Richard Tucker & Cornell MacNeil - Dio, che nell'alma infondere (1970 live)

[photo161]

a really spectacular performance...

[jackblackhall]

Also, this was actually performed in 1971.

[jackblackhall]

This was the first opera I ever performed. I was 15yrs. old in the chorus for this performance.........

[deutschefach]

I have not heard singing like this since the last time I sang with Lado Ataneli.

I think these two were atomic on this evening. Awesome and the real thing. No pretenders here. Wow they are out of this world. I can not remember when I have heard either sound better live. They really egg another on to be the best. Quite an accomplishment for both. Wow! Respect!

[deutschefach]

I have not heard singing like this since the last time I sang with Lado Ataneli.

I think these two were atomic on this evening. Awesome and the real thing. No pretenders here.



[Ankhsnammon]

Sentite,americani...parlate n Italiano quando parlate di Verdi!!1

Come?

Noi,sudamericani,schiavi,pover­i,miserabili,conosciamo le lingue straniere...e voi soltanto scrivete in Inglese?

Perdóno...in americano,che non é neanche Inglese

Superbi..siete superbi...

Questi meravigliosi artisti sono cosí magnifici perché non sembrano Americani...ma d'altrove!

[operacaster]

i never heard this before.... damn, they were both on that night. tucker hung right in there with one of the biggest voices i ever heard. anybody who doesn't like mac here is nutso... :--) what a great duet.

[stevevandien]

Two great Verdi singers in a great duet. Alas, we have nobody like either of them today --

[assindiastignani]

Yes, Tucker was often criticized for his "sobbing" and his supposed "bad" acting (I never saw it in twenty years)But the point is: his "weaknesses" would be the strengths of any of the rather miserable lot of light-weights pretenders currently trying (unsuccessfully) to sing this repertory.With Tucker, the sheer beauty and technical perfection of his singing,the overwhelming passion and sincerity made everything else unimportant.Iwould trade every Carlo of the last 15 years to have him back.

[legatofancier]

Thrilling performance of one of my favorite tenor-baritone duets! If there is a tenor and baritone who can equal this kind of singing today, I don't know about them.

[assindiastignani]

MacMeil's voice was a cannon - the biggest ever. His Pagliaggi Prolog is still untouched. Not just a voice though, such an artist. Nobody could make the audiences cry like he could as Rigoletto.

[halavey]

Mac Neil an American was one good reason he was so under rated. Same for Tucker.

[cdgray2]

MacNeil was as good as it gets in the baritone world - incredible legato and upper extension. He was respected, but never received proper accolades for his singing. It must be said that he sang for three decades as a high artistic level.

[halavey]

Yes on that note tucker of course is not singing full out as no tenor does but i have heard him match warren and Mac on most any note but then a big baritone will always be louder then most any tenor in the middle and mac was huge no doubt and warren was also very big with a fantastic sound- he would have lasted even longer then Mac did but died at 49 as we know, later Mac had that wobble but when i heard him in 73 with tucker last it still was fine. Tucker is 57 yrs here.

[operacaster]

when i was a young baritone singing these parts i asked a conductor at the met which baritone had the biggest voice. he said Mac. hands down. asked him to introduce me someday and got to know him a little. on one occassion got to hear his high G up close and personal. GOOD GOD... i'm not talking huge. i'm talking BEYOND huge... so i certainly wouldn't dis on any tenor who had to match Mac on a G. and Mac had an extension way beyond a G almost scary.. tucker is great here

[halavey]

Shaw he did not sob as much as many Italian tenors and in Lescaut Gigli  did it much more. In Forza you mentioned sobs in the aria in 1954, so what? A great recording but his 1964 studio not as all in the aria. Lanza sobbed plenty and you don't put him down for it but they where very different singers. So I know it does not offend you.

[ShawDAMAN]

halavey: If you read all my comments you will see I was not putting down Tucker at all. I was simply responding to a comment by GOS that said he "never sobbed in Verdi" which I misunderstood. For the umpteenth time, SOBBING DOESN'T BOTHER ME. Ha ha. :-P

[halavey]

German--- it seems on that G you mentioned that every tenor who sings it with a big Baritone gets drowned out or nearly so and that goes for any big Baritone like Warren or Mac here, must be where it lies in the voice for the Baritone and the tenor is not singing on it full out.

[operabeauty]

I was at this performance, from Severence Hall in Clevland in 1970. Tucker and MacNeil were especially terrific, and I recall Tucker saying how wonderful MacNeil was after the performace. MacNeil never was asked to sing Rodrigo at the Met. This was one of Merrill's big roles, of course. I also attended the Boccanegra the previous year, with Tebaldi, Tucker, MacNeil, Flagello, and a 26 year old Levine conducting. The Tuckers introduced me to Levine after the perfomrmance.

[GermanOperaSinger]

Thanks for the info and the story, I have corrected the date.

[stevevandien]

@operabeauty How I envy you!

[GermanOperaSinger]

Even Caruso sobbed, it isn't annoying unless you do it in the wrong repertoire. Tucker never sobbed in Verdi or French roles, only in verismo operas, and after all, isn't conveying 'real' emotions what you're supposed to do in those? You don't hear tenors like Wunderlich sob because the repertoire they specialized in didn't require sobbing.

[ShawDAMAN]

I think some people just don't like sobbing in any repertoire. I can respect that. It has never bothered me though. Not at all.

Tucker did sob in Verdi sometimes, didn't he? Did you mean Puccini maybe? I can think of plenty of times he sobbed in Verdi.

[GermanOperaSinger]

I don't recall him sobbing in Verdi. He sobbed in Puccini operas all the time (Tosca, Lescaut, Fanciulla). Puccini was a versimo composer, but Verdi was not. Where does he sob?

[ShawDAMAN]

Well he sobs plenty in "O tu che in seno agli angeli" for starters. ;-P

I've never really payed much attention to it but I think there are other occasions..

[ShawDAMAN]

Also in "Quando le sere al placido" and other spots in "Luisa Miller."

I'm not pointing this out because I don't like it, I do. I'm just saying. =)

[GermanOperaSinger]

Just listened them, I think it depends on what you call a sob. His heavily accented phrases, occasionally accompanied by that cantorial 'hiccup' is probably what you had in mind. I was thinking more along the lines of the kind of sobbing you hear at the end of Act III Manon Lescaut. As far as I know he never breaks down like that in any of Verdi's roles.

I know Tucker was hammy at times but virtually every Italian spinto tenor of great acclaim was hammy so there's no reason to single him out. =)

[ShawDAMAN]

Ah OK. Yes, to me that's a sob but I see what you're saying.

I agree, there's no call to single Tucker out. I was just surprised to see you say he "never sobbed in Verdi" but I see now we had slightly different things in mind. :)

[stevevandien]

@ShawDAMAN I sure don't have a problem with occasional sobbing. But it becomes problematic when a singer begins to rely upon it. Tucker never did, and he argued that his sobs were the result of honest emotional identification with his characters:) --

[halavey]

mac in the house was terrific

[halavey]

sitting at home being a critic on every note or breath is different somewhat then in the house where the accent is not seemingly as strong, pav and jussi sang cooler so then thats a choice I like a tenor with balls and he had more then most who could not even come close. Here he is in his late 50's, try the 195

[halavey]

So he sobbed but not here or in roles like Fuast / Hoffman or Mozart of course, bullshit about the sobs so did Gigli and Di Stefano, think of something else with tucker like how he was the greatest spinto of them all and as for mac neil he was still great when i heard him in 73 with no wobble, tucker did not sob any more then corelli and did not lisp or change tempo he also sang very well in lyric roles . Heard Beczala he was very good. Corelli and Gigli get little attacks for sobbing though.

[Mooorhe]

MacNeil isn't even in his prime here and is fantastic. He was a singing actor and sang incredibly, especially in the 1950s and 1960s. Hearing accounts of his singing at the Met, courtesy of a regular in the 1960s, makes me wish I'd heard him more than any other baritone.

I'm sure Tucker sounded better in the house, but the recordings don't obscure the fact that he sobbed and accented heavily, as they supposedly do for the quality of his voice.

[Herur22]

Great duet.

[sospello]

Great addition to the interpretations of this duet on YT- thank you.

[ShawDAMAN]

My favorite tenor/baritone duet, and I can't think of 2 better singers to sing it. Macneil was incredible in his prime- maybe someone could enlighten me, I don't know the details but apparently he didn't last as long as he should/could have? (technical issues) but what a voice.

[GermanOperaSinger]

He started to develop a wobble in the passagio area rather early in his career, but I'm not sure why. You can actually hear a little bit of that here.

[leadoffeohippus]

I think I remember Shore commenting on a macneil video that it was from singing extremely open all the time. I dunno. In any case, I enjoyed this upload.

[MrCafiero]

He started to uncover too high and it shifted the voice out of balance; the registers.

[MrCafiero]

He sang into his 60's though. Throughout any career there are highs and lows. Look up Nulla Silzenzio with MacNeil. Still better than anyone singing today.

[ShawDAMAN]

I agree and I listened to that. No one with a voice like his today (that I know of.)