sonnambula_)
-- the ending of "Vien, diletto" (_I Puritani_)
-- the ending of the Jewel Song (_Faust_) 
-- several high notes in the last section of the Mad Scene from _Hamlet_
Joan Sutherland, _Lucia di Lammermoor_ (second studio recording):
-- the high note at the very end of Act II
Joan Sutherland,_ La Traviata_ (first studio recording):
-- on the word "fervido" in the Brindisi

Luciano Pavarotti, _Rigoletto_ (studio recording, 1971):
-- on the word "angeli" toward the end of "Parmi veder le lagrime"

Sherrill Milnes, _Luisa Miller_ (video performance, 1979):
-- last note of the Act I cabaletta

Juan Diego Florez: 
-- the nine high C's in "Pour mon ame" from _La fille du Regiment_ (multiple recorded versions)

Renee Fleming, "Under the Stars" (duet album with Bryn Terfel):
-- the last note of "Wheels of a Dream" from the musical _Ragtime_

*SeattleOperaFan:* I'll have to go re-listen to the ending of the Trio from Sutherland's first studio _Norma_. I seem to remember it _was_ awesome!
*Balalakaiboy:* I completely agree about Ramey as Zaccariah!


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Balalaika Boy: Didn't Corelli transpose Di quella pira downward, making the high C a slightly less high something else? I might be wrong, as I'm not a musician and I don't have a great ear for detecting this sort of thing. To complicate things further, he recorded it more than once, and I don't know if he did so in more than one key.

Anyone know what key he's singing in?


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## Alfredoz (Apr 8, 2014)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> in no particular order
> 
> Joan Sutherland
> 1) Eb at the end of Santo di Patria
> ...


I am a fan of Ebe Stignani's voice too! I'm not sure what you meant when you speak of ''upper extension for a dramatic mezzo''. The highest note Stignani has performed on recording appears to be the high C in Norma's cabeletta. Many good operatic mezzo sopranos are certainly able to sing a decent high C6 or sometimes Db6 and sustain an aria with high tessitura. I would prefer to call Shirley Verret a dramatic mezzo with ''amazing upper extension'', though some have noted that she is more of a dramatic soprano or some falcon voice type.


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## Alfredoz (Apr 8, 2014)

1.) High Bb5 and B5 by Aida and Amneris in Act 2 Triumph scene

2.) High Bb4 at end of Celeste Aida. Mario Fillipeschi, Franco Corelli, Mario Del Monaco are my favourites.

3.) High F5(in full voice) in Ah credea misera. 

4.) Interpolated high C by Adalgisa in ''Oh! rimembranza... Ah si, fa core, abbracciami'' and ''Mira o Norma''

5.) High C6 in Ecco ridente in cielo

6.) High G4 by Rigoletto at the end of ''Sì! Vendetta, tremenda vendetta''

7.) High Eb6 at end of Lucia and Il Puritani mad scenes


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Bellinilover said:


> Favorite recorded high notes of specific singers? The ones that come immediately to mind are:
> 
> Joan Sutherland, "The Art of the Prima Donna":
> -- the "tu fai nel *ciel*" in the ending of "Casta Diva" (_Norma_)
> ...


Such a great taste :tiphat:


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## PeterPowerPop (Mar 27, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> ...
> 
> (Longest held note: Franco Corelli's Parma "E lucevan le stelle" from Tosca -- Caballe's last note in "Don Carlo").


Sorry to butt in here, but in the pop world there's Dave Dobbyn, whose held note near the end of this live performance defies belief. It occurs at 2:43 in the video:






I'll try to stick to talking about classical music from now on.


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## PeterPowerPop (Mar 27, 2014)

Figleaf said:


> Balalaika Boy: Didn't Corelli transpose Di quella pira downward, making the high C a slightly less high something else? I might be wrong, as I'm not a musician and I don't have a great ear for detecting this sort of thing. To complicate things further, he recorded it more than once, and I don't know if he did so in more than one key.
> 
> Anyone know what key he's singing in?


The aria in that video starts in the key of F minor. I don't know what other keys it finds itself in as it progresses, but I'll happily (and ignorantly) say "F minor!".


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

The VERY high A flat in Strauss's _Fruhlingstimmewalzer_ (probably spelt wrong, sorry). I've only ever heard Natalie Dessay's performance, but it's wonderful.


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## Gaspard de la Nuit (Oct 20, 2014)

Josef Greindl's E's and F's (high notes for a bass) as Heinrich in Lohengrin.....sound like how I imagine the musical Neanderthals yelled across valleys and what not, super-powerful and ancient.

I really like Freni's Bb's in Musetta's aria.......Martha Modl's B's and C's in Valkure are CRAZY, she's definitely a mezzo-soprano. I guess it doesn't count as high notes but I love Astrid Varnay's Ab's and A's as Ortrud, I guess the notes aren't that high but it seems to combine huge volume and power with a darker sound.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I love Astrid Varnay's high notes when she was younger. As Bruinhilde she had such a rich mezzo sound to her voice that her ringing high B's and C's were so unexpected and thrilling. As she aged by the late 1950's she became more of a mezzo and I suspect it is from this period that she sang the Ortrud in you were referring to.


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## Pip (Aug 16, 2013)

Strange that no one has mentioned the the most viscerally exciting high note of them all.

Callas - Aida - end of Act 2 - Mexico City 1951 - She hits and holds a high D that come out over the orchestra, chorus and the rest of the cast. Unbelievable!


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Pip said:


> Strange that no one has mentioned the the most viscerally exciting high note of them all.
> 
> Callas - Aida - end of Act 2 - Mexico City 1951 - She hits and holds a high D that come out over the orchestra, chorus and the rest of the cast. Unbelievable!


End of Act 2 of Aida is in Eb - and if it is the one heard here, the note does indeed sound great, but (much like the preceding B flats and C flats) tends to the sharp side by enough to put the actual pitch in doubt:


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I love Astrid Varnay's high notes when she was younger. As Bruinhilde she had such a rich mezzo sound to her voice that her ringing high B's and C's were so unexpected and thrilling. As she aged by the late 1950's she became more of a mezzo and I suspect it is from this period that she sang the Ortrud in you were referring to.


my thoughts exactly. Varnay was a full sized dramatic soprano at an age when many singers' voices aren't even matured enough to sing a full opera, then it gradually deepened into a dramatic mezzo.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

dgee said:


> End of Act 2 of Aida is in Eb - and if it is the one heard here, the note does indeed sound great, but (much like the preceding B flats and C flats) tends to the sharp side by enough to put the actual pitch in doubt:


It's hard to tell anything through the muggy recording, but I was told once by a singing teacher that soloists would often use the technique of singing slightly sharp on top notes in heavily scored ensemble sections, to help the note to stand out in relief from the rest.

Sharp or not, it must be one of the loudest and most epic high notes you will ever here. No doubt today someone would have used autotune to correct it, as we seem to prefer technically perfected sounds to the real thing, or the thrill of what is happening in live performance.


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

My favorite is, of course, Maria Callas...and I find it difficult to chose a special aria. I love some early recordings with both Norma and Il barbiere...

As for young and living sopranos, today I chose Maria Aleida. Amazing!


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## Volve (Apr 14, 2013)

GregMitchell said:


> It's hard to tell anything through the muggy recording, but I was told once by a singing teacher that soloists would often use the technique of singing slightly sharp on top notes in heavily scored ensemble sections, to help the note to stand out in relief from the rest.
> 
> Sharp or not, it must be one of the loudest and most epic high notes you will ever here. No doubt today someone would have used autotune to correct it, as we seem to prefer technically perfected sounds to the real thing, or the thrill of what is happening in live performance.


I once asked my teacher is there's a secret to being heard over chorus and orchestra and that's what she told me, sing sharp. I don't think Callas needed it though, her voice is a powerhouse.


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