Customer Reviews

Handel - Alcina / Sutherland, Rescigno

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

 

 

The Italians dubbed Dame Joan as La Stupenda after her incredible performance of this obscure opera. Of La Stupenda, this was what the legendary director Franco Zefferelli had to say.."she was stunning, sensational..." He went on to say that she was perhaps the phenomenal singer of our time. Absolutely, Sutherland's voice was the wonder of the operatic world, huge in size( especially the top notes ), bell-like tone quality, and a complete mastery of all colortura demands. Especially incredible were Dame Joan's lightning fast staccato and perfect trill. We are fortunate to have many of her great performance preserve in numerous recordings, LIVE and in the recording studio. As for Alcina as an opera, of course it gave Joan a great vehicle to show off her amazing technique and glorious voice. But the music is very beautiful, with many memorable arias and ensembles. The sound in this recording, however, is not too good. But it's all we have until Decca re-release Dame Joan's 1963 studio recording of this lovely Grand Opera.

If you want to hear the most beautiful, pure tone of a soprano's voice in a recording, you must buy this set. Sutherland's voice is huge, clear as a bell, and coloratura unmatched. This opera contain many lovely music, and the supporting cast is impressive indeed.

Joan Sutherland at this stage of her career had the most beautiful voice in the world, and the most amazing technique that existed. Listen to this and be blown away by the "Voice of the Century". Every aria takes your breath away. This is supreme.

The major attraction of this recording is Joan Sutherland, demonstrating the huge voice and stunning technique that helped launch her into the soprano stratosphere. It has all her hallmark features -- amazing precision as well as beauty and an almost total absense of consonants. (It is no wonder that even in somewhat reformed times Sutherland was one of the earliest champions of surtitles!) Sometimes in that period she is criticised for being rather "moony", but I don't see it here. Glorious singing, even though without intelligible words. (But how many times can you really make out the words in opera?)

The second feature of this recording is that it is straight-forward, unashamed mid-20th century performance, confident in its way of approaching the work, untainted by period-performance considerations let alone having original instruments. As such, it is an interesting and valid interpretation, quite different from what one now gets.

The work has been severely cut -- one whole character disappears and it all fits comfortably on two disks, even with the provision of an "encore" from Samson.

The rest of the cast is quite good with the exception of the overly loud and strident bass Plinio Calabassi. Monica Sinclair handles the trouser role of Ruggiero well. Her voice is not as contrasted with Sutherland's as one might expect, and her technique is in a different, but still pleasing, league. The tenor, Nicola Monti also sings delightfully. Since there is little ensemble work, the contrast in ability between Sutherland and the others is not as jarring as one might expect. Nicola Rescigno has things well under control, and moving along effectively, as conductor.

There are two disadvantages to this set, in addition to the cuts. First, the sound is often problematic. This is a one-shot live recording from 40 years ago from La Fenice. It is not what we would now expect, but the poor quality only marginally reduces the enjoyment of listening. Second, there is no libretto. There is, however, a useful booklet, concentrating on the occasion of this production and telling about the singers. There is a track index as well, giving the leading few words in Italian and English, mainly useful for listing who is singing.

Overall, this is an enjoyable recording, serving as a nice contrast to the recent Christie recording.

Alcina sung in Venice earn sutheland the title "La Stupenda" Never, ever does Italian audiences ever do that for a foreign prima donna. But the singing is sublime. Sutherland with a voice of a trumpet and the agility of a flute. The Venetians have never heard anything like it. And they blocked La Stupenda from leaving the theater for 10 hours. And when she showed up at an restaurent, the entire place stood up for a prolonged ovation. That is the state of voice Sutherland was here, 1960. At that stage of her life, her voice is not only gorgeous, but superhuman in its agility. You can't let this one slip by you.

Musically and vocally this recording is good. What is rather disruptive are the stage sounds - thumps, bumps and knocks, probably due to the poor placement of the microphones where they pickup extra stage as well as audience noise. Technology when recording live performances has improved greatly, this however should not detract from the overall excellence of the singers and the musical direction of this recording.

I don't know what opera these reviewers were listening to, but it damned sure wasn't the one I got today. It just finished. I was led to believe (which is why I bought it) that it was a glorious coruscating example of Sutherland in her prime (which in my opinion she never lost). Well, it wasn't. It barely passes as coloratura at all, there are no leaps, no nothing. It is pleasant, if that's all you want. I do not believe that this is the opera and the place that gave Sutherland the sobriquet "La Stupenda." She was good of course, but the music wasn't that outstanding. Finally, the sound is not all that bad. There were some thumps which I assume were microphones, but I don't know. Everyone was clearly audible and the singing was perfectly distinct. These Sutherland fanatics (like the Callas and Sills ones) would write ecstatic raves if she belched! I love her too. But a) she was not her typical self in this opera, and b) there ARE other sopranos, you know.

A bel canto Handel! Sutherland had a huge voice at the time of this recording. Words can't describe its gorgeous tone and power, not to mention it's ease with all coloratura fireworks. Also, during this period, Sutherland's phrasing is impeccable, as is her( surprise )superb diction. The Alcina arias are embellished to the degree that only Sutherland can sing them.
Luckily for us, Sutherland had a lot of arias to sing in this long but surprisingly lovely opera. The rest of the cast is excellent but far below the definitive standard that La Sutherland has set. I feel sorry for anyone who has to share the stage with the diva when she was in her prime because no one can even come close to her vocal perfection.
Hear it to believe it. Brava.

Sutherland muttering to herself in some indecipherable human tongue is not fun to listen to. Also, her huge voice ruins Handel's light orchestration. Also, Sutherland's coloratura technique is all wrong for Baroque coloratura. To hear true Baroque coloratura virtuosity, listen to Sills' renditions of "Non disperar; chi sa" and "Da tempeste in legno infranto" from "Giulio Cesare". Sills' embellishments are so difficult that, if Sutherland were to use them, she would collapse!