Customer Reviews

Joan Sutherland ~ The Art of the Prima Donna

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This is a true legendary recording, and as an opera singer for many years, I can't resist reviewing it. This cd contained some of the most difficult arias written for the coloratura soprano. Joan Sutherland the vocal Paganini, handling all the vocal challenges with the utmost ease. Her trill is an actual spinning of two notes so fast that it appeared to be a single note. The Prima Donna's fioritura singing is absolutely accurate and precise, and she meets all staccati and arpeggios with complete confidence and ease. The voice is quite large, a dramatic soprano, in reality. Thus we have the Brunhilde size top notes. But of course no Brunhilde had Sutherland's amazing range from bottom G to an easy high F three octives above. But most remarkable are how "open" her high notes are. They almost appeared "chest tone", that's how enormous they are. And lucky us for us, there are countless high D's E's and F's in this recording.

Dame Joan handles the extreme high tessitura of "The Soldier tir'd" and "Martern aller Arten" as if it were child's play. She interpolates high note after high note, making each aria a showpiece for her ample voice. Also remarkable is the beautiful tone quality of her soprano. Bight and clear, with no strain whatever. There's seemingly nothing that Sutherland couldn't do vocally. Another favorite here is the extremely embellished "Bel raggio lusinghier" with three high F's. Malibran would have been jealous... Also mind-boggling is the "O beau pays de la Touraine!", with colortura so dazzling that you really must hear it to believe it. The "Care compagne...come per me sereno..Sovra il sen" is a lesson in the art of bel canto singing, every aspect of the coloratura's art is shown there. Another highlight is the mad scene from Hamlet, with Sutherland singing with great beauty and stage presence, making you foget how impossibly difficult the vocal line is. Actually, they're all highlights in this cd.

This is my favorite recording in my collection of over 3,000 records and cds. I bought it in 1961, and have never heard anything like it, and don't expect to hear anything like it again in my lifetime, that's how special this is...a must have for every opera lover.

I loved this recording. I bought it years ago on record, and quite frankly wore it out. I own it once again on CD and will probably wear it out too. I have always loved Joan's singing, and it is as benevolent and lovely as is her personality. It is interesting she is compared to Sumi Jo, who for those who don't know, learned her technique from Joan's husband, Richard Bonynge. Though both women are simply wonderful, they really cannot be compared. Sumi Jo's voice is not as large as Sutherlands by any means, though it is a voice that carries well. I find Jo's voice often "brittle", but always thrilling. However, it is Sutherland that converted me to the art of fine singing, and 19th century opera. I saw Callas' Norman in Paris, and her Tosca in London as a teenager. I was thrilled beyond belief, not with the voice itself, but the whole impression given ( even though her Norma first act was really quite terrible ). I never thought I would enjoy another Norman ( as I have never really enjoyed another Medea -- though I heard this opera with Callas only on record ). However, when I saw Sutherland in that role, I was so impressed that for years I found Callas' recordings of the role painful to endure. For anyone who has not heard Sutherland, and is not familiar with this type of music, BUY THIS CD, you'll be converted at once. For those familiar with Dame Joan Sutherland, BUY IT ANYWAY, it is a must!

I have to say this one floored me. Joan Sutherland surpasses even her incredibly self here. The coloratura is without fault. Now, just who do we compare this vintage Sutherland to? In history we have had Galli Curci, who had inpeccable technique, but she had a small voice and no trill. There's Lily Pons, but she also had a small voice and no trill. There Tetrazzini, who had a decent size voice and a nice trill, but she's no where as accurate sd Sutherland and sounds cold. Then there's Maria Callas, who did have an accurate technique and style, but her voice was not pretty at all. And of course Beverly Sills, but we all know that she also had a small voice, and shrill high notes. So I have to conclude that Sutherland had the most accurate coloratura soprano voice in memory - the real thing. To hear Sutherland here, this is what you'll conclude. A large, beautiful voice of astonishing purity. A trill that is a real trill, not a fast vibrato. Scales and appeggios that are perfect, like pearls in a necklace, each note distinct from its neighbor. High notes that are full, effortless, spine chilling beauty and clear as a bell. Lightning fast staccati that has yet to be matched. And a beautiful, glowing line. Sutherland uses all of her unmatched talent in the taxing music written for the coloratura soprano. This is flawless. But don't take my word for it, listen to it and you'll understand why she is La Stupenda.

Joan Sutherland retired only 2 years after I started studying voice. Luckily my first voice teacher - who was also quite an accomplished coloratura - turned me on to Joan. This was the first recording I ever purchased, and it could very well have been the last. Never, EVER has anyone done what she did. This recording is evidence of that. THIS IS THE DEFINITIVE RECORDING OF THIS REPERTOIRE! I have heard others try to do these pieces but I always refer "Joan does it better!" She made me fall in love with opera and fall in love with her. Trust me, buy this and you will do the same.

This recording was done in 1960, only a little before Sutherland's historical debut at La Scala, Milan as Lucia di Lammermoor in which the diva received 30 curtain calls after an astonishingly sung mad scene. I was there and was completely shattered by gorgeous tone and incredible singing. Let me tell you that people were screaming Brava so loud that I was deaf for two days. The cheering resembled that of the superbowl! It really was a revelation in the Art of Bel Canto!!! She was immediately dubbed La Stupenda, and proclaimed Prima Donna Assoluta of the entire world, pushing even La Divina Maria Callas and Renata Tebaldi aside. In this recording, Sutherland dedicates each great coloratura aria to a particular favorite diva of her's and is a great demonstration of her phenomenal technique and opulent dramatic soprano tone. From the bottom of the staff to high F above high C, her brilliant voice just shoots out of her mouth like a cannon ball. She tosses out high D's and E's as if they were nothing. The diva just opens her mouth and a perfect high E comes out. She trills on a high C, and staccato on another high E. This is the kind of singing that in now extinct with the retirement of La Stupenda. But we are indeed fortunate to have this double set cd as a memorial to the singing phenomenon of our time. A zillion stars!

I bought this CD during the summer and I was completely satisfied with my purchase. Joan Sutherland has an amazing voice and an astounding technique. The voice is absolutely enjoyable to the human ear. At no point in any of the 16 arias that she sings on this recording does she make a sound that is harsh to the ear. The middle high note of the three that conclude "The soldier tir'd" aria sounds like the piercing cry of a hawk swooping down on its prey, only it sounds much more enjoyable. The way she sings the Handel aria truly makes one believe that she is a singing angel. The high E's or F's, I really am not sure, in "Bel raggio lusinghier" are amazing. These very high high notes do not sound shrill at all. The runs that she sings take the listener on a roller coaster ride. The top of the coaster is topped with a very beautiful and unique sound that must be heard to be experienced. The high note that concludes the second "I puritani" aria is truly astounding. The coloratura at the end of "Come per me sereno" is very assured and very well done. The high note that concludes it is gigantic. There are short parts of the aria that are devoid of any music. Given that the role of Amina is sung in a high tessitura, the soprano has to have very good intonation, especially in those parts of this aria that are devoid of music. In the aria from "Roméo et Juliette", Sutherland makes incredibly enjoyable sounds on the words "et" and "fuit". The "Martern aller Arten" aria is spectacularly sung. "Sempre libera" is a tour de force in Verdi coloratura singing. The final high note in that cabaletta is breathtaking. The "Hamlet" mad scene is done perfectly. The very difficult and very high tessitura of the last part of the scene is handled with ease by Joan. She makes it seem so easy, which of course, it is not. Queen Marguerite's aria from "Les Huguenots" is executed with immaculate skill. Gilda's aria from "Rigoletto" has staccati that more than equal the staccati of thinner-voiced coloraturas. All in all, Joan Sutherland has done a spectacular job once again and has left a document for posterity.

I must be a rarity: I love Maria Callas AND Joan Sutherland. While both excelled in the bel canto composers of Bellini, Rossini, and Donizetti, their approaches to the music were completely different. Callas found dramatic elements in roles like Norma, Lucia, Anna Bolena, La Sonnambula, I Puritani, and dumbfounded the music world with the sheer genius of her interpretations. Her voice was problematic, but she turned liabilities into assets thanks to her incredible musicianship and brains. Sutherland, on the other hand, by her own admission, spent a lot of time studying the art of Callas, and became attracted to the bel canto repertoire as well. But Sutherland had a vocal technique and endowment that Callas herself might well have envied. Her approach to the bel canto composers was, by and large, vocal. And it was the most lavish vocal gift ever bestowed upon a female singer in this century. This "Art of the Prima Donna" recording hit with the impact of a hurricane in 1961. The impact is still being felt. The quality of the singing is not likely to be equaled again. In each selection, most notably those from "Semiramide", "Abduction from the Seraglio", "Hamlet", "Sonnambula", and "Les Huguenots", Sutherland recreates what must have been the truly spectacular vocal age of Pasta, Malibran, Grisi, and Patti. These were the sopranos for whom the bel canto composers wrote, and Joan Sutherland, along with Callas, has joined the distinguished line. Truly a recording that no one interested in great singing can be without.

I am an opera singer. I'm now retired. I have heard every great diva from Rosa Ponselle to Maria Callas to Dame Joan Sutherland. This cd is the definitive tribute to the coloratura soprano's art. Every other recordings by any other diva other than Sutherland simply cannot be compare to it. NO WAY!!! Even the very great Amelita Galli-Curci's legendary accomplishments (yes, I heard her too) pales in the present of Sutherland . Dame Joan is simply a spectacular singing machine. Her technique is as secure and precise as humanly possible! The art of the trill belongs to Sutherland, and of course there seems to be nothing that the diva can't do with her large, incredibly flexible voice . This cd will prove 100% in history, that we have heard the greatest vocal virtuoso of our time. And on top of all that, Sutherland also pocessed one of the most beautiful spinto sopranos around. For the most unbelievable, technically perfect singing of the most taxing coloratura arias, buy this cd. And give one to a friend. He'll thank you for it. I gave five of this set last Christmas, all are thrilled. This kind of singing is what legends are made of. Like the many other critics who reviews the diva's art here, I can go on and on and try to insert more and more superlative about this greatest of singers, but the simple truth, the bottom line, is the human ear! And when YOUR ears hears this, you will FINALLY know what's vocally possible!!!!!!!!!!!

This recording must be incredibly daunting to any singer who followed. Never before nor since has anybody sung so perfectly with so much power. I can't really understand the comparisons to Sumi Jo. She is a light coloratura in the Sills, Battle vein, hardly any comparison to what is heard on this disc; incredible agility coupled with awesome squillo and power. No one on their best day compares to Joan Sutherland.

If you want to know why Sutherland was such a pheonomenon, listen to this album. You would not hear these arias sung better anywhere. Sutherland's technique was just unbelievable. Her diction was still clear at that time. It is also interesting to hear her in some roles that are not associated with her, such as Desdemona and Konstanze. I hope that Decca will release her early recital album on CD soon.