Glass Shatterers! 8 Sopranos Scale the Glière Coloratura Concerto final High F (w/Gianna Rolandi)

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

THE MUSIC: Reinhold Glière's "Concerto for Soprano and Orchestra" (Op. 82) was published in 1943, dedicated to the beloved Russian coloratura soprano Deborah Pantofel-Nechetskaya. (Did she record it? I've never seen one from her). Gliere was born in Kyiv, Ukraine in 1875.

It's a grand, slightly schmaltzy concert vocalise for coloratura soprano in two movements: a lush, lyric adagio section followed by an ornate, warbling allegro. It is in the key of F-minor and although a High F is not written into the final measures of score, after 12+ minutes of elaborate vocal gymnastics, it feels like it really should culminate on the high tonic peak. Of the 24 recordings I have, half are able to satisfy the listeners' yearnings by jumping to the F6; the other half decide to pass.

Here are 8 sopranos who dared the F -- and all but Miroshnichenko did so in live or radio broadcast performances (none of these were found on YT at the time of this posting). Other divas who sing the F are already on YT (Gruberova, Hulse, Dessay, and Munger) so seek out those full performances on your own as I do not typically post material that is already available.

I include about the last two minutes for each of these songbirds. Who's your favorite?
1. Ilse Hollweg (1922 - 1990)
2. Eugenia Miroshnichenko (1931 - 2009)
3. Marianne Blok (1941 - 2021)
4. Gianna Rolandi (1952 - 2021)
5. Beverly Hoch
6. Aline Kutan
7. Barbara Kilduff
8. Diana Damrau

CHAPTERS:
0:00 Introduction
0:20 Ilse Hollweg
2:10 Eugenia Miroshnichenko
4:02 Marianne Blok
5:44 Gianna Rolandi
7:40 Beverly Hoch
9:33 Aline Kutan
11:20 Barbara Kilduff
13:18 Diana Damrau