I heard part of Sotin's Gurnemanz at Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1986 (Jon Vickers was the superb Parsifal). A Lyric Opera official came before the curtain just prior to the first act. He said Gurnemanz had laryngitis, but would sing nevertheless. To me, his voice was much as it is here -- huge, vibrant, warm and beautiful, despite two or three hoarse passages, and even there the hoarseness was minor. Before the third act, the same official came onstage again -- read on:)
@stevevandien He said Sotin felt he just couldn't sing any more, so Gwynne Howell of the Welsh National Opera would replace him. But Howell had sung Gurnemanz ONLY in English, so he would do so here while everybody else sang in German. Not as weird as you might think. This was some years before supertitles, and Howell's firmly enunciated English helped me to understand the story much more effectively. Sotin, though, was the better singer; Howell's timbre was sometimes thick and fuzzy --
I heard part of Sotin's Gurnemanz at Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1986 (Jon Vickers was the superb Parsifal). A Lyric Opera official came before the curtain just prior to the first act. He said Gurnemanz had laryngitis, but would sing nevertheless. To me, his voice was much as it is here -- huge, vibrant, warm and beautiful, despite two or three hoarse passages, and even there the hoarseness was minor. Before the third act, the same official came onstage again -- read on:)
stevevandien 10 months ago 2
@stevevandien He said Sotin felt he just couldn't sing any more, so Gwynne Howell of the Welsh National Opera would replace him. But Howell had sung Gurnemanz ONLY in English, so he would do so here while everybody else sang in German. Not as weird as you might think. This was some years before supertitles, and Howell's firmly enunciated English helped me to understand the story much more effectively. Sotin, though, was the better singer; Howell's timbre was sometimes thick and fuzzy --
stevevandien 10 months ago
@stevevandien I enjoyed the info, thank you! Thanks to Onegin65 for sharing!
Laistry 10 months ago
@Laistry You are very welcome:) --
stevevandien 9 months ago