Відео

@@billtroop4236 I admire Leider very much, but from a vocal emission standpoint, I don’t think she was in the caliber of Flagstad and Nilsson. My hunch is that the unfamiliar yet learned listener would be underwhelmed if he/she heard her with either of the other two back-to-back in the house. I’m speaking hypothetically, of course.

⁠It's a fair point but I disagree. Let's start with Flagstad/Nilsson. Nobody I know (or rather, knew!) who heard Flagstad live considered Nilsson to be exceptional. Now if you listen to this recording and go straight to Leider's Narrative, Leider sounds a stronger singer. To be fair, Leider was in her vocal prime in 1928, and Nilsson is strained here in 1975 and it's not her greatest vocal night, even if it may be one of her greatest interpretative nights. But Leider always had much more technique and variety of sound than Nilsson ever did (Leider's trill, Leider's coloratura, etc. etc. ). And Nilsson for all her artistry and fabulous sound, never gave as satisfying a total performance as Leider and I say that while acknowledging that Nilsson had great psychological gifts and studied her roles with utmost seriousness. That said, I am glad I heard her as often as I did, especially in Elektra and Turandot, less so in Wagner. It's more difficult when you compare Flagstad to Leider. Flagstad was not an actress and was not a psychologist and not a particularly good musician. Again and again she disappoints in the great Wagner roles. BUT, there is that overwhelming sound that drove everyone mad with joy. The sheer visceral pleasure of hearing her live, which recordings do suggest . . . . . one cannot take that away from her. (I would particularly praise the 1936 Tristan under Reiner in the VAI transfer most particularly.) The Tristan Duet shows in the first half that Leider simply does not have the horsepower of Flagstad, though that could be microphone placement, as she is much better in the 2nd half. There is also an unpublished alternate. The only person I knew who heard a lot of Frida Leider live was Friedelind Wagner. Yet I don't think she was that impressed. She told me that at the memorial service for Leider, they played the Liebestod recording, and everyone said the same thing: my goodness, she really WAS great. - - and I thought, but did not say, but the Liebestod is one of her weakest recordings. It is the Narrative and Curse that shows her at her absolute best. . . . .

It is great, but I can find some much easier/cleaner Cs in my collection. Unfortunately, I don't have the time at the moment to clean and upload them. I can maybe send an excerpt to you if you want

I uploaded a short excerpt which came to mind which shows just how free and accessible and smooth her top was, especially when singing lighter rep: ua-cam.com/video/vswzQuCsLCk/v-deo.html

@@dramaticsoprano5168 yes, you can send me her best high C's? where? in g mail?

​@@dramaticsoprano5168 she sounds amazing and she kinda reminded me of Nilsson here. Which opera is this? also indeed she has stunning highs and effortless top during these years in the 1930s. She actually has easier and better high notes than Tebaldi despite being a lower voice than her as she was a dramatic soprano and Tebaldi was a higher-set voice - spinto. And this is because Tebaldi thickened her voice too much and brought all the weight up without lightening and thinning enough. Flagstad and Nilsson both thinned out on the top which allowed them to have very easy and effortless high notes in their prime. But after hearing this clip, I think that Astrid Varnay was probably more of a dramatic soprano than Flagstad (both were true dramatic sopranos) but Varnay might be the most dramatic I have ever heard and probably the biggest soprano voice ever and it seemed like it was lower-set than Flagstad's. Also based on Flagstad's early repertoire. And Varnay also became a mezzo later while Flagstad always remained a soprano. Traubel was always a mezzo in my opinion, who probably just loved the wagnerian dramatic soprano roles and wanted to sing them despite not having the proper range and tessitura which forced her to transpose down in some cases.

@@judygarland7186 The excerpt was from the Flying Dutchman. I would be careful comparing the mono recordings of the 30s to the mostly stereo recording of the 50s. Although Varnay's lower register does attest to her being being a lower voice than Flagstad, though a difficult comparison as Flagstad sang lighter, similarly to Nilsson, and even moreso on the bottom. I agree Varnay aged into a darker voice/mezzo much faster but one could argue this was related to vocal damage and smoking. I don't agree Traubel was a mezzo. Her natural timbre was brighter than both Varnay's and Flagstad's. I think she was almost a dramatic soprano version of Tebaldi, but more extreme as she did not learn to efficiently lighten her top register above A-flat.

@@tsquare076 Yes, corrected.

​@@dramaticsoprano5168 thanks. I hope you post more videos.

@@tsquare076 Yes, I will get around to it. I am a little busy with things at the moment, so sorry for the long delay! Do you prefer compilation/comparison videos or highlighted performances like this upload?

​@@dramaticsoprano5168 anything format really! 👍 I personally would want to see more dramatic/wagnerian soprano contents. Maybe more excerpts with score? Like the Varnay and Flagstad duet you did. But that's just me. There's something about the raw power of wagnerians sopranos that really fascinates me. But you should post whatever you feel like, it's your channel after all.

I will check my notes and get back to you but I'm fairly certain this was Rankl.

@@Rongze Checked my notes and you were correct!, this was Krauss! I'll correct the description.

If you mean the first recording in the video, it is from 1906. As for the one linked in the video description, I'm not certain.

It is from "Dein werk? O tor'ge Magd" from Act 2 of Tristan und Isolde. I believe the 1952 recording here, but my favorite is the 1951 Covent Garden version which is even more dramatic! Bodanzky 1937 is also another great one.

@@dramaticsoprano5168 Oh yes! It's fun hearing the evolution of her voice. The later ones lack the slightly lyric quality present in the earlier ones, yet the voice became a wall of granite. Both thrilling.

Interesting. I’m a dramatic coloratura, but the color has only richened as I’ve turned 28. I still maintain my high notes. Unfortunately, I doubt I will ever go back into the opera world as I found it quite unwelcoming my first year of school and switched to musical theater. I wonder what someone like Audra Macdonald is classified as

Norman Bailey

I think Callas was a dramatic coloratura, which is lighter than spinto and similar to big lyric in terms of weight. Medea was perfect for her (high tessitura with lots of opportunity to show off the chest), but I would agree with you that Gioconda was a stretch. She basically admitted it when she said in the Edward Downes Met interview that it just falls within the bounds of decent singing. I think she took a quasi-lieder approach to her Wagner roles which is fascinating, but I do wonder if she could have pulled it off in a house that was larger than the Fenice. She did feel less compelled to push in Wagner than in verismo and Puccini though, so in a way Wagner oddly probably didn't hurt her.

meno di alcuni mezzo,Stignami Simionato,un tempo

@@saverioorlando cercherò di sopravvivere...

@@davideferrari5702 certo,la Tebaldi l'ho ammirata in Otello e Tosca alla Scala,era grandissima e poi-poco evidenziata-un'' intonazione naturalmente felice,una dizione meravigliosa,un timbro unico al mondo A parte questo,qui manca la Caballè....