I had the pleasure of hearing Pons sing "Estrellita" on the 'Merv Griffin Show' in the 70s, and I was moved by her superb vocalism.

Brighter and finer than the flute, Simply wonderful

Awesome voice and interpretation, beautiful!

Timbro e coloratura : perfetti ! Grazie

Brava

Merci Annie, vous avez écrit ce que je m'apprêtai à rajouter. Sills est parfaitement jeune fille, amoureuse dans une grande souffrance de coeur, et sur la limite de la faille psychique. Tout en étant d'une merveilleuse virtuosité, bien sur. C'est à dire, que sa virtuosité est là pour exprimer sa souffrance psychique, la morbidezza, même si elle est belle à entendre. La vérité est chez Sills. Mais pour rester dans notre sujet, Pons est et reste époustouflante. C'est incontestable!

I studied voice at LSU until I changed to sociology. Legend has it that Pons sang an outdoor concert on the grounds of LSU when a bug of some sort flew into her mouth, ruining the concert. She never returned to this campus, much to the sorrow of her fans. I never heard her sing until You Tube. She is just magnificent. Thanks to whoever made this wonderful performance available to us

@jamesnickoloff6692

4 жыл бұрын

A bug flew into her mouth and she never returned to LSU? Not much of a trooper, I'd say.

@jimbuxton2187

Жыл бұрын

Beverly Sills swallowed a Mosquito.... could it have been her?

the great french coloratura sopra no. lily. pons!!brava lily!!brava diva!!

Brawississimo ! Wunderschone interpretation !

My father's favorite soprano. I heard this on an old 78rpm record. My little voice tried to sing along.

Her impeccable musicianship was due to being a pianist as well as being married to a conductor. Her SUPERIOR vocal placement has no connection to the present operatic scenario or is it musical comedy today?

@rubyedelman2445

Жыл бұрын

Starting with breathing and ending with musical proper taste-everything is done to make sure opera does not sound like opera.....I don't know where are we heading ....very sad! And there are some people who even dare to criticize Lily Pons or find flat notes.....just ridiculous how death they became that cannot appreciate this wonderful singer.

@bauchmann9971

Жыл бұрын

Wir leben eben in einer Zeit kultureller Dekadenz...

Grazie a Lei, amico!

Encore merci Edmund :-)

Comme toujours, mon ami,vous vous exprime avec une grande clarté et d'élégance, et je comprends tout à fait votre point de vue.Le lieu principal où nous différons est dans notre interprétation de la façon simple et clair dans lequel Pons chante.Où voyez-vous le manque de désir et de drame, je vois innocence enfantine qui, lorsqu'il a trahi, provoquer un chagrin qui est, en soi, tragique. Cependant, votre point de vue est probablement beaucoup plus commun que le mien. Merci pour le commentaire!

Merci beaucoup, mon ami!

Maravilloso

Cuánto le gustaba a mi madre esta versión!

A fabulous voice - much overlooked, and not appreciated nearly enough …

Monsieur est trop bon.

N'ai-je pas dit qu'elle chantait divinement? Ma contestation, en toute politesse et en respect total pour les choix esthétiques de notre ami Edmund, tient à la charge dramatique de l'interprète, à l'incarnation du rôle. Que voulez-vous, c'est ainsi! Le bel canto a été ressuscité par Maria Callas, en style, en technique et en vérité dramatique. Les précurseurs qui nous parviennent ne sont pas de mauvais chanteurs, c'est évident, mais les planches où ils sont juchés restent de glace.

Lily was the only one in her time to perform this in the original key of F major. Even the most famous sopranos in the world sang it a while tone lower in Eb major.....

When most of what you've got is this lite little flute thing.. you need to be able to get up there! a charming and very successful soprano in her day.. who made it work for her mainly because she got into movies!!

@galanis38

2 ай бұрын

No, she made it into movies and only for a short time because she had already established herself as an immensely popular operatic and concert singer, not the other way around.

Merci Julien pour cette brillante synthèse. Je vous suis à ...95 %!! Vous avez raison: laissons les chanter, et chacun reconnaîtra son idole. Tout ce qu'il faut, c'est que le chant reste du chant, et que l'oeuvre reste celle du compositeur. Et puisque c'est ma remarque qui a déclenché une telle discussion, je remercie Edmund pour sa délicieuse courtoisie, et Lily Pons pour ses vocalises impeccables...

While I do agree, to some extent, with Matthieu's opinion that she sings somewhat "mechanically", I can't help but be impressed by Pons' sheer capacity to do anything - technically speaking - with that impeccable coloratura of hers. And her timbre is so pleasant, never shrill or forced as with so many coloraturas, I enjoy listening to her very much, even though Beverly Sills' Mad Scene is far more full of blood and guts!.

Lovely performance - but why no high F at the end of "Spargi d'amaro pianto"?

Mr Austell is absolutely correct about PONS and Lucia, Calla's recording with Von Karajan, is just adequate, due no doubt to the conductor's necessary autocratic demands about phrasing, but her wobbly voice and weighty instrument do not enhance the role. PONS IS LUCIA.

@ms.chaewon9231

6 жыл бұрын

MrSkylark1 the wobble came into surface after 55. The drastic weight lost contributed to the vocal decline. 55 downwards was a vocal astonishment. It cannot be denied that Lily Pons is often flat.

@jasonhurd4379

4 жыл бұрын

@@ms.chaewon9231 I am glad you mentioned Pons' intonation problems. I heard one of her renditions of the Bell Song, and in places it sounded like Schoenberg. I was beginning to think there was something wrong with my ears.

Bonjour Monsieur Je me permets de vous aborder sur le sujet "mal canto" de Lily Pons . C'est vrai qu'il y a une différence de sensibilité entre Madame Sills et Madame Pons, mais de là à parler de mal chanter ... Au fait, que mettez vous en ligne, vous ??? Salutations .

Merci, Edmund, pour votre intéressante introduction. Je vous comprends, mais je ne vous suis pas. Garder l'innocence, la fraîcheur de la jeunesse, soit, mais il faut aussi sentir le drame, le déchirement du coeur et de la psyché. A la fin, il faut sentir que Lucia devient FOLLE, et folle d'amour. Pour moi, Lily Pons est un modèle de "mal canto", c'est-à-dire qu'elle chante divinement comme le rossignol mécanique du conte d'Andersen, mais elle ne m'émeut pas. Elle n'a ni chair ni sang, ni désir.

from what year is this recording?

@512gontran

2 жыл бұрын

1930

Singing has changed radically over the years. My thought about Lily Pons in this recording is that while she sounds like a child, she sound very happy, not distressed as the aria requires. Her technique truly is impeccable. who can sing a high F so easily today? Coloraturas today sound like spintos. Voices like Pons' would not be hired today...

@jimbuxton2187

2 жыл бұрын

She's happy because she went mad....

Terrain d'entente trouvé : Madame Callas . Les "choix esthétiques", la comparaison sont ils vraiment indispensables, vu que le "bel canto" est production humaine, donc imparfait ??? C'est vrai que Madame Pons, ainsi que Doria, Robin, Jourfier etc ... appartiennent à une école . Au jour d'aujourd'hui, et vu ce que la scène nous propose, j'aurai tendance à "encenser" ces voix, malheureusement éteintes, celà ne souffre pas la comparaison . La recherche de perfection tue-t-elle l'art lyrique ?

It’s nice, but she’s no JOAN SUTHERLAND. 😅

@danpayne8675

Жыл бұрын

Ah, Joan!! I was fortunate to see her, Marilyn Horne, Luciano Pavarotti, and many others, back in the day.

The criticisms that l read below are absolutely ridiculous, what snobs! -James Aschmann

Often it's comedy, but unintentionally!

Good thing she didn't sing the high F on the last part. She's often flat.

@bobsweeney6807

5 жыл бұрын

Samuel Pedrosa get your hearing checked

@ms.chaewon9231

5 жыл бұрын

@@bobsweeney6807 lt's fine. Have yours checked or better clean it with a vacuum.

@jasonhurd4379

4 жыл бұрын

Samuel Pedrosa III is correct. Pons often had intonation problems, like Galli-Curci.

@rubyedelman2445

Жыл бұрын

that is what you found the most important in her singing?? Maybe you can be better? Try. Criticizing is easy.

Ghastly! Thank goodness God gave us Callas. And Donizetti must have heaved a sigh of relief when this incredibly superficial kind of performance went out of vogue.

@jasonhurd4379

4 жыл бұрын

Indeed. This is precisely the sort of performance that gave rise to the term 'canary'. It took Callas to demonstrate the drama and intensity inherent in the Bel Canto roles.

@jamesnickoloff6692

4 жыл бұрын

@@jasonhurd4379 I agree entirely, Jason. Listening to Pons is a waste of time. One will learn nothing about Lucia or about Donizetti by listening to her--only about "tradition" in the 1940s.

@jasonhurd4379

4 жыл бұрын

@@jamesnickoloff6692 Not quite on topic, but I have always regretted that Karajan did not delve deeper into bel canto. In the Berlin Lucia with Callas, his conducting is as revelatory as her singing. He began a studio recording of Norma with Ricciarelli and Freni, but it was never completed. At the time of his death he was contracted with Deutsche Grammophon to record Norma with Lella Cuberli. A studio Traviata from Karajan would have been magnificent, judging from the La Scala pirate with Freni.

@jamesnickoloff6692

4 жыл бұрын

@@jasonhurd4379 Intriguing possibilities. I don't know Lella Cuberli but will look her up. Speaking of "Traviata," how about a Karajan-Callas recording of that sometime between 1954 and 1956--exactly when they were working together on stage (Lucia at La Scala, Berlin, and Vienna) and in the studio (Trovatore and Butterfly)? Going even further afield: one of my regrets is that Callas recorded so many things with Tullio Serafin whose painfully slow tempi almost make Verdi and Bellini unlistenable for me. (Check Richard Tucker almost grinding to a halt in the Callas-Serafin "Forza del Destino.") I know Callas always expressed gratitude to Serafin for his influence on her career, but I really think that very slow pacing wrecks the drama of bel canto. Her best (because most exciting) performances of Norma were with Votto (Trieste 1953 and La Scala 1955). And the contrast between her "Medea" with Bernstein at La Scala 1953 and with Serafin in the studio in 1957 is dramatic. As you say, conductors do make a difference.

@jasonhurd4379

4 жыл бұрын

@@jamesnickoloff6692 Serafin's penchant for nickel-and-dime-ing a score to death with niggling cuts is what really irritated me. Largely because of him, bel canto operas were performed for decades in 'editions' that slashed the operas to ribbons. It was a state of affairs we are still trying to remedy today.