Bartered Bride with Gedda & Tozzi

[d00jolta]

Very nice looking recording, thanks for the upload!

Next time you record an old clip, turn down the volume a bit, because this one has a lot of distortion...

[AriaSinger1]

Where can one procure a DVD/CD recording of this production? I am playing Jenik in the fall of 2011, in a full production of this opera. I have always adored Gedda's fluorid technique and I would love to have this as a tool for study.

[waltermontani]

teneri.......

[prazakvbrne]

It´s wonderful to see that this opera works so well being treated as a Wildean high comedy :-) And the translation is excellent and great fun :-)

[ZitraStatnice]

Very well...the end is indeed stupid and Mařenka doesn't enter. :-)

[ZitraStatnice]

This is very good translation actually. Far superior to others. Sticks almost exactly to the czech original...in this scene that is. :-) And both the actors are just great. Thx for posting.

[bcope54069]

Curious to see people call Tozzi underrated. Most opera fans I know consider him to be one of the finest basses of the twentieth century.

[novasafo]

wow, such wonderful singing

[tozzmonster]

That's my father!

[rexeterna]

this might just be the greatest thing ever

[montaneIU]

Those were the days of the great singers !!!!

C.M.

[OperaBaritoneJoe]

his a bass that sings like a baritone.

[ruffoite]

we need more tozzi videos!

[divabarka]

Jeník very good, Kecal too.

[Greatfan]

I wrote something about Tozzi being underrated and I have read a comment by Agnorante. Maybe I wrote the wrong word. Tozzi is highly respected and admired as artist and as a vocie, but he should have been hailed as one of the greatest divos in XX century.

[tomtallis]

I had the privilege of studying with George for 3 1/2 years at IU. A wonderful artist and teacher as well as the nicest man you could meet.

[Ivanhoe2]

Gedda's English is so good! He sings in and has mastery of every operatic language. A superb artist.  Tozzi is quite magnificent in this role, a fine artist. The whole scene is very enjoyable.

[maestrohound]

Oh my god thank you for posting this. I have heard people talk about how great Tozzi was(is), but had never had a chance to see him in video. When I was a trombone major student at IU, I took a semester of elective voice lesson with one of his doctoral students, which was no problem, but later in that semester I learned I would have to sing for him in semester-end jury! It was like having to swing a driver for Arnold Palmer or something. He was sooo nice though.

[orjus]

For the real thing hear -Vickers , Stratas etc .

[Agorante]

I'm afraid you've got it wrong. In the famous English language version of Thr Bartered Bride at the Met, Gedda again sang Jenik. Vickers in the same cast sang the secondary comic tenor part. Vickers was of course magnificent but he outraged some of my tenor friends. How could the greatest drammatic tenor of the age (of any age?) sing the part of the stuttering comic relief.

[bgauby]

Giorgio Tozzi recently retired from Indiana University School of Music. A great singer, actor, and educator has retired but he is not forgotten.

[ond26]

wow, for me is english version better than original

[realbasso]

Thanks for posting this. Nice to hear from those who appreciate Tozzi's artistry. I was a student of his at I.U. He is the greatest person as well. I loved seeing this video. If you want to hear a fabulous voice and superb phrasing, then you must get his recordings. His Verdi Requiem is unsurpassed as are many of his other portrayals. I was a big fan before he became my teacher. Any more Videos? He recorded a video of Meistersinger as Hans Sachs in Germany, which is suppose to be fantastic.

[Bobballsy]

Tozzi's Meistersinger IS fantastic. I have the audio, but no video. I have seen the video at GT's house and hound him constantly about putting it to DVD, but he procrastinates. His Boris (in English) was also made into a movie for NBC - incredible.

[cptnunderwhere]

It has recently been released on DVD.

[Bobballsy]

Please send or post any information you may have on where to get it! Thanks!

[cptnunderwhere]

You can find it on amazon (US version). Search under Giorgio Tozzi and Meistersinger. It's $27. It was recently reviewed by both Financial Times and The Washington Post; called the definitive Hans Sachs, deservingly so.

[Bobballsy]

I remember a masterclass where Franz Grundheber spotted Giorgio in the audience and stopped what he was saying in mid-sentence to offer his respect to Giorgio, mid-thought. He said that he had been a young man in the ensemble during the production in Germany around which this movie was made. He said that all the German singers were amazed at how well this Italian-American singer could sing in their language.

[organdude44]

Tozzi's Daland in Der Fliegende Hollander was magnificent, as well. A souvenir of the memorable performances at the Met with London, Rysanek and Tozzi can be found on CD on Decca/London, Antal Dorati conducting.

[kraneled]

thank you, very funny, gozzi supern and so intelligent with the words

[Greatfan]

Well, I think that Giorgio Tozzi is a greatly underrated artist !! We know Gedda's quality by heart but I had forgotten Tozzi's. Some artists would have deserved a higher place. His sound is fantastic, and what a great artist !

[mujviktor]

Yes, of course, he IS great actor :)

This scene is superb!!! :)

I´m Czech, but in original it doesn´t sound me so beautifully as in this performance with Gedda&Tozzi :)

[Bobballsy]

Tozzi is perhaps the definition of underrated - people should fall at this man's feet. There are certainly very few artists who sang so well in so many different styles. Listen to his Broadway recordings - Rose Marie will break you. Put it next to his Verdi and you will be stunned. This man lives and breathes in Bloomington, IN and is a great a man as he is a singer.

[Greatfan]

I do not want to be prejudiced but generally the best persons have not the greatest popularity. Take Gladys Kuchta, for instance. She was so nice ! yet she never achieved total stardom in spite of wonderful voice. Tozzi had better luck but anyhow he is better than far more popular basses. How old is he ?

[Bobballsy]

Giorgio will be 84 on January 8, 2007.

[sirenadellopera]

I agree 100%. The singer is flawless, the voice splendid, and the man charming, generous and wise. I am a soprano who had the great good fortune to have studied with him briefly.

[Agorante]

You think Tozzi is underrated? Huh?

The great basses have been very few - Mardones, Didur, Pinza, Siepi, Christoff, Ghairov, Ramey, Frick, Kipnis, and Tozzi. Maybe a few more. Among knowledgeable opera fans he has always been beloved and respected. Thanks to South Pacific he has a similar reputation with the general public.

[amelagar]

I adore Gedda's voice!

[mujviktor]

me too!! :) ... I will upload some other nice videos with him...