# Which sopranos do you think have the best lower register??



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

The best lower registers among sopranos: I would say Ponselle, Norman, Callas, Goerke, Tebaldi, Milanov, Farrell and Traubel. In a more lyric voice I'd say Renee Fleming. All are really wonderful.Your thoughts???


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Those are great choices. I would add Flagstad and Varnay to the list. It's notable that most of them also had "short tops," either initially or eventually, and some were in effect mezzos later on and even sang mezzo repertoire. The only singer I can think of whose range comfortably took in everything from contralto to high soprano was Yma Sumac. Does she count?


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

this women has the best low register of any soprano I've heard





other than that: Fleming, Callas (duh lol), Caballe (she didn't use it much, but it was strong when it was there), Urmana, Elvira de Hidalgo, Ponselle, Elena Souliotis, Ghena Dimitrova.

I'm also surprised no one has mentioned _Price_. she had a lower register like a contralto matriarch.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Those are great choices. I would add Flagstad and Varnay to the list. It's notable that most of them also had "short tops," either initially or eventually, and some were in effect mezzos later on and even sang mezzo repertoire. The only singer I can think of whose range comfortably took in everything from contralto to high soprano was Yma Sumac. Does she count?


I have gone through some intense Yma Sumac phases. I love not only her unique voice but the 40's movie soundtrack quality of her music. I think she doesn't sing as high as you think. Her high notes sound higher than they actually are. I did a speech on her on Youtube.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I have gone through some intense Yma Sumac phases. I love not only her unique voice but the 40's movie soundtrack quality of her music. I think she doesn't sing as high as you think. Her high notes sound higher than they actually are. I did a speech on her on Youtube.


I suspect you're right about her high range. I haven't heard her in quite a while, but I remember enjoying her immensely. She was, as they say, something else.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> this women has the best low register of any soprano I've heard
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sharon was AMAAAAZING! I am glad you mentioned Price. Her low G in Es Gibt Ein Reich is startling. Sometimes her low voice was better than it was at other times IMHO. She was great in an aria from Mephistophole by Boito.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Sharon was AMAAAAZING!


when I first listened to her, I was like "meh, not bad, I'll keep listening......wait....WHAT?!  "



> I am glad you mentioned Price. Her low G in Es Gibt Ein Reich is startling. Sometimes her low voice was better than it was at other times IMHO. She was great in an aria from Mephistophole by Boito.


Leontyne Price is a spinto soprano, but she spent most of her time sounding like a contralto/dramatic soprano hybrid with occasional leaps up to coloratura (the voice suddenly brightened around the B5/C6 area from whence it sounded more like a dramatic coloratura).


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> The best lower registers among sopranos: I would say Ponselle, Norman, Callas, Goerke, Tebaldi, Milanov, Farrell and Traubel. In a more lyric voice I'd say Renee Fleming. All are really wonderful.Your thoughts???


I am not arguing whit this . :tiphat:


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> Leontyne Price is a spinto soprano, but she spent most of her time sounding like a contralto/dramatic soprano hybrid with occasional leaps up to coloratura.


I just can't argue with that.

Far out, man.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I will add Magda Olivero


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> *I just can't argue with that.*
> Far out, man.


I agree. constructive argument requires not going in circles


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Many Black opera singers do not have a Black sound, but Price had that sort of throaty earthiness you hear in many Black pop stars, such as Sarah Vaughn or Dinah Washington. She was a wonderful Carmen, but she said that staying down low that much damaged her voice for a while. It was a powerful lyric spinto/ Italian Dramatic soprano but she was a lyric up high from A5 to E6, which is why she always felt she was a lyric soprano.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I don't know how many of you have heard Flagstad do a Wagner singing lesson, but her singing down low is truly astonishing here and totally unaccompanied:



.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I don't know how many of you have heard Flagstad do a Wagner singing lesson, but her singing down low is truly astonishing here and totally unaccompanied:
> 
> 
> 
> .


I am _insane_ for that clip! This is as close as we will ever come to being in the room with Flagstad. That voice, well-recorded, up close and personal, singing and speaking - I think it's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard.

If this is a Wagnerian soprano, what are all the rest of them?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Many Black opera singers do not have a Black sound, but Price had that sort of throaty earthiness you hear in many Black pop stars, such as Sarah Vaughn or Dinah Washington. She was a wonderful Carmen, but she said that staying down low that much damaged her voice for a while. It was a powerful lyric spinto/ Italian Dramatic soprano but she was a lyric up high from A5 to E6, which is why she always felt she was a lyric soprano.


I like early Price, before she acquired that gospel/lounge singer quality. It annoys me.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Many Black opera singers do not have a Black sound, but Price had that sort of throaty earthiness you hear in many Black pop stars, such as Sarah Vaughn or Dinah Washington. She was a wonderful Carmen, but she said that staying down low that much damaged her voice for a while. It was a powerful lyric spinto/ Italian Dramatic soprano but she was a lyric up high from A5 to E6, which is why she always felt she was a lyric soprano.


I love Price, Forza / Trovatore but most of all the best Christmas album made .... ever. :tiphat:


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> I like early Price, before she acquired that gospel/lounge singer quality. It annoys me.


Yes, the singing on the first 2 Prima Donna albums was the best. I love her Thy Hand Belinda.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> I like early Price, before she acquired that gospel/lounge singer quality. It annoys me.


I liked it in certain contexts (ex: Porgy and Bess), but overall, I found it distracting. it doesn't work when you're singing, say, the Verdi Requiem.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> I liked it in certain contexts (ex: Porgy and Bess), but overall, I found it distracting. it doesn't work when you're singing, say, the Verdi Requiem.


 It did work real well in her popular music album, Right As The Rain.



or


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> I liked it in certain contexts (ex: Porgy and Bess), but overall, I found it distracting. it doesn't work when you're singing, say, the Verdi Requiem.


She's also perfect for Barber's _Knoxville_, where a "southern" quality fits the text and music like a glove. Hers is my favorite performance of that. Early on she recorded some Barber songs with the composer at the piano. Beautiful stuff.


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

I would add Celestina Boninsegna, Gina Cigna, Giannina Arangi-Lombardi, Leyla Gencer, Eugenia Burzio, Caterina Mancini, Anita Cerquetti and Emmy Destinn. 

None comes even close to Callas, though. Her chest voice is just sepulchral and rock-solid, especially in la Gioconda 1952. In "è un anatema" she gave Fedora Barbieri a run for her money.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> I liked it in certain contexts (ex: Porgy and Bess), but overall, I found it distracting. it doesn't work when you're singing, say, the Verdi Requiem.


She's magnificent (along with Cossotto, Ghiaurov, and a very young Pavarotti) in the DVD of the 1967 La Scala Requiem under Karajan.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

amfortas said:


> She's magnificent (along with Cossotto, Ghiaurov, and a very young Pavarotti) in the DVD of the 1967 La Scala Requiem under Karajan.


How about the Reiner recording.........stunning :tiphat:


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> I like early Price, before she acquired that gospel/lounge singer quality. It annoys me.


I just read this again and I LOVE the "gospel/ lounge singer quality" . Have you heard her pop album Right As the Rain? Some of it is extraordinary.


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

As we have agreed on in other threads, it's Traubel and Ponselle for me, who coincidentally(?) have short top.

Next come Tebaldi and Bruna Rasa, whose not only have beautiful chest voice but also very smooth transition. I keep hearing "criticisms" here and there that Tebaldi didn't have developed chest voice. That is a lie, check out 3:19


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

silentio said:


> Next come Tebaldi and Bruna Rasa, whose not only have beautiful chest voice but also very smooth transition. I keep hearing "criticisms" here and there that Tebaldi didn't have developed chest voice.


What??? Only a crazy person would say that. Tebaldi did have a vocal crisis in the sixties, and that may have led to some bad sounds/lack of use of it in performances, but from the beginning Tebaldi had a massive chest voice. It's amply demonstrated here:





In any case, for chest voice one can turn to virtually any female singer of the past. Some sopranos, like Jeritza, didn't seem to use it much in performance (at least in recordings) but it's there.

My personal favorites are often those who use it very strongly in its proper place. Take Claire Dux, a vastly underrated soprano who uses a strong chest voice on the lower notes, but has pearly, heavenly high notes (and is an exceptional musician):





Rethberg, another lyric, uses it beautifully in Mozart:





For big voices though, you can't really beat Boninsegna's use in Pace, pace (although her voice is unfortunately not fully coordinated, so the top comes off a bit shrill):





IN MEZZO A TANTO A TAAAAAAANTO DUOOOOOLLLLLL.

Angelica Pandolfini made too few records, but was the creator of the role of Adriana. She uses it equally and beautifully in Cilea and Mozart.





In all these examples, it's dark, powerful, and used as a regular part of singing. The expression achieved by variation in use of head voice and chest voice for the same tones is one of the great pleasures of historical soprano recordings.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Even Callas can't compete with Jessye Norman. It was huge. The Erlkonig is about the best we have now, but I had an early pirated Jocasta where the low notes could have started an earthquake. I also heard her do a live Death and the Maiden by Schubert with a truly baritonal low D. You could also say that Jessye was really more of a mezzo than a soprano, but she sang soprano roles. I will close with this Amazing Grace belted down in the tenor register that silenced a rock crowd at a Nelson Mandela Concert. I don't think even Callas could have done this:


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

By far Rosa Ponselle!
Edit to add: Luiza tetrazzini!! Lina Bruna Rasa and Germana di Giulio, and the several other singers I'd already mentioned in a previous post.


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## Barbarella (Jul 24, 2020)

Here’s one outside the box—Yma Sumac


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Barbarella said:


> Here's one outside the box-Yma Sumac






 Well she did sing The Queen of the Night aria and could have sung an aria by Tamino as well most likely.


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## damianjb1 (Jan 1, 2016)

Tuoksu said:


> I would add Celestina Boninsegna, Gina Cigna, Giannina Arangi-Lombardi, Leyla Gencer, Eugenia Burzio, Caterina Mancini, Anita Cerquetti and Emmy Destinn.
> 
> None comes even close to Callas, though. Her chest voice is just sepulchral and rock-solid, especially in la Gioconda 1952. In "è un anatema" she gave Fedora Barbieri a run for her money.


Oh yes - I'm so glad to hear you say that. My favourite of her's is the last 5 minutes of Act 1 in La Gioconda. It tears me apart every time I hear it.


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