The Greatest "Di Provenza" - Lawrence Tibbett

[ebryant4]

He's my 3rd cousin. 

[avajie]

I'm so happy for this. Classical is the style I plan on trying to do as I get older, and the fact that an american vocalist is SO GOOD brings hope to my heart, ya know? I feel like... If I'm lucky, maybe I can do it.

[jcab2323]

by far the greatest american baritone..

[lastofdmelocchians]

Clearly THE GR8EST BARITONE of all time!!!

[fatherman73]

The most musical interpretation of the Di Provenza I've heard.

[paulostroff99]

Lovely singing! TY PB for posting.

[francesca7564]

@jeanmolin e @ bodiloto

Voyons Messieurs , vous êtes des hommes de valeur ( et c'est mon coeur qui parle ) .

Comment pouvez vous en arriver à de telles extrémités ???

Ce n'est pas un exemple pour les "giovane" qui vous lisent !

PACE E GIOA !!!

Votre fierté n'en souffrira pas !

Lawrence Tibbett était l'Empereur des barytons, non ?

De grâce, Messeigneurs, pour l'art lyrique, souffrez de montrer l'exemple !!!

Toute mon affection à vous deux, pareillement .

Francesca

[legatofancier]

Voices change over time. Unfortunately, Tibbett's alcholism was largely responsible for the decline in his voice. At his best, I doubt that Tibbett's voice was as big as Ruffo's ( I doubt that anyone surpassed Ruffo as far as size goes). Today, Tibbett would probably be considered a Bass-Baritone. He was not entirely a Verdi baritone, but a this best he was musical; warm, and displayed very good taste. Wish we had more singers like him today.

[bodiloto]

@legatofancier oggigiorno canterà come basso,non come basso-baritono!

Magnifico Tibbett!

[Baritanist]

Ruffo was better than Tibbet but Tibbett had the bigger voice. He destroyed it with booze and got constricted.

[ranigema]

dal vivo! la mezzavoce del leone!

che  meraviglia!

sublime!

[redgrapeskins]

no doubt he had beautiful control --we can obviously hear the breath capacity via the long sustained tones --the swelling of the note at the finish  was very nice - the voice is simply very well trained - Tibbett was known for that! - this was not the best audio quality but we are fortunate primobaritono put this up ---Tibbett certainly a giant - thanks

[Lovelytenor1]

Many will argue that there have been baritones with greater depth of sound. But, few have matched his ability to convey human emotion thru his unique timbre/artistry. In that, he has very few peers.

[mozzrt]

@Lovelytenor1 Agree completely. Thats why I prefer Tibbet, MacNeil, Gobbi and Merrill to Warren, Waechter and Milnes, a golden voice here and there isn't more important than the whole aria, it's opera, not a note-for-note competition.

[stevevandien]

@Lovelytenor1 Gosh, I for one have always found Tibbett's depth of sound exceptional. And I agree with you otherwise:). Just curious, however -- who do you consider to have a greater depth of sound that Tibbett?

[abracadabranque]

Voici la justification de ce que je disais sur Dieskau.Même si tout n'est pas du meilleur goût,le sujet est traité et non trahi;et puis,le matériel vocal...Incomparable...

[Erdrick345]

Tibbett was NOT the greatest Di Provenza...Tita Ruffo was BY FAR..if you listen you will surly agree...not to diminish the talent of Tibbett, but he was not the greatest.

[VinylToVideo]

@Erdrick345 Having just listened to Ruffo sing it I cannot agree. I also know someone (long dead of course) who heard Ruffo at the Met in the 1920s who commented "he was shit."

[bodiloto]

Sublime !

[jeanmolin55]

@bodiloto Povero Bodiloto....ma si può sapere da che parte sta Bodiloto??? Ma se Tibbett è sublime, allora Battistini, Stracciari, Ruffo, Amato, Ancona etc etc come cantano? Ma per piacere Bodiloto smettiamola di millantare crediti verso la lirica. Tibbett è stato un discreto baritono. Di eccelso non c’è proprio nulla. E poi Traviata – Di Provenza è un Verdi tutto Italiano. Niente mezze voci. Va cantato com’è scritto. Punto. Viva Verdi!!!

[bodiloto]

@jeanmolin55 lei e un maleducato e tutto.E per dirla tutta lei non sa leggere in italiano!

Quando e dove ho parlato male di tutti barioni citati da lei?

Poi e ovvio e che lei non capisce nulla della lirica italiana,e penso che tutta la sua vita e stato sordo.

E un fatto."niente mezze voci"?

signore,le mezze voci lei non gli sentirà mai,perché lei non capisce nulla.

Ha dimenticato:Danise,Granforte,T­agliabue etc.

Adoro la voce di Tibbett, lei adora quella di Raimondi.

E la vita...ahahahahahah

[jeanmolin55]

@bodiloto @francesca 7564

Egregio signore, se in qualsiasi modo si sentisse offeso dalle mie parole, le chiedo cortesemente di accettare le mie scuse. Le garantisco che non commenterò più nessun brano lirico di musica Italiana cantato da solisti stranieri. Ne tanto meno darò seguito ai suoi scritti. Tanto le dovevo. Giovanni.

[bodiloto]

@jeanmolin55 Accetto le sue scuse.Nicola.

[francesca7564]

@bodiloto

Nicola, je vous admire ...

Francesca

[VinylToVideo]

I just cannot believe how great this is. And I think I have this recording!

[bigus]

agreed he is one of the greatest bass baritones just to be specific.

[796824]

Tibbett far outshines all the singers on the Metropolitan stage today

[MrDerere1]

questo si che è un canto a fior di labbro

[federic017]

NO! è UN CANTO A MEZZA VOCE . UN SALUTO

[Rigelcentauri58]

This is perfection!!!!

[j72050]

...my fav baritone...yes Warren was spectacular...but the Tibbett ringing bombastic huge high register...the heavenly dark dense deep lower gutteral register....what a glorious freak of nature, too bad the sonics were not better for him, but his glorious voice sings thru the ages....

[SatchmoSings]

My GAWD!

Where do you find these things!

Man-oh-man . . .Tibbett was GREAT!

[sebreathnach]

I'll stay with Giusepe De Luca for 'Di Provenza'; but one finds how exhilerating it is to listen to Lawrence Tibbett. He is such a Grande Baritono -- and he is so obviously blessed by the Gods! Thank you!

[Bassonobile]

Oh primobaritono how right you are! He certainly takes the cake, What elegance, what style, and mezze voci well supported. This is not an aria , this is an elegy.

[paulostroff99]

Stupendous! Bravo! Emperor of tenors! Bravo!

[otrebor612]

Excuse me. He's The Emperor of BARITONES, not tenors.

[paulostroff99]

otrebor612-I'm so sorry. Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me.

[paulostroff99]

paulostroff99-Sorry,I of course meant baritones.

[HMW]

that crescendo starting at 5:19 is great

[baritono81]

I agree, great musicality. Some stuff he does I've never heard done with this aria before. And the last note he holds so long. Bravo! Thanks for sharing primobaritono.

[paulostroff99]

baritono81-I of course meant to write emperor of baritones and not emperor of tenors. I am truly and dreadfully sorry.

[billyguns2]

This 1935 TRAVIATA is one of the greatest performances of any opera ever captured by a microphone! Tibbett's DI PROVENZA is the greatestt I've heard, even surpassing Warren's.

[cleanears]

Just magnificent! Noone around today like this. That's for sure!!!!

[rayrac]

1935 Eh? Year I was born!

[bud21s]

My God ! What timber ! What richness and warmth of tone ! Effortless forte !

As you have stated above , simply the BEST .

Thanks for this exquisite piece of American Opera History !

David

[picapin]

what a treat!

Thanks for sharing!!!!

[erzbet07]

Spectacular! What a voice!  Thanks for posting.

[raythespian]

Tibbett was slightly before my time, so I never heard him in the house.  By the time I was listening, he was singing "Don't Fence Me In" on the Hit Parade...oy! He gives this aria more nuance than I've ever heard. I liked the practice in those years of returning to the key of Db, thus bringing down the curtain on the baritone's high Ab.

[mrm4xim4m]

hey man where can i learn all the notes Ab Db ? im interested hope you can help

[raythespian]

mrm4...You can learn about notes and keys in a course on "Music Theory". It's elementary and easy to learn. There are books in libraries and stores, and you can get into a class with a teacher.

[mrm4xim4m]

thanks man i know i sound a bit lazy an al maybe but i had a quick look on google and music theory came up but wasnt sure.. anyway.... cheers :)

[piasecznik]

Ab? In my version of the score the baritone doesn't have to go above Gb. And I can sing along quite comfortably here, while I'd have to strain my voice to go up to Ab.

[raythespian]

Look at the end of the scene. Germont sings "Ah ferma!". In the score it's an F in the key of Bb. Now check the key in this clip...it's Db. Unfortunately, Tibbett's voice cannot be heard (he may have been far upstage), but he sings "fer-" on Ab, as did all baritones in that era.

[piasecznik]

In my version of the score it reads-

GER: Né rispondi d'un padre all'affetto?

ALF: Mille serpi divoranmi il petto! Mi lasciarte!

GER: Lasciarti!

ALF: Oh vendetta!

GER: Non piu' indugi; partiamo t'affretta

ALF: Ah, fu Douphol!

GER: M'ascolti tu?

ALF: No.

They do it a bit differently, or at least that what it sounds like, with the tenor staying at the high G and singing a different text after Germont has done the 'Né rispondi' part. But I don't hear a high Ab by Tibbett.

[raythespian]

Forget the Ab...I'll look for a better example. In the meantime, listen to...The great Piero Cappuccilli - "Di Provanza" - Live ... He encores the second half, and goes up to Bb at the end of the scene!

[Vairguy09]

It would be most interesting to hear Tibbett in today's technology. Even in the technology they had then, you can hear the reverberation from his awesome forte.

[lanaturale]

Il migliore tra i baritoni americani di tutte le generazioni, l'unico infatti a curare la dizione nell'opera italiana, elegante fraseggiatore, misurato esecutore.

[TommyHaegin]

We need not discuss his outstanding, remarkable voice and extraordinary commandment, but in the last minute he is not singing Gèremont anymore, but only showing off Lawrence Tibbett. It's a bit too much. Indeed the last few notes do wobble and the final is a bit off pitch even. Sometimes less is more...

[rayrac]

Have a word with him, I'm sure he wouldn't mind!

Where DO they find them (you).

[tagliavini]

I have sympathy with your opinion.

[violaguy312]

He's such a stud.

[rayrac]

Wonderful!

[Belcore14]

I am in absolute awe.

I was overwhelmed and chilled throughout the entire performance...

Thank you primobaritono!

[stevevandien]

Listening to this again, I'm struck by Tibbett's command of all dynamic levels -- from that melting mezza voce to a thunderous forte and back again -- while his timbre remains rich and noble. And that perfectly controlled crescendo at 5:19-5:29 -- whoa, who's got that kind of technique today?

[sirenadellopera]

This is wonderful, but I can't believe that there is no Cornell MacNeil version of this aria on YouTube. Someone please post it, asap!

[stevevandien]

There used to be a MacNeil version on YouTube, and though late in his career (I think 1986 or '87), it was still impressive -- I heard it about a year ago; don't know what happened to it --

[lpvcrcd]

Cornell MacNeil A big voice but didn't it have a tendency to wobble?

[wowyourgaiy]

It's hard to find baritones who have the tone color of this gentleman. I'd rather have this color than the forced "big voices" of our day.

[greenstboy]

Try Pavel Lisitsian---he gets my vote!

[tenorismo]

The greatists Germont vocaly will always be Robert Merril.

[eknate]

Beh, diamo a Tibbett quel che è di Tibbett, ma anche all'intonazione quel che è dell'intonazione...

[Moffolover]

Have you listened Giorgio Zancanaro's version of the aria? Both good singers, Tibbett and Zancanaro. But I must admit that Tibbet does have a very dynamic voice. The technique is the same, but Tibbet has more massive voice.

[stefakamelpash]

About as good as it gets. The smoothness of the voice, and the seamless integration of registers is simply magisterial. The bel canto influence is everywhere to be seen: those long crescendos and decrescendos, especially the last long "Dio m'esaudi." Flawless singing.He brought that same voice and technique to his operettas and films, and I always thought it worked very well there, also.

[bellatrix58]

Best interpretation ever!!

Why can´t baritons now-a-days sing like this? why isn´t this antique school of singing taught anymore?

[operalament]

simply put lawrence tibbett was the greatest baritone the world has ever known. my father knew him and studied under frank la forge as well. he was without doubt a demigod

[forallyouknow]

I would give this comment a +100 if I could.

[FABRIZIO82]

Is it the recording with Ponselle? The confrontation scene is UNBELIEVABLE...(Madamigella Valery?)

And WHY was he so noble and musical? Because the TONE PRODUCTION is perfect. Perfect tone production is the key. Nowodays Nobody sings like that or DE LUCA,BATTISTINI,DENS,SOUZAY,BI­ANCO,MARTY,DE GOGORZA...

[ilprincipedipersia]

This voice had a dark tonal center, an unequaled mezza voce and an elegance that only Warren approached . You should hear Wotan's Farwell with Stokowski and you will Wotan sung as Wagner must have dreamt it

[LaerdBryn]

As a wannabe singer I took lessons to learn how to sing this one piece. It's one of only two that I wanted to learn (the other was O Du Mein Holder Abenstern). Never did get the hang of it and am in awe of the wonderous voices that bring arias like this to life. About the only thing I can do is sustain a note for 45 seconds and sometimes a full minute. Bummer. Never got beyond Gilbert and Sullivan (Major General Stanley) ha, ha. And lots of the usual Broadway show stuff.

[canegracehasettevite]

... il tuo vecchio genitor ...

Perfect.

[stevevandien]

Tibbett here had perfect command of his voice, so he could use it as the servant of his art -- just gorgeous -- I've sung this aria, so I know how difficult it is --

[paulostroff99]

Wondrous!

[796824]

No performers today to match. The Met/LaScala teachers, coaches should take note of the true Art of Singing. There's a reason they called it The Golden Age of Singing.

[fordy42]

Lawrence Tibbett was one of the greatest non italian baritones ever

[fordy42]

If you ever get the chance to listen to a russian singer called Pavel Lisitsian. This aria is beautiful with his lovely rich gravelly voice

[raffaelepolli]

is very very beautiful

[MrCafiero]

I love it, but I still think Ruffo is the best or, at least, the most vocally impressive.

[meltzerboy]

For this particular aria, I would go to Ruffo (as always), but also to Battistini (for both voice and interpretation), Gobbi (for great interpretation, as in most things, and some beautiful singing as well apart from the aspirates), and De Luca (beautiful warmth of tone and technical skill at 53 and also some good interpretation). Not that I don't like Tibbett too, but not quite as much, at least for this aria, as our gracious YT host, who is apparently an ardent "Tibbettophile."

[blakemooney]

There are only a few baritones who sang this beautiful aria—probably the most applauded baritone aria in all of opera--as brilliantly as Tibbett and those two sang more recently and therefore not in quite the full voice that Tibbett employs here. His timber and phenomenal breath control set him apart from all who sung this including the two giants Warren and Merrill.

[Orfeus80]

Wonderful control and voice. A superb Germont!

[stevevandien]

Tibbett is marvelous -- but who are the tenor and conductor?

[primobaritono]

The tenor is Frederick Jagel and the conductor Ettore Panizza. Sorry for forgetting to mention them :)

[stevevandien]

Thanks! Given the date, I thought it might have been Panizza, but haven't heard Jagel enough to recognize his voice -- do you have a live recording of Tibbett as Iago with Martinell? Would LOVE to hear that:) --

[primobaritono]

Yes I have two in fact. Which parts would you like to hear ?

PS: It is a great pity that the old Met broadcasts are so very hard to come by in the U.S.

Since I also live in Germany I can buy them for 4 $ a piece.

[stevevandien]

Gosh, just about anything, the Brindisi, act II, especially "Si, pel ciel" --

[Lightseeker001]

@primobaritono

Frederic Jagel, I haven't heard that name for years. He was the teacher of Justino Diaz at the New England Conservatory. I'm going to look for his singing on YouTube and would love to know about his singing.