# Round two. Soprano. Deh vieni, non tadar. Price, Sayao, Schwartzkopf



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I almost included Battle, who excelled at this, but settled on these ladies.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

Alright, you go Woodduck, it's true! I WILL never think of, or listen to, this aria the same way again!

So what a group of teasing, temptresses we have. Listening to Sayao and Price brought about an ironic response. I thought that Price was well behind Sayao in terms of phrasing and investment, pretty much just singing it ever so lyrically. Sayao, although she sounded a bit like an older lady, gave me much more, phrase by phrase. So between them the vote goes to....Price! Sayao's artistic older lady is, I'm afraid, not going to stand much of a chance when that luscious stream of dark soprano (??) sound comes pouring out of Price. I've always thought of Battle as the standard for a gorgeously sung Deh Vieni but now she has company.

So then trying to wrap my mind around the idea of Schwartzkopf as Susanna??? Too much to ask...until she starts to sing! Clearly committed to exorcising any Countess-like authority from her singing she succeeds and only gets better as the aria goes along. The final phrases are deliciously sung. She by no means over does the release into those final phrases but accomplishes that feeling with beautifully shaped, spontaneous phrases. For me, the combination of investment and seductive sound has been achieved. Take me away Lizzie!


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

ScottK said:


> Alright, you go Woodduck, it's true! I WILL never think of, or listen to, this aria the same way again!
> 
> So what a group of teasing, temptresses we have. Listening to Sayao and Price brought about an ironic response. I thought that Price was well behind Sayao in terms of phrasing and investment, pretty much just singing it ever so lyrically. Sayao, although she sounded a bit like an older lady, gave me much more, phrase by phrase. So between them the vote goes to....Price! Sayao's artistic older lady is, I'm afraid, not going to stand much of a chance when that luscious stream of dark soprano (??) sound comes pouring out of Price. I've always thought of Battle as the standard for a gorgeously sung Deh Vieni but now she has company.
> 
> So then trying to wrap my mind around the idea of Schwartzkopf as Susanna??? Too much to ask...until she starts to sing! Clearly committed to exorcising any Countess-like authority from her singing she succeeds and only gets better as the aria goes along. The final phrases are deliciously sung. She by no means over does the release into those final phrases but accomplishes that feeling with beautifully shaped, spontaneous phrases. For me, the combination of investment and seductive sound has been achieved. Take me away Lizzie!


I haven't listened to all these yet, so can't comment, but I would just add that Schwarzkopf, like many Countesses, started life as a Susanna and only progressed to the Countess as her voice matured.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I haven't listened to all these yet, so can't comment, but I would just add that Schwarzkopf, like many Countesses, started life as a Susanna and only progressed to the Countess as her voice matured.


I don't doubt it for a second and maybe this was recorded before she aquired the bearing of a Countess.....no exorcism required! Wikipedia has her, at the age of 33, making a La Scala debut as The Countess. When I think of her, even before the Marschallin, I think of the Countess, ergo....my difficulty making the change to imagining her as Susanna.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Did you ever get enticed by a singer whose voice, great or not, just grabs you and weaves its magic spell? Corelli fits that mold. Olivero is another. Callas another. Steber too. (and at the top of the list - Lanza!!) 
Not that their voices are the finest ones but there's that "something" about them that just wakes up your senses more than some other singers.
Well maybe my prejudice is showing because Bidu Sayao sounds so much like my soprano mama that I get a lump in my throat when I hear her. (hi Mommy!) Need I say more?


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

It's hard for me to imagine that Price ever sang Susanna on stage - hers is really a Countess voice, which is why she sounds great out of the context of the opera (after all, it's Susanna disguised as the Countess). Still, as beatifully sung as this is, it's a bit anonymous compared to Sayao, who is her vocal equal, but has better diction and greater verbal specificity and musical phrasing.

I'm allergic to Schwarzkopf's sound. So sue me...


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

This is what makes these matchups so rewarding. We have three superb sopranos here, and they all manage to be sing this gorgeously while being completely different.

I'll have to put Margaret Price in third place, mainly because she sounds like the lady of the house rather than the servant. It isn't merely a matter of timbre, although there's that, but of attitude: reserved, dignified, self-possessed, thoroughly aristocratic. We might expect an aristocratic feel from Schwarzkopf too, but her projection of text and music is decidedly unreserved, with every moment brought to uncommon life, yet never exaggerated. Sayao is probably the most natural Susanna, and I wouldn't hesitate to choose her typically impeccable performance if Schwarzkopf were not so seductive. Hard to imagine Figaro keeping his pants on listening to this!


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I am as allergic to Schwarzkopf’s calculated singing as wkasimer, but I love both Margaret Price and Bidu’ Sayao - I spent a whole year listening to Price’s “Mozart Arias” LP and discovered Sayao when Sony re-released her Columbia recordings in the 1990s. 

I agree with the above that the Price voice is too mature-sounding for Susanna,and Sayao is perfectly suited to the music.


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

MAS said:


> I am as allergic to Schwarzkopf's calculated singing as wkasimer, but I love both Margaret Price and Bidu' Sayao - I spent a whole year listening to Price's "Mozart Arias" LP and discovered Sayao when Sony re-released her Columbia recordings in the 1990s.
> 
> I agree with the above that the Price voice is too mature-sounding for Susanna,and Sayao is perfectly suited to the music.


You must pardon my intrusion into your discussion, Mas, but I've been meaning to tell you that the man in your avatar photo bears an uncanny resemblance to the infamous Canadian serial murderer Paul Bernardo.










How interesting! :tiphat:


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Red Terror said:


> You must pardon my intrusion into your discussion, Mas, but I've been meaning to tell you that the man in your avatar photo bears an uncanny resemblance to the infamous Canadian serial murderer Paul Bernardo.
> 
> How interesting! :tiphat:


Ha! I didn't know Canada had serial murderers. :lol:


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

MAS said:


> Ha! I didn't know Canada had serial murderers. :lol:


Yes, serial murderers and Justin Trudeau.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Red Terror said:


> You must pardon my intrusion into your discussion, Mas, but I've been meaning to tell you that the man in your avatar photo bears an uncanny resemblance to the infamous Canadian serial murderer Paul Bernardo.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Actually ironically, so does your avatar of him as an older man!


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

It surprises me that Schwarzkopf isn’t running away with this. I don’t get it at all. 

Price isn’t in the running, presumably because, beautiful though her voice is, she is just that - a beautiful voice singing a lovely tune. Sayao was of course well known for her Susanna, but she sounds a little mature here and, though she is more in character than Price, she rather surprisingly doesn’t do much with the aria. It’s a bit penny plain. 

Schwarzkopf is the only one here who gives me some sense of context and rivals the wonderful Freni version we heard in the first round. Reading some of the comments above, I get the impression some people are prejudiced against her even before they’ve heard her sing. She’s an easy first choice for me.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Tsaraslondon said:


> It surprises me that Schwarzkopf isn't running away with this. I don't get it at all.


For me there are two things working against Schwarzkopf. First is the sheer sound of her voice, which it quite distinctive, but also one that listeners either love or detest.

Second is her style. Every single phrase, word, and syllable sounds micromanaged and rehearsed to the nth degree. While I know that great singing (or playing) is really never spontaneous - it is always the result of careful thought and practice - I much prefer singing that *sounds* spontaneous. Schwarzkopf never, to my ears, sounds spontaneous. Occasionally I find that her approach works - her Marschallin, for example - but her Mozart always strikes me as overinterpreted and mannered.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> It surprises me that Schwarzkopf isn't running away with this. I don't get it at all.
> 
> Price isn't in the running, presumably because, beautiful though her voice is, she is just that - a beautiful voice singing a lovely tune. Sayao was of course we'll known for her Susanna, but she sounds a little mature here and, though she is more in character than Price, she rather surprisingly doesn't do much with the aria. It's a bit penny plain.
> 
> Schwarzkopf is the only one here who gives me some sense of context and rivals the wonderful Freni version we heard in the first round. Reading some of the comments above, I get the impression some people are prejudiced against her even before they've heard her sing. She's an easy first choice for me.


I am surprised that I wasn't blown away with Price singing Mozart as 25 years ago I was playing her Mozart to death, but hopefully after our forum I have grown some. There is no denying that hers is very beautiful but now I like others better. I have her in some different contests. I really enjoyed her Aida and Verdi Requiem a lot in the past in videos, but these are not in our contests.


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