Cornell Macneil as Michele "Nulla, silenzio!" Il Tabarro

[Yitzhakhazak]

This has to be sung as he did. Is there another way? Angry, bitter, punishing the world around him. By the way, the high tone is a g. Most of the tessitura is in the middle where the singer can open his voice optimally. This man was a high bass-baritone who had the courage of singing - and staying - at the dramatic baritone´s range. The Italian repertoire was very lucky in having such a singer.

[clown84700]

Macneil est le meilleur baryton qu'il chante Verdi, Puccini ...

C'est le meileur !!!

[mauroangelucci]

l'eterno riposo dona a Lui,riposi in pace Amen e Grazie..........!!!!!!!

[clown84700]

@mauroangelucci Bravo

[baritoneortenor]

An amazing performance from an amazing baritone. RIP Maestro.

[librarybob1958]

RIP to one of the glories of the Metropolitan Opera, Cornell McNeill.

[angelamaria1944]

Ho saputo che è mancato a tutti noi quest'oggi! Riposi in pace! Maestro.

[mauroangelucci]

il meglio purtroppo è sempre nel passato!

Che meraviglia!!!!

[TheVaughan5]

A wonderful artist, much underrated in Europe. His 1962 recording (at the peak of his career) of Rigoletto with Joan Sutherland is up there with the very best, quite outstanding!

[stevevandien]

The climactic top note is a little thinner than MacNeil would have produced 10 years earlier. But he is otherwise in remarkably fine vocal shape for a nearly 60-year-old dramatic baritone with so many performances behind him.

[ChrisStockslager]

@stevevandien I still think the high G has most of the body his high Gs always had. Think of it this way: Robert Merrill's high G was gone after the 50s, and MacNeil still had his up until his 60s!

[1947Rollo]

che fior di baritono.Se ne trovano ancora in giro ?

[BorisGodunov]

I don't care if Macneil wasn't in his vocal prime in this clip. This is the best performance of this aria I have seen. What an actor!

[hubcity1981]

Look at Macneil. He IS Michele! He looks like a genuine, bitter, pissed off old fisherman. And he sings like a beast!

[librarybob1958]

@hubcity1981 One of the finest singing actors ever to walk on the Met stage. He didn't just SING Michele, or Scarpia, or Iago, he BECAME the character, with every look, gesture, and note. I heard his last performance at the Met, a 12/5/87 broadcast of "Tosca," opposite Behrens and Mauro, and his Scarpia could STILL raise the fur on your back, even at that late date.

[hubcity1981]

Look at Macneil. He IS Michele! He looks like a genuine, bitter, pissed off old fisherman. And he sings like a beast!

[mauroangelucci]

grandissimo artista, espressivo, voce stupenda,veramente bravo

[31122051]

Meraviglioso Cornell MacNeil ! ! !

[Wolts1983]

Adoro quest'uomo. Altro che i Nucci e i Cappuccilli!

[31122051]

@Wolts1983, posso essere d'accordo su L. Nucci, ma P. Cappuccilli non si tocca : è stato IMMENSO come pochi e, in questo ruolo, a dir poco ECCEZIONALE.

[malamutet]

Grande artista, molto espressivo, sia nel canto come nell'interpretazione come si addice alle opere veriste. Un grande Michele.

[Belcantoexpert]

Gran dio! Quella voce! Magnifico! Thats how It sshould sound!

[francescop1023]

lo so bene, è il miglior Scarpia secondo me

[Operaddict]

He was great...but not allowing his voice to naturally go into the passaggio by E natural...this kicked his ass in the end. Baritone voices MUST cover by that note...or damage will occur...and the voice will unravel.

[MrCafiero]

I do agree he started to uncover too high, but you realize he is 59 here and sounds better than any baritone I hear today by a long shot.

[Operaddict]

I love MacNeil's singing. He had one of the greatest baritones ever. Such power, resonance and range. I sing, too, and I am 59 years old. Jason Stearns. Maybe you would listen to one of my clips here on You Tube. Thanks!

[huanghebasso]

il piu grande nulla silenzio,sono molto commosso.Dobbiamo rigraziare Macneil,Lui ci ha datto un vidio fantasitico,Un e' il piu perfetto,completo,Questo e' un miracolo.Grazie!

[hedgechair]

I feel that "dramatic voices" ( I am rather against classification) usually have a low range. Dark sounding tenors can usually relax into A flat or a minor third lower. Easy lowish notes and a clear unveiled middle voice characterise good vocal health from support and head resonance. The singer's psychological attitude to the voice is perhaps more important than physical characteristics of the vocal organs.

[F93HD2]

Mi piace molto la qualità del suono di Macneil,era uno che sapeva bene cosa significasse cantare!

[francescop1023]

grande baritono, uno dei più grandi del suo tempo, forse un po' più a suo agio in Verdi, ma questo Michele è fantastico

[jschultz4]

Well - it's the lyric baritone that has a shorter range. MacNeil was a Verdi Baritone / Dramatic Baritone which is a voice type naturally has a wider range.  It doesn't surprise me he has a real low G. And it's an amazing voice!

John

[Guercoeur]

MacNeil had a very high niveau over so many years. This is a brilliant version. And, come on guys, everybody knows that a low G is hard for normal baritones. Most of the historical great baritones did not have it, and MacNeil is just amazing in the low register. With such a strong low G, you are a freak - unless you are a bass!

[hermanzoon]

McNeil is one of the truly great baritones ever. Period.

[RVP57]

AMEN to that!

[robertwbecker]

ABSOLUTELY,,,, ONE OF THE GREATEST EVER,, IN HIS PRIME HE WAS WITHOUT EQUAL,,, A Hero for me,,,

[Agorante]

I heard Macneil as Nabucco in 1970. He came out and was horrible. The voice was sour and strained. Then came the scene where Nabucco is hit by lightning and is driven insane. They had a big stage effect as I remember. In any case Macneil began to sing fabulously. He had one of the best (is it an A flat?) high notes I ever heard in his cabaletta.

Today whenever I hear someone sing badly I always recommend a little electrocution.

[Operafiend22]

Does anyone know what has become of Cornell MacNeil...does he teach?

[melbapatti]

There was a wonderful article on him in Opera News about 3 or 4 months ago. He is 85 and looks FABULOUS. Totally retired, does not teach; won't even consider it. This aria is magnificent. in his 60th year solid as a rock from bass g to high g. I was at the same performance as Mr. 63Attila in Philly and couldn't agree more. This was a stupendously great baritone.

[cameratamaestro]

MacNeill had perhaps the widest ranging and most powerful baritone voice ever. He had a great basso low C and a great tenor high C. No other baritone in history could match that range. He had his problems stabilizing such a voice, but when he was having a good night he was in a league of his own.

[63Attila]

MacNeill had the most impressive baritone sound I have heard on stage, bronze sound which was HUGE.

@1976 in Philadelphia he sang the Prologue from I Pagliacci. An amazing performance, I have never heard fuller sounding Ab and G to compare.

In Gioconda he demolished Corelli in the high note at the end of the Duet.

A colossal voice.

[Guercoeur]

Wonderful singing, great acting. This is a real singer with a real instrument. Great, huge, soft, open throat sound! Singers of today like the cretin Calleja can't compare to MacNeil. MacNeil is playing in another league.

[Zobeck331]

@Guercoeur What does one have to do with the other?

One is a tenor - the other a baritone. How tiresome to read such a comment.

Yes MacNeill was fantastic-- singers of today are not yesterdays- appreciate what they give to the art of opera- we can't bring back or shouldn't want to duplicate the wonderful artists of the past. We should encourage individual artists and what they bring and stop comparing!

[Ted10038]

True. This is absolutely great verismo singing. The normally impossible low notes at the beginning are child's play to him. He sounds like a bass! And then, of course, he has no difficulty whatever with the higher tessitura and the notes at the end.

He also portrays the lower class, older and jealous Michele in a fashion that would surely have pleased the composer.

[wippocarter]

I agrre, is a great version.

But what do you mean with "normally impossible low notes"??

[wippocarter]

I agrre, is a great version.

But what do you mean with "normally impossible low notes"??

[Ted10038]

Hi Wippocarter:

The best way for me to explain would be to invite you to sing along with him. Try singing the first few phrases starting "Nulla! Silenzio." imagining you are tying to project through an orchestra into a huge 4000 seat auditorium. Whatever type of, voice you have, I believe you will find it almost impossible - just as practically every other baritone trying to sing this aria has.

As mentioned above, McNiel was almost unique in his range and ability to sing both high and low.

[robertwbecker]

Yeah, he had range all over the place and great power but most importantly the voice was beautiful and rolling in the house with an impeccable legato even at high volume levels. That's not a normal voice at all!

[hermanzoon]

It's all in his throat position. You can see the throat stays low and open, he never closes it. He engages the vocal chords properly. It is the first thing to happen. All great opera singers do this. The proper engagement leads to proper resonance and all he does is move air through it with no effort. It is all resonance. The higher he goes, the chord action stays the same but there is more "stretch" in the head. He never thinks "high" note, just more space in the top with throat engaged.

[wippocarter]

Yes. Any good singer, even if never sung in at the Met, does not think on low or high notes. Just uses the techniques to reach them. I don't say I could sing better or worse than Cornel. But It is not "almost imposible" to sing "Nulla Silenzio" since those notes don't reach the low G. For me it is almost imposible to reach a low F. I have learned that almost in singing is a mental issue. If you imagine pull your chords you can reach higher notes and exactly the oppositve for low notes.

[Costantino80]

WOW!!!! He is perfect for roles like this!

[robertwbecker]

WOW! Thanks so much for this post. Mac is one of my heros, heard him in his prime and know what he sounded like in the theatre. And this is 1981? One of the GREAT BARITONES OF ALL TIME