Doug Han has kindly written an addendum to my original analysis of recordings of Zerbinetta's aria.  I would like to thank him for helping to bring us up to date.  (N.E.L.)

Since Nick's original article, several other notable performances of Zerbinetta's delicious coloratura sermon have come to the fore, casting light upon coloratura luminaries past and present.  Quite interestingly, as new versions of the traditional 1916 revision appear, so do those of the treacherous 1912 original.

1916 versions:

Janine Micheau

Best remembered for her recordings of lyric repertoire, particularly Micaëla in Thomas Beecham's classic 1958/59 Carmen, French soprano Janine Micheau (1914-76) began her career as an uncommonly warm-timbred lyric-coloratura soprano.  In 1943, she sang the French premiere of Ariadne, a wartime French radio broadcast.  Alas, due to wartime tensions, fueled by Strauss' own German nationality, Micheau's career was suspended for an entire year after this broadcast.

That same year, Micheau recorded the aria, naturally in French, but omitting the last part of the D-flat major middle section right before "So war es mit Pagliazzo".  This recording is now found on Preiser's Four Famous French Sopranoscollection (LV 89951).  One can hear the bewitchingly coquettish overtones the music assumes in this language, and that Micheau is content to let the language's colorations take care of characterization.  Unlike many other Zerbinettas, Micheau can't be accused of using 'characterization' to detract from any technical shortcomings.  In fact, thanks to her unassuming technique and musicality she never sounds preoccupied with surmounting the aria's difficulties.  This is one of the best-sung recordings of the piece to be found, every note dead in tune and with all the florid challenges nonchalantly met: an unexpectedly delightful performance.

Arleen Augér

The late American lyric-coloratura soprano, Arlene Augér, (1939-93) performed this aria in two Munich concerts, in 1968 and 1969 (both reissued on Bella Voce CD 107.212).  Augér is most dearly remembered as the late 20th-century doyenne of contemporary American art song, so (as in Micheau's case) it is usually forgotten that the earliest part of her career was spent as a coloratura specialist in Germany and Austria.  Most of her audiences during her ascendancy as a great concert singer were unaware that she'd made her 1967 Vienna Staatsoper and 1970 Salzburg Festival débuts as the Queen of the Night.

Out of the two performances of this coloratura decathlon, the 1968 performance is a better display of Augér in her element.  This earlier performance finds her astonishingly on pitch throughout all of Strauss' intervallic gymnastics (such as the staccato arpeggio right before 'Als ein Gott'), whereas a year later she sounds less on top of her breath control and verbal memory.  Still, both renditions amply demonstrate the elements which made Augér such a 'singer's singer' in the best sense of the word: superb technique (including birdlike trills), a pure upper extension to floated top Es, self-effacing musicianship, and artistic sensitivity.  While not as flamboyantly 'socked' to the audience as some less well-sung performances, her Zerbinetta is dreamy, gently articulate connoisseur of the heart.  This is a most surprising testament to Arleen Augér's voice and musicianship, revealing this eloquent artist's almost-forgotten bravura.

Natalie Dessay

The most recent complete commercial Ariadne auf Naxos is a posthumous release, the final recording made by late conductor Giuseppe Sinopoli (DGG 289 471 323-2).  Together dramatic soprano Deborah Voigt and Zerbinetta du jour Natalie Dessay have provided glorious Ariadnes for Metropolitan Opera audiences, but their theatrical charisma was not sufficiently recreated in the studio, much to the disappointment of their admirers.  Sinopoli's reputed fussiness makes Zerbinetta's big moment quite sleepy, and Dessay's nonchalance with the coloratura antics sounds like utter boredom.  To experience her much-bruited aural magnetism in the role, one must turn to live recordings, particularly the Salzburg Festival performances of August 2001.

Sumi Jo

The charming Korean virtuosa Sumi Jo gave the CD-listening public their first taste of her Zerbinetta on her 1994 'Virtuoso Arias' album (Erato 4509-96363-2).  Clear of timbre and eloquent of technique, she frolics through the aria's acrobatics, but lacking the personal charm of her stage performances.

1912 version:

Sumi Jo

Jo's second take on the aria was as part of the first-ever commercial recording of the 1912 Ariadne (Virgin Classics VCD5451112).  Recorded in April-May 1994, this was based upon the stage production featured in the Opéra de Lyon's 1993 reopening.  During the run, Jo faced several challenges: having to make sense of the original Zerbinetta's ludicrous frills and ruffles, challenging the great Edita Gruberova's classic rendition (Famous Opera Arias, Orfeo C-101-841-A), and battling both cold and stomach flu!  She succeeds brilliantly on all counts, and in addition to the appeal of hearing Strauss' first thoughts on the piece, the recording preserves all-around excellent performances under Kent Nagano's brilliant leadership.

Saucier and less extroverted than the character Gruberova creates in her performance, Jo's Zerbinetta is in line with her smaller, sweeter vocal endowment.  The Korean soprano's glittering timbre takes on a deliciously girlish shiver in the highest reaches and she confidently tackles the aria's extremes from low B-flat to the 2 top F-sharps.  Barring some loose trills, she faces the technical challenges with accurate pitch and generously applies nuances to make the extended vocalises into haunting evocations of yearning and delight.

Thanks to Nagano's exciting conducting, the aria's potential loose ends are tied up with a sure sense of musical inevitability.  The collaboration between soprano and conductor is a more-than-equal match unparalleled by the recorded competition.  Although three possible splices can be detected (track 5, the top D at 0:35,! the E major arpeggio at 0:58, the final top E at 1:13), these are minor flaws in what is the most musically exciting argument for this version of the aria to date.

Live Performances:

Other sopranos who have recently performed the 1912 aria are high-flying French nightingale Elisabeth Vidal, Carmen Fuggis (who covered Jo in Lyon while also singing the revised Zerbinetta in Germany!), and American Cyndia Sieden (in concert in Basel, Switzerland, at London's Barbican Centre, London, and with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra).  American Lisa Saffer sang the 1912 version at the 1997 Edinburgh Festival, but by transposing the aria proper down into the 1916 keys, she created a hybrid not unlike the 1950 Edinburgh edition of Ilse Hollweg and Thomas Beecham (Golden Melodram 6.0007-2).  This 23 August 1950 performance is of the 1912 version of the aria until the "Als ein Gott" rondo, which reverts to the revised edition, yet still in the original higher key - a bastardized version Strauss never approved.  Finally, there is also the rare 1968 BBC broadcast under Norman del Mar's baton, sung by Elizabeth Harwood (von Karajan's Musetta), who claimed that the earlier version was better suited to her voice.

Ruth Ann Swenson

Presently moving into more heavily lyric repertoire (Mimí, Amelia/Maria in Simone Boccanegra), Ruth Ann Swenson has been well-known since the late '80s as a lyric-coloratura soprano of impeccable technique and uncommonly creamy timbre.  The Metropolitan Opera's coloratura of choice throughout the '90s, she has been frequently heard on their Saturday matinée broadcasts.  A 20 March 1993 broadcast features Swenson's Zerbinetta opposite Jessye Norman's Ariadne and Suzanne Mentzer's Composer, two singers in roles for which they've become renowned.

Zerbinetta's tessitura lies higher than the more centrally focused romantic heroines which are Swenson's core repertoire, and she wisely gave up the role soon thereafter.  Audible gear-shifts in and out of the topmost register are the only signs of awkwardness, as Swenson's beautiful technique and brilliant extension to top E help her to smilingly pirouette through the music's gymnastics.  Relishing the character's feminine wiles, Swenson will not allow any discomfort on her part mar the pleasure she offers her audience - a generous characteristic of this beautiful artist.  Quite rightly, the audience goes wild for her.

Doug Han

A note from Nick:

When writing about live broadcast performances Doug was kind not to mention the most recent Metropolitan Opera broadcast of April 14, 2001.  Originally, this was to feature Natalie Dessay in her signature role of Zerbinetta.  Unfortunately, due to vocal problems she was experiencing at the time she had to cancel all her appearances at the Met that season.  Instead, Lyubov Petrova from the Young Artists Program sang the international broadcast.  It was never made clear exactly why it was felt that she merited such a distinction.  Petrova does not have the voice, technique nor charm necessary for the role of Zerbinetta and her performance was grotesque.

In addition, Arte Nova released a budget recording of a live Ariadne auf Naxos from Naples (February, 2000) (Arte Nova 74321 77073 2).  Conducted by Gustav Kuhn, the Zerbinetta for that performance was Aline Kutan.  Kutan is especially fine in the central aria and is an artist to watch.  Her voice is clear and clean and of quite extensive range.  (Readers may remember that in 2002, Kutan reaped critical acclaim for taking over the role of Lakmé for the Michigan Opera and singing back-to-back performances.  During every performance of the famous Bell Song, she shocked listeners by interpolating a sustained G above high C during the opening vocalise.)