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Lily Pons: Coloratura Assoluta
Vincenzo Bellini, Henry Rowley Bishop, Claude Debussy
Lily Pons: Coloratura Assoluta
Genres: Pop, Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (14) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (20) - Disc #2

In many respects, Lily Pons was the Galli-Curci of her generation: a winning combination of good looks, charm, an appealing and non-confrontational timbre, and easy facility in the stratosphere. Those who learned the "Mad ...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Vincenzo Bellini, Henry Rowley Bishop, Claude Debussy, Leo Delibes, Gaetano Donizetti, Henri Duparc, Gabriel Faure, George Gershwin, Charles Gounod, Lily Pons
Title: Lily Pons: Coloratura Assoluta
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Sony Classical
Release Date: 10/20/1998
Album Type: Original recording remastered, Import
Genres: Pop, Classical
Styles: Vocal Pop, Opera & Classical Vocal, Historical Periods, Modern, 20th, & 21st Century
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPC: 074646065525

Synopsis

Amazon.com
In many respects, Lily Pons was the Galli-Curci of her generation: a winning combination of good looks, charm, an appealing and non-confrontational timbre, and easy facility in the stratosphere. Those who learned the "Mad Scene" from Lucia di Lammermoor or the "Bell Song" from Lakmé via the original 78s back in the 40s will be bowled over by the vivid detail and lack of background noise in these stunning Sony restorations. First-time listeners will marvel at her effortless passagework and high notes (she often transposed her arias up on records); but may be put off by a slight thinness in the middle register (not evident in her Odeon recordings from the late 20s), sketchy intonation at times, and expedient aspirating in downward scales. Although these selections encompass a gamut of stylistic and emotional contrasts, you'd scarcely know it from the singer's pleasant but characterless interpretations, which tickle the ear without quite racking the brain. --Jed Distler

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CD Reviews

Greatest Coloratura that ever lived
Heller | jacksonville fl | 07/02/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I saw her perform once many years ago. She had the audience on their feet through out the performance. This remastered CD is truly a work of art. I wonder why she never get the credit she deserves by historians for she was the brighest star at the Met for many years performing to a packed house. She had a tonal quality to her voice that has never been duplicated."
Highly recommended
Joseph Hart | Visalia, CA United States | 07/08/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)

"This could have been recorded yesterday, the sound quality is excellent and without blemish. By far the best recordings of Pons I have, and I would like to have others. She reminds me of Jo, separation of notes, clear, real trills, a range to rival Sumac, flexibility to perfection, and always that today neglected once standard fare of the coloratura, the requisite leap to the top note at the end of an aria. And a pretty sound. I love this album."
What is coloratura about.
A. F. S. Mui | HK | 03/01/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)

"People who claim that other so-so coloratura sopranos are 'top' ones simply have not heard the real things. One such is undoubtedly Lily Pons.

With the likes of Rita Streich, Mady Mesple, she brings much color to the repertoire of a lirico leggiero coloratura. Nor do I understand why coloraturas of this genre should 'force' themselves to become a dramatic coloratura in the like of Callas, Sutherland, or Gencer.

This dual-CD is an ultra-fine collection of coloratura arias and songs. Pons was particularly strong in the French repertoire.

Some reviewers draw parallel of Pons with Sumi Jo.

I don't think Jo owns a voice of Pons' color, though she is also exceptional in the genre of lirico leggiero coloratura. Perhaps the only soprano of this genre that was comparable with Pons in terms of agility is Streich. However, Streich's strength was different - her strength was in the German and Russian repertoire. This surfaces when you compare the Russian song 'Nightingale' recorded here with Streich's in her 'Waltzers and Arias' album.

I find to be particular interesting Pons' 'La Fille du Regiment' extracts. Though not a dramatic coloratura like Joan Sutherland, Pons was able to bring out the different vocal nuances and expressions in the four different arias of Marie, and with even better verbal inflection than did Sutherland!

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