Ich liebe Fritze Wunderlich, ich bewundere Placido Domingo, ich verehre Luciano Pavarotti - doch Rolando Villazon vergöttere ich. Aber ich danke auch Gott für das Genie Puccini.
Leider ist Rolandos Stimme heute (2011) nur noch ein Abglanz im Vergleich zu dieser frühen Aufnahme mit der unverbrauchte Stimme. Villazon hat seiner Stimme zu viel zugemutet. Leider.
What a gorgeous performance. As someone here opined, Villazon's dark tenor, which harbors an undertone, nearly baritone hue, is certainly closer to his countryman Domingo's than it is to Pavarotti's. And while the comparison game is merely frivolous in the end, Villazon will likely find himself compared to Grigorio, at least in the opera going public's eye, for some time to come, in much the same way that it pitted Luciano to Placido. Nothing to take seriously, as they are both superb singers
He has a tenor voice like Placido, I think. Placido's voice is/was "darker" then that of his friend Pavarotti - and the world is/was richer for having both of them at the same time.
Hay muchos comentarios muy diferentes entre si, en mi muy humilde opinion, esta es un aria carente de muchao cosas.
Si bajas de tono un aria (y sobre todo de una con tanto peso como esta) es porque el interprete tal vez no tiene el registro, pero tiene el talento, la inteligencia y la habilidad para hacer que valga la pena y de sacarle los aplausos a la gente, cosa que no sucedió conmigo.
No sirve de nada comparar, pero si se tiene el ejemplo del maestro pavarotti, hay que tratar de superarlo
"la opera es como las corridas de toros: puede que empiezen a abuchear una vez, pero a la siguiente el entrar de nuevo el matador, le recibirán con aplausos de nueva cuenta"
This Kermit (aka Villazon) cannot do justice to the lyric Italian repertoire if his life depended on it. He should throaty, hooted and pushed. He lacks the brightness, resonance and vocal range for the lyric Italian repertoire.
Che gelida manina... e fatevela riscaldare con queste note... che bella melodia. Il bel canto di Rolando e' stato per me una piacevolissima rivelazione. Bravissimo Rolando. Tanti auguri, di cuore... di tanti altri momenti speciali.
no entiendo porque lo critican de esa manera. su voz no es higual a la de otros es por eso que ha llegado tan lejos.
a mi en lo personal me parece muy buena y con mucho sentimiento.
Pavarotti es Pavarotti, Y Rolando es Rolando y punto. Son dos personas diferentes con diferentes personalidades y formas de interpretar.
Si no les gusta pues porfavor guardense sus comentarios no constructivos y respeten los gustos de los demas. "Que el respeto al derecho ajeno es la Paz"
Lo que pasa es que las piezas musicales se escriben de una forma y se ha tenido que cambiar las melodias por que el no puede llegar a las notas agudas y si lo hace lo hace de una forma no acpetable y por eso es que no cae bien a las personas que lo escuchan. Eso es todo.
With this hooted, throaty sound and limited range this hispanic Kermit should be singing mariachi tunes instead of decimating the beautiful Italian lyric repertoire which requires a light, resonant voice with a good vocal range.
I don't understand why you people are bashing this guy. His voice is not throaty, he is a beautiful singer, and then his pronunciation is magnificent...I could pretty much understand everything he was saying.
And don't hate on him because he's from Mexico lol...
I don't mean to sound boastful or anything but I am musically inclined (won't go into detail with support) but I do know talent when I hear it and this is talent.
Don't deny that if his voice is not exactly your preference...lol.
Nobody's hating him. Some us do not respect him for he has no respect for the art form. He sounds throaty and pushed like his mentor Mingo. Both have a limited technique and an overextended vocal range. Kermit (aka Villazon) is the King of Cracks due to poor technique. Go get educated!
You guy don't know what you are talking about. - Villazon is a very good singer, he has a darker timbre than many others but he is not throaty at all. And he sings with heart. There is passion in his voice and if I am honest I prefer this way of singing to any technical voice without emotion.
No lo he descalificado, simplemente he escrito que no me transmite tanto como otros intérpretes. Que es un gran cantante no hay ninguna duda pero creo que depende demasiado del rol.
In a recent interview, Kermit was complaining that there is internet terrorism and irrelevant criticism of his artistry. The idiot has been decimating one operatic masterpiece after another and when criticized he's accusing the opera lover. This guys should be kicked out of every reputable opera house in the world. He belongs to a mariachi circuit.
Part 1. SteakO- While your grammatically flawed sentence does not convey a meaningful message, I will venture to answer out of common courtesy assuming I have understood what you attempted to mean. I was factual about Florez. That is all. He sings extremely well but does not have an exciting or exceptional voice. He's the best tenore leggiero of his time, and as far as I can tell, the tenor with the best technique among his peers. Personally, I have no interest in his vocal artistry.
No. But I have listened to him live on several occassions. He possesses the same flaws as his mentor which can be summarized as an "overtextended ego and a limited talent".
Part 2. SteakO-I am not sticking up for Florez or whatever the heck you mean to say. All I have said is that Kermit (aka Villazon) would kill to sing like Florez. Kermit is an overhyped and overhyped tenor with limited vocal resources and talent just like his mentor Mingo.
What do you mean by factual about Florez? You seem to have negative impressions toward Villazon and why do you call him Kermit. Are you a classical singer? What kind of reportoire have you acquired for yourself? Are you a tenor?, a baritone?, a bass? or none of the above.?
You make fun of my English. How many lanuages do you speak? Are you fluent in Italian? French? perhaps in German? Do you have any knowledge in a vocal pedagogy? or do you have a degree in music? What makes you so judgemental.
I do not care what do you know, have, or about to possess in terms of education, knowledge or anything else for that matter. But on thing I cna be certain. I have see Florez at the Met in La Fille du Regiment while have not. And I am inclined to think I have seen more operatic performances in the most reputable venues that you ever will. Halt die Klappe und hau ab.
There you go with your judgemental comments. So you are an observer. How many? and Which opera houses have you been in?and how do you know I have not been to operatic performances less than you have been in? I can see you are a person of pretence. Overly displayed with cliche and inadequately mock others with insufficent knowledge or skills. Are you a German descent or did you google it? LOL
If you are implying on strictly vocal aspects about Domingo, I wouldn't consider him to be the most idealistic. He possessed opposite quality in his voice that is quite contrary to Pavarotti and some of the light italianate lyric timbre. However Domingo is the most spontaneously consistant with vocal endurance that never quits. Obviously Villazon is no match for Domingo in vocal bench press.
This hispanic Kermit doesn't have a compatible voice of the lyric Italian repertoire. He sounds hooted, throaty and pushed. The lyric Italian repertoire needs to a bright and a very resonant which he does NOT possess. He'd do better if he sung mariachi tunes. This guys is a joke.
Villazon and the conducter had pre-arraged it. Orchestra don't just lower the key volunterilly. Often the tenors do it. Pavarotti, Carerras, etc..........
You should mention that Pavarotti sung La Boheme numerous times in key. The same can barely be said for Villazon, Carreras, Domingo etc. Be factual and be accurate!
You need to reread my comment accurately. You just recommenting my comment. By the way Pavarotti didn't lower the key until he was at his fifties. How young is Villazon in this video? at his thirties. LOL
i dont understand all this deep critisism about technique. really. everyone has something different to bring to the table...i doubt technique has much to do with that...
there is a point people get to when they are learning vocal technique where u understand where all the tones should be when you sing them (where the resonance should be..placement, once placement/deep sense of support is established, then theres diction, etc).. once the sense of freedom is achieved..its just a matter of expanding the understanding of the opera..
i liked his b natural, it was nice and bright, not as covered as many others, i mean, he is an internationally aclaimed opera singer, im sure he learned from the best... the people should judge the performance... imho, if the technical thing creates a defect in the performance, then there is a problem, but there are some things that people do because it is there style, it doesnt really hurt their voice... as far as I can tell/hear.
Why are people talking about technique? You really think music is about technique? I agree the singer have to learn to sing, one way or the other. That is the singers problem. We have to listen to the music and the feeling that it gives us. People who are talking about technique are not listening to music, but judging other people. Bah.
Yeah...never mind technique. JUst let it rip like Villazon does. Nice going frank tenor wannabe. What a shameful comment. After listening La Boheme from the likes of (live or recorded) Gigli, diStefano, Bjorling, Pavarotti, Gedda etc, Villazon sounds like an amateur. Get a clue.
What idiots, why would you spam my comment? I didn't even insult him. I LIKE Villazon, and I LIKE his voice, ok? But his technique is flawed, we cannot continue to set aside this fact. Why must you insist that everything about him is perfect? It's people like you who destroyed di Stefano!
I never compared Villazon to di Stefano. He doesn't hold a candle to the latter, who was in my opinion, the best ever for this role. I think that Villazon had a good voice and potential but delivers his sound in an ugly manner...perhaps I didn't clarify.
He scoops and slops everywhere, overdarkening on purpose, trying to make Rodolfo sound like Andrea Chenier. Di Stefano misplaced his vowels but as a result he sounded better, very bright and youthful sound. Villazon sounds worse as a result of his technical flaws.
Yet his voice would never pass as spinto, nor a a dextrous & darkened lyrico. Kermit would have been an excellent mariachi singer. Idiots like this decimate the beautiful Italian repertoire.
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GermanOS-You cannot teach an old dog new tricks. If a tenor hasn't learned to sing well with a solid technique by age 28 (his age at the time of this recording), he never will.
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I find it rather pathetic that one needs to look hard for seeing Domingo singing a glorious B4 live, let alone a top C. Quite a few and true Great tenors sung glorious top notes day in and day out for an extended period of time during their career. Why would someone extend Domingo a carte blanche I wonder?
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Rolando....take a deep breath...relax. 'Singing is like speaking' said Caruso. Listen to this advice. Please...relax. Let the sound flow naturally...I'd like to see you go far, but if you continue to sing in such a tense manner, you won't.
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I honestly think that Deutsche Grammophon, despite it's glorious past of wonderful recordings (with Maestri Karajan, Richter, Mravinsky etc), made their biggest mistake in signing on Villazon. Not only that, but they support him as their flagship tenor while many talented young tenors go almost unnoticed. One of these is Piotr Beczala. He has a few videos here. Tell me what you think of him. He'll be singing Rodolfo this season at the San Francisco Opera.
You're so right. Especially with this aria, it's sort of a condensation of a life well lived.
It shouldn't sound this hard, even if it is. I have the Jussi Bjorling/Victoria de los Angeles recording of this, and you forget they're singing sometimes. It's just magic.
You should be seduced at the end of this. I can see Mimi turning around and going next door for a match.
Someone here said Domingo could float a high C? Never flaoted, I heard him do it one time in 67 in Boheme with NYC opera and after that B's, that usually where tight but when he sang Canio and Luisa Miller in 79 and the studio Canio in 71 he was very good and I am not even a small Domingo fan, not cause of the lacking C but just the top sound. Kraus, Florez fine Spanish tenors (kraus half Austrian) never liked Fleta but so many great Spanish sopranos.
He surely had potential but here it is not what I heard in Los Angeles in Trav. My favorite tenors are for the most part dead. I like the Shicoff Che Gelida early in 82 on another you tube post and Bjorling of course, also Pavoratti in it but perhaps Villazon will improve over this, don't count him out yet. Missed Florez because he supposedly swallowed a fish bone and hurt the throat in Chicago, would have been him in Barber, thats what fish can do. He canceled the entire run.
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Pianist-And the kinda people who praise Kermit (aka Villazon) are hispanic xenophobes like Javier -a 19 yo Mexican- whose support to Villazon is not different than his support of his national soccer team. One cannot level with them in a rational manner.
Inquisitive, while normally I think your criticisms are a little harsh, I fully agree with you on this performance. It isn't good at all. Though I do agree with you, that doesn't mean i agree with the way you deliver your 'criticisms' I respect your opinion, but shouldn't you try approaching it in a nicer, more constructive manner? ^-^
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Pianist-My choice of rhetoric is my business. Such people cannot be approached the way you suggest as they lack common sense. If they had common sense, they wouldn't be doing what they're doing, i.e. debasement of opera. And the crowd which supports them are hooligans and no opera lovers.
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inquisitive... i cannot agree with you more!!! I understand exactly what you are saying and that you are trying to preserve the true art that is opera...
respecto a lo que pueda o no hacer creo que puede hacer lo que le venga en gana bueno lo que creo que no hace es sentarse a ver en you tube quien canta mejor o peor.
creo que dedica mas tiempo a hacer lo que le gusta y mucha gente lo admira por ello y eso es mas de lo que muchos de aqui podemos decir o no?
a mi me gusta villazon y una de las cosas que mas me sorprenden es la envidia que causa sobre todos los frustrados de you tube por que si se fijan en los comentarios negativos que aparecen en cada uno de sus videos son por parte de las mismas personas.
Si tan malo les parece por que lo siguen viendo?
es curioso no?
Por otro lado estoy de acuerdo de que este no es su mejor papel pero igual me agrada
Me temo que así ocurre cuando tu país ya no exporta cantantes de primera, y me refiero especialmente a E.U. e Italia. Incluso a mi, que me gusta un poco más Ramón Vargas, me parece que Villazón es mucho más el paquete completo, y un mejor cantante en general, aunque sí me parece que ahora abre la voz excesivamente; deber estar mal aconsejado.
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The only thing Rolando can do as far as the La Fille du Regiment is concerned is to wipe the floors of the stage will be graced by a top tenor who will deliver 9 glorious top Cs!
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Yuk, yuk, yuk!! His voice is tremulous, not vibrant. Have to agree with 'TheInquisitive' on all of this, except perhaps the comparison with Mingo. I think Domingo had a decent sound lower down (yes, hooty, though), with a nice even vibrato, but up high was shocking. This guy is worse again, and has presumably done as well as he has due to his affiliation with Domingo. And people criticise Alagna - he is great in comparison.
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Why do hispanics such as Domingo, Carreras, Villazon, Vargas etc insist on decimating the beautiful Italian repertoire with their hooted, throaty, monochromatic and pushed mariachi voice? If you sound like Fleta, Kraus or Aragall, I am perfectly content. But the hooted hispanics sound really bad in the Italian repertoire, especially in the lyric repertoire.
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Rudolpho is definitely not a role for Villazon. But then, I ask myself: Is there any role in Opera that Villazon can sing well??? He's a terrible Nemorino, a terrible Don Carlo, a terrible Chevalier de Grieux... Is Villazon really an Opera singer then???
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La Boheme is the ultimate litmus test for a tenore lyrico, which both Villazon, MINGO and even Carreras flunked. GREAT tenore lyricos sing La Boheme in key, making their mark in their career. There cannot be any excuse for transposing the role of Rudolpho at age 28 as Villazon did. It is an admission of incompetence indeed. So did MINGO; he transposed it as early as 1967!
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Shadow-Never ever compare Villazon to Corelli. The latter for a GREAT, while the former is a midget! Villazon's problem is not only the lack of a top C. Like his hooted, throaty, monochromaic, and pushed mentor MINGO (where's the Do?), anything above an Ab is a hit & miss exercise. Indeed, both MINGO and Villazon suffer from the same technical problems. They produce a hooted and strangled sound. They sound too throaty. Aragall, Kraus, and Fleta are/were the italian sounding hispanic tenors.
If he won't do this he will totally damage his vocal cords.Cant You hear his creacking?I'm syre he wants to sing very much but he must make a decision,otherwise there'll be 2 years longer and la comedia e finita.I presume the only tenor who didn't damage himself sidging like this was Domingo.Villazon must understand it.And You aplauding him after crackin just keep him in a naive belief that time of glory approaches.
In my oppinion we all should feel sorry for him..it would be nice for his defenders and admirers to understand that instead of quareling all the time.He's been staring at Domingo since the beggining,always says he's going to sing exactly like him.And he does so-they're identical.And this is going to destroy him.He's lirycal tenor and he tries things which are not for him.He should leave Domingo's techniques at once since the effects of singing this way we can all hear.
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Villazon is INCAPABLE of singing in La Boheme as his vocal range and technique is too limited as seen here. Even at age 28, he sings a TRANSPOSED pedestrian rendition of this otherwise most beautiful tenore lyrico role. His hooted, throaty, and pushed hispanic voice does not fit well with the Italian repertoire which called for a bright and resonant voice. How's that for criticism you little dimwit?
I've read a bit of your discussion. I disagree that his Spanish voice doesn't agree with tje Italian opera. It's just sad that he doesn't have the chops for the high C so they have lowered the song. Even Domingo could float the C in this role. As for Hurting his voice, yes and no. Franco Corelli had a long career playing a variety of roles and he was a lyric tenor who continually overly darkened his voice to play dramatic roles.
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Operalio-Florez is surely exceptional. Villazon and Vargas are not. They're just another couple of hooted, throaty, monochromatic and pushed sounding hispanics who are busy decimating the beautiful Italian repertoire.
TheInquisitive4Ever you seem to have no idea about voices if you say florez is exceptional and now I know why you spend so much time critizising non florez singers!! does he pay you? or you do it for free? ...
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Viel-Were you dropped on your head recently? Try to make sense. Florez has an impeccable technique and a good tenore leggiero voice. Villazon sounds hooted and throaty. His technique is despicable. It seems you've become tone deaf already at age 51!
Trying to sing Arias that the greats have sung! Pavarotti, Gigli, Bjorling, correlli, di stefano, del monaco & Alredo Straus! Even Alagna in 1995 knocked it our of the stadium!
The "BIG" note, he looked like he choking on something his mouth was wide open and those rigid body movements going on like he straining to take a shit - i mean come on? he the best the opera world has to offer right now? its a disgrace!
I said Florez's singing is exceptional. His voice - a leggiero voice- is what it is. It's not very exciting and nothing special. But technically, he is superb. Before blurting out nonsense, I'd suggest you think twice. Villazon would kill to have Florez technique.
i agree with you on Florez being perfect with technique but not very exciting. even his flawless 9 high c's in ah mes amis don't bring out the kind of excitement that you get from Pavarotti.
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Elried-Get a clue you 19 yo fiddlestick. I do enjoy it very much when it it performed to excellence. And I do demand excellence, especially when I pay top dollars for a ticket!
Enough is enough. The Italian repertoire has been under assault for 4 decades by the likes of Domingo, Carreras, Villazon and Vargas. Either sing like Fleta, Kraus or Aragall, or don't for heaven's sake. A throaty and hooted voice sounds simply BAD in the Italian repertoire!
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I can understand a tenor transposing an aria after singing it in key for 20 years. But someone trying to climb the top in his career needs to prove to himself and the core opera lovers that he can. By age 36, Villazon cracked more that a top tenor in his entire career. Here he's 28, and the fundamental flaws flaws in his technique are apparent.
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La Boheme is the ultimate litmus test for a tenore lyrico as it is a musically challenging opera (Ref. J. Levine). A tenor supposedly in his prime and allegedly a top tenor should be able to sing it in key. Villazon doesn't have the vocal range, not the technique to pull this off with flying colors. If you lower the bar for excellence once, soon you'd have nothing left.
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You might have lowered expectations and settle for something of lesser quality, but it surely does not conform with excellent operatic artistry. Corelli sung Top C's on various occassions in live performances, and so did Pavarotti, as well as Kraus. There are many GREAT tenors who were close the the truth as created by the composer.
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Note that you're trying to compliment a supposed top tenore lyrico's transposed rendition of Che Gelida Manina in his prime, while completely ignoring the simple fact that that the true top tenors sung it in key with glorious top Cs.
inquisitive,you seem to be so bothered by the fact that he has transposed down half a tone. Who really cares? As long as it sounds good. I dont want to hear a tenor sing this aria with a great tone then squeak out the C! if its not there like others let him transpose. He would not be the first. Jussi Bjorling never sang the C live, only in recordings.Corelli was the king of transposing.Renata Tebaldi also had a terrible C,(which you can hear with her duet with Jussi),Domingo.the list goes on.
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Is this a cut, copy and paste exercise for the intellectually impaired? And what does it got to do with a transposed and pedestrian rendition of La Boheme?
The pick of the cast was undoubtedly Villazón. His first word "Fontainebleau" full of the passion and yearning that suffused his entire performance - sent a shiver down my spine.
This production is very much Carlo's story, a tragedy on a Shakespearean scale, and Rolando, in magnificent form, provided a charismatic centre. His Carlo was a Spanish Hamlet, immature impulsive and ruled by his passions, an interpretation lent emphasis by the comparative restraint the other principal performances
From review on premiere "Don Carlo" June 6 2008 in Covent Garden
"Rolando Villazon's febrile Don Carlo is the utterly believable protagonist. Spinning out his lines with soaring grace in the cloudlessly happy opening scenes,he seems to freeze as fate's hammer-blow falls and his Oedipal plight is revealed:he then switches convulsively from crazy elation to pleading,head-banging despair.But the other side of Carlo is the crusader for freedom shoulder to shoulder with his blood-brother Rodrigo..
Tugoles-At the time of this rendition of La Boheme he was 29. Today 36, which is correct. All detail. What I said remains. Fundamental flaws cannot be rectified by age 36. Good technique is acquired much earlier in life. You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
And you're supposedly an opera lover. Do you even know how disrespectful transposing is for a supposed top tenor in his prime? Top tenors in their prime do not take sabbatical leaves. That should be your clue.
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What am I supposed to come up? His singing is as flawed today as it was 10 years ago. Which part have you missed? I highly doubt that your definition of "brilliant" is nothing but brilliant. And to expect that a 38 years old tenor can rectify his fundamentally flawed technique, extend his vocal range and improve the quality the timbre of his voice is highly unrealistic. Are you having hearing problems?
This statement about transposing and such you repeated on YT at least 50 times. Everybody're tired of your "authority""".
What? Your imagination gave up completely?
Can you come up with something else, for example that Villazon last night sang brilliantly dressrehearsal of "Don Carlo" in London..Lately he is in the best form ever, so why you're digging what was 6,7,8 years ago? Because you're enjoying to hurt people.
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Vorotin-Sobbing every darn note is not considered passionate singing. That dynamics crap was nicely invented and made part of the pseudo-opera vocabulary just for tenors like Villazon to market them to the masses. What's more shameful is that Villazon had to transpose this beautiful aria at age 28. And yet his top notes, which are the climax here, are poorly delivered. This is a poor performance no matter how you slice it. There is nothing to defend or salvage.
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Duende-I didn't know mierda was your middle name. Thanks for sharing. Not try all that in English as you never know when you'll need it. One day you might need to jump the fence. Out of courtesy, I will not call you a mexican scum or a wetbag for the time being although you might very well be one. I am giving you the benefit of the doubt.
eres un pinche estupido acomplejado, una soberana mierda, no sabes nada de música y me dan un chingo de risa tus pendejos comentarios, pendejo redneck de cagada
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Singing is the vehicle by which the story (hence feeling, emotions etc) are conveyed in opera. The acting simply is a back up to heighten the vocal experience of the audience. Why acting is emphasized in today's Opera-Lite meets MTV? Because it is easier to impress the eyes than the ears. It is easier to sell the product to an unsuspecting audience. All that is great disservice to opera. I don't care what the current business trend is. Let's keep this superb art form pristine.
Note that by acting I mean not merely the gestures, but primarily and more importantly, the way by which the singer speaks the words, emphasizes certains syllables, dynamics...etc. That is what makes good acting. Opera is equally both singing and acting. That is what makes a good opera. Acting gives depth to singing and to the meaning of the text (and vice versa).
Actually, if and only if(physical) acting is excellent, we may infer what is going on, more or less.
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Now here's a simple test. Pop in a DVD of an opera. Turn down the volume and watch the entire thing. (I am assuming that you do not know the story line of the opera beforehand) Can you infer the story by watching just acting? I doubt it. Then take a motion picture. Say Casablanca (Bogart and Bergman). Turn down the volume and watch from start to finish. You'd be able to infer the storyline. Nothing can replace singing or even come close to substituting for excellent singing in opera.
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What you call democratization is simply pulling that the bar of excellence to match the inability of some artists. Artists should aspire to become better and better to reach excellence. The so-called democratization destroys any modus operandi for excellence.
Today, opera houses search for the singing and the acting. The acting becomes more and more important. Many, I think, would say that opera is foremost about acting as opera was first invented to recreate Greek Drama.
Although Villazon is not an example of technique, we cannot say that today's "market-opera" throws technique out of the window. There is still hope in vocal excellence today. Villazon is just an exeptional with a few others maybe. Yet, he is not void of technique. It still counts.
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It is absolutely a bad thing as it gives the message that by questionable expression of emotions you can get by without singing well. Opera is foremost about singing. You're falling into the trap that Opera-Lite has so nicely set up for the unsuspecting new demographics of opera.
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It's a lot of hot air. I suppose that is a nice cover up scheme when one cannot communicate what needs to be communicated through the sound. As I indicated earlier, the audience's threshold of expectations have be surgically reduced to nothing by mass marketing these days. Hence, it doesn't take any artistic excellence to impress the masses. The former greats needed to work hard to bring an audience to their knees. Today's artists find the audience on their knees before they make a single sound
Right, what I said shows a case which reduces the importance of technique, and the celebrates the expression of emotions. A singer both with a technical and emotional voice is ideal. But if this is not the case, what is more important for you?
I think, in a desire to democratize opera, people also favor the expression of emotions. This is not necessarily a bad thing...
let's see...First, Pavarotti belongs to such a unique and superior realm of singing that we cannot justly compare him to any other tenor. I think what people like about Villazon is that he reveals passion, the feeling that one is overwhelmed. His gulps and energy reveal emotions. He may show a lack of control but that's why people like. The emotions are tangible and he highly conveys them to people. As the French idiom goes: "what matters the jug, if drunkeness be within?".
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At age 29, Maestro Pavarotti was singing beside La Stupenda and was receiving great and well deserved praise from discerning audiences. In 1967-68 he brought down the house at Covent Garden with 9 C5s in La Fille du Regiment. At age 26, in his debut, he sounded brilliant in La Boheme, giving all the signs of a future top tenor. At age 28, Villazon simply sounds "flawed". if a tenor starts transposing at age 28, then why bother singing?
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This video proves the following: In the last 10 years he could not rectify the fundamental flaws in his singing. Please not the big gulp when he's trying the move through his passaggio.
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First and foremost, a tenor with such a poor top shouldn't be singing this. In it's transposed form, he's still struggling with his top. You might chose to applaud such an inferior rendition but that wouldn't be due to his excellent artistry.
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It's disservice to opera to transpose an opera. Indeed it is dishonest. Especially for a tenor in his 30s. He's supposed to be at the top of his game and shine. He sounds hooted, throaty, monochromatic and pushed. He also has a big gulp as he moves through his passaggio. All are signs of poor technique. His upper register is miserable. Go listen to Pavarotti in the 1970s singing Che Gelida Manina and you'd see the difference.
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Try to makes sense. Mobile phones require an integrated circuit to function which is based on the transistor. We're not talking about Sahara phones not about who invented the battery!
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
And here's the kicker...the transistor (and hence the light emitting diode) which enabled everything and anything related to communication is also US invention. Are you really want me to continue? Now stop being a vollgeschissenes Arschloch! Hast Du verstanden?
Bravo!!
Gyehyang 1 month ago
well he sang it great but damn you think he can open his mouth wider?
Artisticz 7 months ago
Ich liebe Fritze Wunderlich, ich bewundere Placido Domingo, ich verehre Luciano Pavarotti - doch Rolando Villazon vergöttere ich. Aber ich danke auch Gott für das Genie Puccini.
Leider ist Rolandos Stimme heute (2011) nur noch ein Abglanz im Vergleich zu dieser frühen Aufnahme mit der unverbrauchte Stimme. Villazon hat seiner Stimme zu viel zugemutet. Leider.
fanofclassic 11 months ago
@fanofclassic Ja, leider, leider...
gotthelf100 8 months ago
BRAVO ROLANDO.......BRAVISSIMO!!!!!!!!!!! FRANCO CORELLI WOULD SMILE!!!!
bossaman58 1 year ago
What a gorgeous performance. As someone here opined, Villazon's dark tenor, which harbors an undertone, nearly baritone hue, is certainly closer to his countryman Domingo's than it is to Pavarotti's. And while the comparison game is merely frivolous in the end, Villazon will likely find himself compared to Grigorio, at least in the opera going public's eye, for some time to come, in much the same way that it pitted Luciano to Placido. Nothing to take seriously, as they are both superb singers
banaliltes 1 year ago
Qual'è il problema? High C or high B?? it's fantastic!!
MrGARRO84 1 year ago
wat is het toch een prachtige opera
ik ben zelf dochter van een operazanger en mijn vadfer heeft dit heel wat keren gezongen
ik raak er steeds weer ontroerd van
kippevel van mijn tenen tot aan mijn kruin
prachtig gewoon
adjoeba1 1 year ago
Listen to the Bulent Bezduz ...
rodialva 1 year ago
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I think people are too hard on Villazon. He's certainly no worse than Alagna, and the basic timbre is not ugly.
Belcore14 2 years ago
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TheInquisitive4Ever you have no clue what you are talking about.
Bostero3771 2 years ago
Eh, gia l'aria comincia da G naturale...Non A flat!!!!
AtaGiacomini 2 years ago 2
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OffTheLeashPortraits 2 years ago
this is the B nat version no High C here
Robbdoubleflat 2 years ago 2
everytime I hear this version I'm floored. ¡Viva Villazon!
bbbartolo 2 years ago
He has a tenor voice like Placido, I think. Placido's voice is/was "darker" then that of his friend Pavarotti - and the world is/was richer for having both of them at the same time.
donde2k 2 years ago
Hay muchos comentarios muy diferentes entre si, en mi muy humilde opinion, esta es un aria carente de muchao cosas.
Si bajas de tono un aria (y sobre todo de una con tanto peso como esta) es porque el interprete tal vez no tiene el registro, pero tiene el talento, la inteligencia y la habilidad para hacer que valga la pena y de sacarle los aplausos a la gente, cosa que no sucedió conmigo.
No sirve de nada comparar, pero si se tiene el ejemplo del maestro pavarotti, hay que tratar de superarlo
Kraveth 2 years ago
y como dijo el profe jaso
"la opera es como las corridas de toros: puede que empiezen a abuchear una vez, pero a la siguiente el entrar de nuevo el matador, le recibirán con aplausos de nueva cuenta"
bocaflojo 2 years ago
This Kermit (aka Villazon) cannot do justice to the lyric Italian repertoire if his life depended on it. He should throaty, hooted and pushed. He lacks the brightness, resonance and vocal range for the lyric Italian repertoire.
TheInquisitive4Ever 2 years ago
He did B nature?Not a High C.
BeniaminoGigli1985 2 years ago 5
Che gelida manina... e fatevela riscaldare con queste note... che bella melodia. Il bel canto di Rolando e' stato per me una piacevolissima rivelazione. Bravissimo Rolando. Tanti auguri, di cuore... di tanti altri momenti speciali.
sebmoments63 2 years ago
no entiendo porque lo critican de esa manera. su voz no es higual a la de otros es por eso que ha llegado tan lejos.
a mi en lo personal me parece muy buena y con mucho sentimiento.
Pavarotti es Pavarotti, Y Rolando es Rolando y punto. Son dos personas diferentes con diferentes personalidades y formas de interpretar.
Si no les gusta pues porfavor guardense sus comentarios no constructivos y respeten los gustos de los demas. "Que el respeto al derecho ajeno es la Paz"
Razhield84 2 years ago
Lo que pasa es que las piezas musicales se escriben de una forma y se ha tenido que cambiar las melodias por que el no puede llegar a las notas agudas y si lo hace lo hace de una forma no acpetable y por eso es que no cae bien a las personas que lo escuchan. Eso es todo.
vangonza 2 years ago
With this hooted, throaty sound and limited range this hispanic Kermit should be singing mariachi tunes instead of decimating the beautiful Italian lyric repertoire which requires a light, resonant voice with a good vocal range.
TheInquisitive4Ever 2 years ago
I don't understand why you people are bashing this guy. His voice is not throaty, he is a beautiful singer, and then his pronunciation is magnificent...I could pretty much understand everything he was saying.
And don't hate on him because he's from Mexico lol...
I don't mean to sound boastful or anything but I am musically inclined (won't go into detail with support) but I do know talent when I hear it and this is talent.
Don't deny that if his voice is not exactly your preference...lol.
sillychad18 2 years ago 3
Nobody's hating him. Some us do not respect him for he has no respect for the art form. He sounds throaty and pushed like his mentor Mingo. Both have a limited technique and an overextended vocal range. Kermit (aka Villazon) is the King of Cracks due to poor technique. Go get educated!
TheInquisitive4Ever 2 years ago
You guy don't know what you are talking about. - Villazon is a very good singer, he has a darker timbre than many others but he is not throaty at all. And he sings with heart. There is passion in his voice and if I am honest I prefer this way of singing to any technical voice without emotion.
isengart072 2 years ago 2
I'm a huge Pavarotti fan, but honestly prefer this performance more.
dominiquedore 2 years ago
Another video-disaster from this so-called "tenor".
You have to make an effort to spot one single thing that might be well done on his delivery of this aria.
Finally he is out of the stage,hopefully for ever.
manrico60 2 years ago
bravo maestro!!!!!
operalio 2 years ago
Yo no pago un dineral por ir a la Opera a escuchar a este Señor porque se supone que está en el Top 10.
Me niego. Ni me emociona, ni me llega ni me transporta ni nada. Un chico cantando canciones de los mayores.
adri235 2 years ago
Entonces tampoco deberías de gastar tu tiempo descalificandolo.
¡Saludos!
oswaldobmeraz 2 years ago 2
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adri235 2 years ago
No lo he descalificado, simplemente he escrito que no me transmite tanto como otros intérpretes. Que es un gran cantante no hay ninguna duda pero creo que depende demasiado del rol.
Un saludo.
adri235 2 years ago
nada nada...no hay como el gran luciano para esta aria y todas....R.I.P. maestro luciano...este no le llega ni a los talones
iago10z 2 years ago
In a recent interview, Kermit was complaining that there is internet terrorism and irrelevant criticism of his artistry. The idiot has been decimating one operatic masterpiece after another and when criticized he's accusing the opera lover. This guys should be kicked out of every reputable opera house in the world. He belongs to a mariachi circuit.
TheInquisitive4Ever 2 years ago 2
4Ever.You stick up Florez because?
steakopera 2 years ago
Part 1. SteakO- While your grammatically flawed sentence does not convey a meaningful message, I will venture to answer out of common courtesy assuming I have understood what you attempted to mean. I was factual about Florez. That is all. He sings extremely well but does not have an exciting or exceptional voice. He's the best tenore leggiero of his time, and as far as I can tell, the tenor with the best technique among his peers. Personally, I have no interest in his vocal artistry.
TheInquisitive4Ever 2 years ago
so...how do you know Kermit as you call it, would kill to sing like Florez? Have you personal acquaintance with Villazon?
steakopera 2 years ago
No. But I have listened to him live on several occassions. He possesses the same flaws as his mentor which can be summarized as an "overtextended ego and a limited talent".
TheInquisitive4Ever 2 years ago
Part 2. SteakO-I am not sticking up for Florez or whatever the heck you mean to say. All I have said is that Kermit (aka Villazon) would kill to sing like Florez. Kermit is an overhyped and overhyped tenor with limited vocal resources and talent just like his mentor Mingo.
TheInquisitive4Ever 2 years ago
>I have factual about Florez.
What do you mean by factual about Florez? You seem to have negative impressions toward Villazon and why do you call him Kermit. Are you a classical singer? What kind of reportoire have you acquired for yourself? Are you a tenor?, a baritone?, a bass? or none of the above.?
steakopera 2 years ago
You make fun of my English. How many lanuages do you speak? Are you fluent in Italian? French? perhaps in German? Do you have any knowledge in a vocal pedagogy? or do you have a degree in music? What makes you so judgemental.
steakopera 2 years ago
I do not care what do you know, have, or about to possess in terms of education, knowledge or anything else for that matter. But on thing I cna be certain. I have see Florez at the Met in La Fille du Regiment while have not. And I am inclined to think I have seen more operatic performances in the most reputable venues that you ever will. Halt die Klappe und hau ab.
TheInquisitive4Ever 2 years ago
There you go with your judgemental comments. So you are an observer. How many? and Which opera houses have you been in?and how do you know I have not been to operatic performances less than you have been in? I can see you are a person of pretence. Overly displayed with cliche and inadequately mock others with insufficent knowledge or skills. Are you a German descent or did you google it? LOL
steakopera 2 years ago
I am not an observer. I am a benefactor. And that is all I will say.
TheInquisitive4Ever 2 years ago
Mingo was funny. It took me few minutes.
steakopera 2 years ago
It's not funny actually. It's pathetic.
TheInquisitive4Ever 2 years ago
If you are implying on strictly vocal aspects about Domingo, I wouldn't consider him to be the most idealistic. He possessed opposite quality in his voice that is quite contrary to Pavarotti and some of the light italianate lyric timbre. However Domingo is the most spontaneously consistant with vocal endurance that never quits. Obviously Villazon is no match for Domingo in vocal bench press.
steakopera 2 years ago
This hispanic Kermit doesn't have a compatible voice of the lyric Italian repertoire. He sounds hooted, throaty and pushed. The lyric Italian repertoire needs to a bright and a very resonant which he does NOT possess. He'd do better if he sung mariachi tunes. This guys is a joke.
TheInquisitive4Ever 2 years ago
I thought he could sing it in the original key, what a shame!
In C Major:-( it isn't original..
veranista 2 years ago 2
I Agree with Artisticz 1000%
Cantachepassa 2 years ago
oh please.
its so moving.
he's just so emotional.
krissivsronaldo 2 years ago
Not high C.
steakopera 2 years ago 2
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krissivsronaldo 2 years ago
Villazon and the conducter had pre-arraged it. Orchestra don't just lower the key volunterilly. Often the tenors do it. Pavarotti, Carerras, etc..........
steakopera 2 years ago
You should mention that Pavarotti sung La Boheme numerous times in key. The same can barely be said for Villazon, Carreras, Domingo etc. Be factual and be accurate!
TheInquisitive4Ever 2 years ago
You need to reread my comment accurately. You just recommenting my comment. By the way Pavarotti didn't lower the key until he was at his fifties. How young is Villazon in this video? at his thirties. LOL
steakopera 2 years ago
Indeed. Kermit, like is mentor Mingo (where's the Do?), never learned to sing well.
TheInquisitive4Ever 2 years ago
Rolando la mejor voz juvenil que he escuchado sigue adelande viva VillAzoN
PuppetNightmares 3 years ago
Kermit (aka Villazon) starts sounding awful when he needs to sing anything which involved a note above F.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
In C Major:-( it isn't original...
jordik1986 3 years ago
mexico cuna de grandes voces
angelickmx 3 years ago
Quanta generosità in questa voce così piena di armonici e di caldo velluto romantico.
Era il 2001 e quel "giova" fa percepire la ricerca di un passaggio che "ingola". Siamo nel 2008...
palymusic 3 years ago
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starting to look like Domingo.. already sounds like Domingo..
poor guy. :(
Yoni89 3 years ago
Thanks for the subtitles!
heditato 3 years ago 3
Great voice!
heditato 3 years ago 5
i dont understand all this deep critisism about technique. really. everyone has something different to bring to the table...i doubt technique has much to do with that...
Webarton 3 years ago
there is a point people get to when they are learning vocal technique where u understand where all the tones should be when you sing them (where the resonance should be..placement, once placement/deep sense of support is established, then theres diction, etc).. once the sense of freedom is achieved..its just a matter of expanding the understanding of the opera..
Webarton 3 years ago
i liked his b natural, it was nice and bright, not as covered as many others, i mean, he is an internationally aclaimed opera singer, im sure he learned from the best... the people should judge the performance... imho, if the technical thing creates a defect in the performance, then there is a problem, but there are some things that people do because it is there style, it doesnt really hurt their voice... as far as I can tell/hear.
Webarton 3 years ago 2
Why are people talking about technique? You really think music is about technique? I agree the singer have to learn to sing, one way or the other. That is the singers problem. We have to listen to the music and the feeling that it gives us. People who are talking about technique are not listening to music, but judging other people. Bah.
franktenor 3 years ago
Yeah...never mind technique. JUst let it rip like Villazon does. Nice going frank tenor wannabe. What a shameful comment. After listening La Boheme from the likes of (live or recorded) Gigli, diStefano, Bjorling, Pavarotti, Gedda etc, Villazon sounds like an amateur. Get a clue.
TheInquisitive4Ever 2 years ago 2
What idiots, why would you spam my comment? I didn't even insult him. I LIKE Villazon, and I LIKE his voice, ok? But his technique is flawed, we cannot continue to set aside this fact. Why must you insist that everything about him is perfect? It's people like you who destroyed di Stefano!
GermanOperaSinger 3 years ago
GermanOS-Since when? lol...after following your comments for about 8-9 months, it seems your taste fluctuates as much as a hedge fund.
TheInquisitive4Ever 2 years ago
I don't recall ever stating that the voice itself sucked.
GermanOperaSinger 2 years ago
Go listen to diStefano one more time and compare to Villazon. It's too throaty and hooted. A pale dark timbre, nothing special.
TheInquisitive4Ever 2 years ago
I never compared Villazon to di Stefano. He doesn't hold a candle to the latter, who was in my opinion, the best ever for this role. I think that Villazon had a good voice and potential but delivers his sound in an ugly manner...perhaps I didn't clarify.
GermanOperaSinger 2 years ago
He scoops and slops everywhere, overdarkening on purpose, trying to make Rodolfo sound like Andrea Chenier. Di Stefano misplaced his vowels but as a result he sounded better, very bright and youthful sound. Villazon sounds worse as a result of his technical flaws.
GermanOperaSinger 2 years ago
Yet his voice would never pass as spinto, nor a a dextrous & darkened lyrico. Kermit would have been an excellent mariachi singer. Idiots like this decimate the beautiful Italian repertoire.
TheInquisitive4Ever 2 years ago
I'm sorry, i dont understand, you dont call this a solid technique?
Webarton 3 years ago
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GermanOS-You cannot teach an old dog new tricks. If a tenor hasn't learned to sing well with a solid technique by age 28 (his age at the time of this recording), he never will.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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I find it rather pathetic that one needs to look hard for seeing Domingo singing a glorious B4 live, let alone a top C. Quite a few and true Great tenors sung glorious top notes day in and day out for an extended period of time during their career. Why would someone extend Domingo a carte blanche I wonder?
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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Rolando....take a deep breath...relax. 'Singing is like speaking' said Caruso. Listen to this advice. Please...relax. Let the sound flow naturally...I'd like to see you go far, but if you continue to sing in such a tense manner, you won't.
PS
Tell Placido that he's wronged you.
GermanOperaSinger 3 years ago
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I honestly think that Deutsche Grammophon, despite it's glorious past of wonderful recordings (with Maestri Karajan, Richter, Mravinsky etc), made their biggest mistake in signing on Villazon. Not only that, but they support him as their flagship tenor while many talented young tenors go almost unnoticed. One of these is Piotr Beczala. He has a few videos here. Tell me what you think of him. He'll be singing Rodolfo this season at the San Francisco Opera.
phantom4087 3 years ago
You're so right. Especially with this aria, it's sort of a condensation of a life well lived.
It shouldn't sound this hard, even if it is. I have the Jussi Bjorling/Victoria de los Angeles recording of this, and you forget they're singing sometimes. It's just magic.
You should be seduced at the end of this. I can see Mimi turning around and going next door for a match.
thebananamonkey 3 years ago
Someone here said Domingo could float a high C? Never flaoted, I heard him do it one time in 67 in Boheme with NYC opera and after that B's, that usually where tight but when he sang Canio and Luisa Miller in 79 and the studio Canio in 71 he was very good and I am not even a small Domingo fan, not cause of the lacking C but just the top sound. Kraus, Florez fine Spanish tenors (kraus half Austrian) never liked Fleta but so many great Spanish sopranos.
pearlmuth3 3 years ago
He surely had potential but here it is not what I heard in Los Angeles in Trav. My favorite tenors are for the most part dead. I like the Shicoff Che Gelida early in 82 on another you tube post and Bjorling of course, also Pavoratti in it but perhaps Villazon will improve over this, don't count him out yet. Missed Florez because he supposedly swallowed a fish bone and hurt the throat in Chicago, would have been him in Barber, thats what fish can do. He canceled the entire run.
pearlmuth3 3 years ago
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Pianist-And the kinda people who praise Kermit (aka Villazon) are hispanic xenophobes like Javier -a 19 yo Mexican- whose support to Villazon is not different than his support of his national soccer team. One cannot level with them in a rational manner.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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Javier-Try that in English! You'll never know when you will need to jump the fence!
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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Inquisitive, while normally I think your criticisms are a little harsh, I fully agree with you on this performance. It isn't good at all. Though I do agree with you, that doesn't mean i agree with the way you deliver your 'criticisms' I respect your opinion, but shouldn't you try approaching it in a nicer, more constructive manner? ^-^
PianistandFencer 3 years ago
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Pianist-My choice of rhetoric is my business. Such people cannot be approached the way you suggest as they lack common sense. If they had common sense, they wouldn't be doing what they're doing, i.e. debasement of opera. And the crowd which supports them are hooligans and no opera lovers.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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inquisitive... i cannot agree with you more!!! I understand exactly what you are saying and that you are trying to preserve the true art that is opera...
mdcam89 3 years ago
respecto a lo que pueda o no hacer creo que puede hacer lo que le venga en gana bueno lo que creo que no hace es sentarse a ver en you tube quien canta mejor o peor.
creo que dedica mas tiempo a hacer lo que le gusta y mucha gente lo admira por ello y eso es mas de lo que muchos de aqui podemos decir o no?
Javiersamano 3 years ago 9
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pues ojala y tengas razon y le dedique mas tiempo a su tecnica vocal porque le hace mucha falta
picapin 3 years ago
Bien dicho javier!!!Yo tambien creo que Villazon se preocupa mas por transmitir que por cualquier cosa!!!
Y si hace las cosas y le gusta que siga adelanteee!!!
Estoy deacuerdo que tambien causa mucha envidia...Como un Mexicano les gana en Interpretacion a los italianos!!! raro no?
Pero bueno, sea como sea es un buen cantante!!!
misio15 3 years ago 3
a mi me gusta villazon y una de las cosas que mas me sorprenden es la envidia que causa sobre todos los frustrados de you tube por que si se fijan en los comentarios negativos que aparecen en cada uno de sus videos son por parte de las mismas personas.
Si tan malo les parece por que lo siguen viendo?
es curioso no?
Por otro lado estoy de acuerdo de que este no es su mejor papel pero igual me agrada
Javiersamano 3 years ago 10
Me temo que así ocurre cuando tu país ya no exporta cantantes de primera, y me refiero especialmente a E.U. e Italia. Incluso a mi, que me gusta un poco más Ramón Vargas, me parece que Villazón es mucho más el paquete completo, y un mejor cantante en general, aunque sí me parece que ahora abre la voz excesivamente; deber estar mal aconsejado.
ilFactotum 3 years ago
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The only thing Rolando can do as far as the La Fille du Regiment is concerned is to wipe the floors of the stage will be graced by a top tenor who will deliver 9 glorious top Cs!
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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Picapin don't exaggerate.A mes amis from La Fille..seems to be the aria written for Rolando...:)
TomekkPolska 3 years ago
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There is one song though that I think Villazon can sing well and his voice actually fits the style: "La Cucaracha".
See video called: Villazon La Cucaracha
picapin 3 years ago
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Yuk, yuk, yuk!! His voice is tremulous, not vibrant. Have to agree with 'TheInquisitive' on all of this, except perhaps the comparison with Mingo. I think Domingo had a decent sound lower down (yes, hooty, though), with a nice even vibrato, but up high was shocking. This guy is worse again, and has presumably done as well as he has due to his affiliation with Domingo. And people criticise Alagna - he is great in comparison.
colino72 3 years ago
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Why do hispanics such as Domingo, Carreras, Villazon, Vargas etc insist on decimating the beautiful Italian repertoire with their hooted, throaty, monochromatic and pushed mariachi voice? If you sound like Fleta, Kraus or Aragall, I am perfectly content. But the hooted hispanics sound really bad in the Italian repertoire, especially in the lyric repertoire.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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Rudolpho is definitely not a role for Villazon. But then, I ask myself: Is there any role in Opera that Villazon can sing well??? He's a terrible Nemorino, a terrible Don Carlo, a terrible Chevalier de Grieux... Is Villazon really an Opera singer then???
picapin 3 years ago
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La Boheme is the ultimate litmus test for a tenore lyrico, which both Villazon, MINGO and even Carreras flunked. GREAT tenore lyricos sing La Boheme in key, making their mark in their career. There cannot be any excuse for transposing the role of Rudolpho at age 28 as Villazon did. It is an admission of incompetence indeed. So did MINGO; he transposed it as early as 1967!
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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Shadow-Never ever compare Villazon to Corelli. The latter for a GREAT, while the former is a midget! Villazon's problem is not only the lack of a top C. Like his hooted, throaty, monochromaic, and pushed mentor MINGO (where's the Do?), anything above an Ab is a hit & miss exercise. Indeed, both MINGO and Villazon suffer from the same technical problems. They produce a hooted and strangled sound. They sound too throaty. Aragall, Kraus, and Fleta are/were the italian sounding hispanic tenors.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
They've transposed the it down a half step for him. Thats kind of disappointing. This is one of my favorite arias.
TheSHadowV 3 years ago
If he won't do this he will totally damage his vocal cords.Cant You hear his creacking?I'm syre he wants to sing very much but he must make a decision,otherwise there'll be 2 years longer and la comedia e finita.I presume the only tenor who didn't damage himself sidging like this was Domingo.Villazon must understand it.And You aplauding him after crackin just keep him in a naive belief that time of glory approaches.
TomekkPolska 3 years ago
In my oppinion we all should feel sorry for him..it would be nice for his defenders and admirers to understand that instead of quareling all the time.He's been staring at Domingo since the beggining,always says he's going to sing exactly like him.And he does so-they're identical.And this is going to destroy him.He's lirycal tenor and he tries things which are not for him.He should leave Domingo's techniques at once since the effects of singing this way we can all hear.
TomekkPolska 3 years ago
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Villazon is INCAPABLE of singing in La Boheme as his vocal range and technique is too limited as seen here. Even at age 28, he sings a TRANSPOSED pedestrian rendition of this otherwise most beautiful tenore lyrico role. His hooted, throaty, and pushed hispanic voice does not fit well with the Italian repertoire which called for a bright and resonant voice. How's that for criticism you little dimwit?
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
I've read a bit of your discussion. I disagree that his Spanish voice doesn't agree with tje Italian opera. It's just sad that he doesn't have the chops for the high C so they have lowered the song. Even Domingo could float the C in this role. As for Hurting his voice, yes and no. Franco Corelli had a long career playing a variety of roles and he was a lyric tenor who continually overly darkened his voice to play dramatic roles.
TheSHadowV 3 years ago 5
TheInquisitive4Ever, what ON EARTH is the matter with you?!
Why can't you just say you don't like him or whatever or give reasonable critics instead of just insulting people??
And others are allowed to have an opinion too.
quo33 3 years ago
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Operalio-Florez is surely exceptional. Villazon and Vargas are not. They're just another couple of hooted, throaty, monochromatic and pushed sounding hispanics who are busy decimating the beautiful Italian repertoire.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
TheInquisitive4Ever you seem to have no idea about voices if you say florez is exceptional and now I know why you spend so much time critizising non florez singers!! does he pay you? or you do it for free? ...
Vielflieger01 3 years ago
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Viel-Were you dropped on your head recently? Try to make sense. Florez has an impeccable technique and a good tenore leggiero voice. Villazon sounds hooted and throaty. His technique is despicable. It seems you've become tone deaf already at age 51!
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
I must admit he is terrible!
Trying to sing Arias that the greats have sung! Pavarotti, Gigli, Bjorling, correlli, di stefano, del monaco & Alredo Straus! Even Alagna in 1995 knocked it our of the stadium!
The "BIG" note, he looked like he choking on something his mouth was wide open and those rigid body movements going on like he straining to take a shit - i mean come on? he the best the opera world has to offer right now? its a disgrace!
Artisticz 3 years ago
well man, look him singing this at bregenz festival, he did it very well, like the best. but u are right here he is total shitty.
stybboon 2 years ago
I said Florez's singing is exceptional. His voice - a leggiero voice- is what it is. It's not very exciting and nothing special. But technically, he is superb. Before blurting out nonsense, I'd suggest you think twice. Villazon would kill to have Florez technique.
TheInquisitive4Ever 2 years ago
i agree with you on Florez being perfect with technique but not very exciting. even his flawless 9 high c's in ah mes amis don't bring out the kind of excitement that you get from Pavarotti.
charis337 2 years ago
de mexico para el mundo sin duda hay muchos muy buenos como juan diego florez y ramon vargas pero rolando es el mejor
operalio 3 years ago 4
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Elried-Get a clue you 19 yo fiddlestick. I do enjoy it very much when it it performed to excellence. And I do demand excellence, especially when I pay top dollars for a ticket!
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
@inquisite:
Im sorry for you because apparently you simply canzt listen to music and enjoy it......
poor guy!
Elried 3 years ago 5
totaly agree
corellilover 3 years ago 2
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Enough is enough. The Italian repertoire has been under assault for 4 decades by the likes of Domingo, Carreras, Villazon and Vargas. Either sing like Fleta, Kraus or Aragall, or don't for heaven's sake. A throaty and hooted voice sounds simply BAD in the Italian repertoire!
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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Try this:
Luciano Pavarotti - Che Gelida Manina 1961 live
And see how a young top tenor should be singing Che Gelida Manina...in 1961 Pava was 26 years old, singing it in key. No transposing like Kermit.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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I can understand a tenor transposing an aria after singing it in key for 20 years. But someone trying to climb the top in his career needs to prove to himself and the core opera lovers that he can. By age 36, Villazon cracked more that a top tenor in his entire career. Here he's 28, and the fundamental flaws flaws in his technique are apparent.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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La Boheme is the ultimate litmus test for a tenore lyrico as it is a musically challenging opera (Ref. J. Levine). A tenor supposedly in his prime and allegedly a top tenor should be able to sing it in key. Villazon doesn't have the vocal range, not the technique to pull this off with flying colors. If you lower the bar for excellence once, soon you'd have nothing left.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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You might have lowered expectations and settle for something of lesser quality, but it surely does not conform with excellent operatic artistry. Corelli sung Top C's on various occassions in live performances, and so did Pavarotti, as well as Kraus. There are many GREAT tenors who were close the the truth as created by the composer.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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Note that you're trying to compliment a supposed top tenore lyrico's transposed rendition of Che Gelida Manina in his prime, while completely ignoring the simple fact that that the true top tenors sung it in key with glorious top Cs.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
inquisitive,you seem to be so bothered by the fact that he has transposed down half a tone. Who really cares? As long as it sounds good. I dont want to hear a tenor sing this aria with a great tone then squeak out the C! if its not there like others let him transpose. He would not be the first. Jussi Bjorling never sang the C live, only in recordings.Corelli was the king of transposing.Renata Tebaldi also had a terrible C,(which you can hear with her duet with Jussi),Domingo.the list goes on.
AndyGoo 3 years ago 2
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Is this a cut, copy and paste exercise for the intellectually impaired? And what does it got to do with a transposed and pedestrian rendition of La Boheme?
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
The pick of the cast was undoubtedly Villazón. His first word "Fontainebleau" full of the passion and yearning that suffused his entire performance - sent a shiver down my spine.
This production is very much Carlo's story, a tragedy on a Shakespearean scale, and Rolando, in magnificent form, provided a charismatic centre. His Carlo was a Spanish Hamlet, immature impulsive and ruled by his passions, an interpretation lent emphasis by the comparative restraint the other principal performances
huhas1 3 years ago 2
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From review on premiere "Don Carlo" June 6 2008 in Covent Garden
"Rolando Villazon's febrile Don Carlo is the utterly believable protagonist. Spinning out his lines with soaring grace in the cloudlessly happy opening scenes,he seems to freeze as fate's hammer-blow falls and his Oedipal plight is revealed:he then switches convulsively from crazy elation to pleading,head-banging despair.But the other side of Carlo is the crusader for freedom shoulder to shoulder with his blood-brother Rodrigo..
Tugoles 3 years ago 2
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Tugoles-At the time of this rendition of La Boheme he was 29. Today 36, which is correct. All detail. What I said remains. Fundamental flaws cannot be rectified by age 36. Good technique is acquired much earlier in life. You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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Tugoles-What's next? You're going to suggest Netrebko is a superb diva? lol...please do so that I can rip you a new one right here.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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And you're supposedly an opera lover. Do you even know how disrespectful transposing is for a supposed top tenor in his prime? Top tenors in their prime do not take sabbatical leaves. That should be your clue.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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What am I supposed to come up? His singing is as flawed today as it was 10 years ago. Which part have you missed? I highly doubt that your definition of "brilliant" is nothing but brilliant. And to expect that a 38 years old tenor can rectify his fundamentally flawed technique, extend his vocal range and improve the quality the timbre of his voice is highly unrealistic. Are you having hearing problems?
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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He is 36.
Tugoles 3 years ago
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Tugoles-I am someone who knows how to spell, which you seem to have never learned despite your 51 years of sorry existence. How does that grab you?
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
to incvisitive:
This statement about transposing and such you repeated on YT at least 50 times. Everybody're tired of your "authority""".
What? Your imagination gave up completely?
Can you come up with something else, for example that Villazon last night sang brilliantly dressrehearsal of "Don Carlo" in London..Lately he is in the best form ever, so why you're digging what was 6,7,8 years ago? Because you're enjoying to hurt people.
Who are you??
Tugoles 3 years ago 3
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Vorotin-Sobbing every darn note is not considered passionate singing. That dynamics crap was nicely invented and made part of the pseudo-opera vocabulary just for tenors like Villazon to market them to the masses. What's more shameful is that Villazon had to transpose this beautiful aria at age 28. And yet his top notes, which are the climax here, are poorly delivered. This is a poor performance no matter how you slice it. There is nothing to defend or salvage.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
madonna che voce ingolata!!!!inascoltabile.....
zany59 3 years ago
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Duende-I didn't know mierda was your middle name. Thanks for sharing. Not try all that in English as you never know when you'll need it. One day you might need to jump the fence. Out of courtesy, I will not call you a mexican scum or a wetbag for the time being although you might very well be one. I am giving you the benefit of the doubt.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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Fine acting is always welcomed with the full realization that it cannot never ever supercede or be treated as equal to beautiful singing in opera.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
eres un pinche estupido acomplejado, una soberana mierda, no sabes nada de música y me dan un chingo de risa tus pendejos comentarios, pendejo redneck de cagada
duendemacabron 3 years ago
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Singing is the vehicle by which the story (hence feeling, emotions etc) are conveyed in opera. The acting simply is a back up to heighten the vocal experience of the audience. Why acting is emphasized in today's Opera-Lite meets MTV? Because it is easier to impress the eyes than the ears. It is easier to sell the product to an unsuspecting audience. All that is great disservice to opera. I don't care what the current business trend is. Let's keep this superb art form pristine.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
Note that by acting I mean not merely the gestures, but primarily and more importantly, the way by which the singer speaks the words, emphasizes certains syllables, dynamics...etc. That is what makes good acting. Opera is equally both singing and acting. That is what makes a good opera. Acting gives depth to singing and to the meaning of the text (and vice versa).
Actually, if and only if(physical) acting is excellent, we may infer what is going on, more or less.
jhvorotin 3 years ago
I agree let's keep this superb artform pristine, but this involves excellent singing as well as excellent acting.
jhvorotin 3 years ago
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Now here's a simple test. Pop in a DVD of an opera. Turn down the volume and watch the entire thing. (I am assuming that you do not know the story line of the opera beforehand) Can you infer the story by watching just acting? I doubt it. Then take a motion picture. Say Casablanca (Bogart and Bergman). Turn down the volume and watch from start to finish. You'd be able to infer the storyline. Nothing can replace singing or even come close to substituting for excellent singing in opera.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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What you call democratization is simply pulling that the bar of excellence to match the inability of some artists. Artists should aspire to become better and better to reach excellence. The so-called democratization destroys any modus operandi for excellence.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
Today, opera houses search for the singing and the acting. The acting becomes more and more important. Many, I think, would say that opera is foremost about acting as opera was first invented to recreate Greek Drama.
Although Villazon is not an example of technique, we cannot say that today's "market-opera" throws technique out of the window. There is still hope in vocal excellence today. Villazon is just an exeptional with a few others maybe. Yet, he is not void of technique. It still counts.
jhvorotin 3 years ago
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It is absolutely a bad thing as it gives the message that by questionable expression of emotions you can get by without singing well. Opera is foremost about singing. You're falling into the trap that Opera-Lite has so nicely set up for the unsuspecting new demographics of opera.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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It's a lot of hot air. I suppose that is a nice cover up scheme when one cannot communicate what needs to be communicated through the sound. As I indicated earlier, the audience's threshold of expectations have be surgically reduced to nothing by mass marketing these days. Hence, it doesn't take any artistic excellence to impress the masses. The former greats needed to work hard to bring an audience to their knees. Today's artists find the audience on their knees before they make a single sound
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
Right, what I said shows a case which reduces the importance of technique, and the celebrates the expression of emotions. A singer both with a technical and emotional voice is ideal. But if this is not the case, what is more important for you?
I think, in a desire to democratize opera, people also favor the expression of emotions. This is not necessarily a bad thing...
jhvorotin 3 years ago
How pathetic. Try to come up with an rational counterpoint if you can. Negating sheepishly parallel your applause of second class tenors.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
let's see...First, Pavarotti belongs to such a unique and superior realm of singing that we cannot justly compare him to any other tenor. I think what people like about Villazon is that he reveals passion, the feeling that one is overwhelmed. His gulps and energy reveal emotions. He may show a lack of control but that's why people like. The emotions are tangible and he highly conveys them to people. As the French idiom goes: "what matters the jug, if drunkeness be within?".
How's that to you?
jhvorotin 3 years ago
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At age 29, Maestro Pavarotti was singing beside La Stupenda and was receiving great and well deserved praise from discerning audiences. In 1967-68 he brought down the house at Covent Garden with 9 C5s in La Fille du Regiment. At age 26, in his debut, he sounded brilliant in La Boheme, giving all the signs of a future top tenor. At age 28, Villazon simply sounds "flawed". if a tenor starts transposing at age 28, then why bother singing?
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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His top notes are painful to listen. As Caruso said "the throat should be opened, not the mouth"...Beyond an F, he sounds simply bad.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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This video proves the following: In the last 10 years he could not rectify the fundamental flaws in his singing. Please not the big gulp when he's trying the move through his passaggio.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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First and foremost, a tenor with such a poor top shouldn't be singing this. In it's transposed form, he's still struggling with his top. You might chose to applaud such an inferior rendition but that wouldn't be due to his excellent artistry.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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It's disservice to opera to transpose an opera. Indeed it is dishonest. Especially for a tenor in his 30s. He's supposed to be at the top of his game and shine. He sounds hooted, throaty, monochromatic and pushed. He also has a big gulp as he moves through his passaggio. All are signs of poor technique. His upper register is miserable. Go listen to Pavarotti in the 1970s singing Che Gelida Manina and you'd see the difference.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
He is 28 years old here...
huhas1 3 years ago
Geez what's wrong with both of you
danielBlckz 3 years ago
check that its transposed half a step...
turambarlaferla 3 years ago
I think it's beautiful even though its transposed a step... This was seven years ago.
turambarlaferla 3 years ago
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Simply miserable. He doesn't have a top to sing this aria to begin with and that is not the only problem with his singing.
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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Try to makes sense. Mobile phones require an integrated circuit to function which is based on the transistor. We're not talking about Sahara phones not about who invented the battery!
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
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And here's the kicker...the transistor (and hence the light emitting diode) which enabled everything and anything related to communication is also US invention. Are you really want me to continue? Now stop being a vollgeschissenes Arschloch! Hast Du verstanden?
TheInquisitive4Ever 3 years ago
oh! yes! master! By the way you forgot something in this "german" expression, and yes I understand.
By the way; Believe all your "american" glories if it makes you happy! Believe, it makes me happy.
By the way, the basis of the cell phone was invented by italian engineers, before WWII, search it son, search it!!!
plebe7 3 years ago