Customer Reviews

Sydney Opera House Gala [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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Dame Joan in her prime was the greatest coloratura soprano of this or any other century. But to have heard her in her prime 1956-1978, this tape absolutely pales in comparison. But Sutherland past her prime is still the best in the world, so this is a recommended tape. For the most amazing singing ever, purchase the cd "The Art of the Prima Donna". It is Joan's resume. The most impressive collection of coloratura arias sung to absolute perfection.

This video is a treasure. I can't imagine NOT having it in my collection of Dame Joan Sutherland videos. Even at the age of 58, Sutherland delivers the goods in her inimitable style, sailing through technical and musical hurdlesthat would cause most of her colleguesto pale. The trills, (in all registers) the scales and the appeggios are of course in evidence. The notes above the high C are still ringing, on pitch, andfocused. But the sheer beauty of the sound, the creamy texture, the totally secure delivery is, as always, a totalpleasure. Dame Joan is in excellent voice in this performance and demonstrates her mastery of the art of song. In my opinion, one of the last of her really great concert performances to be captured on video.

Oh my goodness! I can't explain to you how happy I was to watch this video over and over again. I borrowed it from the library and now I have to buy it! This really is a treasure. It's just so exciting to see Joan and Marilyn Horne perform in recital. Horne favorite excerpts include "Iris hence away", Rossini's "Mura felice" from La donna del lago, and Meyerbeer's Les Hugenots "Non, Non". Horne's voice can move so amazingly fast! Wow! And her diction is sooo good! She sings "Beautiful Dreamer" and I can understand every single word. No joke. And the Rossini... well... you haven't heard Rossini till you've heard Horne.

Sutherland's "Tornami a vagheggiar," "The Gypsy and the Bird" and Zerlina's Aria from Auber's Fra Diavolo, are all spectacular. Any worry about Sutherland not being in her "prime" is stripped away when you watch in disbelief as this 58 year old woman (an age when most sopranos have retired years ago) sings C's, D's and E's with the same amount of solidity, power, and authority that she's sung at anytime throughout her career (if not better!). I like how she treats her high notes at this age. She finally knows how to use them. She's not scared of them cause she knows she HAS them. Even in 1986 she was singing SOOO well. I liked her voice in these later years. It had some weight and heft.

Together, they sung that Semiramide duet, the famous Norma one, the Lakme Flower duet, and the Barcolle from Tales of Hoffmann. The Semiramide one was amazing. I could listen to that one over and over again. The Norma duet brought the house down. Mostly because both singers were so into the music (they probably realized mid-way that this was probably the last time they would ever sing that together again). It was all just so beautiful.
A treasure to watch over and over again!!

Dame Joan is 58 here. The golden voice is half gone, but her technique in coloratura remains solid. I would recommend this only if you've already heard the young Sutherland. Because this voice on this tape is only 1/2 of the voice she had 10-30 years ago. And Horne sounds great, but she doesn't quite have the agility of Sutherland.

If you want to hear La Stupenda when she was the reigning queen of bel canto, I would recommend the follow VHS tapes.

The "Voice of Firestone" The "Bell Telephone Hour" The "Age of bel canto"

This tape is a treasure...one of my very favorites of Dame Joan.
Her Doll Song brought down the house in this tape...for obvious reasons. People may say critical things about her voice at this stage, but I believe they are sadly mistaken. All voices change with time, Dame Joan's voice did too...just not as much as others, and not enough to prevent her from delivering the same music she always has...and at a level beyond the average soprano of any age or type. Her high notes were most certainly not flawed on this tape ( as suggested on another review) the high D's were pinging and accurate in the Doll Song and the the overall quality of the sound improved as her voice warmed up...typical of any voice, but especially mature ones. The voice is not silvery now,nor as powerful, but has taken on a lovely patina. The tone still has real beauty. The trills were in evidence from the low register all the up to the high B. The scales and appeggios were beyond the technical reach of most sopranos, and the stacco attack still dead-on. It's human nature to glow about the "good old days" while missing what wonder things are happening at the moment. Her voice takes time to warm up, she uses it more carefully and with less volume, but makes up with warmth, a relaxed mastery, and a truely touching vulnerability. Zerlina's aria is indistinguishable from her recording done in her early 40's...I've listened to them back to back. Oh, I love Horne, but her climatic high note in Mura Felice is strained and sadly comes up a 1/4 tone flat. She is younger, sounds a bit fresher, but does not out-sing Dame Joan...which I am sure she would freely admit.
The audience obviously loves this performance....Dame Joan continues to amaze and delight with a voice that is not so much "less" then in past, but "different".

I'm sorry to say that this video shows the great prima donna much past her prime. The once stupendous diva with the most luscious dramatic soprano voice and the most accurate coloratura technique within memory is in poor form here. The diva's high notes are thin and wobbling, her vibrato wide and unpleasant and sometimes shaking, and her coloratura, still not bad, but pale if you were to compare it to what she was capable of at her prime, some ten+ years earlier. But I still wouldn't want to be without this document. To hear a great diva near 60 attacking the most difficult arias and duets to have been written is remarkable. Horne, however is great, she way outsang Dame Joan Sutherland here. To hear Sutherland in her prime, I reccommend the bell telephone hour tape available here, and the cd "The art of the prima donna".