Your Four Favorite Sopranos

Tiger · Post by **Tiger** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:06 pm

Just four this time (dead or alive), and I won't be using an order of preference.

My picks:

Emma Kirby
Maria Stader
Ileana Cotrubas
Dorothea Roschmann

ContrapunctusIX · Post by **ContrapunctusIX** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:15 pm

Tony
Meadow
Janice
Carmela

in all seriousness:

Stader
Janowitz
Price
Sutherland

Tiger · Post by **Tiger** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:29 pm

ContrapunctusIX wrote: Tony
Meadow
Janice
Carmela

in all seriousness:

Stader
Janowitz
Price
Sutherland

You don't like JJ?

Post by **Lance** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 2:10 pm

[1] Montserrat Caballé
[2] Joan Sutherland
[3] Rita Streich
[4] Amelita Galli-Curci

... and a hundred others!

Tiger · Post by **Tiger** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 2:22 pm

Lance wrote:
[1] Montserrat Caballé
[2] Joan Sutherland
[3] Rita Streich
[4] Amelita Galli-Curci

... and a hundred others!

A super list from the past.

absinthe · Post by **absinthe** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 3:24 pm

Beverly Sills
Luiza Tettrazini
Anja Silja
Katia Ricciarelli

Edit: I meant Tetrazzini. Sorry!

Adair · Post by **Adair** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 5:07 pm

1. Sena Jurinac
2. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
3. Elisabeth Schumann
4. Lotte Lehmann
5. Tiana Lemnitz

Tiger · Post by **Tiger** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 5:42 pm

Adair wrote: 1. Sena Jurinac
2. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
3. Elisabeth Schumann
4. Lotte Lehmann
5. Tiana Lemnitz

The parameters involve 4 favorites, so I excluded Lemnitz. If you would like to include her and take out one of the others, just let me know.

Brendan · Post by **Brendan** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 6:30 pm

1. Maria Callas
2. Maria Callas
3. Maria Callas
4. Nellie Melba

Post by **Corlyss_D** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 6:36 pm

Popp
Auger
Te Kanawa
Callas/Milanov (it was a tie. What can I say?)

I have more.

Adair · Post by **Adair** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 7:40 pm

Tiger wrote:
Adair wrote: 1. Sena Jurinac
2. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
3. Elisabeth Schumann
4. Lotte Lehmann
5. Tiana Lemnitz
The parameters involve 4 favorites, so I excluded Lemnitz. If you would like to include her and take out one of the others, just let me know.

You are a hard-hearted, ungenerous, mean...

Just kidding.
Sorry. I love Lemnitz. But not more than the four previous ones, alas.

josé echenique · Post by **josé echenique** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 8:53 pm

1.-Maria Callas
2.-Renata Scotto.
3.-Leontyne Price.
4.-Zinka Milanov.
5.-Lucia Popp.

Steinway · Post by **Steinway** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 9:15 pm

Price
Sutherland
Caballe
Fleming

Tied for fifth..

Olivero
Freni
Bartoli
Steber

slofstra · Post by **slofstra** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 9:19 pm

Rita Streich
Elly Ameling
Sylvia McNair
Angela Georghiu
Emma Kirkby
Anna Netrebko
Don't really care as much for the high power sopranos.

Greatest thing since sliced bread:

Post by **Lance** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 10:33 pm

I have only one:

FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:06 pm

La Callas...

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:32 pm

Henry Slofstra wrote:Measha Brueggergosman...

Greatest (Canadian) thing since sliced bread actually...

Post by **Lance** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:38 pm

Yes, I fell in love with her and her voice instantly. She was quite seriously ill a while back but I hope things are improving.

Chalkperson wrote:
Henry Slofstra wrote:Measha Brueggergosman...
Greatest (Canadian) thing since sliced bread actually...

Post by **Lance** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:40 pm

Strange, not to see any of the heavy, dramatic sopranos such as:

Kirsten Flagstad
Helen Traubel
Birgit Nilsson
Eileen Farrell

But, I'll take everyone one of 'em and create a new favourite five listing!

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:42 pm

I believe she made a complete recovery, she has a new Recording coming out soon too...

Lance wrote:Yes, I fell in love with her and her voice instantly. She was quite seriously ill a while back but I hope things are improving.
Chalkperson wrote:
Henry Slofstra wrote:Measha Brueggergosman...
Greatest (Canadian) thing since sliced bread actually...

Post by **Lance** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 12:15 am

Can you point me to anything regarding her forthcoming recording? Do you have all her CBC recordings, too?

Chalkperson wrote:I believe she made a complete recovery, she has a new Recording coming out soon too...
Lance wrote:Yes, I fell in love with her and her voice instantly. She was quite seriously ill a while back but I hope things are improving.
Chalkperson wrote:
Henry Slofstra wrote:Measha Brueggergosman...
Greatest (Canadian) thing since sliced bread actually...

Post by **Corlyss_D** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 4:13 am

Henry Slofstra wrote:Measha Brueggergosman...

Awesome singing actress! That woman was born for the theater. She doesn't just perform; she is the person she's singing!

Marc · Post by **Marc** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 4:28 am

Tiger wrote:Just four this time (dead or alive), and I won't be using an order of preference.

Lucia Popp: singing music by my favourite opera composer Mozart, AND Schubert/Schumann/Mahler/Strauss/Prokofiev songs, AND Dvorak's Song to the Moon (Russalka), operette by Joh. Strauss, Léhar et al AND also et cetera

.
Elly Ameling: my personal Queen of Lieder (and her Oratoria contributions).
Arleen Augér: a.o. in Bach ("Aus Liebe ...."), Mozart (Konstanze), Schubert songs: these are a few of my favourite 'things'

.
Carolyn Sampson: my 'latest discovery', mainly in baroque vocal music & the Mozart/Haydn period.

josé echenique · Post by **josé echenique** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 9:54 am

Chalkperson wrote:
Henry Slofstra wrote:Measha Brueggergosman...
Greatest (Canadian) thing since sliced bread actually...

Canada has given us 2 (mostly) baroque sopranos I absolutely adore: Dominique Labelle and Karina Gauvin. If you join the Handel Göttingen Society, they will sell you an absolutely matchless Rodelinda with Labelle that puts Simone Kermes´s Archiv recording to the shade. It´s a pity that their recordings are sold only to members because they are excellent and should be better known.

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 10:16 am

Callas
Moffo
Caballe
Price

.....and that's just the old-timers!

slofstra · Post by **slofstra** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 10:47 am

Chalkperson wrote:
Henry Slofstra wrote:Measha Brueggergosman...
Greatest (Canadian) thing since sliced bread actually...

Now that's high praise, indeed.

I saw her perform with the K-W Symphony in May 2008. Previously I wasn't even aware of a song cycle by Berlioz called Les Nuits d'Été but that performance made me a fan of both Measha and that composition. The audience hung on every silken dusky note, every swoop and turn, in the soft notes you could have heard a pin drop.

I believe she has recovered from open heart surgery and is performing again.
Previously, on CMG here:
http://www.classicalmusicguide.com/view ... 10&t=29402

slofstra · Post by **slofstra** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 10:56 am

Lance wrote:Strange, not to see any of the heavy, dramatic sopranos such as:

Kirsten Flagstad
Helen Traubel
Birgit Nilsson
Eileen Farrell

But, I'll take everyone one of 'em and create a new favourite five listing!

Or even Tebaldi or Caballe. There's a kind of stereotype of a "screechy soprano" that many of these sopranos fit into. I personally dislike Caballe, for example, even though technically she is unmatched. The sopranoes of today seem to be popular as much for the tone or timbre of their voice as much as their range or their pitch.

slofstra · Post by **slofstra** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 10:56 am

Questions:
1) I am curious about the term coloratura. I know that Rita Streich is said to be a coloratura, but would the term apply to sopranos like Sylvia McNair or even someone like Anna Netrebko?
2) I've seen Cecilia Bartoli called both a soprano and a mezzo-. Can you be both? Some sopranoes, like Measha Brueggergosman or Elly Ameling, seem to have a lower register.
3) Is there a difference between a contralto and a mezzo? I thought the terms were interchangeable, but on one site I saw a list of each.

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 11:19 am

slofstra wrote:Questions:
1) I am curious about the term coloratura. I know that Rita Streich is said to be a coloratura, but would the term apply to sopranos like Sylvia McNair or even someone like Anna Netrebko?

Netrebko would be considered a lyric coloratura because of the size and dynamic range of her voice. IOW, she can sing non-coloratura roles like Mimi or Nedda successfully.
2) I've seen Cecilia Bartoli called both a soprano and a mezzo-. Can you be both? Some sopranoes, like Measha Brueggergosman or Elly Ameling, seem to have a lower register.

All voices that function properly have a "lower register," the term soprano or mezzo-soprano simply refers to what range of notes the voice is most comfortable with.
3) Is there a difference between a contralto and a mezzo? I thought the terms were interchangeable, but on one site I saw a list of each.

There is indeed a difference: a contralto's comfort range lies a bit lower than a mezzo: a functioning mezzo has a working high C, but a contralto usually does not (topping out at a Bb). As well, a contralto has a darker sound, and is more comfortable in her lower notes: she can sit down there forever.

slofstra · Post by **slofstra** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 11:27 am

Great answers. Thanks so much.

Tiger · Post by **Tiger** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 6:05 pm

I'm going to be wrapping up this puppy soon. If anyone wants to offer a submittal, please do it within the next few hours.

barney · Post by **barney** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 9:33 pm

1. Callas
2. Schwarzkopf
3. Janowitz
4 = Sutherland, Popp, Stader, Battle, te Kanawa, Ameling, Nilsson, Norman, Auger, Freni, Schaefer

Tiger · Post by **Tiger** » Sat Jan 23, 2010 2:24 am

POLL RESULTS

1. MARIA CALLAS
2. LEONTYNE PRICE
3. JOAN SUTHERLAND
4. MONTSERRAT CABALLE
5. LUCIA POPP
6. TIE - MARIA STADER, ARLEEN AUGER
8. TIE - ELISABETH SCHWARZKOPF, GUNDULA JANOWITZ
10. ELLY AMELING
11. TIE - RITA STREICH, EMMA KIRBY
13. KIRI TE KANAWA
14. TIE - DOROTHEA ROSCHMANN, ILEANA COTRUBAS, AMELITA GALLI-CURCI, BEVERLY SILLS, LUISA TETRAZZINI,
ANJA SILJA, KATIA RICCIARELLI, ANNA MOFFO, CAROLYN SAMPSON, SENA JURINAC, ELISABETH SCHUMANN,
LOTTE LEHMANN, NELLI MELBA, RENATA SCOTTO, ZINKA MILANOV, RENEE FLEMING
30. TIE - SYLVIA MCNAIR, ANGELA GEORGHIU, ANNA NETREBKO

scytheavatar · Post by **scytheavatar** » Sat Jan 23, 2010 4:04 am

Lance wrote:Strange, not to see any of the heavy, dramatic sopranos such as:

Kirsten Flagstad
Helen Traubel
Birgit Nilsson
Eileen Farrell

But, I'll take everyone one of 'em and create a new favourite five listing!

That's why this poll is useless, it's impossible to compare dramatic sopranos to coloratura sopranos when the skill sets are completely different and there's barely any common point of comparison.

val · Post by **val** » Sat Jan 23, 2010 5:33 am

Maria Callas

Kirsten Flagstad

Gundula Janowitz

Elisabeth Schumann

barney · Post by **barney** » Sat Jan 23, 2010 8:57 am

Does our preference for a previous generation indicate that we are all in our dotage, or is it just that the CD companies are mining the archives? I'm posting this question in all the "favourite" threads.

Post by **Corlyss_D** » Sat Jan 23, 2010 9:41 am

Mine reflects both my age and my music preferences: my favorites specialized in Mozart and Verdi. I don't know much about singers who arrived on the scene after 1983-4, when I had to disengage from music to go to law school. I never really returned to opera after I finished school.

Tiger · Post by **Tiger** » Sat Jan 23, 2010 3:09 pm

scytheavatar wrote:
Lance wrote:Strange, not to see any of the heavy, dramatic sopranos such as:

Kirsten Flagstad
Helen Traubel
Birgit Nilsson
Eileen Farrell

But, I'll take everyone one of 'em and create a new favourite five listing!
That's why this poll is useless, it's impossible to compare dramatic sopranos to coloratura sopranos when the skill sets are completely different and there's barely any common point of comparison.

Then it must be amazing that many of your fellow board members have managed to do the impossible.

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Sat Jan 23, 2010 3:26 pm

Lance wrote:Can you point me to anything regarding her forthcoming recording? Do you have all her CBC recordings, too?

I don't see it on Amazon etc, it's a disc of Nocturnal Music...I don't have all her Recordings actually...give me time however and I will...

stenka razin · Post by **stenka razin** » Sat Jan 23, 2010 4:14 pm

Maria Callas and Birgit Nilsson.

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Sat Jan 23, 2010 6:35 pm

Of course we also have to consider these five very popular Sopranos...

James Gandolfini
Edie Falco
Dominic Chianese
Aida Turturro
Jamie-Lynn Sigler

Imperfect Pitch · Post by **Imperfect Pitch** » Sun Jan 24, 2010 5:38 am

I am not an opera buff, so my list skews a little bit toward lieder/recital repertoire (except Tebaldi):

Elly Ameling
Kathleen Battle
Barbara Hendricks
Renata Tebaldi

MJWal · Post by **MJWal** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 1:00 pm

As MJ I choose
Selma Kurz
Meta Seinemeyer
Maggie Teyte
Helga Pilarczyk
and my bonus is Salomea Kruszelnicka's recording of L'altra notte in mare...
as Wal
Rosa Ponselle
Lotte Lehmann
Martha Mödl
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
and my bonus is Nina Koshetz singing None but the lonely heart (in Russian, of course, either of her two recordings)...

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 2:44 pm

Salomea Kruszelnicka is a blast from the past, as are many of your choices, from both sides of your split-personality, she was even made into a Ukranian Stamp...

: Screen shot 2010-01-26 at 2.39.37 PM.png (128.02 KiB) Viewed 12818 times

MJWal · Post by **MJWal** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 4:15 pm

Thanks for that - magnificent memorial stamp. There is no modern singer who has come close to her L'altra notte, forget Callas, even Olivero.
In a way, though, I could say that one singer could represent (nearly) all - for the "baroque", "folk song", the flouncy "prima donna", "songs my mother taught me" & the Belle Epoque, the "avant-garde" - so many quotation marks - and that is
Cathy Berberian! Think of her Monteverdi, her Berio Folk Songs, her parodic Recital (also by Berio), Pierrot Lunaire in three languages, late modernistic Circles (Berio again), the ironic pathos of her Beatles parodies, her Stripsody, etc etc. The most versatile, surprising and truly charming singer I have ever been privileged to experience in concert.

MJWal · Post by **MJWal** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 4:18 pm

barney wrote:Does our preference for a previous generation indicate that we are all in our dotage, or is it just that the CD companies are mining the archives? I'm posting this question in all the "favourite" threads.

Le dotage, c'est moi.

Wallingford · Post by **Wallingford** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:45 pm

Well, at the risk of irritating those having grown allergic to these particular threads:

Kirsten Flagstad
Eileen Farrell
Leontyne Price
Maria Callas

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 10:53 pm

Wallingford wrote:Well, at the risk of irritating those having grown allergic to these particular threads:

Kirsten Flagstad
Eileen Farrell
Leontyne Price
Maria Callas

The Heavyweight's finally arrive...

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