Essence Of Bel Canto

Sadly, Joan Sutherland died on October 10th at her house in Switzerland. Somehow I wish she could have used her voice box for another 100 years. It seems such a waste to possess such a tremendous talent and only get to use it for 83 years. To say her voice was magnificent is obvious and has been said many times over. But if you were lucky enough to hear one of her performances the obvious actually became a tonal reality. The same experience was true of Luciano Pavarotti. It was just shocking that someone could be born with such a large voice, almost as if it were a freak of nature gone pleasantly right. Sutherland was the best coloratura soprano of the 20^th century. Of course that’s my opinion, but I think it’s true. Her voice was large, beautiful and technically perfect. Beyond that she could do all sorts of trills and renderings of lyrical phrases that were perfect. She sung in a wide range from low G to well above a high C without the least sign of effort or strain. She exhibited no contortions of the face or destruction of intonation or heaving of the chest. Instead she exhibited only the emotions and dramatic presence needed. Take a listen sometime to her singing of the “Mad Scene, in “Lucia di Lammermoor.” In other words, she made it look effortless and the stunned listener could only say, “wow.” To touch true beauty is rare in life, because it is a transcendent virtue not easily quantified, but only experienced. Sometimes a voice can transport us there, but ultimately that voice is a reflection of the artist’s soul and a brief reflection of the face of God. Thanks, “La Stupenda.”