Jon Vickers as Pollione Norma Orange 1974

[dayanvolpe]

great voice but Mario del Monaco is the best i this role!!

[Maripudelmonaco]

@dayanvolpe - Totalmente de acuerdo, el mejor.

[flicfan416]

In my personal opinion, this HAS to be the greatest reading of Pollione. Listen to all those baritone lines! LIstening to Vickers brings a whole new meaning to the score, like hearing Callas sing Lucia for the first time.

[federic017]

Uno dei pochi Pollione, "CREDIBILI "dopo Corelli e Del Monaco...saluti

[Richiesutherland]

The splcing-in of Domingo's voice happens at 7'48".

[philipvanlidth]

@Richiesutherland Quite true, and I don't really understand that this would have been considered necessary. While I will agree that Vickers often cracked disastrously on a high b natural (in both of the Otello recordings I have heard from him this was true in the same place), his b-flats were usually on target. As for his acting, I have seen him live in several productions (Grimes, Tristan, Samson, Otello), and he usually acts fairly well, even if he wasn't the actor Callas was...

[philipvanlidth]

@Richiesutherland I might add that his companion uses many of the same empty gestures, so that this might have been more the stage director's fault than Vickers'...

[Richiesutherland]

That's a terrible thing to say about Callas! Look at Vickers' meaningless gestures, every one used over and over again. Dreadful Italian (and yes, I noticed that he never flips his final "r"s. Worst of all is the fraud that has always been in this videotape: please notice that the voice changes in the final bars of the aria (as the camera backs up) and his voice is replaced by Placido Domingo's! I was at one of these performances, and Vickers, as usual, cracked disastrously on the final Bb.

[ezev8logos]

@Richiesutherland you can hear a lot of his high b on otello's duet "cho m'accora" and also the short high c on "dio ti giocondi sposo" from the live recordings (not karajan's film)

[Nello7]

Yawn. Not Vickers fault, but this is mundane by design and is why it isn't performed too often.

On another note- r's are only supposed to be rolled when they are double rr or at the beginning of a word. It is done for effect otherwise. What he is doing is not incorrect.

[FacePaster]

what an artist. good lord. wish i could've seen this man perform live.

[jebemti]

Stevevandien, if you knew the cabaletta (and Italian) you'd have picked up what I'm talking about. Most of his R's in the cabaletta (not all) sound like AH:

eg: preceding cabaletta - Baabari (BaRbari) then:

Poteh (PoteR) Magioh (MaggioR) Pensieh (PensieR) Lamoh (L'amoR) Vehgine (VeRgine). I know consonants are sometimes sacrificed in order for the voice to flow uninterrupted but if other singers cal RRRrrrrr so can he.

[stevevandien]

Oh, sorry. My eyesight isn't too acute these days, and I thought you'd written "y" instead of "r" --

[noosphere23]

Amen!!!!!!!! Well said!

[AtaGiacomini]

Vickers sempre canta come l'inglese....Terribile!

[jebemti]

Great voice - love Vickers. Just wish he'd roll the 'r's in the cabaletta. It really grates on me!

[stevevandien]

How do you roll a Y?

[jebemti]

As AtaGiacomini said a few comments below, (traslated from his Italian) "Vickers always sings like an Englishman...terrible!" I bet he means he doesn't roll his R's as the R in English always sounds like an Ah sound.

[jebemti]

Look, I love Vickers, OK? But I just wish to hell he'd roll the bloody 'R's in the cabaletta!

[MastersoftheOpera]

THE BEST POLIONE

[mariahelleberg]

vickers both sounds, looks and moves like a roman general - and he looks as if this aria was some of the easiest music he ever sang! glorious

[Operafiend22]

If I were you I'd be less concerned about dying via some ridiculous chain letter and more worried about learning proper English!

[crabbe88]

For those comparing studio recordings to this wor of art, remember that this clip was recorded live at the outdoor stadium of Orange. Vickers was often called the "Prince of Orange" because, after singing Tristan ('73), Pollione ('75), Otello ('75) and Florestan ('77) there, he was beyond comparison on that stage. Others shied away because they simply could not be heard. Bravo Vickers!

[stephpwall]

Thank you Joeleole I first heard this audio clip a number of years ago and suspected the same thing. In the middle of the word "abattero" right at 7:47-7:48, before the stretta ,the engineers cut to the Domingo recording (with Caballe from1970). Strangely I recognized it initially because Cillario brings out the timpani strokes that go with the Bb7 chord as Pollione holds the high Bb in a distinctive manner. I'm sure they didn't have either artists approval for that one!!!

[wwjacod13]

What a roar Vickers has! I own this DVD and this is definately one of my favorite scenes that I have ever seen.

[Joeleole]

Why has the end of Me Protegge a me Diffende been over-dubbed by Placido Domingo's recording of Pollione? there's a brief jump where the edit is but the sound is the same!!!

[countceprano]

Joeleole: Good ears! Indeed, Domingo's voice takes over at the 7:48 mark. Why, I don't know as Vickers could knock the shit of the ending and that last B-flat.

[ConnonTenor]

I like both MDM's and Vickers' recordings of this but for some reason when I go back to listen again I always find myself listening to Vickers first. Maybe it's because he sings the whole thing, MDM misses out some of the tricky bits although that's perfectly acceptable, this aria is a killer.

[bloydaage]

Belcanto style or not... This caracter I prefer just like this. Among Vickers there are only two other tenors (IMO) who portrays this caracter believable in both physique and voice; Corelli and Del Monaco. But all three of them makes their own nuances. Vickers may the most complete...

[stevevandien]

Vickers is terrific. The Flavio isn't good, but then again I was brought up on the Callas/Corelli/Ludwig recording, on which Flavio was sung by the splendid Piero de Palma, a prince of comprimarios with a strong, clear voice --

[tenornmd]

His performances are just so magnetic. The Callas comparison is definitely appropriate.

[1Ooppera]

Like someone said: He is not a singer he is a monument!!Buy listening Vickers and the way he uses his voice very intelligent way, i have found my voice. He is great example how huge voice can also be flexible instrument if you know how to use it, he has tought me that.(ofcourse its still not easy) He allways uses voice first into kharakter he is playing, not the voice itself. To me he is number one in Big boys. i love them all but he is the Boss, Big daddy!!!

[Marcorotti]

Hey he was a bull!!! Amazing!!!

Do you know if sang Turandot or Nessun dorma in a concert? Please answer all of you.

[tonyantony1]

Of course not!He was a heldentenor,the tessitura of Calaf was way too high for his voice.After all,I don't think he was ever interested in portraying Calaf.Calaf is quite a shallow character.

[cjondoran]

tony, so nice to see someone who knows what he is talking about

[tonyantony1]

Vickers was the Callas of tenors.

[Babs22h]

singing 10 acting well 3 honestly he was like posing the whole time...

[poupounakis]

very nice....very dramatic and power on stage....but i think Del Monaco was much better....even Corelli....

[billyguns2]

Vickers was always inside the roles he performed and his voice was gigantic in the opera house, even at the softest levels. He's one of my five favorite tenors of all time, the others being Franco Corelli, Jussi Bjoerling, Fritz Wunderlich, and Jose Carreras; and he is the most versatile of them all, even singing Wagner and Saint-Saens. Del Monaco, di Stefano, Gigli, and a host of others tie for sixth place, LOL. If Caruso could be heard properly, he'd probably be number 1.

[raythetse]

can't even hear the other dude...

[chessmann]

His last couple of notes almost sound similar to Domingo!

[Mexi20000]

The people are alway talk about a big or about a smal voice at the actual singers. Take a look to this great Tenor John Vickers. This is a big Tenor Voice. Andrea Bocelli with this John vickers on stage and you hear nothing from Bocelli.

Bravo John!!!!

[albertthrelkeld]

I rather enjoyed Vickers's performance in this role.

[Montieldebanne]

Ceux qui y étaient doivent s'en souvenir. Il y avait la tempête et le froid. Caballé et Vickers ont maté les éléments avec autorité. Ce live est mythique. Merci de l'avoir mis.

[Zoricic]

Drammaticaly seems like Del Monaco

[BeauTenor]

Dramatically better than DelMonaco who was a stand and sing type (IMHO). Vickers was never particularly comfortable above Bb, but he had the notes when he needed them. However, I really don't think a tenor like this can be measured in terms of high Cs. His contribution as an artist is immense. Gievn the dearth of dramatic tenors around now, you could almost eat rocks to have a voice like this around.

[tomzoricic]

You don't know what you are saying. Which stand and sing type is MDM look at his I Pagliacci, Otello and Carmen!!!

[BeauTenor]

LIke I said, in ym opinion. Learn to read.

[vickersman]

yes, I agree, you are absolutely correct.Vicker's had such a unique voice.One can really say that there will never be one like it again.The tessitura in certain roles like Tanhausser and die Miestersinger were more of a problem, although his top was never as reliable as a 'tenor' would like.Still what a career!And here...what power!

[stevevandien]

Amen!

[laddnyc]

I am often amazed at these comments. they are almost always about the voice, the technique, whether it was a C or a B. Forgive me for my soapbox rant but for me this is consumate performing. A huge masculine sound in a singer who cares about the text! My love for Vickers not held back here. He makes the cabaletta work vocally AND dramatically. While that is more common today, at that time it was unique!

[BeauTenor]

I absolutely agree. I've always been a HUGE fan of this voice. It's completely unique in sound and quality, as is the man it belonged to. On top of that, I can think of very few tenors around these days with this much power under the voice. It's thrilling.

[retepsnikrep]

Incredible Power, Lauritz Melchior might struggle to beat this.

[cjondoran]

I have a Franco Corelli Recording.  he takes the higher road. However, what unbelievable sound and resonance Vickers pumps out. i cant believe it!!!!

[ilbacioditosca]

yes there is a high c in the aria

[phanface]

Domingo actually sang the high C on the Cillario recording, and sang it well! I'm sure Vickers also had a high C in his range, but like tenorrman says, it would have only been part of Vickers' immense voice.

[ezev8logos]

@phanface he always sang the short high c at the end of otello's duet "dio ti giocondi"

[phanface]

@ezev8logos I remember reading in Vickers's biography that his reason for not singing Pollione at first was because he claimed to not have a high C, but your (welcome) comment makes me question his sincerity. This was also when he first worked with Callas in Medea, and though the two seemed to work together well, perhaps he didn't want to become "Callas's tenor".

[ezev8logos]

@phanface yes, it may be, I think he never paid much attention to his high notes and yet he is one of the greatest tenors in history, maybe if he had improved his high notes today he would be associated with another type of repertoire

[Agorante]

Wonderful B flats. Alas he skips the B Natural. Del Monaco on his long recital here on YouTube also skips the B Natural. Domingo in his "Roman Hero" album sings it but I'm sure he never would have done so on stage. Too risky.

I never regreted not having heard Caruso live. I had heard Vickers live.

[phanface]

I thought it was a C natural in the score? (I can always doublecheck this.)

[tenorrman]

well then hardly anyone of this calibre could sing it!!!

[ezayitas]

They are mistaken. It is a C natural. Anyway, who needs to here a high C when he sings it liek that. Have a heard Norma a few times and haven´t heard a tenor like him or the other of his time.

[tenorrman]

Why bother with anyone else when we have Vickers...we know this Agorante- the rest of the world is still having to 'catch-up, or catch on'. Jon did have a B natural...there are a couple in Les Troyens, I believe, but alas I think they add little to the wonderment that is Vickers.

[ezev8logos]

@tenorrman you're absolutely right!!! who cares about the high notes when you hear such an amazing artist, still you can hear a lot of his high b on otello's duet "cho m'accora" and also the short high c on "dio ti giocondi sposo" from the live recordings (not karajan's film)

[tenorrman]

To have this on YouTube is wonderful...thanks Onegin65.Vickers is a marvel, what power, and he looks the part.He nails those B flats like a hammer.Oh to have seen this one live!!