La calunnia é un venticello John Relyea MET 2007

[dbertobis]

eccellente Calunnia

[ChrisStockslager]

FINALLY a bass that goes for a high G! Yay!!!!!

[MgFrobozz]

Oops!!! that should have read "bass/baritone", no tenor ...

[MgFrobozz]

I loved this production, and would love to see the Met replay it during their summer "Live in HD" season. It was really perfectly cast. That's Peter Mattei (playing Figaro) behind the door, and John Del Carlo playing Dr. Bartolo.

Relyea is one of my favorite tenors. He had an endearing habit of singing the really low notes out of one side of his mouth, but someone must have mentioned this to him, and he's no longer doing that.

[WolfofSega]

Didn't we all go to high school with some guy that was this weird?

[Herfinnur]

Fuck yeah!

[leporello56]

Great Performance. Love this Production!

[zegermans750]

great performance, but I'm not sure he acts crazy enough

[sillyboydeux]

P.S. He's even better a second time!

[sillyboydeux]

Who sings Rosina and Almaviva? I saw the 2002 run with Florez and Zakarova 7 times, and laughed til it hurt every time! Bleeker Street Opera is doing a production on Saturdays and Sundays which I'll be reviewing. I'm very excited because this opera was meant for smaller theaters.

[leporello89]

In that performances, Rosina was Joyce DiDonato, and Diana Damrau, Almaviva Juan Diego Florez =)

[sillyboydeux]

Wow! Better catch up on my basses. He's astonishing, surly, hilarious, boney, ingenious, precious and musical to the bones.

[MattQ88]

I sang for him in a masterclass a few months ago. Aside from having an amazing voice, he is a wonderful person. So kind.

[biskopius]

one of the best don basilio i've ever heard

[MrChucknorris1990]

my last name is relyea

[KatherineXIX]

Add me to his fan list! Excellent high G in this clip, awesome job singing "come un morto" an octave lower in the quintet, great vocal richness throughout, and amazing Alidoro as well. And I've always been a baritone/bass kind of girl, so that helps!

[saintsaens21]

Why does this vid only have 4 stars? Scandalous, it truly deserves 5.

[patukott]

Fixed it for you, haha:)

[vladix31]

I have NEVER heard this aria done SO INCREDIBLY WELL!

[duffins2007]

@vladix31 - see also ROBERT LLOYD, la calunnia

hope u'll like it

[27elt]

@duffins2007 Thank you (vladix31)

[Sieglinde84]

Wow! Just wow. If i were Rosina, I'd get away with this Basilio, not that boring tenor Almaviva. I've never seen a Basilio this young and attractive. :D And his voice is also beautiful.

He's almost too handsome to be a bad guy! <3

[KatherineXIX]

I know...I'm so jealous of her in this production. The Figaro AND Basilio are hot!

[Sieglinde84]

Is there a dvd somewhere?

I wonder if he'll move into heavier regions later. I think he'd look good with a nice spear in his hand and his voice seems big enough too...

[proopsforpresident]

@Sieglinde84 As good as Bartolo is, I would totally get with Figaro, I absolutely love Peter Mattei... <3

[CrystalFlames]

I love John Relyea so much.

[operajdflorez]

Bravo John -BRILLIANT performance best wishes from Montreal !

must see :):)

Don Giovanni: Ho Capito - John Relyea

[b1sII6]

Great performance.

By the way, del Carlo is so funny at 4:16.

[bassovalbisentino]

bravo questo basso

[laforet]

I love this man, really, please, upload some aria by him as Alidoro (La Cenerentola), love him in that role

[b1sII6]

Me too. I just saw his Alidoro with MET a couple of days ago, but fail to find any on youtube.

[Bigman240]

BRAVO JOHN!!!! He's CANADIAN!!!!

[lucyliesinashes]

I'd call him a bass straight out, but a lot of real basses call themselves bass-baritones because it's easier for them to be cast across more of a spectrum. I don't recall which he refers to himself as.

[ilFactotum]

He refers to himself as a bass, and rightly so; I remember reading an interview he gave in 2003 after a recital in which he performed Fillippo, Fiesco, and Silva's arias. I also recall him as saying "I know I'm destined for the Verdi repertoire". I think he's one of the most underrated and underused singers in the Met's roster.

[lucyliesinashes]

I agree he's underused... I loved him in Rodelinda, and he's my favorite Figaro (he's just such a sweet, likeable guy, and it really shows on stage in some roles).

He also never sounds "produced" the way basses like Ramey can (even though I love Ramey). He has the bite, but still the big spacey foundation in the back of his throat and his diaphragm, if that makes sense.

[operadawg]

This voice seems to lack much weight. I've never heard him in the theatre, however.

[Pereidom]

the aria is really good singed.

finally a good bass that do basilio (obviously except the already existing one like furlanetto pertusi etc.)

only a thing... why the sol at the end?.. is "gigionare" like we italian say.

but nevermind. is still a good performance.

[chupszg]

Fantastic

[crizia2007]

Grande Rossini

[cocaineblossom]

Ahahaha, moment of acting brilliance after 2:34. Love him.

[CrystalFlames]

I love John Relyea's voice.

[JBmail1]

L'Italiano e' la lingua più bella del mondo

W l'Italia !

[cernovlasy]

H, G or minor W... Great performance! ;)

[sobchakdrums]

seriously. real basses can sing high G. look for the video of hines doing "nonnes qui reposez" he throws a High g on the end and hines is about as "bassy" as it gets. also siepi on the same aria doing an F#, and then in other recordings singing low C. Ghiaurov was a bass, he sang bass repertoire, he technique bears that he is a bass. and no he does not sound like a baritone at all to me

[jhvorotin]

This aria is originally composed in D major. It goes up to F# on "crepar" (middle of the aria). But here, it's transposed down one key, C major so that the note "crepar" is an E. This was done by all basses to avoid the higher note.

Now, the enormous transgression is that Relyea sings in C major in order to go higher than F# in D major.

A high G is totally contradictory to the spirit of the aria. You can't just add the notes you want when it is not written that you can. It would be too easy.

[cucuchi1]

Bravo!!

[patukott]

Here in YouTube are the examples of Rodney Gilfry hitting the high B flat and E flat - and he can also hardly be suspected of being a tenor , or even a HIGH baritone:)

[operamor]

Nice, but he is obviously a baritone. A bass can not reach a high G, like he did at the end.

[Bozhkilov]

with some techniques sure a bass can reach g. I'd say he is bass-baritone a.k.a a high bass. whatever, he is very good.

[ilFactotum]

He definitely is a bass-baritone, no doubt about it; the dark timbre coupled with his clear voice gives him away.

On a different note, a bass can most certainly reach a high G, being one myself I can tell. Since that isn't exactly "hard evidence", there's a video posted in YouTube featuring Paata Burchuladze in this very same aria hitting the high G, and a baritone he's not.

[operamor]

He is more baritone than bass. Regarding Paata Burchuladze, show me a video from him singing Sarastro's arias, and then we will judge how real bass is Paata Burchuladze. For some reason, the most famous and real basses like Ghiaurov, Pasero, Pinza, Christoff, Mardones, Neri,Siepi among others, never put a high G at the end of La Calunnia.

[ilFactotum]

Well, you might've had a case if any of the singers you mentioned were alive and singing (with the exception of Siepi, thank God), I myself dislike comparing today's singers with operatic legends.

If we follow your argument, then Ghiaurov wouldn't be considered a bass either; he didn't sing Sarastro, Osmin, or the Inquisitor, even Corena beat him at that (he once sang Osmin, at Salzburg I believe)...

[operamor]

Yes, we agree about Ghiaurov. He was more bass baritone, but his dark sound allowed him to sing most of the famous roles for bass. Thanks for your interesting remarks. Titta Ruffo could also sing some tenor arias too, and Caruso bass arias.

[ilFactotum]

(from above) Regarding Burchuladze, there's no video of him singing Sarastro here on YouTube. Sadly, maestroshore's video featuring several basses hitting the Grand Inquisitor's low E, including Burchuladze, was removed when his first account was closed.

As for the high G, hey, Warren could sing "Di quella pira", high C and all, and he sure as Hell wasn't a tenor.

[nkeo]

True basses can definitely hit high Gs,.. they don't even have to be bass baritones. I am a true low lyric bass but I can easily sing up to G, and when I want to I can sing up to a high B natural in full chest voice.. It has to do with the bass voice maturing at age 14 or 15, rather than 25 or later like all other voice types. True basses tend to have a larger range than other voice types.

[catfish9797]

As far as I know typical true bass voices mature 10-15 YEARS later than other voice types bring them in around 35-40 to the others 25 or so. It'd be interesting to see a 14 or 15 year old Grand Inquisitor or a Don Carlo;)

[ufayad]

a true bass? with a range of almost 3 octaves?

lol i think you just may be unique...

[CzarDodon]

It may surprise you people, but mother nature does not make standardised models like modern industry. Moreover in Rossini's day the difference between bass and baritone was not clearly defined. This aria doesn't have any great low notes so it is within the rang of most lower male voices.

Is he a bass, or a baritone, or a bass-baritone, or a baribasstenor, that question only tells about YOUR obsession with labels.

Does sing well? I think he does, I've heard finer, but I'd applaude, would you?

[eegreen]

Has nothing to do whether he reaches or not certain note, but with what timbre and color he does. His color is definitely a bass. DEFINITELY!

[jayboytheplayboy]

Truly at great "Canadian" talent.

[ilFactotum]

John is DA MAN!

[operajdflorez]

This video is real  treasure :) Iam so glad!

Thank you Leporello !