Although I never had the chance to see him in this role, I did see him a couple of times in Munich in the late nineties.Don Jose, Peter Grimes, Cavaradossi, all massive performances. I had never heard of him when I saw his Don Jose and I was blown away. A few months later, Placido Domingo gave the same part in Munich for some anniversary and although he was good, it just did not get close to what Shicoff had done. His Peter Grimes was literally breathtaking, a shame there is no video.
Incredible. Next year he's back in Vienna again, for Vere - already booked tickets. Can't wait to buy them. Maybe the best living Vere now... there are younger tenors but they lack either the authority or the safe top notes, and it's a killer role.
So dangerous to be doing this at this ridiculously slow tempo but due to his dramatic intensity, Shicoff pulls it off. His voice is similar to Carreras' but Carreras can not touch him in this aria. Shicoff had a nice career in his prime but he should have been a bigger star than he was. Don't know why that never happened.
@pachydermo You can be sure that Shicoff is one of the bigest; may be he has not been as mediatic as Carreras was but as professional he has been considered and still is as one of most important singers all around the world. I am an Opera professional
anybody who thinks this is shouted has obviously never seen him do this opera, the aria is absolutely heart-wrenching, the singing is more than beautiful, and the world stands still afterwards. Actually, you could just end the opera after the aria because the applause never ends. This is not about singing notes´, this is about pure emotion, but some people seem to be unable to hear and see that.
Living far away from civilization I chanced this morning to hear for the first time Neil Shicoff. His performance is truly astounding and surpasses any other tenor on record mythical or contemporary. Bravo, bravo, bravo!
What a powerful and moving performance. I've always admired Shicoff. He'll be 60 this summer; how does he currently sound? I'd love to hear his latest work.
In the house he is magnetic and his voice for me always was the lyric tenor who was a complete artist combined acting and a great voice. Heard him first in house in 1979!
Aquí tienen lo sublime de una magistral interpretación, en esta versión Shicoff nos muestra la puerta a lo extraordinario,es un gran maestro del canto y de las artes escénicas, el maestro ha desnudado su alma y nos la ha entregado, que grande!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don´t know what all the excitement about language is about anyway. I´d have thought we were beyond that in 21st century. At our opera house in Germany we have Koreans, Americans, Finns, Azerbaijanians, and, yes, we´ve got some Germans as well. None of them is able to speak German, French, Italian, Russian and English perfectly. Yeah, but we could try: have the Germans sing Mozart, the English Britten, the Italians Verdi and the French Halevy. Then I´m sure we´d be really happy.
How would your great French tenors sound in English? How about Thill? NO. Gedda was not French and sang French very well with less voice then Neil or Kraus, they could not do this role justice anyhow and what French Tenor was great in the role? Tucker in my time was fantastic and then came Shicoff. try his Romeo or Carmen compared to any French tenor, Alagna? I doubt it.
His French opera singing is in his time among the best and that is for a tenor who is not French anyhow. They loved him in France even back in the late 70's and he was invited back again and again. His voice even if sung in Chinese and emotion and acting was superb and as a comment was made ----only a heart of stone would not like it.
Yes revallen he is wrong you are correct. This is not an opera for a lyric tenor really and thats why Neil waited anyhow to sing it with his darker lyric tenor here. Caruso and Tucker sang it at the end and both died after doing it. He sings at a killer tempo, slower then the other two great tenors to sing it on stage. Martinelli and others did but since Caruso and Tucker did Neil is the best in the role and he brings the emotional point across very well vocally here in his mid 50's.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Yes, Mr Shicoff is a immense artist, and his "performance" both as an actor and singer is astounding in intself, but what we hear here is a brilliant demonstration of everything to avoid when singing french opera : the french speaking is a disaster, impossible to understand, and the style chaotic, good for verist italian opera ! One should not forget that the style is the key in lyrical singing, and here, beyond the "exploit", this aria sung like that is impossible...
This writer knows nothing of history if all he can talk about is style. Neil Shicoff knows the pain of anti-Semitism, which is why his interpretation of Eleazar is so heart-rending. I immediately compared Domingo, Caruso and Carreras in the same aria. None could touch Neil for this aria, which, I am sure came from the depths of his being.
Anybody who´s seem him singing La Juive live (and I have, twice) and still doesn´t like it must be made of stone, IMO. It´s one of the best things I´ve ever experienced, it makes you cry, tears you apart. Yes, there is a recording with Carreras, and it doesn´t even get anywhere near Shicoffs, IMO.
As I said to Johnhoie it was most likely his Vicks and in a 73 Boston pops concert with Merrill on TV you can easily see it was a Vicks under his tongue, the concert was in color and I taped it at the time on an old Sony early Video Recorder that taped on a wide Video tape in B&W audio, very expensive it's gone now and they never repeat the show with Duets from Forza, Fiddler on the roof and his pag. aria, they also danced! Tucker and Merrill/ Fiedler, cond. Boston pops.
Well Shicoff was the greatest acting out the role for sure and Tucker could with that greatest spinto sang it really in a very dramatic manner. Tucker did not pop a nitro pill then though his heart was bad but he had a habit of always keeping a vicks cough drop in his mouth so his throat was not dry he sang with it in his mouth often and never choked on it and said I should own stock in the company for all the cough drops I used for singing, I have seen it close up in his mouth when singing.
I was lucky enough to hear him singing La Juive in Zürich 2 months ago, and it was incredible. He is so emotional, puts so much feeling into his singing. You feel like the world has changed for days afterwards. A wonderful experience, and every time I hear "Rachel, quand du Seigneur", I am right back there, in the Opera House, and see him on the stage.
Glad the met finally did it and glad Neil sang it, cause Tucker was going to do with Sills but died , he had done it staged in new orleans and concert version in London, both in 1973.
I was at that New Orleans performance. Someone I knew who was backstage said Tucker popped a nitroglycerin pill (his back to the audience) before singing this aria.
I would not say better then Tucker but different, more out of the bag and a very slow tempo that must have been taxing but I like both for different reasons. Tucker had the greatest Spinto voice I ever heard on the stage, heard him many times, powerful and Neil,heard him from 79' on in the house, basically a lyric with a lot of ring had a very different voice. Neil is a great "singing actor" to quote him.
@melchiorfan without Caruso as a great model, I can only wonder how those who came after would have sounded. I hate to say BETTER than Tucker, it was OTHER than Tucker, but for pure cold grandeur, GEORGES THILL is the only other Eleazar
Although I never had the chance to see him in this role, I did see him a couple of times in Munich in the late nineties.Don Jose, Peter Grimes, Cavaradossi, all massive performances. I had never heard of him when I saw his Don Jose and I was blown away. A few months later, Placido Domingo gave the same part in Munich for some anniversary and although he was good, it just did not get close to what Shicoff had done. His Peter Grimes was literally breathtaking, a shame there is no video.
aphroditchen 6 months ago
Sublime interprétation ! Merci a vous , magnifique !
zoe59000 8 months ago
This rendition is not just great singing. This is TRULY OPERA!!! Excellent performance. Bravo!
Voic3Critic 11 months ago
Magistral!!!!
CALIMERO305 1 year ago
Incredible. Next year he's back in Vienna again, for Vere - already booked tickets. Can't wait to buy them. Maybe the best living Vere now... there are younger tenors but they lack either the authority or the safe top notes, and it's a killer role.
Sieglinde84 1 year ago
Extraordinary. I recommend the DVD.
Schicoff is one of the greatest. I saw him a few years back at the Met in Il Trovatore.
What a singer!
cacata98 1 year ago 2
Awesome
paulostroff99 1 year ago
waww
mike8616 1 year ago
So dangerous to be doing this at this ridiculously slow tempo but due to his dramatic intensity, Shicoff pulls it off. His voice is similar to Carreras' but Carreras can not touch him in this aria. Shicoff had a nice career in his prime but he should have been a bigger star than he was. Don't know why that never happened.
pachydermo 2 years ago
@pachydermo You can be sure that Shicoff is one of the bigest; may be he has not been as mediatic as Carreras was but as professional he has been considered and still is as one of most important singers all around the world. I am an Opera professional
violoncello79 2 years ago
Shicoff's father was a chazzen (cantor)
Falstaff85 2 years ago
Pour moi, il en fait beaucoup trop, même si la voix est belle .
gcalvet81 2 years ago
The best interpretation and the best quality!!!!!!!
mijaelenbogota 2 years ago
Amazing, outstanding!! What a singer and an actor!! BRAVOOO!!!
fontana2k 2 years ago
God coudn't do a better jogb. Superb, Brillant, Sublime
poopsea 2 years ago
Great and moving interpretation!
caruso81 2 years ago
So heartly! Awesome!!!!
mayflash67 2 years ago
Absolutely spellbinding. I never thought anyone could top Caruso with this aria, and Shicoff demonstrates superb acting as well. Bravo.
MrValentinus 2 years ago
anybody who thinks this is shouted has obviously never seen him do this opera, the aria is absolutely heart-wrenching, the singing is more than beautiful, and the world stands still afterwards. Actually, you could just end the opera after the aria because the applause never ends. This is not about singing notes´, this is about pure emotion, but some people seem to be unable to hear and see that.
okaukuejo 2 years ago 13
Living far away from civilization I chanced this morning to hear for the first time Neil Shicoff. His performance is truly astounding and surpasses any other tenor on record mythical or contemporary. Bravo, bravo, bravo!
amintoh 2 years ago 2
Bravo, very emotional!
halavey 2 years ago 2
Comment removed
halavey 2 years ago
It is not shouted and if you want another tenor or two also try Tucker and Caruso, both sang it as a last role, this is very well acted out.
halavey 2 years ago
Brilliant!
Englishtenor2 2 years ago
que buen agudo da en el minuto 2:55
alcvdb 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
It's not sung, it's shouted-cried.
More Mascagni than Halévy.
Listen to Thill or to Vezzani to have it sung with style.
thierrybaer 2 years ago
He is best of the best! Diese Rolle singt niemand besser als er!!
fomation73 2 years ago 2
What a powerful and moving performance. I've always admired Shicoff. He'll be 60 this summer; how does he currently sound? I'd love to hear his latest work.
marlyharris 3 years ago
Judging by a Tosca two days ago, exceptional.
Mooorhe 2 years ago
BRAVISSIMO!
LorandPercsi 3 years ago
In the house he is magnetic and his voice for me always was the lyric tenor who was a complete artist combined acting and a great voice. Heard him first in house in 1979!
pearlmuth3 3 years ago
What an absolute genius performance !!!!!!!
I can't stop watching it over and over.
DiedarBouln 3 years ago
Aquí tienen lo sublime de una magistral interpretación, en esta versión Shicoff nos muestra la puerta a lo extraordinario,es un gran maestro del canto y de las artes escénicas, el maestro ha desnudado su alma y nos la ha entregado, que grande!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Marinausbcn 3 years ago 2
Don´t know what all the excitement about language is about anyway. I´d have thought we were beyond that in 21st century. At our opera house in Germany we have Koreans, Americans, Finns, Azerbaijanians, and, yes, we´ve got some Germans as well. None of them is able to speak German, French, Italian, Russian and English perfectly. Yeah, but we could try: have the Germans sing Mozart, the English Britten, the Italians Verdi and the French Halevy. Then I´m sure we´d be really happy.
okaukuejo 3 years ago 3
How would your great French tenors sound in English? How about Thill? NO. Gedda was not French and sang French very well with less voice then Neil or Kraus, they could not do this role justice anyhow and what French Tenor was great in the role? Tucker in my time was fantastic and then came Shicoff. try his Romeo or Carmen compared to any French tenor, Alagna? I doubt it.
pearlmuth3 3 years ago 2
His French opera singing is in his time among the best and that is for a tenor who is not French anyhow. They loved him in France even back in the late 70's and he was invited back again and again. His voice even if sung in Chinese and emotion and acting was superb and as a comment was made ----only a heart of stone would not like it.
pearlmuth3 3 years ago 9
"only a heart of stone would not like it."
--I couldn't agree more. His voice is so incredibly free, round, rich and beautiful.
And the acting and stage presence....what an artist !!
DiedarBouln 3 years ago 4
Yes revallen he is wrong you are correct. This is not an opera for a lyric tenor really and thats why Neil waited anyhow to sing it with his darker lyric tenor here. Caruso and Tucker sang it at the end and both died after doing it. He sings at a killer tempo, slower then the other two great tenors to sing it on stage. Martinelli and others did but since Caruso and Tucker did Neil is the best in the role and he brings the emotional point across very well vocally here in his mid 50's.
pearlmuth3 3 years ago 4
come canta bene! bravissimo
operafa 3 years ago
Mon dieu j'en es les larmes aux yeux quel talent !
rems93190 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Yes, Mr Shicoff is a immense artist, and his "performance" both as an actor and singer is astounding in intself, but what we hear here is a brilliant demonstration of everything to avoid when singing french opera : the french speaking is a disaster, impossible to understand, and the style chaotic, good for verist italian opera ! One should not forget that the style is the key in lyrical singing, and here, beyond the "exploit", this aria sung like that is impossible...
Yanbsn 3 years ago
This writer knows nothing of history if all he can talk about is style. Neil Shicoff knows the pain of anti-Semitism, which is why his interpretation of Eleazar is so heart-rending. I immediately compared Domingo, Caruso and Carreras in the same aria. None could touch Neil for this aria, which, I am sure came from the depths of his being.
revallen 3 years ago 2
revallen, you´re so right!
Anybody who´s seem him singing La Juive live (and I have, twice) and still doesn´t like it must be made of stone, IMO. It´s one of the best things I´ve ever experienced, it makes you cry, tears you apart. Yes, there is a recording with Carreras, and it doesn´t even get anywhere near Shicoffs, IMO.
okaukuejo 3 years ago 3
thank you!
Yesterday I saw him in Vienna staatsoper. He is still great !!! Unbelievable....
Scarpios 3 years ago 2
Bravísimo!!!. Sensacional interpretación..
Sipuo 3 years ago
Strong singing and acting together. Bravo!!!
Babejuda 3 years ago
l'opéra est un art total;Shicoff nous en donnes ici la preuve. Respect Monsieur.
louvet66 3 years ago
Neil is Great Profesional!!!Bravo,Bravo and Bravo!!!
belcanto8 3 years ago
schicoff est magnifique dans ce drame
par contre dans les contes d'hoffman il est mois bon
dommage
mais BRAVO
cerisier123 3 years ago
As I said to Johnhoie it was most likely his Vicks and in a 73 Boston pops concert with Merrill on TV you can easily see it was a Vicks under his tongue, the concert was in color and I taped it at the time on an old Sony early Video Recorder that taped on a wide Video tape in B&W audio, very expensive it's gone now and they never repeat the show with Duets from Forza, Fiddler on the roof and his pag. aria, they also danced! Tucker and Merrill/ Fiedler, cond. Boston pops.
pearlmuth3 3 years ago
Well Shicoff was the greatest acting out the role for sure and Tucker could with that greatest spinto sang it really in a very dramatic manner. Tucker did not pop a nitro pill then though his heart was bad but he had a habit of always keeping a vicks cough drop in his mouth so his throat was not dry he sang with it in his mouth often and never choked on it and said I should own stock in the company for all the cough drops I used for singing, I have seen it close up in his mouth when singing.
pearlmuth3 3 years ago
I was lucky enough to hear him singing La Juive in Zürich 2 months ago, and it was incredible. He is so emotional, puts so much feeling into his singing. You feel like the world has changed for days afterwards. A wonderful experience, and every time I hear "Rachel, quand du Seigneur", I am right back there, in the Opera House, and see him on the stage.
okaukuejo 4 years ago
una auténtica Joya, Bravo Maestro! es una interpretación sublime, Neil Shicoff es uno de los más grandes Tenores que ha dado la historia!
Marinausbcn 4 years ago
saw him singing eleazar in zurich a few days ago, he was really great! this part was the best i've ever seen from him. thanks for posting it!!! :-)
katharinajingan 4 years ago
Glad the met finally did it and glad Neil sang it, cause Tucker was going to do with Sills but died , he had done it staged in new orleans and concert version in London, both in 1973.
pearlmuth3 4 years ago
I was at that New Orleans performance. Someone I knew who was backstage said Tucker popped a nitroglycerin pill (his back to the audience) before singing this aria.
johnhoie 3 years ago
I would not say better then Tucker but different, more out of the bag and a very slow tempo that must have been taxing but I like both for different reasons. Tucker had the greatest Spinto voice I ever heard on the stage, heard him many times, powerful and Neil,heard him from 79' on in the house, basically a lyric with a lot of ring had a very different voice. Neil is a great "singing actor" to quote him.
pearlmuth3 4 years ago
Thank you for posted this video.this is a incredible piece.he sings this aria wonderful with such a great feeling.bravo mille.
tunca34 4 years ago 5
In my opinion Shicoff ís one of the greats Eleazar from the History. Better than Tucker.
melchiorfan 4 years ago 2
This comment has received too many negative votes show
?????????????? Put the crack pipe down Schicoff couldent carry Tuckers dirty underware . Elias
tenorismo 4 years ago
@melchiorfan He was great in the role - but I believe that RT never sang the role.
bluechazzan 1 year ago
@bluechazzan My mistake - it appears he did in fact sing it towards the end of his life.
bluechazzan 1 year ago
@melchiorfan without Caruso as a great model, I can only wonder how those who came after would have sounded. I hate to say BETTER than Tucker, it was OTHER than Tucker, but for pure cold grandeur, GEORGES THILL is the only other Eleazar
herminestover 1 year ago
not perfect, but so upsetting !
taillia 4 years ago