Georges Thill Rehearses With Canteloube

[giloubreizh]

du nanan

[InfernoDaBaka]

Does anyone know the name of the aria please?

[NosHabebitHumus]

Yes, from Vercingetorix. The first (La foi de nos morts qui m'appelle) is with Maurice Faure at the piano and with a small and intended reference by the quoted progression to the Marseillaise ( "le jour de gloire est arrivé") which may be why Canteloube says that it was a bit to fast and should be sung a bit more broadly before he asks permission to take over at the piano. Love letting the monocle drop at the end of the second piece!!. Thill sang the part at the premiere, June 22, 1933. Thanks!

[giloubreizh]

NOUS VOULONS LA PARTITION.

[giloubreizh]

On met un bouchon, d'accord monsieur Georges, mais pour les I, c'est les dents!!!

[giloubreizh]

c'est du gâteau

[giloubreizh]

DONNEZ-NOUS LA PARTITION!

[RamirRMA]

Que escandalo!

=)

[klavierspieler72]

My heavens, what difficult music, and so strongly sung.  And a wickedly hard piano reduction. Absolutely extraordinary vocalism.

[tenorinmunich]

FABULOUS !

[robertocasitenore]

Grazie per questo video...un grande regalo per me...Grazie tante!! Roberto.

[bodiloto]

Sublime !

[Chutson353]

He is without a doubt my favorite tenor - I don't think he has the technical precision of Caruso or Pavarotti but the richness of the timbre of his voice sends shivers up my spine.

[hiyadroogs]

Don't underestimate his technical prowess, Chutson. Georges sang a beautiful mezza voce high C at the climax of Salut demeure chaste e pure, & these 2 full voice high C#'s came with no discernable effort, which is more than can be said even of Pav!

Perhaps you meant musical nuance? Thill can be a little straight forward in a musical sense compared to the other two. Nor did he attempt trills or other ornamentation. Surprising, given his voice teacher was Fernando De Lucia!

[koala501]

Thill certainly knew how to use his wondeful instrument! Look at the struggling tenors today, pushing and striving so hard for effect then look at this. Fabulous.

[jrakg]

How miraculous to have these rehearsal sequences so well-preserved! I know none of the music, except the "Lohengrin" excerpt. - John Austin, Australia

[billyguns2]

Serafin said there were three vocal miracles: Ponselle, Caruso, and Ruffo; I would add the name of Georges Thill as the fourth miracle. There is nobody singing like this today, or few in history! Stupendous!

[GermanOperaSinger]

By comparison to what we have today all the singers of that generation were miracles.

[hiyadroogs]

billyguns, I would add to that list Francesco Tamagno. To hear Tamagno at 54, dying of angina, & having had his voice described by critics in 1900 as no longer fresh sounding & a little rough at the edges, - sounding like a fresh voiced 20 year old at his debut in 1904 is simply incredible!

If critics then, could be forced to listen to the throaty bawling woofing dry barking wobble that we have to endure today, they would know what tired rough vocalism really means!

[esvemonte]

increible

[giloubreizh]

où peut-on trouver la partition?

[796824]

Thill was SUPERIOR to any of the tenors of THIS era of bellowing. The entire vocal approach heard and seen here, is representative of the Golden Age

of Singing.

[hiyadroogs]

796824, In the age of Thill, Bjorling, Tagliavini, Lauri-Volpi, etc, we had the age of bel canto. Now we are in the age of can belto!

[796824]

Wonderful comment. Afficionados finally have the most succint, sophisticated response to the psychotic vocal distortion heard on the contemporary operatic stage. THANK YOU

[hiyadroogs]

Thank you, but I can't take credit for it. It was originally coined by a welsh tenor by the name of Harry Secombe in the 60's. Secombe was perhaps best known as a comedian & member of the Goons. ; )

[aaronsande]

@hiyadroogs Sadly they can't even belto these days ;D

[sillyboydeux]

@aaronsande I had a lot of training in my early years, and breathing was numero uno, the secret to expressive music is breathing, say the demons of the past. So I went to this crappy Broadway audition about 6 years ago and they told me my voice was too loud, that they like more "sensitive" voices nowadays. I was peeing in my pants afterward. Who cares? I'd rather sing to my furniture and listen to Thill and Vanzo!

[aaronsande]

@sillyboydeux Yes, what they like is a pretty, tiny voice they can amplify because no one seems to care that microphones are used everywhere, even at the MET!

Corelli didn't need no friggin' microphone!

[seektheforce]

@sillyboydeux Sing loud and be proud. We can't have any of this singing off of the voice crap.

[energyglobal]

Fabulous !!

[stefakamelpash]

This is a highly instructive video. Not only does it show one of the 20th century's great tenors in his prime, but his comments at the end, when he was an old man recalling his study with Fernando de Lucia ,are most instructive. Keep the mouth O-PEN and pronounce the words CLEAR-LY! It's not often we get two great tenors passing highlights of their techniques down through the centuries. Now if voice teachers and impressarios would only LISTEN to them, we might resurrect tenor singing.

[lastofdmelocchians]

I've never seen any tenor sing a very high tessitura w/this much ease!!! It almost seems like he's lip-syncin!' He's definitely not! This is actually Alagna's roots. They even sound similar at times. But, Alagna has fallen into the trap of attempting to sing/sound dramatic! It is like lasers comin' outta Thill's mouth. It's incredible! I mean how many C's were on that piece? Higher even! Even our "high" tenors of today don't sing w/this much ease(Merritt, Florez, Blake, Kunde & Matteuzzi)Bravo:)

[hiyadroogs]

How truly blessed we are, to be able to hear & see one of the great tenors up close & personal, singing 2 ringing high C sharps using the bel canto technique taught to him by Fernando De Lucia! - It almost defies belief that this was filmed 79 years ago...

[pearlmuth3]

Yes-- I liked pav as for the top early, heard him in 73 do a Boheme with a fine high C but look at Jussi very fine also and Kraus and Corelli though I am not a fan of Franco. I would love to hear Thill sing the Boheme aria in French "Che Gelida" heard it on a friends old 78 record in 1973 and still remember how great it was. My friend Mooorhe remember this was recorded in 1930, even Gigli in his great 1931 aria Che Gelida rec. is not the quality as 1971 so we must consider that also.

[girardje70]

great tenor

[Pawelp]

The voice sounds like a laser. Incredible focus!

[toucanoccitan]

Extraordinaire document !

[hiyadroogs]

These are finer high C sharps than Pavarotti produced in his entire career! & Thill was not even noted for his extreme high notes. How far we have fallen from grace..

[Mooorhe]

Finer high C sharps than Pavarotti?

Thill's high C sharps sound rather shrill, he was a great singer, but it's no wonder he wasn't noted for stratospheric high notes.

Opera has only fallen from grace recently, early on in Pavarotti's time, it was still thriving.

[hiyadroogs]

Mooorhe, it's all personal taste of course. To my ears, these C sharps have plenty of body. And I have heard much shriller from big Pav on much lower notes than this. I have also seen him live in '87 & heard him crack on the B in Nessun Dorma in concert. But my point really, was that Thill wasn't noted for notes like this, yet they are superb & technically flawless. Whereas Pavarotti WAS noted for his extreme top, yet they are inferior to Thill's. It shows how expectations have dropped.

[Mooorhe]

I agree, it is all personal taste, which is why it's good that there is such a wide range of singers to choose from. But I do not agree with your other comments. To me, it doesn't matter that he cracked on that B, in 1987 he was years past his best. He was noted for his extreme top in the early 70s, in which I believe he produced better C#s than here. Expectations have dropped; and quite rightly so. But to my ears, Pavarotti's sound much better.

Again, all my opinion though.

[hiyadroogs]

Sorry, it wasn't my intention to demean Luciano, I wouldn't have gone to see him if I hadn't rated him highly. I simply meant to illustrate that even tenors with easy tops can hit bum notes occasionally. Every singer has cracked at some point in their career. They are only human beings after all.

[Mooorhe]

I need to apologise for being pompous and rude. Pavarotti is among my favourite tenor voices and is my favourite tenor and I can be a little too defensive of him. But regardless, I agree with the core substance of your comment. The expectations have certainly dropped, and quite rightly so, the singers just aren't as good unfortunately.

[hiyadroogs]

Not at all, mooorhe. I didn't find any of your comments rude or pompous. My own opening comment was quite robust, so I can hardly object if someone jumps to a favourite singers defence in return! Ha ha. At least we're now both in agreement about the current state of tenor singing!

[akattara]

Very interesting video.

Thank you for posting this document!

[CharlotteinWeimar]

Great video, so interesting, and what a tenor!

[cornificius22vain]

Now that's a tenor!

[giloubreizh]

Canteloube, il en perd son monocle, tellement c'est parfait!

[hiyadroogs]

This is a superb illustration of the bel canto technique. Those two high notes at the end are high C sharps, & contains B naturals too. The vocal emission is freely & easily produced from bottom to top, & from start to finish. This piece has a far higher tessitura than Nessun Dorma, yet Thill finishes looking like he has sung nothing more challenging than 'Happy birthday'. Fantastic.

[jhvorotin]

MERCI BEAUCOUP pour cette video. Je me s'en priviligié de la partager. Un rare et tres précieux bijoux!

[jhvorotin]

Quoi?! Je n'en reviens pas. Je connaissait de nom mais là...wow. Excellent. Incroyable, il chante un ré bemol avec une force et une vigueur sur un "i", la voyelle la plus difficile à chanter! WOW!

[zabou1]

Que du rêve !!!! Ce chanteur est la référence de l'art lyrique

Françoise Grignon-Landrieu

[giloubreizh]

allez! les ténors de l'académie de musique! à vos partitions! osez ce répertoire!!!

[Totopopols]

lol sopratenor, reste dans ton style retro puisque tu n'es pas forcement ouvert à d'autres styles de musiques, je pense pas que tes commentaires soient crédibles une fois sortie de la sphere rétro

[SOPRATENOR]

Ca y est,le revoilà celui-là!Si tu regardes mieux mes commentaires dans le "With or without you" d'Anahy(s'ils n'ont pas été effacés),tu verras que je dis adorer Freddie Mercury,Jean-Jacques Goldman,Sting(etc......),bref des mecs vachement rétros! Et petite nuance, ce que tu entends là (Georges Thill), ce n'est pas rétro, c'est tout simplement immortel!!!!!!

[giloubreizh]

Bien dit! on peut apprécier les Scorpions - ou autres - et M. Thill.

[SOPRATENOR]

J'en ai vu des vidéos sur Youtube, mais pour l'instant rien de mieux que ça!!! La démo,puis l'explication!!!Effectivement,­les chanteurs français sont connus malheureusement dans le monde pour ne faire résonner leur voix que devant ou dans le pif...Et bien pas Monsieur Georges Thill qui avait tout compris!!!!!! Je n'ai jamais vu autant de facilité sur le visage d'un chanteur quelquesoit la note! Hallucinant!!!!!!!!!!!!

[giloubreizh]

les chanteurs ne doivent pas garder le son pour eux mais le faire sortir par la bouche! Georges, il avait pigé!

[SOPRATENOR]

Et oui,comme je l'ai déjà,je n'ai jamais vu mieux sur Youtube pour le moment.J'adore Corelli et plein d'autres grands chanteurs,mais ce niveau,cette extrême facilité en train de répéter,jamais!!!Alors en tant que chanteur,d'une part ça m'encourage à travailler encore + dur(pour atteindre un jour ne serait-ce que le 10ème de ce niveau!);d'autre part ça peut décourager aussi car après un talent pareil,il vaut mieux se taire!!!Mais bon,comme la Passion parle avant tout,chantons quand même!!!

[SOPRATENOR]

Et puis,comme tu parlais des Scorpions,qui disaient entre autre dans une de leurs chansons de leur envoyer un ange ("Send me an angel"), et bien le voilà l'ange, c'est Monsieur Georges Thill, héhé!!!!!!

[petrof4056]

Fantastic !!!!!!!!

[jacquesurlus]

IMMORTEL.

[fanthill]

Impressionnant en effet.

Merci pour cette video!

amitiés

[flocarp]

when i listen that,i listen my father who learnt with Georges Thill and Charles Panzera.I think it might be the french school.I'm tenor,it's my job,and i think this kind of voice is a part of the past.Nobody sings like that today.

[drewski67]

Thill was actually a product of the Italian school, having studied with de Lucia. It was a very Italianate sound. One that we'll probably never heard again. What a voice...

[compadrecerro]

Let me tell you how lucky you are to have this tenor's school through your father. Any hints about tenor singing you can give us? I am a tenor too but struggle a lot with high notes and supported breath

[giloubreizh]

Comment? Comment faisait M. Thill pour projeter de tels sons? Extraordinaire!...

[joanabanyeres]

c'était un grand chanteur. il n'y a n'a plus comme lui. merci pour le vidéo

j'ai tout le video... C'est merveilleux

[ciroalb3]

Just wonderful. he and Richard Crooks are my favorite tenors in the French repertoire. The clip from '77 reminds me of a recording I've heard of McCormack on New year's '41 I think. He has this rather gruff baritone voice, but then sings in the clearest tenor. I spoke once to Bidu Sayao toward the end of her life. Voice was very gravelly. You would never think she had that bell like soprano 50 years earlier.

[Ragnaroekk]

A wonderful video - thank you for posting. So many opera videos on Youtube are boring rubbish, but this is a true collector's item. Very interesting info. Felicitations.

[giloubreizh]

Merci, Maître, pour cette leçon - prenons-en de la graine!

[stevevandien]

A great singer, certainly the best and most versatile French tenor of his time. Sometimes I think of him as a Gallic Bjorling; Thill too had a silvery timbre, with wonderful ring and splendid control of dynamics --

[arminhebein]

fantastic.

Regarding the high tones there is another French tenor that rivals Lauri Volpi.

Leon Escalais

[stevevandien]

Agreed. Escalais has some of the most extraordinary high notes on record:) --

[stefakamelpash]

You are right. I have only ever heard good things about Thill as a person. He was by all accounts a very elegant and refined individual who was always a good colleague. He was the greatest tenor France ever produced, and was much beloved. In many ways he had a charmed life, because he was the quintessential Frenchman who loved France and sang mostly at the Paris Opera. These top notes rival those of Lauri Volpi!

[madisonelectronic]

Many report this man was a jerk but he was just the opposite. What stuck up star would turn pages for his pianist?

[alepeccia]

Georges Thill, one of the most amazing voices of all times!

[icareh]

Un Georges Thill incroyable, inoubliable, au sommet de sa forme, une diction française exemplaire, avec un contre ut interminable, tenu sur un... "i" (très peu de ténors sont capables d'un tel exploit) !

[icareh]

Document vidéo historique et, je dois dire, assez bouleversant, ponctué par une bref interview, relatant sa formation vocale exhaustive auprès du grand Maestro Fernando De Lucia (1860-1925), lequel Maestro avait d'ailleurs été invité à chanter un émouvant "Pietà Signore" lors des funérailles de Caruso. En fin de vidéo, Georges Thill apparaît même dans un bref extrait de Lohengrin (en Français).

[belgian]

Oui, il etait fabuleux. Mais Cesar Vezzani et Jose Luccioni etaient superbes egalement. Quelle epoque!!

[hobo1975]

great technique,amazing singing!

[Stellavox]

His Lohengrin (at the end of this clip) to these old ears sounds quite remarkable, but they didn't like him in the US for some reason. Thanks for posting this remarkable clip. Unfortunately I could not understand one word of what he was saying.

[ellandelachapelle]

Yes amazing wasn´t he? We haven´t heard him much outside of France! (to me mostly a name in the history books.)He talks about his lessons with Italian maestro Lucia. As a Frenchman he was used to singing rather what´s the word? (you can see him demonstrating it. Closed lips.) And then in Italy he learned to open his mouth ("bocca" means mouth) and to sing openly and clearly! (funny demonstration.)

[Pawelp]

His top has a slightly overly bright sounding towards falsetto in colour, but the cords def. come together splendidly, I find the ping exciting.

[Ivanhoe2]

An extrenely interesting clip of the great singer. He had a great "top".

[deepeyes29]

Also there were these: Les noces d'émeraude or Cartacálha. It is unfortunate the it is virtually impossible to find a Canteloube opera score or recording.

[deepeyes29]

it could also be fomr the lesser known 'Le Mas'

[madisonelectronic]

Please someone post Thill with French National Anthem, Thanks!

[Dondinin]

Quel grand tenor. Le plus grand tenor français, et l'un des plus grands de tous les temps

[madisonelectronic]

Someone must be able to answer TheGreatPerformers Question. Allons, you French people, get off your brie! Or you, violinthief.