Jon Vickers sings "Gott! Welch Dunkel hier!" from Fidelio

[DonPaolissimo]

Kaufmann could not begin to shine Vickers' shoes - Jonas has a LOOONG way to go before being even mentioned in the same breath!

[bb1111116]

Vickers was my favorite dramatic tenor and he was wonderful as Florestan. As for the ending of this aria, it works because of the frantic emotion that Vickers puts into this performance. For me opera is just not about pretty notes. It is believing in the character. With Vickers (and a few other great singers) I believe.

[Nello7]

@bb1111116

Thank you for a very true and prescient response!

[babs22hh]

this piece makes me cry its so horrible! Of course I'm not referring to the singing and acting which is fabulous Its just so horrible FOR Florestan!*tears welling up* he's thinking he sees a vison of Leonore, his angel, and he gets so much strength just from thinking about her and how much he loves her. And then at the end of the aria the slump to the ground is almost like a realization that it was just a dream and he's alone again and facing death... :-( so sad

[Stingerfyle]

Find ich einfach grausam. Tut mir leid, wenn ich die ganzen Vicker Fans damit enttäusche..

[petrina1022]

Negate me all you like, but there's no denying that a performance is flawed when the tone goes flat. Vickers was a great singer, but I don't like this performance. His voice sounds flat at the end, and he barks out the German text, making him sound more like a German prison guard than a prisoner himself.

[dziady1]

As there is no last wave from the sea ,  right

now there is no one to match Vickers in this role ,he owned it for us who have seen him in it .but in time

there will be another-after all there were no contraltos on the

scene and now we have Podles - you just gotta wait !!

[dermotafan]

I totally agree with you hedgechair. And I might add that Dermota sang it too on the night when Patzak cancelled. It was an opening night, a night after the premiere of Don Giovanni in which he sang Ottavio.

[ipmoic]

For those of you who never heard him live, I can justifiably assert that he had the biggest voice of any singer I ever heard. His voice was a cannon--although he was just as stunning in his pianissimi as one witnesses here.

A marvelous gift of nature. An openness and volubility that was just amazing.

[pisherfamily]

I agree ipmoic. I heard him sing this role at the Met, but I also remember him doing Peter Grimes there and in the Mad Scene, his voice filled the hall physically, as if that barn were too small for his voice.

[Cavaradossi10]

Wow - I suppose it says a lot that this magnificent record of Vickers' Florestan excites such heated debate. He was and remains monumental - in the same tradition as Patzak and Windgassen, although obviously heavier than either. James King and Jess Thomas were also notable Florestans, and personally I prefer King to Vickers because he is more inclined to let the music speak for itself and Vickers could be rather mannered. Heppner and Domingo both have their virtues as Florestan, as did Jerusalem

[hedgechair]

To all warring parties. If we argue about singers we love, instead of celebrating them, the world is in trouble. Kaufmann can sing wonderfully with a most un-german sound and a big nod to Vickers. Vickers is Vickers, however, and his elemental sound is unique in the age of recording.

[berlinman46]

wunderbar bravo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[vocede]

Große Stimme mit sehr starkem Wiedererkennungswert.

[Vendimi3]

Sorry, Vickers is an amazing singer, but in this he's not even comparable to Kauffmann

[jhgreenhorn]

you suck! kaufman's sound is clearly artificially produced as it is woofy and their is very little squillante! Do you even listen to the voice? Or do you just get all swept up in the music like most novice listeners!?

[athemag]

@jhgreenhorn Ouais, c'est sûr, quand on écoute du Beethoven, la musique on n'en a strictement rien à faire

[dg6da]

...compare Kaufmann to Vickers????? Kaufmann?

[Vendimi3]

Well, about Kaufmann...I didn't say comparable to vickers: I said BETTER.

[Winterwonnemond]

how can anyone prefer kaufmann over him....either vocally or artistically?

[cantanteporsiempre]

@Winterwonnemond I don´t even know why are they compared?? They are so diferent, nor the same voice color, nor the same (or even close) stage presence. Nor the same operatic time. Like oil and water.

[jackylen57]

Jolie voix mais je préfère jonas Kaufmann!

Merci

Jackylen57

[jhgreenhorn]

he has terrible technique and you have no ears for the voice!

[jbjorling]

your comments give you away as a novice.

[Operafiend22]

Yes and Yes! Stick to playing the guitar

[alecs1976]

he is a little low at the end of the piece....but on the other hand can you name me one tenor who has ever sung this aria effortless, live !?

[gaytenor]

Try Jan Peerce on the Toscanini broadcast or any performance by Rosvaenge.

[alecs1976]

@gaytenor

What gives you the idea that those recordings were "live"...??? in neither one you can hear an audience ....

[Onegin65]

Because Thèâtre Antique d' Orange is enormous, with 12000 localities, the singers and the scene is very remote for the audience.

The singers have problems, sometimes listen the orchestra

[alecs1976]

@Onegin65

actually I was referring to the two videos "gaytenor" suggested as effortless live recordings...not to Vicker's performance....

[Onegin65]

Allright

[tenorismo]

@gaytenor ^ 5 For Rosvaenge . If Im correct there is a recording of Helge at 64 singing Floristan and he kicks ass.

[nobisotti]

Oh my god...he almost looks like Ludwig van....he would have loved it...great performance...I like him!!!

[Grandtenore]

Gosh...Vickers could play one twisted or pained individual. And his voice is soooo large, but he manages to sing with amazing line and sensitivity. I love it.

[135yearswaiting]

Nice version ,but not as good as his recorded version with Christa Ludwig as Leonore and Klemperer conducting.

[foothillsbear]

A great artist.  I heard his Otello at Covent Garden in 1977. Fantastic!

[giacominifan]

I'm slightly envious that you heard him live! I'm sure it was quite the experience.

[waltercharles]

I did hear him live at the Met in this role. I'll never forget it.

To hear that voice, so unique in sound, in a huge house, and to experience the emotional commitment as well, was a great experience. Jake

[raythetse]

Its so unfortunate that his poor technique cost him his voice on many night... I have a DVD with him singing this and his voice sounds like his chords are sandpaper rubbing on each other. On the other hand i don't think anyone performed with the artistic intensity that he did.

[Sadiesexy]

Wow! He was huge!

[nanbil]

The thing I love most about Vickers is that it was never just about the voice; no park and bark from him. Wonderful singer and actor.

[aeneas0troy]

Florestan alive!

[tosca1940]

I was priveleged to have been part of this production which is still talked about in Orange

[sanjosemike]

Whenever Beethoven brings in the "Leonora Theme" the music breaks my heart. It must take great control not to break into tears when one actually sings this performance.

sanjosemike

[saltburner]

I heard him twice as Florestan at Covent Garden, first in 1961 with Amy Schuard as Leonora, and again about 15 years later with Helga Dernesch. He was magnificent. I can think of only one other tenor who was as moving as Florestan: Julius Patzak.

[dorje1975]

He is great singer and artist. Natural voice, not like some popular tenors... And great impression of his playing. In my clip collection I have fragment of this aria. Welcome!

[cyfieithydd]

Tells it all really. Amazing artist and great great singer.

[greve]

The comment above tells so much!

[stevevandien]

The first time I heard Vickers live was as Florestan in Chicago, in 1981. How his voice echoed through the Lyric Opera House during that "Gott" is forever etched on my memory, as well as his extraordinary artistry. The two combined to bring tears to my eyes. We shall not see his like again.

[lungdoc]

To Steveandien: Interesting you say that... I have the same recollection of his voice ringing in my ears "during that Gott" after I heard him in a concert version of Fidelio in San Juan, PR in 1971.

[stevevandien]

We each heard a great artist at his best, despite ten years' passing -- I feel so fortunate to have heard Vickers live in this performance, as well as in his Parsifal five years later -- would that I could have heard his Otello, Tristan and Peter Grimes (all of which I heard on recordings, some live) in person as well:) --