Sherrill Milnes sings the Prologue from Pagliacci

[Beth29252]

I do have to agree that this is not Milnes at his best. There are too many moments of flatness(though I repeat he is not the first singer to sing flat and never will be) and his G left a lot to be desired. However, I don't agree that this performance was painful, his entrance was brilliant, his A flat was above-acceptable and I have never known Milnes to stand-there-and-sing in any of his performances and it is not the case here. But the 1978 performance at the Met is far better.

[billsav57]

This is not the best example by which to judge Milnes. But IMHO nobody came close to Warren with this.

[clarksc1988]

4:27  "MAH-OH-OO-do"

Captain Hook!

[emeric1952]

went on a little to long. A shame.

[seektheforce]

Pavel Lisitsian does a wonderful rendition of this aria as well.

[mistalala]

@seektheforce

totally agree!!!

Warren is my favourite, but i recently heard Lisitsian and he is really great

[prodesica]

Povero, è alla frutta.

[MariaCaIIas]

Even when a voice like that is pushing, as commented by some, it can take it and sound dramatic and effective as opposed to light voices singing this repertory pushing and spreading all over the place...

By the way the term "spinto", so loved by opera devotees, does convey the notion of "pushed"!

[Sebastian740]

Milnes had problems later in in his career. I heard him do this early on and he was much much better

[AUDIOPHlLE]

Oh this is awful. Maybe he should concentrate more on singing than dancing around like a fruitcake.

[Nater389]

He has a tough time here. He is old, and almost too old to be singing this aria. Type "si puo 1978" and you'll here him nail this aria in an actual production. It is probably one of the best versions on youtube. Check it out.

[AUDIOPHlLE]

Too old? Leonard Warren's is my favorite rendition of this aria and although he died 11 years before hitting the age Milnes was here I'm sure he'd of sung it just as well at age 60 as he ever did. Milnes just had a poor technique; singers like Tucker, Peerce, and Peters showed us singing well has nothing to do with age and there's no doubt in my mind had Warren (and Tucker too; died while still performing at 61) not died at such a young age he would have continued singing into their 70s or 80s.

[Nater389]

Listen to 1978 Milnes Si Puo on youtube. Everyones voice ages differently. MILNES, (not Tucker, Peerce, or Peters) was almost too old to be singing that aria in front of people. He obviously, was losing control of whatever technique he had, which I know wasn't the greatest to begin with. However, in his prime he was fantastic. There are videos on youtube to prove it.

[Nater389]

Lol...besides, you have to agree, he hits the high notes rather well for his age, and longer than most young baritones.

[AUDIOPHlLE]

Yes there's no doubt EARLY Milnes was fantastic but in my opinion he never touched Warren in greatness. In fact many believe the young Milnes was trying to imitate Warren but it was too much for him and look what happened.

[Nater389]

@AUDIOPHlLE You would have to listen to Milnes do this in 1978 in the video here on youtube. It is great. The high a in it is comparable to the best. The G following at the end is powerful as all hell. Search "si puo 1978"

[AUDIOPHlLE]

Oh I've heard it. While it is great it's also obvious he's pushing his voice too much, probably to sound more like Warren who was the best singing this.

[Nater389]

@AUDIOPHlLE Pushing? Thats back before he had to push...before 1980. I really feel that Milnes and Warren have unique voices, and I haven't heard an A-flat in another rendition of Si Puo that gets me as excited as Milnes's Met performance in 1978.

[optiph1]

"Milnes just had poor technique."

Wow. I don't even know what to say to you...except that you're wrong.

[AUDIOPHlLE]

@optiph1 How am I wrong? If he had a good technique his voice would of lasted a hell of a lot longer than it did. The fact that he's as awful as he is here proves it.

[optiph1]

@AUDIOPHlLE I'm not saying his technique is the best ever, I'm saying you have to have good technique to even be as good as he was at his prime. People with poor technique DO NOT sound as good as he did.

[AUDIOPHlLE]

@optiph1 You're completely wrong. Di Stefano is another example of the exact same thing that happened to Milnes. With a horrible technique the best lyric tenor voice around was ruined in less than 15 years. Singers with solid techniques can sing well into their 60s and 70s no problem though this kind of integrity is rare and obviously Milnes never had it. Perhaps if he had he wouldn't of sounded like a hack here.

[AfroPoli]

@AUDIOPHlLE You are right. Milnes did not last long. I heard his Scarpia in the early 1990s. He was awful already then. Di Stefano never sounded that bad, actually.

[gaddydar]

Obviously, you don't even know wht the lyrics say:

You, instead of our poor clown's dressing, considerour souls... poor dilettante...

[tenorismo]

He became famous because of the RCA recording in the early 70's he made with Domingo . Hes horrible.

[vilabreze]

Sherrill Milnes is Sherrill Milnes, not a student from a vocal school whose talent can be doubted. His name carries the recognition and respect which come from a long and productive artistic carrier.

To all of you who like to criticize:

Read his autobiography to find out why his voice had problems and don't offer criticisms unless you can sing this well and better.

[Nater389]

I totally agree about that being his technique. It seemed to have worked somewhat well though. Listen to the live Met 1978 version by him. He sounds pretty damn good there. He is much older here and after you see the earlier, you'll see noticeably how hard this version is for him to sing.

[VinylToVideo]

Agreed; truly awful. There is one from when he was younger on here which isn't bad but could be called a cheap imitation of Warren.

[tenorismo]

" Io sono PLoa logoe" Hes terrible Yawoling his way role after role.

[VinylToVideo]

He should have retired probably 10 years before this. It isn't much of a tribute to the great Richard Tucker. Mingo (where's the Do?) and him should both be unknown. What a sickening state opera has been in the last 30 years.

[ShawDAMAN]

Yep this is pretty dreadful. In the 60's and early-mid 70's though he did some fine singing. Great voice, destroyed prematurely for reasons I only partially understand.

[leadoffeohippus]

Yeah this is not good at all. I'm surprised it's got 4 stars, because it should be 2 lol...

However, the Milnes prologue from 1971 uploaded by Glenmed is excellent.

[ShawDAMAN]

Yes his early studio recording of it is good.

[piasecznik]

Strangely, he's not only in bad voice, but he is also out of rhythm quite often, and his Italian pronounciation is a mess. All of this is not there in the 1979 recording. I understand he had voice problems later on in his career, but how can your pronounciation get worse?

[Nater389]

"...but how can your pronounciation get worse?"

It doesn't get worse, you end up getting lazy about it. It is hard to pronounce sometimes.

[halavey]

He sang in 1968 a Luisa Miller I heard with Tucker, Milnes and Caballe that was terrific but Merrill was more a lyric Baritone then Milnes and very beautiful. Merrill held up well and Warren also but died young. This is not Milnes at his best, try to hear the Luisa from the met in 1968', all 3 where great, tucker, caballe and Milnes. I always liked Warren over Tibbett but thats just personal. this must be mid 90's

[klokheten]

Comparison between singers with entirely different talents is rather useless.

No one can deny the greatness of the art of Sherrill Milnes,the originality,virility and vocal stamina. I guess he was singing a little to much into the tenor range,in his early days,and that made his voice lacking freshness in later years. But his stage presence has always been impressing and I believe that he was a stronger actor compared to Merrill but not to Tibbett. Lawrence Tibbett is unique on the operatic stage

[UmutKosman]

Do you know the exact date of this record  ?

Thanks

[nbatterby]

He made a great entrance but his voice is ill focussed and laboured. Nothing like his usual standard

[nolifetilleather]

I notice that a lot of the comments regarding Mr. Milnes singing here are quite negative, but boy he has got stage presence and charisma in this song. And he is very handsome here indeed.

[Vairguy09]

Hook or no hook, we should be so lucky to sing 5% of what he has sung in his career. One music professor of mine said you only have so many high notes, and he is correct. If we had the Ab Milnes sang in this vid, we would have a pretty stellar career. I sang a Master Class with Mr. Milnes in East Lansing, Michigan in 1983, and was his chauffeur, and he was a truly awesome singer, and a man of warmth and character. Bravo Maestro Milnes!

[clymnestre]

He had a sore throat. Milnes is great but not in that video. Del Monaco is better even intuned in bariton score.... Milnes is painful....on that time.

[Snowss]

Oh cielos, que chaleco!!!!

[tenortobe]

I agree with the addict.

[lifesavers234]

This is already into the point of his career where he started using that damn hook for any note above a freaking C... he even hooks into the E at the beginning as if he would have trouble just singing it. I heard him sing Traviata around 1998... still had a huge voice, but it was one big hook... kinda funny.

[raycanto76]

lifesavers...so true. He calls it the " CHAI" method. Too funny. Milnes really had a lyric quality Baritone voice but was swept into doing Iago's and alt of heavy dramatic baritone roles....

[donatello1]

His is a great presence, although this performance may not have been his best, he still gives me chills.

[rovingeye5]

I agree with Donatello-great heart & soul count for a lot!

[Operaddict]

Painful

[Peppi94]

@Operaddict Why is this "painful"? You are insufferable.

[Gerardeus]

Se me hace muy buena voz y un buen cantante en general, pero creo que su voz no es de barítono sino de un tenor oscuro y con una técnica muy pesada. Es ahí donde algunos tenores baritonales, como yo, nos vemos en la necesidad de elegir entre ser un tenor un tanto dramático, o un barítono un tanto lírico. De cualquier forma, digan lo que digan de Sherril Milnes, me gusta como canta y su interpretación se me hace buena. Como dije anteriormente, en general se me hace un buen cantante.

[KingViolist]

Although this is not what I would call a "Bad" performance, if you compare it to the one created earlier in his career, there is hardly any comparison.

I don't know what occured to make his voice fail later in his career, but its sad to think that this man can no longer sing professionally.

[doug92067]

Great artist...great thrill to hear...great pressure on the voice ... equals a great downfall!!!!

[benanescas]

è un grande

[izar1234]

Sad what happened to this once thrilling voice. Flat, flat and flat. And the beauty that was once there almost totally gone.

[tomzoricic]

Excelent Barytone but unfortunately without "squillo"

[josiahgulden]

Are you KIDDING??? Watch/listen to his '91 Fanciulla with Domingo and Daniels. I don't care if he hooks or throws everything way back... in the big spots, you hear Milnes over everything BECAUSE of the squillo. The man had squillo like no other! That's why he was able to sing the rep he sang -- he didn't have the raw size of a Tibbett or a Merrill, but he had the resonance to carry without a problem.

[tenorismo]

I agree Milnes was a flea compared to Tibbett , Merrill , and Protti

[lucpebo]

sherril milnes always to make me happy!

[courtneybaritone01]

What year is this? I know it's in the 90s. He sounds good here. He was still able to sustain pitch at this point. That G is something pretty sweet

[annalbin]

I love Sherrill Milnes. Thanks for posting this! Wonderful!!!