Rossini: Semiramide - Sutherland, Horne, Cross, Carringer, Malas; Bonynge. AOS, 1964
$16.95
Description:
Before I go any further, I want to disclose that the sound on this recording is far from perfect. There are some noisy audience members, a few drop-outs and the overture is missing altogether. That said, if you can will yourself the patience to forgive these faults, your prize will be some of the most astonishing singing in the history of opera! Joan Sutherland's voice is absolutely flawless in the title role. It is hard to imagine a singer whose coloratura is so precise even at break-neck speed, whose soaring high notes seem as effortless and whose cantabile singing could stop the show. She is joined by her frequent collaborator Marilyn Horne. Although Horne also possessed a technique that gave her remarkable control over even the most treacherous coloratura, she was a very different artist than Sutherland. Whereas Sutherland's voice was ethereal, Horne's was more earthy. But when the two sing together (as they do in the clip below) it is as if they are one mind and one throat. The two singers were keenly attuned to one another and achieve a level of ensemble rarely seen, especially between two stars. It is hard to imagine a better version of Rossini's masterpiece.
OD 10837-2
Listen to a Sample:
Exciting Performance in Mediocre Sound
Those opera lovers looking to explore Rossini's massive, supreme Semiramide should look elsewhere, preferably to Opera Rara's complete edition released a few years ago. Those looking to hear some thrilling singers must acquire this set. Sutherland is simply magnificent: the glistening stratospheric high notes, the lightning fast coloratura, the beautiful tone - there will never be another singer like her. Horne was only 30 at the time she sang this performance. She and Sutherland work so well together, their timbres complimenting each other perfectly. Horne is also impressive in her arias, sung without some of the bizarre cadenzas and mannerisms that crept in later on in her career. The other singers here are usually dismissed, but that isn't fair to them. Richard Cross' passagework is not as fleet as Ramey's would be two decades later, but his manly, attractive bass makes the most of Assur's big moments. Walter Carringer sings the aria left to him quite well, if without the skill of Juan Diego Florez or Lawrence Brownlee today. Malas and Sgarro do their brief roles effectively. Since this was a concert presentation of an unfamiliar work, Bonynge understandably makes a lot of cuts. The overture and a few connecting bits are missing altogether (including the beginning of the ladies' first duet.) The sound is mediocre with some wobbly tape heard in a few places (albeit briefly) and a chatty tapist, but the nearly 60 year old performance comes through.
United KingdomSutherland Shines as always
Being a big fan of Joan, any recording that comes to light is worth having. You cannot go wrong with this cast and as I have said any recording with Sutherland in it is worth every penny. Great sound for the year and please bear in mind someone sneaked in a tape recorder to get this, where would we be without these passionate fans.
Matey
This is easily one of the best documents to listen to if you want to begin to grasp how large Dame Joan Sutherland's voice must have been in the opera house. Although there are a few drop outs (the overture is altogether missing, the first duet is mostly but not fully there, and the opera ends very abruptly due to the last few minutes not being there) and a few talkative audience members, this is absolutely perfect. The blend of Horne and Sutherland is supreme, and to hear them both sing this in their prime is truly amazing. The tenor also has quite a flexible voice and handles some of that coloratura very well!Ultimately, a very big recommendation on my part!
Donald Honan
The amazing thing, to me, was that Sutherland never allowed her huge voice to overwhelm Horne [or anyone else] on stage. the duet pieces therefore had all the effect that they should. This was doubly important with Horne, because, unlike Sutherland there has never been anyone else like her. There have been great “coloraturas” & dramatic ones as well, to at least compare to Sutherland in a given role, but not so with Horne. She overreached a few times, but within her domain she appears to have had no rivals, perhaps even in the era before recordings. I heard them in this in 1964 at the old LA Philharmonic. The rest of the cast were throwaways, unfortunately, esp the tenor, but it simply didn’t matter! The entire audience was just stunned. There is a recording from Boston, the next year, that catches it fairly well; I hope this does, too.
