Teresa BERGANZA & Neil Shicoff - duetto from Werther

[amneris54]

quel bel ouvrage ,, çà donne le frisson

[stephpwall]

Sometimes one voice seems more suited to a particular role than anyone else.Neil Shicoff is Werther

[PABLOCARRASCOSA]

¿Nadie nota que Shicoff está muy sobrevalorado? Ni tan elegante como Kraus, ni tan sensible como Gedda, ni tan frágil como Schipa, ni tan idiomático como Thill, ni tan apasionado como Carreras, ni tan inteligente como Domingo. No reúne las características para el papel, la voz a veces es áspera, la cara que pone puede bastar para un Don José vulgar, pero aquí hay que tener algo más que volumen. Algunos cambios de color y volumen fuera de lugar, voz tremolante... Berganza es muy superior.

[DonPaolissimo]

Magnificent tenor. Too bad he left USA due to family problems in the very prime of his career. Cannot get enough of this "Piccolo Corelli"!

[halavey]

No Neil is 60, born in June, 1949. His operatic career spans over 34 years.

[Englishtenor2]

Heard Shicoff the other week singing Mozart and he still sounds great - he must be about 67 n ow...

[DalilaCarmen]

Shicoff is 60:))

[girardje70]

great singers , bravo

[pearlmuth3]

Yes, you say later the top is forced and he was heavier of course sure heavier he is going on 60 years old and sang everything from Butterfly to Luisa Miller and Trovatore. He has sung many roles Grimes etc. he sang and gave his all, more then most over his long career and had a voice always of great squillo and volume with great taste and his faust, romeo and hoffman and lensky don't take a back seat to anyone not even jussi bjorling. Of course Jussi did not sing Hoffman or lensky.

[pearlmuth3]

Kraus, very fine lyric and great top but a small voice i heard him often it did carry but small. Nilsson would bury him you have to be kidding, they would never sing together he sang Boheme once but the 3rd act was too dramatic for him so he never sang it again his Edgardo was very fine in lucia but i also heard pav and neil and they both had bigger voices then kraus but i liked kraus in that role very much, more then pav. in it but not as much as neil who was fantastic in the role.

[pearlmuth3]

You are lucky living in Europe so you can still hear him but I did hear him at the start of his long career and often till he moved to Europe in the early 90's but he did sing in Chicago back in 05' in Tosca and in Carmen, those I heard and he was great. Then in 08' in Tosca in California, sorry i missed that one.

[ilbacioditosca]

Great voice Shicoff, so beautifull sound and line, in here he sound in balance, fresh, later he sung more heavy I think and forced the high range.

Nobody here comment about Berganza who will be a singer remembered in other centuries.

[energyglobal]

Nobody will forget Teresa ! Wonderful voice.

[pearlmuth3]

Kraus is a great singer but a lighter lyric voice. This is a voice with lots of volume on top and squillo, later his best roles where Hoffman and Onegin he was passionate always and still sings. Kraus was wonderful but more a Schipa, Shicoff more a Spinto in terms of power and sang roles such as Luisa Miller, Don Carlo, Trov, Juive. Kraus was beautiful but a much smaller voice, Shicoff had a larger voice then Pav or Bjorling in the house, I heard all 4 of these tenors in house, JB in 1958.

[ilbacioditosca]

Mr remember what Thomas Allen said about the two times he heard the huges voices in Opera, one Vickers, other time Alfredo Kraus high notes.I heard Kraus live and his A, B, C and Ds were big to sing with Nilsson, he sung the center very leggero to keep the line and p,pp,ppp.

Kraus was unique and will be remember as the best in the french repertoire.

[nobisotti]

Inspite I admire Alfred Kraus in this role more ...

he is GREAT!!!!!!!!!!

[PonselleLover]

I'm proud my country always recognized and celebrated this tenor at the fair height of his immense talent. Berganza is huge here too.

[jeannef1968]

He is unique- no one compares to Neil!!! These early recordings are a treasure. I have been so lucky to hear so many of his performances over the last 25 years and without him my life would have been poor.

He´s going to sing 3 times Des Grieux from Manon Lescaut at the Deutsche Oper, Berlin, in October (22, 26, 31).

[okaukuejo]

jeannef: I feel absolutely the same; the first time I heard him was only this year, La Juive in Zurich in January. Then Tosca in March, La Juive in Vienna 4 weeks ago and Pique Dame last weekend. I do agree, he is lighting up the everyday life. Also got tickets for Manon Lescaut, although not in Berlin but in Zurich (Feb 09).

[jeannef1968]

okaukuejo: thank you for your nice response! Wish you many wonderful Shicoff- performances!

[DonPaolissimo]

Magnificent - one of the greatest roles of this great tenor!

[pearlmuth3]

The Boheme he did at Covent Garden, London- 1982 is available on DVD and is terrific, with Tom Allen and Cotrubas. Great singing from all and he was in top shape again.

[pearlmuth3]

WHEN I SAID I HEARD HIM --I MEAN NEIL NOT HIS DAD WHO PASSED AWAY WHEN NEIL WAS A TEENAGER,NEIL A GREAT VOICE AND VERY UNDER RATED, LUCKY TO HAVE HEARD HIM MANY TIMES, HE MOVED TO EUROPE IN THE EARLY 90's

[OPERATEMIS]

Grandioso! La Historia le pondrá entre los grandes, como Bjorling o Gigli. Siempre es un inmenso placer escucharle.

[pearlmuth3]

The reason you like him is he is sensational in every way here 1979 and YOUNG, BARELY 30 YEARS OLD---BORN IN JUNE 1949. HIS FATHER HAD A TERRIFIC VOICE, SYDNEY SHICOFF A GREAT CANTOR WHO DIED YOUNG. I HEARD HIM IN 79 IN CHICAGO, BOHEME WITH MITCHELL, NEVER FORGET THAT RINGING TOP VOICE.

[GomaMan]

I love a good baritone myself but there is something in the tenor voice that is better able to express the pathos of Werther than any bariton I can think of. Baritones have a hard way to go; mostly they must play villains or fathers. They hunger for a good lead role and Werther is one. I still like Shicoff in this one above all I have heard.

[greenrascal3]

Neil your great as usual!! hill

[davidSBG]

schön

[lalalalakkfffd]

The bariton versin (written in1902) is much better.

I am singer and i never hear any tenor who can replace the worm sound of bariton!But this video is very good!