I think you can still hear how good Nellie Melba and Enrico Caruso were from these old recordings. In fact, sometimes I find the older recordings softer on the ear, or the way they've renovated them. Nellie Melba sounds like a songbird, my great grandmother said that's what they often said then too! Her voice sounded really light and high compared to the other singers I've heard. She sang in a very clear and direct style as well - she seemed to go straight for the notes, I haven't heard that style since. I wonder how different their training was then to nowadays. She kept her voice an amazingly long time, into her 60s. Enrico Caruso had a very soft melodious voice - really lovely. I think you can hear very clearly how good they were and how distinctive their voices were, though I don't know what they've done to renovate the recording.
I think most of that “lightness” you hear in the voice is due more to the age of the recording technology than their singing. The old acoustic era technology picked up a lot of the brighter, “tinnier” sounds, and less of the darker sounds. Melba and Caruso definitely did not have “soft” voices in any sense of the word. Most of the depth and power of their voices doesn’t always come through super clearly, but if you’ve listened to lots of different recordings from different eras, you start to be able to understand better what the true sound really was, and to hear what they are really doing with their voices even if every sound doesn’t come through exactly. I think the recordings have a soft quality, but their technique and the way they truly sang probably would strike most people are much more aggressive and less “graceful” than what we’re used to hearing today. But it was perfectly crafted to deliver the most beautiful, powerful, clear sound in a big theater. But yes they are magnificent and I wish I could have been able to hear them and their contemporaries live to truly know the sound with my own ears.
Una voz plena de dulzura. Un cheff francés, la admiraba profundamente y en una ocasión Nellie llegó a donde él trabajaba, el Hotel Savoy. Él le creó un postre exclusivo, el peach Melba. Melocotones con gelatina de frambuesa y helado de vainilla, delicioso.
Semper libera degg´io folleggiare di gioia in gioia, vo´che scorra il viver mio pei Sentieri del piacer。 Nasca il giorno, o il giorno muoia, semper lieta ne´ ritrovi, a diletti semper nuovi dee volare il mio pensier
Nellie Melba was a great singer. You can't prove it by these scratchy creaky records. The technology simply was not sophisticated enough. Put Tebaldi or Netrebko in front of those old horns and they would sound like Melba. Bring Melba up to the 21st century and modern recordings and well then let the competition begin
If we had Melba around today, I’d be much more interested in putting her on a stage rather than in front of a microphone. Let’s hear today’s singers in the same stage with her. My hypothesis is that I don’t believe there would be any competition whatsoever
C'est surtout l'apparente désinvolture qu'elle affiche en chantant cet air ,elle pourrait aussi bien chanter " la Marseillaise " l'internationale ou le " God save the King " avec la même indifférence.C'est fâcheux !!
Melba's own variations at the end of this aria have always *EXHILARATED* me. She takes Verdi's music to the next level.
Have you tried her three-years-long trillo at the end of Caro Nome?
I think you can still hear how good Nellie Melba and Enrico Caruso were from these old recordings. In fact, sometimes I find the older recordings softer on the ear, or the way they've renovated them. Nellie Melba sounds like a songbird, my great grandmother said that's what they often said then too! Her voice sounded really light and high compared to the other singers I've heard. She sang in a very clear and direct style as well - she seemed to go straight for the notes, I haven't heard that style since. I wonder how different their training was then to nowadays. She kept her voice an amazingly long time, into her 60s. Enrico Caruso had a very soft melodious voice - really lovely. I think you can hear very clearly how good they were and how distinctive their voices were, though I don't know what they've done to renovate the recording.
@Maikind K. Melba was born in 1861, but yes, she claimed she was born in 1865. So she sang till she was in well into her mid-60s at least.
I think most of that “lightness” you hear in the voice is due more to the age of the recording technology than their singing. The old acoustic era technology picked up a lot of the brighter, “tinnier” sounds, and less of the darker sounds. Melba and Caruso definitely did not have “soft” voices in any sense of the word. Most of the depth and power of their voices doesn’t always come through super clearly, but if you’ve listened to lots of different recordings from different eras, you start to be able to understand better what the true sound really was, and to hear what they are really doing with their voices even if every sound doesn’t come through exactly. I think the recordings have a soft quality, but their technique and the way they truly sang probably would strike most people are much more aggressive and less “graceful” than what we’re used to hearing today. But it was perfectly crafted to deliver the most beautiful, powerful, clear sound in a big theater. But yes they are magnificent and I wish I could have been able to hear them and their contemporaries live to truly know the sound with my own ears.
Saved in favorites,thanks for uploading this lady is a legend
Brillantemente interpretada.
Una voz plena de dulzura. Un cheff francés, la admiraba profundamente y en una ocasión Nellie llegó a donde él trabajaba, el Hotel Savoy. Él le creó un postre exclusivo, el peach Melba. Melocotones con gelatina de frambuesa y helado de vainilla, delicioso.
Semper libera degg´io
folleggiare di gioia in gioia,
vo´che scorra il viver mio
pei Sentieri del piacer。
Nasca il giorno, o il giorno muoia,
semper lieta ne´ ritrovi,
a diletti semper nuovi
dee volare il mio pensier
1:31, lungo trillo aggiunto
something far beyond you.
Nellie Melba was a great singer. You can't prove it by these scratchy creaky records. The technology simply was not sophisticated enough. Put Tebaldi or Netrebko in front of those old horns and they would sound like Melba. Bring Melba up to the 21st century and modern recordings and well then let the competition begin
That would be a nice experiment, to record modern stars with these old recorders and discover how much is lost
If we had Melba around today, I’d be much more interested in putting her on a stage rather than in front of a microphone. Let’s hear today’s singers in the same stage with her. My hypothesis is that I don’t believe there would be any competition whatsoever
Netrebko 😂😂 she would not sound at all.
Pour ma part personnellement ,je n'aime pas du tout cette interprétation ,ni le style ,ni la cadence finale avec ce trille inapproprié .
What didn’t you like about it? (That’s not like a challenge, I’m just curious what you thought)
C'est surtout l'apparente désinvolture qu'elle affiche en chantant cet air ,elle pourrait aussi bien chanter " la Marseillaise " l'internationale ou le " God save the King " avec la même indifférence.C'est fâcheux !!