Luciano Pavarotti Parmi veder le lagrima Rigoletto

[appeace1]

good heavens--my kinda man!

[appeace1]

Absolutely! I believe a big mistake people make is thinking there will ever be another Pava and "waiting", "comparing" all others to him instead of enjoying all the blessings of talent there are. Tho Pava owns my heart, I do enjoy listening to Brownlee, Victorio, Florez and others. You are so blessed to be close enough to attend the Met and see such talent live! Living in a rural area which has no Opera house is my life's regret at never being able to see Pava or any of the great talent live.

[tat6368]

You are absolutely right! And what a D! Oh my god ...

[sopranosd]

Is he singing live in this film or is he lip-synching? Sometimes I think the former, sometimes the latter.

[tat6368]

@sopranosd

Of course the latter - imagine singing a high D with a woman in your arms ;_) (see possente amor mi chiama)...

[sopranosd]

@tat6368 - Indeed. Even without a woman in one's arms a high D is a pretty amazing feat. :)

[chaiter1]

@sopranosd What do you think? Of course lip-synching. The recording was made in the studio. The film was filmed later During the film he could've sung mezza voce, or mark, just to add more realism to the whole.

[sopranosd]

@chaiter1 - a bit harsh there, chaiter1. As most of us know, singing in film is generally lip-synched, well, except for Rex Harrision in My Fair Lady, and a few other examples I am sure -- but Pavarotti does such an expert synch job, his performance does indeed seem real.  I've done lip-synching and know how difficult it is, so I'm impressed.

[chaiter1]

@sopranosd I apologize if I sounded harsh.That was not intentional at all.His lip-synching in this film is very good indeed, partly because I think he marked or sang half voice along with the sound from the studio during the filming. Which is completely O.K.. However, if you remember, once in a live concert with pop singers, when he could not mark or sing along with the recording, there was an unpleasant incident he himself admitted was embarassing(he wrote about this in his memoirs)..

[sopranosd]

@chaiter1 - No worries. I was being a tad diva sensitive. You are right that singing while filming would be a big help for the studio synch. I certainly would want to do so if I am ever asked to sing on film - total dream fulfillment there. I know there have been various 'scandals' about pop singers and synching, as if dancing full out and singing effectively were two mutually inclusive ideas, but I had forgotten there was something about that with Pavarotti.

[chaiter1]

@sopranosd The concert was one with Sting and others( I forget whom) and Luciano was singing La donna e mobile together with them all. For some reason he opted for the recording he made with Bonynge and Sutherland. So, Luciano's part that was actually heard was the recording from the Seventies, while others sang live. He tried lip-synching silently. but it looked very unconvincing.He admitted it and wrote he accepted the criticism.

[sopranosd]

@chaiter1 - Yikes that must have been an aaawwwkward moment. I don't get the whole 'opera crossing over into pop' and vice versa thing. Each is good in its way; neither does the other very well. I'm trying to visualize Sting singing La Donna e Mobile, but it makes my ears hurt. Yet when he sings his own music he sounds great.

[appeace1]

@sopranosd Folks--back in the day this was filmed the singers did "messo" or mark to a backup trac in order to get the phrasing and breathing down, but the actual singing on the film is done in the recording studio. Back then if the singing were to be recorded live, one would hear all the breathing of the crew, actors, and any external noises, ie, cars passing, planes going overhead, etc. That is why we get to hear the high D as Pava never used it live, Can you imagine the boos if he cracked?

[jewelmarkess]

@appeace1 I think he was booed at La Scala once. But then many a great singer was booed at La Scala at one time or another...

[appeace1]

@jewelmarkess Yes, he was booed for cracking the high "C" in Don Carlos, so can you imagine the boos if he had tried the "D" live and cracked--which would have been more likely? I can't fathom living under the pressure of fans and critics expecting a perfect performance every time he walked on stage! Perhaps that is a factor in his personal life being such a mess.

The "new" film of Rigoletto with Domingo is recorded "live" and there are instances of coughing and dropping props in the background!

[jewelmarkess]

@appeace1 Yes, this was funny in this film with Domingo. BTW -- this movie with Domingo is available on the PBS website in its entirety, as a single video not in clips (in case you are interested, I know you've seen it but...) together with a quick tour of Mantua in the beginning as shown on tv.

[appeace1]

@jewelmarkess Thank you for the info but my heart belongs to Pava, and tho, I enjoyed the Domingo version (I think Victorio is going to be a world class tenor!), I really prefer this Rigoletto version w/Pava! No one has, or ever will have again in my humble opinion, this voice from God.

[jewelmarkess]

@appeace1 I agree vocally this version is better. I do like Domingo but as a tenor. To me preferring one singer doesn't mean we can't enjoy others, especially those we can experience live. For example, last night I was at the Met listening to Nabucco and it was great. There is a young Korean tenor Yonghoon Lee - I heard him first last year in Don Carlo, and last night too, he is very impressive even though the tenor's role in Nabucco is not that prominent. Check out Fabiano too - promising.

[appeace1]

@sopranosd Pava was never very good at lip synching-too obvious-wrong technique, but I feel he did an admirable job here since he was actually "marking", therefore, technique is correct as if he were actually full out singing. I, personally could not imagine the stress of having billions of people watching my every move--expecting a perfect performance every time and they just wait to "pick apart" anything not perfect! If one knows the voice is not answering well the temptation is to lip synch.

[loveluciano1]

wonderful performance of the great Luciano.

[loveluciano1]

This aria is just beautfiul, very moving and the voice of Luciano is wonderful.

[31122051]

MAGNIFICO ! In questo ruolo rimane e rimarrà il migliore di sempre ( solo A. Kraus e F. Bonisolli gli possono fare concorrenza ). MERAVIGLIOSO ! * * * * *

[loveluciano1]

Beautiful performance of my beloved Luciano Pavarotti, I love to see the emotion in his face and his voice is out of this world. amazing.

[claudiof77]

Grande Luciano, immenso Duca

[jenni4claire]

Its a stunt-double running up the steps, isn't it?

[ksnygirl]

I'd assume so.