Glass Shatterers! Judy Berry & Lani Misenas - Donizetti: LINDA DI CHAMOUNIX, O luce, High Gs

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

Two little-known coloratura sopranos from the 1980s performing Linda's showy aria in recital with piano accompaniment -- and both with a final High G! These recordings were so similar, that had to be paired together.

THE SONGBIRDS: Judy Berry received her Master of Music from Binghamton University in New York and sang many roles with the local company, Tri-Cities Opera including Violetta, Nedda, Gilda, Juliette, Lakmé, and Lucia. She was in the company of the world premiere of John Adams’ "Nixon in China" at the Houston Grand Opera in 1987 and continued with its tour around the world. Berry sang regionally with opera companies in Baltimore, Knoxville, Mississippi, Virginia, Pittsburgh, Ithaca, and Berkshire. This clip is from a 1987 recital.

Lani Misenas-Padua (1955 - 2015) was born in the Philippines. She studied music there, and then at Juilliard in New York on scholarship. She appeared with regional U.S. opera companies (Butterfly and Gilda in Springfield, Blonde in the Bronx, and Queen of the Night with Sarah Caldwell and as a cover at NYCO). She was active in many musical groups/organizations and was a versatile recitalist -- her programs included lieder and melodies, arias, Broadway and standards, operetta, and always several soaring Filipino art songs. She performed for former Presidents Aquino and Marcos. This clip is from a 1986 recital.

THE MUSIC: I think it was Erie Mills I heard in a radio interview refer to "O luce di quest'anima" as the coloratura soprano's national anthem. It is the entrance aria for the title character from Donizetti's "Linda di Chamounix," which premiered in Vienna in 1842 but never really caught on with the public in part due to its tone: it's a melodrama with light and dark elements in a genre known as "opera semiseria." Though the full opera is rarely performed, this aria is ubiquitous in recitals and concerts due to its catchy, repetitive tune and bravura elements.