The beauty of this performance lies in the IMPERFECTION of Vickers technique. The suffering of the indignation that Otello uncovers v. the ham and eggs bflat "e questo il fin!" mirrors each other. Although it was unintentional it adds to the authenticity of the human condition of his portrayal. I mean, c'mon, if you had just discovered your wife's supposed indiscretions could you really sing a bflat?
Del Monaco had the greatest voice of Otello, but Vickers had the greatest dramatic portrayal.
All these years later, this remains a classic performance. We have neither an Otello nor Iago of comparable stature today. Vickers was certainly an Otello for the ages, and MacNeil was one of our last true Verdi baritones. Given the state of opera and operatic singing today, can we hope to hear (and see) anything from anyone resembling these two again? I fear not. How, then, can future generations understand lhe extraordinary richness of this and other great operas?
new to opera and i understand this already.... these are my favorite singers! I felt biast because its the first two voices i jumped into (vesti la giubba with JV) and (cortigiani vil razza donnata with Big Mac) but now its clear to me that theres really no much to compare to... Although jussi and milnes do extremely well ^_^
This was an OUTSTANDING performance through and through, one which I audio-taped years ago off of WFMT and still enjoy. The only downside to the performance is that it should have been James McCracken, either in the originally scheduled TANNHAUSER or in the OTELLO which replaced it, and it was Anthony Bliss screwing him out of the telecast (after Vickers' antics surrounding TANNHAUSER the season before) which led to a 5-year break between McCracken and the Met.
The professional opera world certainly sucks, especially at the international level. I wish McCracken could have had a televised Otello or Tannhauser from the Met. But isn't there a complete video of his Otello at Covent Garden, with Kiri te Kanawa? This is NOT to excuse the horsecrap that the Met dumped upon him. But his Otello has been preserved on video, no? Or am I thinking of something else?
Actually, the only video of Te Kanawa as Desdemona from Covent Garden that I can find is with Solti conducting, with Domingo as Otello. Still no video of James McCracken IN COSTUME in a full performance of the role - just the "Dio! mi potevi scagliar" in concert from the Met Centennial gala.
@stevevandien James McCracken's final act of "Otello" was televised from Covent Garden (in the old Christopher West production), as part of a tribute to Maria Callas.
Vickers here is frightening on a tiny screen 30 years on. The voice has unique and elemental power as well as the scratches. ALSO wonderful high pianissimi in the "Grimes"recording, and final diminuendo in "La Fleur" etc from Carmen. Pretty unique.
Critics gave him a hard time about that. He would alter the timbre of his voice to fit with what his character's emotions. The thing about Vickers that's so great is that He makes an attempt at natural acting on stage letting out those emotions from within, rather than through observing others like the European system of acting education works.
Vickers had such a big voice that he didn't have to push like most tenors do. His weakness was his high notes, which, after his youth, were sung too open, and lack the focus and brilliance of those of Del Monaco, for example.
But dfferently from del Monaco Vickers created a truly tragic character through closely following Verdi's score, Del Monaco for all his brash trumpet-like high notes was completely disrespectful of Verdi's writing,
As his career progressed del Monaco completely lost any ability to sing soft, he acquired the habit of putting portamenti all over the place, his intonation was often suspect and he often put the voice in the nose on the passaggio especially on the viowel 'i'. Give me Vickers any day, he is a musician's Otello
I believe Vickers' chest register was so huge that he sometimes had trouble balancing it with the lighter head register. His top notes (above A natural) frequently came out quite well, but were occasionally thin, even constricted. I heard him in person twice, and on both occasions Vickers' top tones were certainly serviceable, without obvious constriction or strain. But they lacked the soaring, eye-opening freedom of del Monaco's or Corelli's acuti, for example --
Vickers is a great artist. Not only a singer ,but also an actor .
Ettoredipugnar 4 months ago
el canto y la actuacion de Vickers hubieran sorprendido a Verdi y al mismo Shakespeare!!!
incomparable.
ezev8logos 1 year ago
The beauty of this performance lies in the IMPERFECTION of Vickers technique. The suffering of the indignation that Otello uncovers v. the ham and eggs bflat "e questo il fin!" mirrors each other. Although it was unintentional it adds to the authenticity of the human condition of his portrayal. I mean, c'mon, if you had just discovered your wife's supposed indiscretions could you really sing a bflat?
Del Monaco had the greatest voice of Otello, but Vickers had the greatest dramatic portrayal.
Nello7 1 year ago 2
SU questa romanza soltanto un interprete di Otello, arrivava in fondo senza nessuna fatica A voi la risposta, PER SAPERE CHI è. SALUTI
federic017 1 year ago
Everybody comments on Vickers, a great one; however, the real singer here is Big Mac, a voice beyond words.
cdgray2 2 years ago
All these years later, this remains a classic performance. We have neither an Otello nor Iago of comparable stature today. Vickers was certainly an Otello for the ages, and MacNeil was one of our last true Verdi baritones. Given the state of opera and operatic singing today, can we hope to hear (and see) anything from anyone resembling these two again? I fear not. How, then, can future generations understand lhe extraordinary richness of this and other great operas?
stevevandien 2 years ago 2
new to opera and i understand this already.... these are my favorite singers! I felt biast because its the first two voices i jumped into (vesti la giubba with JV) and (cortigiani vil razza donnata with Big Mac) but now its clear to me that theres really no much to compare to... Although jussi and milnes do extremely well ^_^
chuckdontgiveaphuck 2 years ago
Vickers was far better as Otello witness the pure crap he was allowed to get away with.
gaytenor 2 years ago
This was an OUTSTANDING performance through and through, one which I audio-taped years ago off of WFMT and still enjoy. The only downside to the performance is that it should have been James McCracken, either in the originally scheduled TANNHAUSER or in the OTELLO which replaced it, and it was Anthony Bliss screwing him out of the telecast (after Vickers' antics surrounding TANNHAUSER the season before) which led to a 5-year break between McCracken and the Met.
jmccracken1963 3 years ago
The professional opera world certainly sucks, especially at the international level. I wish McCracken could have had a televised Otello or Tannhauser from the Met. But isn't there a complete video of his Otello at Covent Garden, with Kiri te Kanawa? This is NOT to excuse the horsecrap that the Met dumped upon him. But his Otello has been preserved on video, no? Or am I thinking of something else?
stevevandien 2 years ago
Actually, the only video of Te Kanawa as Desdemona from Covent Garden that I can find is with Solti conducting, with Domingo as Otello. Still no video of James McCracken IN COSTUME in a full performance of the role - just the "Dio! mi potevi scagliar" in concert from the Met Centennial gala.
jmccracken1963 2 years ago
@stevevandien James McCracken's final act of "Otello" was televised from Covent Garden (in the old Christopher West production), as part of a tribute to Maria Callas.
BrianJosephMorgan 8 months ago
Two major league voices in these great roles --
stevevandien 3 years ago
Vickers here is frightening on a tiny screen 30 years on. The voice has unique and elemental power as well as the scratches. ALSO wonderful high pianissimi in the "Grimes"recording, and final diminuendo in "La Fleur" etc from Carmen. Pretty unique.
hedgechair 4 years ago
Great duet Macneil and Vickers.Macneil is very good singer,his Rigoletto is the best.
Rafaello251 4 years ago
i love how vickers is willing to put that throaty grit in there around 2:20, fantastic performance by both men.
raythetse 4 years ago
Critics gave him a hard time about that. He would alter the timbre of his voice to fit with what his character's emotions. The thing about Vickers that's so great is that He makes an attempt at natural acting on stage letting out those emotions from within, rather than through observing others like the European system of acting education works.
thugless 3 years ago
Vickers had such a big voice that he didn't have to push like most tenors do. His weakness was his high notes, which, after his youth, were sung too open, and lack the focus and brilliance of those of Del Monaco, for example.
Samurai9 4 years ago
But dfferently from del Monaco Vickers created a truly tragic character through closely following Verdi's score, Del Monaco for all his brash trumpet-like high notes was completely disrespectful of Verdi's writing,
CzarDodon 4 years ago 10
As his career progressed del Monaco completely lost any ability to sing soft, he acquired the habit of putting portamenti all over the place, his intonation was often suspect and he often put the voice in the nose on the passaggio especially on the viowel 'i'. Give me Vickers any day, he is a musician's Otello
CzarDodon 4 years ago 9
Agreed, I adore the man!
Sadiesexy 4 years ago
I believe Vickers' chest register was so huge that he sometimes had trouble balancing it with the lighter head register. His top notes (above A natural) frequently came out quite well, but were occasionally thin, even constricted. I heard him in person twice, and on both occasions Vickers' top tones were certainly serviceable, without obvious constriction or strain. But they lacked the soaring, eye-opening freedom of del Monaco's or Corelli's acuti, for example --
stevevandien 2 years ago
I love Domingo's Otello, too, but Vickers brings it farther up on the scale of tragedy -- what an artist -
stevevandien 4 years ago
a sad aria, especially because of the wrong conclusions...
gheeah 4 years ago
GREAT vocally, dramatically and musically!
MrCafiero 4 years ago