Cornell Macneil "Si puo, si puo?" Buenos Aires 1968

[claudiocp35]

I saw this performance. MacNeils' s voice soaring in that enormous hall will never be forgotten.

[Heldenbariton1]

R.I.P. Cornell MacNeil

[Labienus]

Without doubt one of the great voices of the last century, and probably one of the greatest Verdi baritones ever. I heard him many times in his glory years, and his Rigoletto was second to none. I notice elsewhere there is some mean spirited carping about some performances later in his career-and perhaps he did hang on too long-but MacNeil in decline was better than any baritone singing today-and even in those years on a given night you might have a blazing performance.

[ChrisStockslager]

@Labienus Like his 1977 Met Rigoletto on DVD, which I will pick over Merrill or Milnes in their primes in that role any day!

[Chiliarches]

@Labienus

You're right about everything you say...EXCEPT that there is no one at his level anymore. I just discovered someone who IS. Look up Seng Hyoun Ko - Pagliacci.

[Labienus]

@Chiliarches Thanks for making me aware of him-big, exciting voice-however he's been around for quite a while and you wonder why he isn't "bigger" Listened to the Prologue-line choppy-softer singing too precious-imitative interpretation don't know wht it's likelive-take Hvorostovsky-great stylist wonderful line but truth be told not aterribly big sound if it were he'd be super star

Like to hear Ko is some well know settings

[ChristophePhilippe]

How does singing get better?

[Heldenbariton1]

MacNeils Voice ist unbelievable! For me, he´s the gratest Baritone of all time! Every time, when I hear his voice, i am overwhelmed with emotion. Great Artist!

[Greatfan2011]

This is THE GLRY OF SINGING AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL !! For goodness sake, I was 16 and will never forget this beautiful sound. He has a God gift that almost no other baritone had. And THAT BEAUTY OF TONE. His voice was wide, voluminous, brilliant but above all, VERY, VERY BEAUTIFUL !!! The beauty almost made us forget the volume. It is impossible to sing better than this, or even reach this level !!!

[bassocantante]

Bravissimo!!! listen to the end!!!

[omarchidofine]

i don't know if it is because of the recording or the director did it, but this aria is one semitone higher than written. He sings an A natural and a A flat at the end. Wooooow! My teacher saw him live and told me that when he sang, one could feel the seats trembling with his voice...bravo maestro!

[Mooorhe]

Stunning!

[31122051]

Grande baritono.

[tenorismo]

What wooble ? I saw a production of Riggoletto at the old Met I was 12 yrs old MacNeil Was Fucking incredible Carlo Bergonzi Il Duca , GIanna D'Angelo was the Gilda. I'll never forget that afternoon. My Dad and I .

[tenordramaticitm2]

Bravooo Matre!

[ernanisonio]

Forget about wobble/schmobble. Just listen to that audience explosion at the end. This is not polite applause. This is a genune response of pent up emotion to a wonderful performance by a wonderful artist. The first time I ever heard MacNeil, it was Pagliacci. I was on the rail standing room, left side orchestra at the old Met. As I heard this deep booming voice I thought, my god he'll never get up there! But get up there he did and mine and the audience response was just like heard here.

[baritoneortenor]

Well said Ernani. It must have been incredible seeing him live.

[DonPaolissimo]

Great, fantastic high notes, but the rest is shot thru with that awful wobble, which always prevented Mac from endearing himself to my heart!

[stevevandien]

And where is the wobble in those high notes?

[GermanOperaSinger]

There is clearly a wobble here, remember he was already 45 here so already a good few years past the normal prime of a baritone. But the Ab is still very nice as is the G, with no apparent wobble. His wobble seems to be most obvious near the passagio. In any case, great voice.

[leolopezlinares]

Una Lecciòn de Canto y de interpretaciòn natural

Bravo Cornell Macneil en las èpocas en que el Colòn era un lugar de primer nivel musical en el mundo.

[cdgray2]

Mac was the greatest, a voice of incredible size and beauty. He remains among the greats. How about the beautiful piano moments in this live recording?

[MrCafiero]

Excellent. A singer cannot be "on" every single time they get up to perform. This is still very excellent and you hear him covering not just singing open chest all the way up. Sometimes he makes the mistake of uncovering a bit high, but most of the time he does cover, as on the Ab and G. Incredible voice.

[saiserieht]

I think with his voice, he would have not chance to even sing that high without covering. Only smaller voices can be forced to do that, many women do.

[MrCafiero]

He did cover the higher notes, but he got in trouble starting to uncover the E4 too much.

Women don't cover. They go into headvoice which is a falsetto dominant sound. Men keep chest dominant covered sound.

[robertwbecker]

It's an A flat, I'm tired of people being critical of Mac when they could not walk in his shoes or turn pages for him, recognize what he did at the height of his career and cut him some slack, this is one of the greatest baritones of the century and if you don't get that you need a hearing examination!

[Lovelytenor1]

@robertwbecker I heard him live before the vocal problems started. It blew everyone away. I'll never forget it.

[65attila]

@Lovelytenor1

Macneil was the most imposing baritone voice I heard in stage.

IMO his vocal issues were not age issues.I heard him in 1975

in Philly and his voice was solid as a rock and impossing than here.

His was simply inconsistent but glorious..

[Lovelytenor1]

@65attila I heard him about the same time as Tonio. The Prologue is still in my ear/mind/heart.

[65attila]

@Lovelytenor1

My experience was also the Prologue at an Anniversary Concert for the

Academy of Music in Philly. Marilyn Horne was the other vocalist.

[Lovelytenor1]

@65attila By the way, thank you for your kind comments on my little YT offerings. I'm actually singing better almost two years after the last of these were recorded and be 65 in 2 months.

Doug

[goldenthroat86]

@robertwbecker Thank you! I used to be one of those people who didn't care for Macneil. But I had only heard him in the late 70's and early 80's...by which time he wasn't sounding so good. From the late 50's through the early 70's, though, Mac used his beautiful, HUGE baritone with great musicality and intelligence.

And the Ab is incredible! DO any of these "experts" have a CLUE how hard it is for a baritone to sing "al pari di VOOOOO--iiiiiiii!" on a high Ab? Trust me. It's REALLY hard!

[cameratamaestro]

A flat, not A. This catches Mac at the end of his prime career, before he began singing straight tone in chest all the way up to high G in efforts to get rid of the wobble. Here we hear the wobble.

[bradleyjenks]

Thank God someone posted this!! Sorry dude. Have to disagree. This is rockin'. After years of singing only heavy-hittin' Verdi his voice got higher, he sang a little more open cause he could, and still nailed notes that tenors would kill for until he retired. That much of the hardest singing would tire/wobble anyone. But he still rocks it out. And his A flat still and G are incredible! His interview with Jerome Hines has it right. He knows singing, backwards and forwards. Macneil is an animal.

[stevevandien]

Where is the wobble?

[baritoneZIGS]

That's right. I wonder why he got that wobble relatively early compared to some?

[lrmusica]

WOW what a hight A BRAVO!!!