Customer Reviews

Donizetti - Maria Stuarda / Sutherland, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Bonynge

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Maria Stuarda is one of Donizetti's most dramatic operas, alongside with Lucrezia Borgia and Roberto Devereux. Once sung by gorgeous voices and effective singer actresses, it is the proof that Bel Canto is much more than beautiful melodies and difficult coloraturas. The roles of Maria and Elisabetta require not only remarkable voices, but above all great dramatic skills. Indeed, there's a natural dramatic power in all the masterpieces of Bel Canto, and it can be exciting when a singer like Callas, Sills or Sutherland brings the drama and pathos out of that amazing music!

Joan Sutherland, being a real drammatico d'agilità soprano, has established herself as one of the best interpreters of Maria Stuarda. Her only rivals are Beverly Sills and Montserrat Caballé. However, both Sills and Caballé didn't have the powerful voice of La Stupenda. Instead of what some people declare about Sutherland's acting, she succeeds dramatically in all her most important roles. Being a sensitive and stylistically accurate actress, her acting conveys sentimentality and pathos rather than rage and tragic drama, but she can also be a fiery actress at the most intense moments. Here her diction is also very expressive, as she emphasizes every word to great dramatic effect. Just listen to her furious and sarcastic ''Vil bastarda!", which is enough to make her ''Figlia impura di Bolena" the most terrific on disc!
Sutherland's voice had become darker and more expressive in 1975. Although it has gained a little more vibrato, there's little sign of the wobble it would acquire in few years. She shows off many qualities of her miraculous singing: the huge and exuberant sound, the ravishing high notes, the impeccable legato and even the much improved low register. Some highlights of her performance are the rock-solid high note she sings with Pavarotti in ''Se il mio cor tremò giammai", the incredibly long vocal line she keeps for 22 seconds in "Deh! tu di un umile preghiera" and the heartbreaking final scene.

Luciano Pavarotti is at his peak, singing fantastic high notes with his beautiful bright voice. He also delivers and adequate characterization of Cecil. Actually, with that voice, even if he'd just stand and sing, this would still be a fascinating performance! In fact, the drama is centered on the two rival women, and Huguette Tourangeau does a great job as the Queen Elisabetta. She was kind of a second choice as a mezzo partner for Sutherland, being the first Marilyn Horne. Indeed, their voice blend extremely well, as we can hear in the Confrontation Scene. Her dark toned voice and wide range are ideal to sing Elisabetta, as it handles the difficult music written for the part with ease and conveys the vengeful personality of the role.
This is one of Donizetti's most exciting operas, and it's sung by an ideal cast. Three of the most remarkable Bel Canto voices ever were joined in this recording. Besides, the moving music of Maria Stuarda is conducted with mastery and dramaticism. You can't miss this great opportunity to listen to some Golden Age singing at a mid-priced recording! You will be astonished!

Unlike Joan's famed Bonynge Lucia and her very dry Normas, this is a great record of Maria Stuarda! Joan Sutherland's portrayal of one of Donizetti's Queens amazes and stuns as she courses through the florid Donizettian bel canto lines with sheer ease and power rivaled only by Caballe and Beverly Sills. I do believe though, that this recording wins over Beverly's because of the size of her voice and her coloratura. Surprisingly, the drama she exudes here impresses me as well. Truly a great recording. Richard Bonynge conducts this finely, and Tourangeau and Pavarotti are great partners to La Stupenda. Don't miss this recording. If you want Joan Sutherland at her greatest, look for her earlier Donizettian recordings. For Bellini, I Puritani and La Sonnambula are good too, but don't go for Norma or her Verdi recordings. She is not very involved there.

This was a wonderful role for Sutherland - it fits her like a glove. Tourangeau is also quite excellent as Elizabeth - a nice vocal contrast between the two. Sutherland's curse "vil bastarda" is the most venomous on disc, sort of surprisingly for her. The Sills recording is also outstanding in every way - fortunately I don't have to choose between the two. Both are must haves for any Donizetti fan.

what's odd about this opera is that for donizetti there is relatively little coloratura fireworks and there are not one but two leading ladies. in fact, torengeau, the mezzo who sings the part of queen elizabeth, upstages sutherland who sings the titular role. her dark timbre and dramatic singing make you sit up and take notice everytime she's on stage. joan, otoh, w/o her usual vocal acrobatics, is reduced to plain plaintive singing. this suits her voice and temperament well, and she makes a very sympathetic mary stewart. she even manages to throw in an uncharacteristic vitriolic outburst. but this is the queen's show. pavarotti is thrown in to triangulate the relationship and he's in good voice here. altogether a good opera and recording.

Sutherland is just slightly past her prime in this 1976 recording. But you'll never know it. She is, of course, the phenomenal singer of the century, and all she has to do is to open her mouth, and the most opulent sound imaginable just pours out effortlessly. As Maria Stuarda, I found Sutherland to be much more passionate than you would expect. And I don't think the other recordings can come within a hundred miles of this one. The reason...Sutherland, period!

This opera is a fictional account of the stormy relationship
between Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I of England - in
real life the two queens never met but here they do and it
provokes sparkles and leads to tragedy. Joan Sutherland is in
rather thick voice but sings warmly and copes with the colora-
tura with her usual aplomb - she portrays a proud and defiant
Maria. Huguette Tourangeau is impressive as Elisabetta but so-
mewhat of an acquired taste with her chilling chest register -
she sometimes distorts the vocal line for dramatic effects
with dubious results - just don't cross her! Luciano Pavarotti
as Leicester - the love interest between the two queens - sings
superbly very nearly upstaging his two sovereign ladies. Roger
Soyer and James Morris offer good support. Well recorded and
conducted.

I join the other reviewers who find, that French Canadian Mezzo-soprano Huguette Tourangeau, all but steals the limelight from the great La Sltupenda, Joan Sutherland in the chilling confrontation scene in Act II. There has been much written about what version is 'authentic'. It seems, from what I read, that Donizetti didn't have two great Divas at the time of composing this work, and the role of Elisabetta was greatly reduced. We have the more commonly performed version for Two sopranos - sometimes that just results in a screaming match - particularly the English language version with Janet Baker and Rosalind Plowright trying to out-yell each other - I think that Neither of them wins! The Richard Bonynge performing version, recorded here, shows more clearly than any other, the total difference in the characters of the Queens -Elisabetta and Maria. Elisabetta is superbly sung, with spitting text by Mlle Tourangeau, and Sutherland easily acquires our sympathy in the Act III scene with the family. Nobody else ever performed this Opera with Sutherland - Nobody else ever could - not the way it is skillfully shaped for arranged by Bonynge, exclusively for Tourangeau. She MAY have only been Second Choice for Sutherland's stage partner (mezzo), for best part of 15 years, but a very worthy choice after Marilyn Horne, who righfully continued to explore the Rossini repertoire. I think there is no better version of this opera available on CD. A Great shame there is no DVD available!

Sutherland is just slightly past her prime in this 1976 recording. But you'll never know it. She is, of course, the phenomenal singer of the century, and all she has to do is to open her mouth, and the most opulent sound imaginable just pours out effortlessly. As Maria Stuarda, I found Sutherland to be much more passionate than you would expect. And I don't think the other recordings can come within a hundred miles of this one. The reason...Sutherland, period!

And to those who say she is a tweety bird. I say, with a voice of huge dimensions, she's at least a big bird. The voice is a dramtic soprano of monumental size and exquisite beauty. She will be remember as the Donizetti and Bellini specialist of this century and all others.
But don't take my word for it. Listen. Don't take the words of
her haters because they know La Stupenda is without equals. Listen to this, and compare it with its competitors. You be the judge.

SUTHERLAND É A MELHOR DE TODAS AS CANTORAS QUE JA ESCUTEI. PERFEITA COMO ATRIZ E NO CANTO, E QUE CANTO! UMA VOZ DIVINA, SEM COMPARAÇÕES. OS FANS DE CALLAS E SILLS QUE RECLAMAM DELA TEM CIÚMES PQ ELA É A MELHOR EM TUDO O QUE JA FEZ. SE VC QUER COMPRAR UMA ÓPERA E EXISTEM VÁRIAS VERSÕES, ESCOLHA UMA COM DAME, NÃO TEM ERRO. ALEM DE DAME JOAN SUTHERLAND ESSA ÓPERA POSSUI UM ELENCO DE PRIMEIRÍSSIMA LINHA E A ORQUESTRA ESTÁ BELÍSSIMA. RECOMENDO MUITO!