Richard Tucker and Plácido Domingo - Ô Paradis

[halavey]

so may kids who never heard  RTor Domingo and are seated on the speakers not in the opera house, thats another way of hearing and more accurate.

[halavey]

PAV and Jussi both lyrics with voices half sized next to Tucker , NO UGLY TENOR LASTS 30 YEARS AT THE MET OVER 700 SHOWS ALSO SF OPERA AND CHICAGO LET ALONE ITALY, YOUR SO WRONG BUT THEN WHO CARES.

[VMDICKS]

I heard live performances of Tucker and Domingo. Richard had the physical ability to sing with great clarity throughout his range. While this performance is about the best I have heard by Placido, he, in my humble opinion, always seemed to be reaching for notes that were not completely there for him.

[bigus]

tuckers problem is simply having an ugly voice throughout. domingo its pinched high notes. pavarotti and bjorling = perfection.

[gaytenor]

@bigus Sir you are totally tone deaf!!! Everyone else was wrong about Tucker. Tucker's career, unlike Pavarotti's was not the result of Herbert Breslin.

[halavey]

Tucker recorded it in French on his (OP) French aria record, an LP by Columbia in the mid 60's in prime voice, here he was not yet at his prime but very fine.

[halavey]

Domingo started as a Baritone many say. Tucker had all the low notes he needed and then some and on top Domingo was not as open, not even close. Domingo also has said in interview that the biggest high B on stage he ever heard was Tucker's. Tucker has gone down as the voice closest to Caruso and the greatest American tenor. Domingo has been sited for the biggest rep. and his great artistry.

[halavey]

cer1n Just hates Tucker and has his reasons which I don't agree with nor 98% of the critics. Name me one aria where he has trouble with low notes? I doubt you can name a single one, talk is easy but back it up with fact, show us post it so all can hear i can flame anyone, we all can. I can say Jussi was so cold you can freeze dry a steak on his singing, lots of Vibrato. I can say Lanza was a Hammy singer. I can say Corelli was a lispy tenor or Peerce nasal or Domingo a tight top etc.

[halavey]

Tucker sang it in french 1966 on a french aria recording, many arias in french only. Juive, Carmen, Werther, pearl fishers,manon, herodiade, champs paternels, manon , le cid , l' africane recorded in Vien. On Columbia but OP, wish he had done it sooner when he was more lyric he sounded especially great in the Juive with the cabaletta and the Le Cid and was in fine Voice for Africane and of course Carmen. Flower song.

[halavey]

Well he did sing it in french on his french aria record and it was way better then the younger tucker at the bowl all  though that was very good. He even sang the Cabaletta after the aria in his live complete version of the role but that was years later in 1972 live with Stella in NY. The french aria's LP was on Columbia in the 60's around 1965 and is OP, many arias all in French but he spoke zero French he sang a fine faust in 53 in new orleans and Hoffman at the met in 55.

[OettingerCroat]

perhaps someone could answer this question for me:

it is known that Tucker was not fluent in Italian (although he sung very well in Italian). But did he speak French?

I ask because back in the day, especially in the big metropolis like NYC people spoke many languages, so it is possible he spoke it.

Also, if he did, why did he not sing this aria in French? It is ten times better in French...

[halavey]

I agree with Oettinger Croat, Domingo must have sky high IQ and is a fantastic artist but as a tenor voice combines with emotion and power and well used musically tucker is #1 here. cer1n has some problem with Tucker but thats his problem not most opera lovers problem.

[OettingerCroat]

yep, agreed!

this is what a said a couple months back earlier in the comments of this video.

[halavey]

hell Domingo was a baritone why would he have trouble WITH LOW NOTES HE WAS A FINE ARTIST NO DOUBT BUT TENOR MEANS HIGH AND THATS WHERE DOMINGO FELL SHORT OFTEN. TUCKER HAD FINE LOW NOTES, BETTER THEN GIGLI OR PAV OR CORELLI OR JUSSI AND MANY OTHER TENORS, PD ONLY HAS LOW NOTES NOW AND SOON HE WILL SING BASS BARITONE ROLE. TUCKER WAS NUMBER #1

[OettingerCroat]

halavey, are you by any chance pearlmuth3?

[halavey]

Tucker only chopped near the end of his life when Sick and rarely he did not crack, almost nev-- Domingo can't say the same and he had a better top, bigger voice and used legato and color also often, mostly live. He was not Rumanian , his parents where rumanian jews he was born in Brooklyn NY he was an American Jew and proud of it. his name was rubin ticker and anyone who cannot hear his greatness seated on his Ears . Domingo could not come close vocally and 5,000 roles don't help.

[CSVernon]

I like Domingo's 1988 version of this about a billion times better than anyone else's. Even with the obvious showboating of the high note. Too bad he couldn't do that by the time the 3 tenors concert came, as that type of thing was most fitting in that atmosphere. I also disagree that Tucker's "low notes" were better than Domingo's. He could barely REACH some of the low notes I've heard Domingo have on trouble with, for one.

[cer1n]

Domingo's style is also greater;Tucker used to chop the legato lines,he sobbed too much and his singing in general is very exaggerated.Domingo had a wide tonal pallete he could lighten or darken his timbre in order to reflect emotions few singers could manage the same (among them Callas,Gigli,Fischer-Dieskau and Gigli) Tucker always used the same vocal color.

[cer1n]

How can you say Tucker had better control over dynamics?He had no mezza voce all notes above the passagio are always fff.I attended a performance of Domingo in Aida ,in the last duet he sang a pp high B-flat along with Caballe,it was real mezza voce not falsetto.Domingo's phrasing (the way he shapes phrases and the rhythmical underlying) is much better than Tucker.

[cer1n]

It's not stupid at all Tucker's legato was not very good mostly because of the overarticulation of consonants.

[GermanOperaSinger]

Domingo may have had a darker voice but that does not necessarily make his low notes better. Tucker's low register was superb...listen to some of his holiday recordings to hear it. Size and vocal color does NOT go hand in hand, as is stupidly assumed by some people. Take Lauri Volpi for example. One of the brightest and most 'tenorish' voices ever. His top could drown Corelli, Tucker, del Monaco, what have you singing at the same time. Or Peerce, very dark velvet voice. But not by any means big.

[OettingerCroat]

also true, Domingo has that dark sound without being an overly big voice

[OettingerCroat]

although I must add, I heard Domingo sing some like seriously EXTREMELY low notes... it sounded freakishly low for a tenor. I listened to it once without watching the video, and I was shocked; I didn't known who on Earth was singing. Like no shit, it had that booming quality of a true baritone; you could just see in your mind the image of his vocal chords vibrating so slowly due to the profound depth of the note... LOL

but Domingo was older there (65), and Tucker didn't live past 61 I think.

[cer1n]

You are probably tone deaf!Lauri Volpi sang more frenquently off tune than on tune there is a clip of his Raoul where he was supposed to sing a high D-flat;he sang the note so sharp that it was sharper than a D-natural.

[GermanOperaSinger]

Tucker had a bigger voice and much more control and mastery of it with his exceptional technique. He was a textbook Italian spinto tenor (despite being Romanian Jew) with a sound and vocal production similar to that of Caruso. I think Domingo has been overly trashed by some people but I really never understood the "domingo Fever" a lot of people have had...I can only say that the man knew how to market himself. Naturally, there was a good singer to begin with...but he WAS a bit overatted.

[OettingerCroat]

Tucker had better technique than anyone I can recall, certainly at least out of the type of tenors I prefer (in case it wasn't evident enough, the tenori spinti-drammatici are by far my favorites)

and I knew he was a Jew but had no IDEA he was Rumanian! The name Tucker just sounded German to me.

btw, despite being a big Domingo fan, I must agree, as far as singing/vocal production is concerned, he was overrated... no sheep here

[cer1n]

Domingo'd performance is great.He sings with the proper style without sobbing or making glottal sounds maintaining great legato line.

[mihranian]

It is an outstanding performance.

Dr.Hermon Mihranian

[pearlmuth3]

I have heard Domingo many times in concert and opera and that goes back to his NYC opera days IMO his best role was Canio and his recording of the aria in the studio is very good. I remember when it came out, early 70's.

[pearlmuth3]

Thanks for your answer.  P

[pearlmuth3]

Sorry about getting angry believe me but l felt the sound was not very good and I think some of these comparisons are not really fair. His singing was fine but outside in 1951 cannot compare to inside in 1981 in some ways even with his great voice-- though I appreciate your compliment about his high notes. Thank you for your honesty.

[mortecontrebleus]

c'est fantastique

[pearlmuth3]

I see you are a big fan of Domingo so naturally you post him in his prime but you don't post Tucker singing this in his prime so it is even for comparison, Tucker in 1951 was not near his prime for this aria and Domingo was. Your favorites consist of lots of Domingo and no Tucker so you made sure to give a not fair comparison. Different singers mature at different ages, tucker here was still more lyric spinto. This also was outside.

[OettingerCroat]

pardon me, but I thought this Tucker performance was exceptional. this was TOTALLY not meant to be an unfair comparison. I thought they were of highly comparable caliber.

I reached out as a gesture of respect because I really like your opinion pearlmuth3, and I sent you the video because I wanted you to enjoy it. Instead you immediately marginalize my intentions and assume that I was doing this to portray a singer in a negative light. I would NEVER do that.

I don't appreciate this.

[Mooorhe]

Tucker's performance was outstanding here.

[OettingerCroat]

i know, it was amazing!

[pearlmuth3]

If you want a comparison both in French and more accurate as far as sound then get the Tucker French Aria recorded in 1965 where he sings it in French and in good sound. This copy does not sound as good as the one posted a while back on you tube, the sound is distorted and not fair to Tucker at all. He had not only a better top then Domingo but better everything else. You could also use the live 1972 Tucker version where he sang the entire opera in concert at Carneige hall , poor comparison.

[OettingerCroat]

My apologies sir, I made due with what I had at my disposal. I am a university student with limited resources, who grew up in a family who didn't really care too much about opera. I don't have extensive records of every Tucker performance.

shame on me.

[cer1n]

''He had not only a better top then Domingo but better everything else.''

Do you suggest Tucker had better style,phrasing,low notes,legato,diction,control over the dynamics and a wider vocal pallete than Domingo?

[OettingerCroat]

i assume this statement is directed at pearlmuth3

lemme tell you what I think:

-style? debatable. too unique unto themselves to really be compared or criticized.

-phrasing? you mean the way he presents the diction? I think Tucker is better. loved how he would hook into the notes, but this is purely stylistic. Again, this is taste, though.

-low notes? Well yah, Domingo. But I don't see this as a real negative to Tucker.

[OettingerCroat]

-diction? I prefer Domingo. He is more of a linguist than Tucker was. Has nothing to really do with quality of vocal production, however.

-legato? I preferred Domingo's legato, although both had it (contrary to the stupid statements that Tucker didn't), but again a taste issue.

-control? Tucker.

-palette? don't really know what this means. If you mean vocal range, or even what a singer could do with the voice, I still say Tucker.

Conclusion: I prefer Tucker as a singer and Domingo as an artist.

[ShawDAMAN]

nice, and very interesting, thanks :)

[keepthemusicplaying0]

Very impressive, and most enjoyable, thank you!!

[FanFromPoland58]

"the baritonal colour of Domingo's voice"...I just love it!

All the best, Anna

[OettingerCroat]

thx Anna!