Luciano Pavarotti - Ah mes amis! - Live 1995 at the Met

[tombaker1222]

He performed well past his prime, unfortunately. Great technique will take you so far but at 60 after a career of doing it, he was just tired.

[WANK83]

Thank you for posting this video. It shows us how a great tenor can sometimes have failures. Luciano Pavarotti remains one of the greatest. That's the reason why the Met's audience gave him a warm applause.

Regards from France

[MarceloMadsonCantor]

60 anos e cantando assim!!! Bravo!!!! Não inporta se no lugar do Dó foi a nota Si, Maestro Pavarotti foi o maior e melhor. Bravo!!!!! Bravísssimo!!!!!!

[dtdbtw]

bitches be laughing in the background tsk tsk I must say even I giggled a little bit.... im going to hell for sure

[appeace1]

I am not an expert but even I can tell that Pava is ill and has had or does have laryngitis. I could well imagine attempting the top C's was physically painful; as well as, emotionally painful. Thank God the audience seems to understand what has happened and are very polite in their response!

[mclainster]

Unfortunately, talent always trumps technique which is why Luciano will be remembered as the greatest.

[Doooku]

@NMEnrique

Sorry, you are not sexually attractive to me.

[MawrdewCzgowchwz]

I worked with the man. He was lazy, incredibly self-indulgent with an ego as big as his fat ass, a disgusting misogynist, and he just gave up on maintaining the technique he was building in the late 1960s and early 1970s in favour of going for the money. I can't listen to him anymore.

[MariaCallasLegend]

@MawrdewCzgowchwz You are really an awful person to speak in such way for Luciano Idiot Bitch!Pavarotti was at that time already 62 y.o!!Have you ever hear a singer hit high Cs in his 60s??Are you crazy??I heard him singing a high C in full voice in 2003 when he was 68!!!!!!And if you cant listen him,,there are million people who dont want to hear you!!!IDIOT!!!

[muchogustavo1]

@MariaCallasLegend LISTEN TO FRANCO BONISOLLI HIT HIGH C EVEN AT 60 YEARS OLD!

[MariaCallasLegend]

@muchogustavo1 i hate Bonisolli...bad technic and afwul sound...only good top notes!!

[whiskydreambass]

si ma a parte la fine ha cantato degnamente!!! grande pavarotti!!!

[Doooku]

Wait wait...seriously, was it a joke or something? IS this recording real???? Please don't make fun of it. Thanks please let me know.

[elreydeldo]

es evidente que fué un absoluto desastre. En los ensayos ya se veía venir, pero se encabezono en volver a hacer ya de mayor una de las óperas que le dieron fama en estados unidos. Lo cierto es que fué la única representación que hizo, canceló las demás y es evidente por qué. Una lástima que se haya dejado ver así.

[redhotchiliangel]

@elreydeldo Has visto los ensayos de esta ópera? PUes me gustaría mucho poder verlos, o saber algo de ellos.

[elreydeldo]

@redhotchiliangel he leido sobre los ensayos en alguna que otra biografía suya y parece ser que había bastante gente empeñada en hacerle abrir los ojos, pero se obcecó y este es el resultado. Hablan que si no tenía edad y demás... ¿hasta que edad cantó kraus esta ópera? Pués hasta el final de sus días. Pavarotti siempre ha sido la voz que más me gustaba, pero siempre he tenido la sensación de que sus años auténticamente buenos han sido muy pocos, al menos los que a mi me parecen los mejores.

[redhotchiliangel]

@elreydeldo Es muy interesante lo que me cuentas, realmente yo también estoy con la misma idea de que los años de "esplendor" de Luciano fueron relativamente pocos, a comparación de otros tenores. Sin embargo aún cuando ya no estaba en su época más apta era de los mejores. Y creo que todos los que escuchamos esta grabación estamos de acuerdo en que no debió realizarla. Su voz simplemente ya no era apta para este rol. Saludos desde México, y gracias!

[apologeticacattolica]

I was present at this performance. It was an exceedingly sad evening. I had greeted Pavarotti before the performance and he seemed like he was feigning courage. I went to see him after this act and he was getting lowered into his limousine with a newspaper over his head. Bad choice. But in the long run, it doesn't matter one bit. He was one of the greatest.

[Huljic]

Dear Moorhe,do you have possente amor from somewhere at 90`s he sang high D,it was on youtube earlier,but someone take away it.If you have can you upload please:)?

[TenoreSolo]

Всё равно браво маэстро!!!!

[kikkofarisca]

capita anche ai più grandi di sbagliare ... e soprattutto di avere qualche laringite e sim. ... inoltre è difficile cantare quest'aria a 60 anni a mio parere, anche perchè secondo me la tensione e la paura è più forte ... quindi BRAVO MAESTRO !!! R.I.P.

[1414Dom]

I don't understand cos this is a semitone lower than normal...

[tena2]

Luciano shoud have quit this role. He over mixed repertory to much and was not in good body shape for this extremelly demanding role as Tonio. I am sorry but this is painful.

[zurriussII]

People, Pavarotti was a HUMAN, not a GOD. Callas was not worth "La Divina" because she sometimes cracked, Sutherland was not worth of "La Stupenda" because she sometimes forgot words and Pavarotti was not worth of "King of high C's" because in his 60 he couldn't hit all 9 C's????

COME ON!

And who is left? Farinelli?

Don't try to kill a HUMAN for a mistake because NOBODY is mistaken!

[Corenero]

@zurriussII Wise words !!!

[XP11XP]

He was terrible. There is well-documented proof of his bad technique, including a Bohème and Don Carlo.

[Mooorhe]

@XP11XP

He did not have bad technique.

[scumblejack]

@Mooorhe Okay. Then why could Alfredo Kraus complete this aria in it's original key when he was roughly the same age as Pavarotti. Kraus, Bjoerling, Caruso, Gedda...I can name many, many tenors with better technique than Pavarotti.

[thehix]

@scumblejack Cause Kraus never sang Il Trovatore or Turandot or Aida. That's why. One cannot expect to be able to get back to lirico-leggiero repertory once he has been to the dramatic/spinto side.

[Doooku]

@Mooorhe

He was over-rated for sure. 

[pbarroso001]

@XP11XP

Please see the video here on YouTube named: "Pavarotti's Legendary High C 's". Here he failled, but for me he was the greatest tenor and he sungs those finals 9C`s like anybody.



[Doooku]

@XP11XP

As I always said, he is over-rated. Not because of this recording, but many other occasions and his skill set as a whole. But rest in peace!

[aroncooker]

In other words, he sang pretty damn perfect all the time.... Man I butchered that statement. Haha

[aroncooker]

Oops, I meant you rarely hear him NOT sing perfectly.

[aroncooker]

Oh man this is sad.... Pava was always one to do horribly when he was sick. He was smart to cancel when he was sick. It's how we know him as one of the greatest, you rarely hear a pretty perfect performance. Oh well, we are all still human. I respect him so much for pulling through and attempting the b at the end. Poor guy, must have been scared to death. You can hear how much of his voice is gone due to sickness. There's no height and they are rushing soooo much!

[ChrisStockslager]

@aroncooker Unfortunately, you're right. Sutherland always managed to pull it off very very well even with a cold. Pavarotti --- not so much.

[luisalberto211]

Alguien que tenga buen oído que me confirme si en el momento 5:14 baja medio tono el aria, pues Pavarotti intento interpretar esta difícil aria pero no pudo, aun así es un gran maestro que perdurara por mucho tiempo

[andriv123]

@luisalberto211 Por supuesto, ademas canto una octava abajo los que eran agudos, alguna vez escuche que hubo una presentacion de el gran Pava, donde devolvió el valor de las boletas a los espectadores, supongo que fué en esta. Una mala noche la tiene cualquiera y aún asi tiene una d elas mejores interpretaciones de esta ária en mi gusto y no por esto dejará de ser uno de los top 5 de todos los tiempos.

[tena2]

@andriv123 Y yo me pregunto, en los ensayos le salió el aria entera?? Cantaba los 9 do agudos sin dificultad, por que se deduce que uno canta lo que previamente ha estudiado y practicado. Saludos

[ApolenaRamius]

Oh my God it was terrible. But I have heard that he did better in other performances from 1995.

[chaiter1]

Luciano should've stuck to original and not transpose.

When your voice is used for years to sing a phrase at a certain pitch, once you transpose you are no longer on familiar ground. Crack once and in comes insecurity.And if he started the aria in original key he should've stuck to it. The voice builds up there and then suddenly an abrupt change in pitch bringsit out of focus.

He could sing a perfect C even in 1998 (Surdato n'namurato in Three tenors concert) and as late as 2003 (Stella).

[Mooorhe]

Interesting view, thanks for commenting!

[hansquad]

@chaiter1

Yes, that was in a concert with less pressure, plus, surdato nnamurato was a single high C, not 9Cs on stage which understandably worried him reasonably.

[discovolante21]

Not a good choice for Maestro. He emulated to Alfredo Kraus but failed.

Kraus voice perfectly suited to La fille du Regiment. He sang this aria until his death in original key and never cracked. He has a different kind of voice, very special. Maestro Pavarotti should sang his signature roles like La Boheme in his last years. Anyway, Pav was one of the best tenors ever and nothing can change it.

[loveluciano1]

I think is sad to post this, because is obvious that in this age is very difficult to sing this difficult aria, even for the Great Luciano.

[gtelloz]

@loveluciano1 is not sad, is just interesting. Even great maestros don't have good times always. We must learn from good and bad examples.

[yawillyyama]

Pavarotti at his prime would kick any Tenors Ass with this Aria and he proved it in th elate 60's and 70's

[yawillyyama]

I'd like to see the tenors of today attempt this at 60 Years of age!!

[BJustinBrasfield]

I've read that Pavarotti did much better in other performances of this in 1995. Are any of those recordings on youtube???? I'd like to hear them. Source: the book by Pavarotti's manager (Herbert Breslin).

[GermanOperaSinger]

Choosing to sing this role at age 60 was a wise choice. Aside from the bad cracks on the B naturals, the rest of it was not bad, relatively speaking. Compared with his 1960s-70s performances, yes it was bad, but I wouldn't expect any tenor of today half his age to be singing like this. At least his technique was solid - hell he was 60 years old! Age did him in - not bad technique. 30 year olds nowadays sound older than he did at 60.

[GermanOperaSinger]

Pardon, I meant to say - was NOT a wise choice.

[ConnonTenor]

Ah well, when I first saw this I thought it said 1965 and I swear I thought it was a mistake when I read 95. Wouldn't have thought he would have tried to do it at that age and with that illness. I say well done.

[Nater389]

Eww...ouch. Mooorhe, good to see you are still around. It has been a while since you have posted. Man I don't know why he thought he could get through this. The crowd seemed to have understood the uniqueness and meaning of the situation. Thanks again Mooorhe.

[ShawDAMAN]

Glad to see you're still alive and kicking :-P :)

Thanks for sharing this. I've been curious to hear it. Poor guy, must have been embarrassing. The audience was pretty kind though.

[aaronsande]

Wow. I take that back...hadn't gotten to the transposed, still cracking, parts. Argh!

[aaronsande]

Well...congratulations? That was, I think, the worst rendition of this aria I've heard by a seasoned pro! Of course, I've not listened to today's singers on this aria, except for Florez ;D I'm sure many of them could do worse than this.