@jthom606 He always sang out of the side of his mouth. When I first heard him at Constitution Hall in Washington DC it was even more pronounced. That was a dozen years before the stroke.
@BariBass18 Schade dass er so früh gestorben ist. Vorallem weil er eine Stimmlähmung vor seinem Tod erlitt. Muss für so einen Sänger ein Todesurteil sein.
@Heldenbariton1 He could sing Heldenbariton roles as well as Bass roles and also Baritone roles. Personally I don't give a Fach!!! If you can sing the role, just sing it! Just saying that he could sing so much repertoire that others could not!
London's voice was a fantastic instrument. One in a million? I doubt there are any matches for him. Yes, there were bigger voices, but how many George Londons have come down the pike? Like Ruffo, suis generis. At least, we have his recordings.
¡¡El Magnifico London!!, uno de los mayo- res artistas de una epoca ¡¡Gloriosa!!; su interpretacion, en esta parte, es de enor- me altura, y de enorme calidad, de un ni- vel que va de lo sobrio, a lo tremendo de de vil, como es Yago; realmente London, sin ningun "Cliche", con su gran sobrie- dad, la de un Gran Cantante/Actor, compo ne una Magnifica personificacion por todo concepto. Incluso queda muy bien, como una version moderna, con el Smoking.
This is a baritone aria sung by a bass baritone. One wouldn't usually expect the Wotan voice to handle this at all, so his performance is excellent, given that he realy shouldn't be demanding this tessitura and set of colors from his particular instrument.
Iago's tessitura isn't as high as that of some other Verdi baritone roles. Oher bass-baritones, such as Justino Diaz and James Morris, sang the entire role successfully --
Indeed, but one needn't sing those notes full out. Gobbi didn't. Nor did Morris. If you have a strong high G, you can touch a decent A. I know that from experience:) -- -
But I'd still consider a role with several high A naturals and some sustained F sharps one with a somewhat high range, just like most other Verdi baritone roles. I don't think that Iago's tessitura is lower than for example Renato's.
OK, perhaps not, and I must concede that I haven't consulted the score. But from what I've read about this role, it seems less consistently high than some others in Verdi. Yes, there are As (though once again, they needn't be sung full out) and a few F sharps. My impression, however, is that Verdi doesn't keep Iago in the passaggio for most of the role; and that's really the key. Sustained passaggio singing is more exhausting than any other tessitura. To be continued:) --
If Iago were as high as Renato or Miller, bass-baritones like Hotter and Morris (am pretty sure that van Dam and Estes took it on as well) couldn't have sung it. My last voice teacher has been a Met tenor for 19 years. He told me a role's range is much less important than its overall tessitura; some, several and even many high notes aren't difficult IF the composer doesn't plunk you primarily in the passaggio. That (I know from experience:) will wear you out, big time --
He had a good sense of humor and a great voice. When he was young he went on a date with beverly sills! Her name was Silverman and his Bernstein, anyhow I heard him in concert and met him afterwards, he was a good friend of mario lamza and he moved around a lot. mario's mom who I knew very well said he used to kid around and called himself "the wandering Jew!" He was well over 6 feet and so was his voice, nice gentleman. He sang with Lanza in the bel canto trio in the 40's but he went opera.
I am always far impressed by GLs performances,but also I think this was not really relaxed and confortable singing, to much pressure (which in my sense maybe was one of his later vocal problems). Can someone tell me what really happened to him?
Sorry for my English: George London had an medical operation in the middle of the 60s where they destroyed parts of his throat (in german: sie zerstörten aus Versehen ein Stimmband). He had to cancel his Ring-Wotan in Bayreuth. And in 1967 he finished his career as a singer but started a career as opera-director. U
For me he is one of the greatest bass-baritones i have ever heard!
I don't know if it had to do with his singing technique. I don't think so.
Soweit ich weiss begann die Stimmbandlähmung schon im Jahr 1961. Also vor der Operation.Dazu meine ich, dass das permanente, auf stimmliche Expansion konzentrierte Hochdrucksingen damit wahrscheinlich in Zusammenhang zu bringen ist. - Für mich ist London auch ein grossartiger Sänger-Darsteller, aber bestimmt nicht ein begandeter Vokaltechniker
London had NO "medical operation," much less any that "destroyed parts of his throat." These are assertions without supporting evidence. London was diagnosed with a paralyzed vocal cord circa 1961. It didn't affect his singing significantly for at least two more years. Circa 1965, he had a Teflon injection in the paralyzed cord, which restored his voice to its former quality. He could not, however, regain its former strength. Nora London covers this in "Aria For George" ---
As I recall -- it's been a while since I read Nora London's book -- George had hepatitis while singing in Israel circa
1960. The virus apparently contributed to his paralyzed vocal cord. I can relate. 16 years ago, a viral infection partially paralyzed one of MY vocal cords. It killed my head voice and left my vibrato wobbly. I hope to regain at least some of the voice eventually. Currently, however, I have no place to vocalize --
Honor a quien honor merece, Bravo maestro London!! Una inspiracion y ejemplo para todo cantante. Una bravia interpretacion con una intimidante mirada y con precensia nobiliaria.
fully how he always pulls his lips to the left like that. actually adds character. of course he had a great voice. probably sounded like you were getting het in the chest with a cannon ball.
That last 30 seconds is so thrilling and at the same time, chilling! What great acting (in a tux yet!) One of the all time greats! I believe that he and Mario Lanza came up at the same time and knew each other somewhat. What different avenues their careers took,... Mario seduced by the instant gratification of movies and George going on to be one of the legends in operatic history.
I have heard this voice so often, but never seen him sing before. I used to have a vinyl LP of him which I loaned to a friend who thought he may be a singer. He wasn't and I never saw the LP again. Thankfully I found a CD of him when singing in San Fransisco in 2004, nearly twenty years later!
You're right! Mario and George actually sang together in a group called the Bel Canto Trio (along with soprano Frances Yeend, I believe) before they got their big breaks. I can't imagine hearing such a group!
London is my idol above all. The greatest singer, with the greatest voice. I'm just born to late to have the chance to hear him on stage. Rest in peace.
bloody hell - look at the pure evil he can bring out of iago!! did he ever do this role on stage? perfect casting: correli as otello, london as iago - what ya all think?
TV in the 60s, hmmm. Here is George, dressed in a tux, lacking only a tray of martinis to serve at this suburban garden party, and yet he is able to chill us to the core with Iago's malevolent evil. What a scary guy!!!
good God his hands are huge...
trevorm74 4 months ago
He had a stroke at some point, and it changed his face a little--perhaps he was paralyzed. But, maybe that's how he always sang!
jthom606 4 months ago
@jthom606 He always sang out of the side of his mouth. When I first heard him at Constitution Hall in Washington DC it was even more pronounced. That was a dozen years before the stroke.
Agorante 1 month ago
NOCH MAL AN ALLE DIE DAS NICHT WISSEN: GEORGE LONDON IST KEIN BASS-BARITON SONDERN EIN HELDENBARITON
Heldenbariton1 6 months ago
His voice is like a velveteen cannon. I always wondered why he sings out of the corner of his mouth?
KaleidoscopeAct 6 months ago
Je n'aimais déjà pas ce timbre guttural et truqué;en le voyant chanter,je persiste en pleine connaissance.
abracadabranque 7 months ago
Was für eine brachiale Stimme. Einfach unfassbar!
Heldenbariton1 8 months ago
@Heldenbariton1 Das ist so wahr!
BariBass18 7 months ago
@BariBass18 Schade dass er so früh gestorben ist. Vorallem weil er eine Stimmlähmung vor seinem Tod erlitt. Muss für so einen Sänger ein Todesurteil sein.
Heldenbariton1 6 months ago
The true Bass-Baritone! There will never be another to match him! The range of roles he could sing was incredible!
BariBass18 9 months ago
@BariBass18 George London is not a Bass-Bariton....he´s a Heldenbariton.
Heldenbariton1 8 months ago
@Heldenbariton1 He could sing Heldenbariton roles as well as Bass roles and also Baritone roles. Personally I don't give a Fach!!! If you can sing the role, just sing it! Just saying that he could sing so much repertoire that others could not!
BariBass18 7 months ago
London's voice was a fantastic instrument. One in a million? I doubt there are any matches for him. Yes, there were bigger voices, but how many George Londons have come down the pike? Like Ruffo, suis generis. At least, we have his recordings.
dynomax101 10 months ago
Great!!!!
omarchidofine 11 months ago
the aura of Wotan in within him :)
SuperDarchangel 1 year ago
you're taling about a singer. I'm thinking of a composer, who reached his apex when he has 74 years old. That's patience!
lehar 1 year ago
WOW!
REDWINGNUT1927 1 year ago
Incredible a bass-baritone!!!!!
monpitt500 1 year ago
I adored London's Boris, Wotan, Dutchman, et. al.. However, a Verdi baritone he never was!!!
DonPaolissimo 1 year ago
@DonPaolissimo Yeah, I totally agree with you!
robertwbecker 1 year ago
danibal54 2 years ago
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ilovecollecting 2 years ago
Hans Hotter sings this aria even more comfortably, and he was no baritone and one heck of a Wotan.
keithtwa 2 years ago
If you doudt his voice - search for his Wangner, especially his Wotan
Rattywotin 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Well, well...he sounds a little bit to much like Leonard Warren. That´s pity.
EdwardofKent 2 years ago
Would that more of today's baritones sounded like Leonard Warren...
BorisGodunov 2 years ago
canadian born, but sent from heaven.
ruffoite 2 years ago
Omen!.... it is best iago from last century
Rigoletto69 2 years ago
+ 10 !!!!! IMMORTALE !!!!!
bodiloto 2 years ago
Don't move ! Just see if you can "Stand And Deliver " !
Ah yes...you'll do........we can use you.
hrrogersjr 2 years ago
This is a baritone aria sung by a bass baritone. One wouldn't usually expect the Wotan voice to handle this at all, so his performance is excellent, given that he realy shouldn't be demanding this tessitura and set of colors from his particular instrument.
johndlabella 2 years ago
Iago's tessitura isn't as high as that of some other Verdi baritone roles. Oher bass-baritones, such as Justino Diaz and James Morris, sang the entire role successfully --
stevevandien 2 years ago
Only by ducking the high As in the drinking song and other high notes elsewhere.
BorisGodunov 2 years ago
Actually, there are some written A naturals in this part. 'Inaffia l'ugola'... the 'bevi, bevi bevi con me' parts.
piasecznik 2 years ago
Indeed, but one needn't sing those notes full out. Gobbi didn't. Nor did Morris. If you have a strong high G, you can touch a decent A. I know that from experience:) -- -
stevevandien 2 years ago
So do I ;)
But I'd still consider a role with several high A naturals and some sustained F sharps one with a somewhat high range, just like most other Verdi baritone roles. I don't think that Iago's tessitura is lower than for example Renato's.
piasecznik 2 years ago
OK, perhaps not, and I must concede that I haven't consulted the score. But from what I've read about this role, it seems less consistently high than some others in Verdi. Yes, there are As (though once again, they needn't be sung full out) and a few F sharps. My impression, however, is that Verdi doesn't keep Iago in the passaggio for most of the role; and that's really the key. Sustained passaggio singing is more exhausting than any other tessitura. To be continued:) --
stevevandien 2 years ago
If Iago were as high as Renato or Miller, bass-baritones like Hotter and Morris (am pretty sure that van Dam and Estes took it on as well) couldn't have sung it. My last voice teacher has been a Met tenor for 19 years. He told me a role's range is much less important than its overall tessitura; some, several and even many high notes aren't difficult IF the composer doesn't plunk you primarily in the passaggio. That (I know from experience:) will wear you out, big time --
stevevandien 2 years ago
He had a good sense of humor and a great voice. When he was young he went on a date with beverly sills! Her name was Silverman and his Bernstein, anyhow I heard him in concert and met him afterwards, he was a good friend of mario lamza and he moved around a lot. mario's mom who I knew very well said he used to kid around and called himself "the wandering Jew!" He was well over 6 feet and so was his voice, nice gentleman. He sang with Lanza in the bel canto trio in the 40's but he went opera.
pearlmuth3 3 years ago
Ja, das wird wohl so sein.
vonmeppen 3 years ago
I am always far impressed by GLs performances,but also I think this was not really relaxed and confortable singing, to much pressure (which in my sense maybe was one of his later vocal problems). Can someone tell me what really happened to him?
wotansings 3 years ago
Sorry for my English: George London had an medical operation in the middle of the 60s where they destroyed parts of his throat (in german: sie zerstörten aus Versehen ein Stimmband). He had to cancel his Ring-Wotan in Bayreuth. And in 1967 he finished his career as a singer but started a career as opera-director. U
For me he is one of the greatest bass-baritones i have ever heard!
I don't know if it had to do with his singing technique. I don't think so.
vonmeppen 3 years ago
Soweit ich weiss begann die Stimmbandlähmung schon im Jahr 1961. Also vor der Operation.Dazu meine ich, dass das permanente, auf stimmliche Expansion konzentrierte Hochdrucksingen damit wahrscheinlich in Zusammenhang zu bringen ist. - Für mich ist London auch ein grossartiger Sänger-Darsteller, aber bestimmt nicht ein begandeter Vokaltechniker
wotansings 3 years ago
London had NO "medical operation," much less any that "destroyed parts of his throat." These are assertions without supporting evidence. London was diagnosed with a paralyzed vocal cord circa 1961. It didn't affect his singing significantly for at least two more years. Circa 1965, he had a Teflon injection in the paralyzed cord, which restored his voice to its former quality. He could not, however, regain its former strength. Nora London covers this in "Aria For George" ---
stevevandien 2 years ago
I find this performances great. He had a paralisys on his vocal cords (I think in one) because a nervous system disease
aguacun 3 years ago
As I recall -- it's been a while since I read Nora London's book -- George had hepatitis while singing in Israel circa
1960. The virus apparently contributed to his paralyzed vocal cord. I can relate. 16 years ago, a viral infection partially paralyzed one of MY vocal cords. It killed my head voice and left my vibrato wobbly. I hope to regain at least some of the voice eventually. Currently, however, I have no place to vocalize --
stevevandien 2 years ago
George London studied with the same teacher in NYC as did Nicolai Gedda. She was Paola Novikova. Wonderful technique!
yt4la 3 years ago
Another great, great Jago: Aldo Protti.
sirenadellopera 3 years ago
Honor a quien honor merece, Bravo maestro London!! Una inspiracion y ejemplo para todo cantante. Una bravia interpretacion con una intimidante mirada y con precensia nobiliaria.
camonzongo 3 years ago
A LEGEND!!! Listen to the colour in that voice!
drdre333 3 years ago 9
yeah, that voice was a one-in-a-million.
sirenadellopera 3 years ago 5
did you listen him Verdi's Requiem Eugen Ormandy in Chicago as the bass, and what bass
egymagyar1111111 3 years ago
fully how he always pulls his lips to the left like that. actually adds character. of course he had a great voice. probably sounded like you were getting het in the chest with a cannon ball.
raythetse 4 years ago 2
terfel also pulls his mouth to the side. London is a phenom.
raycanto76 4 years ago
That last 30 seconds is so thrilling and at the same time, chilling! What great acting (in a tux yet!) One of the all time greats! I believe that he and Mario Lanza came up at the same time and knew each other somewhat. What different avenues their careers took,... Mario seduced by the instant gratification of movies and George going on to be one of the legends in operatic history.
bassobari 4 years ago
I have heard this voice so often, but never seen him sing before. I used to have a vinyl LP of him which I loaned to a friend who thought he may be a singer. He wasn't and I never saw the LP again. Thankfully I found a CD of him when singing in San Fransisco in 2004, nearly twenty years later!
cyfieithydd 4 years ago
You're right! Mario and George actually sang together in a group called the Bel Canto Trio (along with soprano Frances Yeend, I believe) before they got their big breaks. I can't imagine hearing such a group!
mxl2003 3 years ago
He sings it very well, but when the high G apperas, he seems to be sleeping as he finds it sooo easy!!!!!Wow
Elgranbajo 4 years ago 2
London is my idol above all. The greatest singer, with the greatest voice. I'm just born to late to have the chance to hear him on stage. Rest in peace.
marcobonnet 4 years ago 2
London was the man. A voice of a generation.
jrrtex 4 years ago 2
awesome, what a voice. It is tragic that he never was Wotan in Bayreuth
augustseider 4 years ago
bloody hell - look at the pure evil he can bring out of iago!! did he ever do this role on stage? perfect casting: correli as otello, london as iago - what ya all think?
cyfair02 4 years ago
Fantastic. What a beautiful black tone....and such squillo to boot. A truly rare instrument.
Hako2004 4 years ago
Absolutely, one of the greatest. His Dutchman surprises all. Anybody who admires this artist should read his wife Nora's biography of the man.
cdgray2 4 years ago
TV in the 60s, hmmm. Here is George, dressed in a tux, lacking only a tray of martinis to serve at this suburban garden party, and yet he is able to chill us to the core with Iago's malevolent evil. What a scary guy!!!
stephpwall 4 years ago
holy shit
ah332 4 years ago
Indeed.
Agorante 4 years ago