Norman Treigle - Scintille Diamant - Tales of Hoffmann (1968)

[Dybbuk1937]

Haviing seen Treigle and Sills perform The Tales of Hoffman, I am sorry there is no video of them. Great team!

[OscarLevant1]

Sorry, I cannot join this Treigle fan club. I saw him and his voice was NOT huge. Often he did not sound like a bass. All of the primo bassos were much bigger than him in size: Hines, Ghiaurov, Siepi, even Tozzi. He had a way of moving on the stage that evoked character but he was very inconsistent. He would be great in the dress rehearsal and then mediocre in the performance. All through the performance, when not on stage, he would be in the wings smoking and drinking whiskey. Enough said.

[madoffman]

In the early days of Tulsa Opera, (70's) I was privileged to her Norman Treigle in the roll of the Devil in Faust.. As for the voice? It was in size, second only to that of William Wildermann (Huge) whom I also heard with Tulsa Opera. One is correct in saying that there are some voices not fully grasped unless heard live. In the case of Treigle, a wondrous sound coupled with great acting complete the picture. He also donated his talent to a Tulsa Univ. production of "The Ballad of baby Doe."

[vigwig]

I'm sorry I never got to see his Mephistos but Ramey's were a great compensation!

[stevevandien]

Treigle died 35 years ago. Even so, I'm still not sure whether we understand this artist and what he achieved. He made few records and fewer videos/films. Yet his reputation has grown over the years. I know several people who heard and saw Treigle in person. Each maintains, without exception, that his voice was ENORMOUS and his stage presence overwhelming. But damn, if one didn't hear or see him thus, how can he/she begin to assess Treigle's achievement?

[arpeggio1358]

@stevevandien He apparently was very impressive live. I have a friend who said she saw Mefistofele liive wwhen she was in high school in the 70's. She actually saw the Gounod Faust (I checked San Diego Opera's archives.) All she remembered was the devil, so she assumed it was Mefistofele. When I saw that Treigle sang the devil in that production, I could understand why. He must have been something to have impressed a teen age girl who knew nothing about opera.

[stevevandien]

@arpeggio1358 Your friend's account jibes well with what my correspondents who heard Treigle live have told me about him. My correspondents also tell me that Treigle's records do not begin doing justice to the size, range and malleability of this voice. I've heard many fine and even great singers in person, including Merrill, Vickers, McCracken, Pavarotti and Margaret Price. But sure wish I could have seen and heard Treigle in the theatre:) --

[nancywilken]

I don't know here--he's not my favorite Dappertutto -- but your posting keeps me interested. I do know from a Master Class given by C Ludwig that he was her first husband, don't know why it didn't work out but so many marriages don't esp. in the arena of theatre--but I'll listen much more to this interpretations--Tx for introducing me to the sound of his volice!

[lewisrozenberg]

@nancywilken I think Christa Ludwig's first husband was Walter Berry, wasn't he?

[BrianJosephMorgan]

@nancywilken Surely you jest: I doubt Norman Treigle and Christa Ludwig even knew each other!

[daviperc]

Thank you. I had never heard of him, and now want to hear all that I can. A lovely , sonorous voice.

[rmm413b]

All right, I'll change it. Thanks for the info.

[BrianJosephMorgan]

You're welcome!