Lily Pons-Opera Arias

Lily Pons-Opera Arias

Lily Pons-Opera Arias
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CD Details

Performer: Giuseppe de Luca
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Composer: Gioachino Rossini
Composer: Gaetano Donizetti
Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Composer: Leo Delibes
Composer: Charles Gounod
Composer: Jacques Offenbach
Composer: Camille Saint-Saens
Composer: Heinrich Proch
Composer: Henry Rowley Bishop
Composer: Eva Dell'Acqua
Composer: Johann II [Junior] Strauss
Performer: Lily Pons
Performer: Enrico di Mazzei
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1993-01-19
Music Label: Pearl
Soundtracks:
  1. Die Zauberflote: Ach ich fuhls
  2. II Barbiere Di Siviglia: Una voce poco fa
  3. II Barbiere Di Siviglia: Dunque io son
  4. Lucia di Lammermoor: Mad Scene
  5. Rigoletto: II nome vostro ditemi
  6. Rigoletto: Caro nome
  7. Rigoletto: Tutte le feste
  8. Rigoletto: T'amo...E il sol dell' anima...Addio, addio
  9. Lakme: Bell Song
  10. Mireille: La Valse
  11. Les Contes d'Hoffman: Doll Song
  12. Le Rossignol et le Rose
  13. Air and Variations
  14. Lo! Here And The Gentle Lark
  15. Villanelle
  16. The Blue Danube

Music reviews of Lily Pons-Opera Arias

Music Review: Greatest Coloratura in the 1st Half of the 20th Century
Rating: 5 Stars

Lily Pons is a French lyric-coloratura soprano who rose to prominence at the time when radio broadcasts came into the mainstream, being one of the first opera singers to capitalize on this new medium to forward her career. She did not have a big voice, but a uniquely distinctive one and all but charmed audiences with her very attractive figure and exotic facial features, unique among a profession of frequently plump women.

Bel Canto opera was not in great fashion during her time as it is now. Operas on complex subjects based on the precedent of Wagner had come to almost outshadow what was considered fanciful and even silly, repetitive singing of the Bel Canto era. Wagnerian operas showcased the richer voices of the lyric and dramatic soprano, which were thought superior to the canary-like, flexible voices necessary for fast,high, and ornamented passages of Bel Canto opera.

Maria Callas would however later forever change that notion in the 1950's. With her darker tone and penetrating acting ability, she demonstrated that Bel Canto could indeed be moving and powerful. Callas would also forever dispel the notion that the music of Donizetti, for example, was fanciful, portraying through voice and acting all levels of Lucia's psychological collapse in his Lucia di Lammermoor. Callas virtually created the vocal range what would become known as the "dramatic coloratura," later picked up by more recent greats such as Joan Sutherland and Edita Gruberova.

It is almost unthinkable to hear a coloratura sing the Mad Scene nowadays without comparing her to Callas or pointing out how the contemporary singer might have been influenced by her standard. Yet, Lily Pons was the reigning diva before Callas before this example was ever set. It can be argued that Pons represented the culmination of a long tradition of bel canto coloraturas starting from the age of when the operas were actually composed in the early 1800's. In her interpretation Pons built upon a century long tradition and basically perfected it. Listening to Pons sing is the closest current listeners can get to how the Bel Canto composers originally intended their arias to be sung.

Lily Pons will amaze you with her very, very secure high notes that she can sing at all volumes, not just either fortissimo or piannisimo. She has a finely developed vocal technique and can glide through two+ octave runs with perfect facility. Her vibrato is unlike that which is taught to more recent lyric coloraturas such as Beverly Sills and Natalie Dessay. Pons has a much faster one, and it gives just the right richness to her tone while not sounding too wobbly. Her voice is indeed high, but it is well supported and not shrill. There is something quite enchanting about her voice.

This recording was compiled from perfomances from the 20's and 30's, so stratchiness is quite loud. However, it does not detract too much from enjoying her voice. Additionally, the CD is a quite nice compilation with all the great arias she was known for. Some of the best tracks include "Una voce poco fa" from the Barber of Seville, the Mad Scene, all the passages from Rigoletto, and most notably the Bell Song from Lakme. (Some critics consider Pons's interpretation of Lakme considering both voice and acting on stage to be the absolute greatest of all time.) Avoid the Odeon Recordings CD since those arias were recorded while Pons was still relatively unexperienced and before she made it big. This recording is more than enough to enjoy all her splendor.
More Lily Pons-Opera Arias free music reviews:
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