Neil Shicoff - Vittoria (Tosca, live 2005)

[MuscleDaddyCMH]

Man what crap conducting

[tenorland]

Listen to australian -albanian Agim Hushi, the real Victoria is there!!!

[SHICOFF1]

No-- not transposed down, sung in original key as it should be. I was at the performance and he was terrific. Millo sang two of them with him and it was a night of big voices also with Ramey.

[rovingdesertfox]

This is NOT transposed down.

[31122051]

RIDICOLO ! Una delle interpretazioni più nauseanti e penose che abbia mai sentito. Ascoltatevi F. Bonisolli, G. Raimondi, M. Del Monaco, F. Corelli e anche il buon vecchio Lucianone, poi ne riparliamo. Saluti.

[Vendimi3]

Neil Shicoff is a splendid tenor, still. If you consider that a goat like Licitra sings at the Met, well...

[jakethewoz]

haha vitto,ri,a

those attacks are silly

[ElisabettaVS]

Who is singing Scarpia? He sounds weird to me .... not a Scarpia I want to see on stage....

[moorfan1]

@ElisabettaVS Scarpia was Sam Ramey.

[ElisabettaVS]

@moorfan1 Samuel Ramey??? I actually like him and didn't recognise him in this recording, but still... I don't think he is very suitable for the role of Baron Scarpia. At least not to me. ^^

[halavey]

These in house recordings are often done with some little cassette recorders with poor speed but it is written as HIGH B FLAT never a high B and some say it was high A! originally but not high B so he did not transpose it at all.

[HMW]

he transposed it down. it's supposed to be a high b

[GermanOperaSinger]

No I believe the original score has Bb.

[HMW]

yeah, i'm actually somewhat confused now. for example, i've seen domingo and alagna sing it as a B, yet i've also heard shicoff, corelli and gigli sing it as a Bb. normally, i would say that those who sing it as a Bb simply want to avoid the upper passaggio at Bb/B (upper, not secondo), but gigli and corelli always rocketed through it, so that can't be the reason. in any case, it's confusing...

[bcggx2]

@GermanOperaSinger yep...it's actually an f#major chord (A#)....same thing...:)

[piasecznik]

@GermanOperaSinger Actually an A sharp, but yeah, basically a Bb.

[Mooorhe]

You'd do well to look at the score.

[HMW]

very true

[parabat7]

@Mooorhe My old 1976 Ricordi - albeit a vocal not an orchestral - score has a B flat!!!!

[piasecznik]

@parabat7 It's not a B flat. It's an A sharp, which makes a huge difference harmonically.

It's a D-sharp major broken chord, and a B-flat wouldn't belong there.

[gaytenor]

@HMW He sang the music as written and the notes are, from memory, actually a sharps.

[LetItBe920]

@HMW The Ricordi score has a Bb. Make sure you do your research. ;-)

[karifrid]

@HMW It is Bb.

[MariaCaIIas]

@HMW nobody can transpose a note arbitrarily in the middle of an opera... the whole scene would have to be transposed. It is a Bb and that is what he sings...

It is strange you should say something as ignorant, when you obviously do not know the score or possibly you do not read music at all (otherwise you would know or compare the intonation with other recordings on Youtube)

God bless the freedom of speach but I am sure freedom of speech does not ban a little bit of thinking...

[pearlmuth3]

NO WHEN NEIL WAS YOUNG, after all HE IS 55 HERE HE HAD MUCH MORE SQUILLO ON TOP AND A GOOD HIGH C SOMETHING JOSE WAS NOT ABLE TO BEAT SO FOR TOP VOICE NO WAY. YOU NEED TO COMPARE AT LIKE AGES AND NEIL IS 55 HERE. HOW DOES JOSE SOUND AT EVEN 45. I heard JOSE in house in 1974 in this opera with Nilsson in los angeles and no his top was not close in volume or squillo, it was beautiful then but not a top like Shicoff in prime, NO WAY.

[pearlmuth3]

He was on fire in this even in his mid 50's

[pearlmuth3]

Heard both in the house and Jose had not nearly as much Squillo in house which you do not hear on most live tapes as here but not only did he have squillo and plenty of it his voice was quite large on top.

[pearlmuth3]

In the house Shicoff had a lot more squillo on top then Jose had and remember he lasted and is 56 here. Heard them both and compare them live on top at the same age if we are talking about top notes and a comparison

[GermanOperaSinger]

Actually, the way he approaches the top note reminds me slightly of Carreras' approach. It doesn't sound very supported but apparently it is...wheras Carreras' didn't sound supported because it wasn't...interesting.

[pearlmuth3]

he was having good nights and if you think he had squillo here you should have heard him in house in the 80's and early 90's the squillo was really strong and never picked up on tape he had a powerful lyric tenor that occasionally was dark but never really heavy

[pearlmuth3]

Yes I saw the ones with the rumanian sop. Dimitriu also but was only able to get this one with Millo who was great even with hwer cold and it was a bad cold.

[moorfan1]

I also saw Shicoff during this run...I didn't see Millo, instead, Tosca was Doina Dimitriu. It was my first time hearing him live and I was stunned at the squillo and brightness of his voice! I had expected it to be so much darker of a sound, probably because of recordings in the past.

[pearlmuth3]

Millo even with the cold sang with a rich very powerful spinto and Neil had as much volume as she did, also Ramey as Scarpia was in fine voice that night and for the run. A different Tosca took over after the first two shows. Back stage afterwards I spoke to Neil and Aprile who was sick with a bad cold but she gave all of herself and it was thrilling, the house opening night yelled bravo after his Vittorio almost stopping the show it was as described on opera L "a lazer beam ringing sound"

[pearlmuth3]

I was at this performance and it was far better then you can imagine on this fair copy this was taped in the the balcony. Millo had a cold, saw them afterwards, they made an announcement she would sing anyhow. Neil still had lots of squillo and the reviews for him where good. A friend said during the first performance (this was the 2nd) that after his Vittoria the house exploded with applause. Lyric opera did not brdcst the first opera of each during the 05' season. Thanks much for this.

[sospello]

Thank you for sending this clip of Shicoff. I think he gives every ounce of himself to an interpretation and remember especially his performances as Romeo and Alfredo. It is wonderful to hear him in such good voice.

[patjan92]

I was present for more than one very good Met performance by this guy. He always gives it everything.