Born in 1926 Dame
Joan Sutherland was already approaching sixty when she made
this recording in September 1985. Half a year earlier I heard
her when she made her comeback at Covent Garden, singing a glorious
Lucia di Lammermoor and a couple of years later in Stockholm
at a concert performance of I puritani. Her voice was
still in fine fettle although the lustre was not quite what
it had once been. In the flesh she was still something to write
home about. On recordings, where the merciless microphone is
more objective than the human ear, other less satisfying features
had gradually become more prominent, most obviously a marked
beat in the voice on sustained notes which, besides being unbeautiful
also made the legato line sag. There was also a certain hollowness
in her tone. These characteristics are also conspicuous here,
together with an increased unsteadiness and a widening of the
vibrato. Against this can be set her still remarkable ease in
the florid singing, her phenomenal trill is there and when singing
softly, which she often does, the legendary purity of tone is
well preserved.
It is also interesting
to find her in new repertoire at this late stage of her career.
None of these arias had been recorded by her before and two
of the items are rarities by anyone’s standards. The first track
is from a three-act opera based on a Walter Scott novel and
first performed in 1929. Not a forgotten masterpiece, maybe,
but fine nevertheless and interesting in its use of the glass
harmonica, which Donizetti was to return to for the famous mad
scene in Lucia di Lammermoor. From Verdi’s Attila
Sutherland recorded another scene, Santo di patria,
in the mid-1960s. The romance, recorded here, is less about
fireworks and more about inwardness. Once again we hear her
trill and there are many fine shadings to be appreciated as
well. Today Bellini’s Romeo and Juliet opera is heard
and seen not infrequently. It would have been fine to have a
complete recording by Sutherland when she was at the height
of her powers. Giulietta’s entrance aria is a lovely piece of
bel canto writing, but it needs the long unbroken line that
Sutherland was unable to produce at this stage in her career.
The other rarity, In questo semplice from Betly,
finds her in much better shape. This lively piece with its wide
leaps seems much better suited to her actual vocal status.
It should be noted
that the excerpts from La Favorite, L’Africaine and Guillaume
Tell are all sung in the original French and produce a deal
of wobbly and hollow tone from La Sutherland but also some exquisite
shadings and – again – that masterly trill. The last item is
Rosina’s Una voce poco fa from Il barbiere. Here
in buffo repertoire she seems rejuvenated. There is such obvious
joy in her singing and even though there is some strain, it’s
a winning performance. She actually made a couple of very successful
excursions into lighter repertoire back in the ’sixties, documented
in two highly recommendable recordings of L’Elisir d’amore
and La fille du régiment.
Her famous, or infamous,
lack of diction is no great problem here. There are far more
consonants audible here than during her heyday, although the
lack of texts is still a nuisance.
The Welsh National
Opera Orchestra play well and Richard Bonynge is always at his
best in bel canto. He also provides excellent notes in
the booklet.
It is hard to give
this recital a wholehearted general recommendation. There is
too much compromised singing. Nothing of what I have written
will deter die-hard Sutherland fans from acquiring the disc.
Others may be interested in the rarities and, even though this
is a far cry from what Dame Joan accomplished before she was
‘Damed’, there is still enough evidence that by 1985 the old
lioness was still roaring.
Göran Forsling
Joan Sutherland
(soprano)
