This page contains snips of Internet postings of other Devia fans.
If you want to contribute with your comments please send me email! Thank you.
 

I must agree that Devia's musicianship IS something else.  I have her Elisabetta al Castello di Kenilworth...besides giving me the thrill of hearing a rare 19th century work, the recording exposed me to this wonderful singer!  Her rendition of the final aria (one of the most florid I have ever heard) was perfection itself...I, for one, will definitely be on the lookout for more of her  recordings!

D.F. -- rec.music.opera
 

Delighted to hear there are other Devia fans out there. I have heard nothing but excellent performances from her (2 Lucias, 2 Konstanzes and Nannetta at the Met and the PURITANI Elvira with OONY). She is that rare thing, and artist who has improved over the course of a 20-year international career. [...] the top is spectacular (I have a tape of that FILLE from La Scala and several operatic professionals have volunteered independently that her E flats remain "the best in the business") and the bottom substantial  in ways we don't expect from such a voice- this helps her Constanze stand out.

Devia is a fine musician and an incredible technician- the cadenza of the LUCIA Mad Scene displayed some of the most remarkable vocal control I've ever heard, and the crowd hung on every note. The broadcast CAPULETI from OONY also found her in sensational form.

D.S. -- rec.music.opera
 

her astonishing accuracy in florid music of any kind ([...] she sports a genuine trill up to the top of her range and sings staccati in tune) has ensured that I shall never FORGET what she sounds like.

B.M. -- rec.music.opera
 

Devia's absence from 'official' recordings [...] is one of the major scandals of our vocal age.

P.K. -- rec.music.opera
 
 
In conclusion, all I can say is "three cheers for the pirates--may they thrive and prosper. And may they issue such gems as the Parisina with Mariella Devia

T.K. -- rec.music.opera
 
 
I picked up a Bongiovanni release (GB-2513-2) of the wonderful Italian diva in a live concert recorded on June 4, 1992 in Lugano. Simply put, it is magnificent. She does a lot of Bellini: "O quante volte" from "Capuleti," "Come per me sereno" from "Sonnambula" and "Qui la voce...vien diletto" from "Puritani," the last selection being especially beautifully sung, glorious legato and honeyed tone. It is real bel canto. She does a first-class job with the Mad Scene from "Lucia," and gives astonishingly fine renditions of three French arias--"Je veux vivre" from "Romeo," an exquisite "Depuis le jour" from "Louise" and, what is easily the finest piece on the recording, Lakme's "Bell Song" sung as I've never heard it before--gorgeous colors, spectacular coloratura and bravura style.

M.L. -- OPERA-L
 

Mariella Devia is quite possibly Italy's finest and most revered belcanto soprano today. Personally, I do not know of another singer alive who sings this repertoire with greater technical perfection, tonal splendor, and poetic sensitivity.  [...] the singing shows a finely-judged
balance of the lyrical and the dramatic, imbued with such warmth and loveliness of spirit -- qualities reminiscent of that celebrated Italian soprano of the 19th century, Giulia Grisi (1811-69).

I shall never forget the PURITANI of May 8, 1995, with Devia, and Queler conducting the Opera Orchestra of New York.  I arrived at the concert fully expecting to be dazzled by the art of a great belcantist.  Nothing, however, had quite prepared me for the animalistic pandemonium that greeted her spectacular Act I showpiece "Son vergine vezzosa".  I was left breathless by
the complete naturalness and abandon with which the singer tossed off the millions of roulades, trills, and runs.  The infectious zest and romp of the singing was irresistable.  The whole episode was capped by an astonishing, glorious high D-flat, fortissimo, held for what seemed like an eternity. Bellini told his librettist, Count Pepoli: "Opera, through singing, must leave one shuddering, weeping, dying."  In this case, he might very well have added the word, "demented"!!!

Devia's lyrical gift is equally matched by her dramatic utterance. During the largo concertato of the Act I finale, when Elvira meets her bridegroom Arturo, her voice, dolcissimo, swelled and fell amid the ensemble in several exquisite, magical messa di voce ("oooooooOOOOOOoooohh contento"), while time seemed to stand still in blissful wonder... In the Act II "Qui la voce" and the ensuing cabaletta "Vien diletto", the heroine's mental instability and anguish were appropriately conveyed in stunning bravura and melting legato tinged with pathetic overtones.  Then, in Act III, when Arturo asks the deranged Elvira how long they have been separated, her reply - "tre secoli" (three centuries) - was rendered with the most profound pathos and despair, that to this day still brings tears to my eyes. [...]

To the true connoisseur, the art of Mariella Devia offers not only the pleasure of the finest singing, but also the sobering reminder of the great artists of the past (Grisi, Patti, Tetrazzini, Galli-Curci, Dal Monte), and how much this Grand Tradition has been irrevocably lost.

Viva Devia!

T. -- OPERA-L
 

You must absolutely go when Devia sings:I heard her last year in Genoa and she was strepitous!!!! [...] she sings as nobody else: she is perfect!!!! I think that the biggest emotion from her is the perfection of her way of singing, and even if her voice is not warm you will jump on the seat when you hear her Follie, Follie! Sempre libera degg'io!!!

D. -- rec.music.opera
 

A terrific Linda di Chamonix in concert at the Festival Hall. All the singers were excellent [...] Mariella Devia was better than excellent.
 

C.L. -- rec.music.opera
 

her Amenaide is the best!

S. -- rec.music.opera
 

Devia deserves the stardom that was achieved by Lily Pons or Roberta Peters.

C.C. -- rec.music.opera
 

I like her too!

D.K. -- rec.music.opera