Glass Shatterers! Coloratura Comparison: 18 sopranos add a High F to "Je suis Titania" from MIGNON

~The "Glass Shatterers!" series focuses on sopranos who sustain High F, or sing higher.

One of the most flamboyant coloratura arias can be found in Ambroise Thomas's opera "Mignon" as the glamorous actress Philine dazzles a crowd of adoring fans after her performance (off-stage) as Titania, the queen of the fairies, in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." She is Titania, she announces -- "Je suis Titania!" -- the most amazing Titania ever! It's a true vocal showpiece, an exuberant polonaise, with extravagant coloratura trickery packed into nearly every measure. The highest note in the score, a single High E-flat, comes in the written final cadenza, but it's mighty tempting for a true showoff to add a final sustained High F6 at the end to be sure Philine's audiences get their money's worth. It's not written in the score, even as an option, but here are 18 sopranos who decided to go for it! The aria works brilliantly without the interpolated F -- I don't feel like it is needed for musical or emotional impact since the rest of the piece is so virtuosic. Dare I say I almost prefer it without it? Many sopranos have made a stellar effect with the aria through technical mastery along with tons of vocal charisma and panache -- that is what really makes for a phenomenal Philine. Okay, but who wants to hear some sustained High Fs?!

This comparison compilation includes just the final cadenza, about 40 - 50 seconds of music that encompasses the last 12 measures of the aria. You'll find a mix of singers across many decades and nationalities in both studio and live performances. The full aria done by several of these singers can be found on YouTube, but I think at least a few should be new for you. I have not included every soprano who adds an F -- mostly for time limitations I've left out the some of the usual suspects, those widely popular singers whose recordings of the piece are generally well-known (Dessay, Mesplé, Robin, etc).

The 18 Philines are presented in alphabetical order:
1. Pierrette Alarie (1921 - 2011)
2. Sari Barabas (1914 - 2012)
3. Marianne Blok (1941 - 2021)
4. Gwen Catley (1906 - 1996)
5. Laura Claycomb (live)
6. Mimi Coertse
7. Eleonora Enachescu (1952 - 2015)
8. Ernestina Garfias
9. Sylvia Greenberg (live)
10. Eglise Gutierrez (live)
11. Galina Kovaleva
12. Jennifer McGregor
13. Erika Miklosa
14. Galina Oleinichenko (1928 - 2013)
15. Ruth-Margret Pütz (1930 - 2013)
16. Luciana Serra (live)
17. Ruth Welting (1948 - 1999)
18. Elizabeth Vidal

Видео Glass Shatterers! Coloratura Comparison: 18 sopranos add a High F to "Je suis Titania" from MIGNON канала songbirdwatcher