All in one soprano

"Elaine: Do you think there is a single soprano(living or dead) who could do justice to all of the female arias? Is there one you would like to hear try?"

This question was left in the comments section on the Nation's Favourite Aria by Thomas on the Porch and it gave me pause to think and I decided to post my thoughts on this really interesting question.

I think the answer to this question has to be No.   Because of the different styles of music and voices I think it would be well nigh impossible to sing all kinds of roles - if you are a Rossini coloratura  then you are highly unlikely to try Wagner.  If you are a Wagner soprano then you will probably not essay Handel or Mozart and so on and so forth.  

Having said that some sopranos have tried. The wonderful Australian soprano, Joan Sutherland, had one of the most flexible voices I think I have ever heard.  She was famous, of course, for her Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti) which shot her to international fame, she also sang in Fille du Regiment with Luciana Pavarotti (see earlier post on this opera), sang Verdi (her recording of Traviata with Bergonzi which is in my collection is wonderful), she also sang Bellini and Puccini and with her husband Richard Bonynge, brought Handel back into fashion in the 60s with performances of Semele and other of his neglected operas.   Purists nowadays would pour scorn on these full blooded (if Handel can ever be so described) lush orchestral readings but they certainly made an impact.  She also sang Wagner, the Woodbird on Solti's Ring cycle for Decca, but that was a small part and very suited to her voice.

She sang in Tales of Hoffman by Offenbach, sung Meyerbeer, Delibes and a simply gorgeous album of old fashioned Victorian songs - I simply love her I dreamt I dwelt in Marble Halls.   Queen of the Night in Magic Flute also one of her roles...I could go on and on.  So I suppose Dame Joan was pretty wide in her repertoire but her main body of singing was coloratura for which her voice was perfect. She only dipped in and out of the other repertoire.

I pretty much grew up on the Decca recordings Joan Sutherland made, mainly conducted by her husband. Excellent though he was, I do sometimes wish she had ventured out and tried different conductors - I do wonder how she would have fared with Karajan or Kempe and others.  If she had a failing, it was that she did not venture outside her comfort zone but then, if you know what you can do well, I suppose you may as well stick with it.

The other soprano who I grew up with and who definitely did NOT stay in her comfort zone was, of course, Maria Callas.   I know that some people cannot understand the myth and legend around this wonderful singer, finding her voice harsh and not beautiful and, I have to agree, there were times when it grated. BUT, and it is a big but, just listen to what she did with it.  The emotion and feelings in everything she sang.  Dame Joan was just so beautiful to listen to but she never made me cry.  Maria Callas did.  The last fifteen minutes of Madame Butterfly, gut wrenching, her Gilda in Rigoletto with the  incomparable Tito Gobbi, her Visi d'arte in the second act of Tosca, the mad scene in Lucia...well those are just a few examples.  

She sang Rossini - her Rosina in Barbiere leaving all others standing, her Verdi and Puccini magnificent and I have a very old recording of her singing Wagner's Liebestod (in Italian) which makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.  What a Brunnhilde she would have made.

I am well aware that I am beginning to ramble because talking about opera always does that to me - I want to say so much that it all comes out in a jumble and my fingers on the keyboard cannot keep up with what I want to say so apologies for the witter.

So Thomas - thanks for the question and as I said at the start - the answer is No and I have heard, in the two sopranos cited here, them having a try and wonderful though they both were, in the end both Joan Sutherland and Maria Callas sang what they did best with stunning results for which I am most grateful. I think the variety and wide range of opera singers is what makes this art form so endlessly fascinating and keeps me enthralled.

Comments

[Elaine Simpson-Long]

Sorry I forgot about Jessye Norman - what a voice.
Dame Kiri I am afraid I have little time for, she seems to have a most offputting personality and her recent interview in the Radio Times where she said 'emotion? I dont do emotion. That comes from the audience' and was rude and dismissive merely confirmed my dislike. And the reason for my antipathy towards her is precisely because of the lack of emotion in her singing. She has the dubious distinction of being the only soprano who has sung the Four Last Songs and I never shed a tear. Beautiful and bland.

[Margaret Powling]

I only caught the last 45 minutes of this programme, but I don't think my favourite was mentioned: Jessye Norman. Her singing of Strauss's Four Last Songs always makes me cry. I've heard Dame 'Kiwi' singing it, but she just doesn't have the same effect.