George London sings the "Te Deum" from Tosca

[frankmaiorana66]

I own highlights recording of Tosca with Renata Tebaldi, Mario Del Monaco, and George London. @stevevandien the Te Deum you first heard may be from the recording I have. London is magnificent. That is a baritone!!

[Gabvelri]

This man, LONDON, IS Scarpia... Puccini just knew he would be born one day to sing his lines!

Tho voice is COLOSSAL, it does not respect the limits of nature, and that is exactly what it takes!!!

[Heldenbariton1]

Der beste Scarpia aller Zeiten!

[abracadabranque]

Le récitatif commençait plutôt bien,le ton et le jeu y étaient crédibles;quand le chant intervient celà se gâte.Mais au moins,on l'entend au milieu du choeur.

[MissPieknaJola]

I love his voice !! He has wonderful voice and great technic !!!

[dynomax101]

@jp40798 Sure sounds Scarpianate though! Evil bastard! Bravo, George London!

[leouija]

Did anyone ever notice that George London's Scarpia inspired the Dr. Seuss's Grinch? The sideways slide of the jaw, the curl of the eyebrow (which has a life of its own), the liquefied evil incarnate!!!! It's all there, dripping with magnificent evil and rich life-affirming devilishness.

[RVP57]

JESUS EFFIN CHRIST................

[Bquillamus]

The only thing strange with London here is that neither the orchestra nor the chorus could keep up with his strong and magnificent voice!

[dnettles]

Thank you. What a voice! What a performance!

[Fegen]

One of the greatest singers to ever appear on the stage of the Met Opera House

in New York City. Terrific performance here.

[jorfel49]

I too find that even though it is vocally extraordinary, I feel the lack of something in his performance, the accent does not help but it is not that either, there seem to be segments when he loses the melody somehow or perhaps cuts the words short....not being musically trained I can't pinpoint closer than that.

[Wolts1983]

La più scura e potente voce da baritono nella storia dell'opera, assieme a Titta Ruffo.

[Cantormatis]

vocally very exciting- but I don't find him very convincing for some reason. I dunno why- maybe I just hear him as a "German singer" even though he was a Jewish boy! His approach reminds me of Darth Vader for some reason!

[MastersoftheOpera]

Personally, George London is the BEST Scarpia. He is monstrous, with a big voice and very powerful, just as Scarpia should be. Tito Gobbi did not sing it this good. He is more sly and sneaky but a true Scarpia has to be a monster. I liked London ever since I heard his Scarpia opposite Leontyne Price in the 1962 Karajan album.

[VinylToVideo]

Him and Warren are my two favorites in this role.

[flavikio]

The best TOSCA Past,present and future:

Renata Tebaldi,Mario Del Monaco,George London.

Decca classics.

[clydesight]

I like this performance very much, George London brings out the real villainy of Scarpia! I usually like Tito Gobbi, but this is also excellent! Thank you for the video.

[bodiloto]

Sublime London Grazie !***********infinite!

[Jozh487]

perhaps the greatest bass to have lived.

he carries over the orchestra and chorus like they are nothing.

[cleanears]

Absolutely luscious!

[HeldenB]

Absolutely incredible...George was the business. Gobbi?! please!! Well... he had chutzpah I'll give him that... but his was one of the biggest fake careers in the history of opera. Good actor??? Ham with a capital H. And he shouted his way through Scarpia to hide the fact that his voice was dry as an old goat's with no top!

[noregrets54]

He is unbelievabel, what a voice.

[leadoffeohippus]

Lol the spoletta in this is hilarious.

[billyguns2]

Interesting how the two singers speak rather than sing Puccini's written note pitches at the beginning; also, I think the tempo is too fast and lacks grandeur. London is magnificent, of course, one of the great Scarpias. He is also wonderful on the magnificent Tebaldi/Del Monaco recording.

[piasecznik]

@billyguns2

The only note that isn't on-pitch is Spoletta's 'gno' in 'sta bene il convegno', I think.

[tomzoricic]

The most magnificent Scarpia in history

[Chiliarches]

Vocally...maybe. Gobbi is still the interpretive master.

[BorisGodunov]

You know... I love Gobbi, don't get me wrong... but watching his videos today, I don't think his interpretation has aged very well. His acting is rather hammy by modern standards. I would still prefer London, who keeps it more suave and sophisticated, but still quite menacing.

[Chiliarches]

I base my preference for Gobbi more off the famous recording than the clips on YouTube...

[tertium0auris]

Maybe, he is great!

But do you know Scarpia by Leonard Warren?

[lozzarus]

@tomzoricic PASQUALE AMATO AND RICCARDO STRACCIARI GIVE EQUALLY

GOOD RENDITIONS OF THIS ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANT ARIAS EVER WRITTEN FOR THE BARITONE VOICE IN ALL OPERA.

[epetkin]

@lozzarus

Silvano Carroli in his younger days is my favorite, he's not well known.

[epetkin]

@tomzoricic

Ever hear a young Silvano Carroli? I think he beats them all.

[pearlmuth3]

Yes George Burnstein and Beverly Silverman had a date when both where very young but no match. Burnstein became London and Silverman, Sills! He had a throat problem later that had nothing to do with the way he sang and he then became sick with a MS like disease and died in his 60's. I was lucky enough to hear him in concert and met him afterwards, tall polished and a great voice. I still have his signature in a book about Lanza whom he sang with in 1947, the bel canto trio.

[sagalat]

Great reminiscense! So what do you think of Jacomini's "Ch'ella mi credo'?

[nickcowie]

Giacomini

[rustywrh]

Simply one of the all-time greatest voices ever. Thanks for posting this amazing video which captures this great singer in one of his greatest roles!!!

[Lyonseyes]

jesus christ !!!

[zciweslab]

I bet his singing made the whole house shake!

tremendous!

[Matt54e]

great voice but he seems to be singing out of time all over the place... ?

[BernardProfitendieu]

the perfect Scarpia!

[orthochrom]

thank you

[Cantermann]

Simply... the best...

[tenorismo]

his scene always makes me want to genuflect and make the sign of the cross lol

[lordeikrem]

George London is a god. thanks for the video.

[arturovilla02]

great, amazing, awesome, breath taking!

[zs1968]

STRAORDINARIO!!!!!

[sagalat]

Am still shaking. An immediate Favorite. This is as good as it gets. Bravo!

[stevevandien]

When and where was this? A splendid version -- and one of my sentimental favorites, since the first "Te Deum" I heard was a London recording:) --

[primobaritono]

This is from the Staatsoper Stuttgart, 1961.

[stevevandien]

Thanks:). I was pretty sure this wasn't much later than '61, because that final high note just sails out there like a laser beam -- the paralyzed vocal cord didn't cut severely into London's powers for another couple years or so --

[redsox2213]

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH

[DragTas]

Well if his Scarpia doesn't instill the fear of God in Tosca I don't know who would.