# Round 3:Io Son L'umile Ancella. Callas vs Cigna



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Maria Callas: Adriana Lecouvrer: Io son l'umile ancella · Francesco Cilea · Tullio Serafin · Maria Callas · Philharmonia Orchestra 




Soprano italiano di origine francese GINA CIGNA; Angére, Parigi 6 marzo 1900; Milano 26 giugno 2001


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I didn’t realize Cigna had a _caprino _vibrato until I heard this aria. Never mind, this aria was heard first in Callas’s voice and it remains imprinted in my mind. It’s from everyone of two recitals she recorded in London in 1954, “Lyric and Coloratura Arias.” Ardoin says she is too “_umile” _in this recording, but I think it suits the sentiment she expresses. I suppose he wanted her to emote more overtly. She tones down her voice for some of the quieter arias - the final “morra” is taken gently.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> I didn’t realize Cigna had a _caprino _vibrato until I heard this aria. Never mind, this aria was heard first in Callas’s voice and it remains imprinted in my mind. It’s from everyone of two recitals she recorded in London in 1954, “Lyric and Coloratura Arias.” Ardoin says she is too “_umile” _in this recording, but I think it suits the sentiment she expresses. I suppose he wanted her to emote more overtly. She tones down her voice for some of the quieter arias - the final “morra” is taken gently.


I was willing to bet my Amazon stock that you would vote for Callas here


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## PaulFranz (May 7, 2019)

Cigna more even and professional. Callas's vibrato is loose here.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Until now I hadn't paid much attention to this aria, and the thing that's impressing me is the seeming difficulty of giving an entirely satisfactory performance of what sounds like an uncomplicated piece of music. But I guess such sustained lyrical writing has a way of exposing singers' flaws, and so it is again here. I don't want to niggle about anything either singer does musically, but between Gigna's extreme caprino bleat (which I gather she toned down at some point) and Callas's incipient wobble it's hard to choose. Adriana simply must have a warm, steady tone with some glamor to it if this aria is to work for me, and I find neither of these singers, at less than their best in any case, up to the job. No vote this time.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Until now I hadn't paid much attention to this aria, and the thing that's impressing me is the seeming difficulty of giving an entirely satisfactory performance of what sounds like an uncomplicated piece of music. But I guess such sustained lyrical writing has a way of exposing singers' flaws, and so it is again here. I don't want to niggle about anything either singer does musically, but between Gigna's extreme caprino bleat (which I gather she toned down at some point) and Callas's incipient wobble it's hard to choose. Adriana simply must have a warm, steady tone with some glamor to it if this aria is to work for me, and I find neither of these singers, at less than their best in any case, up to the job. No vote this time.


Cigna has done well here in the past but I don't think she is at her best here. Sometimes her vibrato makes more of a statement that others with her singing. You really have to have the right sort of voice to shine here. I like Sutherland on this but I would be all alone Interesting next contest.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Magda, where are you!!!!!!!!!!
This is a push-me/pull-you doll vote. I didn't mind the Cigna vibrato and I liked her delivery and her ending note. 
What I didn't like was Callas' ending note. I think she kind of just hung on. 
I am voting for Callas because there are certain "Maria-things" that kind of spoke to me. But this is not one of her finest hours.
So far, for me Olivero hit the nail on the head with the way she sung with more drama to portray the actress-type character she played.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I was willing to bet my Amazon stock that you would vote for Callas here


JohnULEEEZE don't sell it!!


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

This will never be one of my favourite pieces of singing by Callas, but I love it all the same. As ever Callas makes no compromises. She does exactly what she feels the aria needs. If that means it exposes some of her weaknesses, then so be it. Maybe there is too much _humilita_, as Ardoin puts it, but it perfectly expresses character and situation at this point of the opera, and I still prefer it to any of the others I’ve heard so far. The recording was made at the same time she recorded a vocally secure and thrilling _In questa reggia _so clearly, if she’d used a bit more voice, she’d have sounded more secure, but she wouldn’t have managed the effect she creates here. Rescigno recollects that, when she sang _Addio del passato _in *La Traviata* when she sang it in 1958, that she would sometimes crack on the final pianissimo top A. He kept telling her to give it a bit more volume to make sure that it wouldn't happen, but she wouldn't compromise. To her way of thinking, giving the note more volume would not have been in tune with the voice of the dying Violetta.

This is just a long winded way of me saying, it's Callas all the way for me.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

PaulFranz said:


> Cigna more even and professional. Callas's vibrato is loose here.


"Professional" is a rather weird word to use. Are you suggesting Callas was an amateur? According to almost everyone who worked with her, Callas was the arch professional.


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## PaulFranz (May 7, 2019)

Tsaraslondon said:


> "Professional" is a rather weird word to use. Are you suggesting Callas was an amateur? According to almost everyone who worked with her, Callas was the arch professional.


I am saying that her singing technique was less professional than Gina Cigna's.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I was amazed that Gina Cigna could get any votes away from Callas in this crowd 😜 Callas is much more famous than Cigna in Norma but Cigna holds the record for the number of performances of Norma by any artist. I read her bio ages ago. She also sang countless Turandots. She was forced to retire before 50 from a near fatal car crash and became a well known teacher. She was an attractive normal sized woman with a tremendously powerful and expressive voice. I have always found her fascinating but have never been sure how to say her last name. I think itis "Chi-nya". Sometimes I really love her and sometimes not. She is variable for me. Here she is with her large striking features in a photo being interviewed with her pupil, Dimitrova. Her family were Italian but she grew up in France.


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## PaulFranz (May 7, 2019)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I have always found her fascinating but have never been sure how to say her last name. I think itis "Chi-nya".


[ˈd͡ʒi.na ˈt͡ʃiɲ.ɲa]









Prononciation de Gina Cigna : Comment prononcer Gina Cigna en Italien


Guide de la prononciation : Apprenez à prononcer Gina Cigna en Italien comme un locuteur natif. Traduction anglaise de Gina Cigna




fr.forvo.com


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Maria Callas: Adriana Lecouvrer: Io son l'umile ancella · Francesco Cilea · Tullio Serafin · Maria Callas · Philharmonia Orchestra
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I am impressed. Callas did a lot to make this aria less boring, without ornamenting it as obviously as Olivero. (But I am worried in an anticipation that I will have to make a choice between her and Olivero in the finale.). Anyway, I had to look up the Italian version of the aria and watch to understand, what on Earth did she find in text to do something with it. So, she sang "vassalo del la man" (the slave of the (creators) hand) in a pronounced chest voice, and did forte at "atroce" (terryfiing).
To my surprise, Cigna did basicaly the same things, but the contrast was not as strong as with Callas. Maybe Cigna was her inspiration and she took it a little further. Or maybe it is actually written in the score.
Cigna gets a honorary second place for me, because she still makes this piece more alive than I am used to. And the prolonged "morrá" was beautiful.

Edit: I had to check Olivero as well, although she is not the topic here. She is not that extremely ornamented as I remembered. Only the crescendo on "di morrá". She sings more words forte,that is the trick.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Tsaraslondon said:


> This will never be one of my favourite pieces of singing by Callas, but I love it all the same. As ever Callas makes no compromises. She does exactly what she feels the aria needs. If that means it exposes some of her weaknesses, then so be it. Maybe there is too much _humilita_, as Ardoin puts it, but it perfectly expresses character and situation at this point of the opera, and I still prefer it to any of the others I’ve heard so far. The recording was made at the same time she recorded a vocally secure and thrilling _In questa reggia _so clearly, if she’d used a bit more voice, she’d have sounded more secure, but she wouldn’t have managed the effect she creates here. Rescigno recollects that, when she sang _Addio del passato _in *La Traviata* when she sang it in 1958, that she would sometimes crack on the final pianissimo top A. He kept telling her to give it a bit more volume to make sure that it wouldn't happen, but she wouldn't compromise. To her way of thinking, giving the note more volume would not have been in tune with the voice of the dying Violetta.
> 
> This is just a long winded way of me saying, it's Callas all the way for me.


If Callas flaws of the voice are exposed here, it only makes it less boring for me and adds further points in her favor. I would have prefered more forte moments here, but if she wanted piano, because she is trying to depict humility, an unsteady piano is more fun.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I was amazed that Gina Cigna could get any votes away from Callas in this crowd 😜 Callas is much more famous than Cigna in Norma but Cigna holds the record for the number of performances of Norma by any artist. I read her bio ages ago. She also sang countless Turandots. She was forced to retire before 50 from a near fatal car crash and became a well known teacher. She was an attractive normal sized woman with a tremendously powerful and expressive voice. I have always found her fascinating but have never been sure how to say her last name. I think itis "Chi-nya". Sometimes I really love her and sometimes not. She is variable for me. Here she is with her large striking features in a photo being interviewed with her pupil, Dimitrova. Her family were Italian but she grew up in France.
> View attachment 180895


Due to my extreme obsession with Norma, I actually knew about Cigna. Somebody commented, that she sang Norma approaching it like verismo.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

BBSVK said:


> Due to my extreme obsession with Norma, I actually knew about Cigna. Somebody commented, that she sang Norma approaching it like verismo.


I shall do a Norma contest with her in it for you


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I shall do a Casta Diva contest with her in it for you


Yes, but I might disappoint you. I listened and let it be. The bad recording quality probably contributed to it.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

BBSVK said:


> Yes, but I might disappoint you. I listened and let it be. The bad recording quality probably contributed to it.


That was my verdict as well. You just saved me a search I was beginning on. Have you heard Shirley Verrett do Norma? It was my favorite of her soprano roles and she was in third place with me of those who did the whole role after Callas and Caballe. Sutherland did some really good acting in the role in a live broadcast from Australia later in her career and her voice was bigger throughout her range than in her studio recording. Dimitrova was very good and she studied with Cigna. I was lucky to see Jane Eaglen at the start of her US career when she had the combination of flexibility and dramatic volume I like in the role. It was a peak experience for me and I saw it twice. Also she was at least 50 pounds lighter then than she became by the time she took up Wagner. She even took the alternate D6 in the trio which you wouldn't expect from such a huge voice.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> That was my verdict as well. You just saved me a search I was beginning on. Have you heard Shirley Verrett do Norma? It was my favorite of her soprano roles and she was in third place with me of those who did the whole role after Callas and Caballe. Sutherland did some really good acting in the role in a live broadcast from Australia later in her career and her voice was bigger throughout her range than in her studio recording. Dimitrova was very good and she studied with Cigna. I was lucky to see Jane Eaglen at the start of her US career when she had the combination of flexibility and dramatic volume I like in the role. It was a peak experience for me and I saw it twice. Also she was at least 50 pounds lighter then than she became by the time she took up Wagner. She even took the alternate D6 in the trio which you wouldn't expect from such a huge voice.


As some of you noticed, I created a new thread to discuss worthwhile Normas.








Worthwhile Normas


I love Norma as the opera and the variability it can be sung and even stage-acted with. I have wanted to create this thread for some time, but now @Seattleoperafan started discussing it elsewhere, so I might as well do it now. The basics are Callas, Sutherland Caballe... Who else ?




www.talkclassical.com


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## damianjb1 (Jan 1, 2016)

I'm a massive Callas admirer but I think she is simply too musical for this aria. It doesn't need (nor can handle) all the attention and care she gives it. 
Magda is still my girl by miles for this aria.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

damianjb1 said:


> I'm a massive Callas admirer but I think she is simply too musical for this aria. It doesn't need (nor can handle) all the attention and care she gives it.
> Magda is still my girl by miles for this aria.


It is nice to know that the Immortal Callas has her off days like the rest of us. We will have an interesting finale to this aria this week. I had a feeling this could be a fascinating aria for a contest.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

Callas has a good line. I think she does overdo her interpretation and thus ends up under-doing the aria. I don't need more overt emoting, I just need more directness and fullness in certain passages. Cigna's vibrato bothers me at this stage, though in many ways she does a very good rendition. I can't say I loved either version, but it was an interesting comparison. I don't know who to vote for. Maybe will listen again a little later. 
Will we see Angelica Pandolfini, creator of this role, in a future round?


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

vivalagentenuova said:


> Callas has a good line. I think she does overdo her interpretation and thus ends up under-doing the aria. I don't need more overt emoting, I just need more directness and fullness in certain passages. Cigna's vibrato bothers me at this stage, though in many ways she does a very good rendition. I can't say I loved either version, but it was an interesting comparison. I don't know who to vote for. Maybe will listen again a little later.
> Will we see Angelica Pandolfini, creator of this role, in a future round?


I thought we were done but I think we must have the creator mustn't we. I had never ever heard of her. You make me feel like I need to move to the back of the room again 😜 I created an extra round with her in it.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Callas' version is a classic. She recorded this in 1954 and the voice is in a good vocal state. The sound just flows out and the legato is exemplary. I wonder if her approach to the aria would have changed had she sung the role on stage. She keeps it simple and it is all underplayed. This is going to be hard to beat.

I don't associate this aria with Cigna and it will be interesting to hear her in it. I think her best role was possibly Aida. I generally like her here and there is something grand about her delivery. Her Adriana is a diva and she knows it! I prefer Callas' warm tones to Cigna's rather strident fast vibrato, but I think that Cigna has a better conception of the character and speaks the arias lines. Whereas Callas' Adriana is somewhat of an enigma.

I'm surprised, but I'm going with Cigna.

N.


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