Luciano Pavarotti - Vittoria, vittoria! - Live 1978

[Kivimusic]

2:05! Pure fire!

[MrDiabo76]

E' vero..la sua voce non era adattissima per Cavaradossi...ma come cantava Recondita armonia, non la cantava nessuno.

[jtanton10]

1:17 - 1:31 My ears just orgasmed that was awesome.

[31122051]

BRAVISSIMO PAVAROTTI !!!

[bigus]

this is a clinic on amazing singing by maestro LP

[chaiter1]

People, please stop with those remarks about Luciano pushing etc

It is free, it has the right amount of dramatic tension,

For some who don't want to listen and worship their idols, whatever will be done won't do...For me, opera is bel canto not can belto, so for all the fans of the robustos and the "trumpets", enjoy your idols. I certainly can enjoy this as I can enjoy many others.

[Nello7]

I am a devout fan of Pavarotti. He is why I became a singer, but his voice is not suited for this role. He is pushing, no doubt. This scene in particular requires a fair amount of thrust from the singer of which he did not possess. However, he did sing the other arie with great sensitivity of which only a maestro di canto could do. This is why he excelled in recital work because the vocal requirements are different. When he sang roles that were in his fach, he was incomparable.

[MatMadik]

These cats make their genre!!!!

[31122051]

Lucianone ci manchi tanto ! Eri a dir poco MERAVIGLIOSO. Grandissimi anche S. Verrett e C. MacNeil. Una " Tosca " SPLENDIDA, e lo stage manager era il MITICO Tito Gobbi !

[pavarottithebest]

@31122051 Quanto hai ragione amico mio, la sua perdita ha segnato lo sconforto in tutti noi. Big Luciano è stato veramente un tenore valido in TUTTO quello che cantava, anche se moltissimi ruoli non si addicevano alla sua voce. Uno degli esempi è proprio questo ruolo dove comunque la sua voce era FUORI REPERTORIO, oltretutto però in questo teatro l'ha debuttato e ha lasciato la carriera operistica proprio con quest'opera e nello stesso teatro nel 2004. Ci manca davvero tanto!!!

[31122051]

@pavarottithebest : carissimo amico, come sempre condivido tutto quello che hai scritto. E' vero, la voce di Pavarotti era un po' troppo leggerina per " Tosca " ( in generale non era una voce molto pucciniana, eccezion fatta per " Bohème " ), però che bel timbro ! Che solida tecnica ! Che eleganza meravigliosa nel porgere le varie frasi del discorso musicale ! Un grandissimo cantante ! Nel suo repertorio poi era assolutamente sublime ( lo preferisco anche a Kraus ) ! CIAO e stammi bene !!!

[vpags1]

their singing my name!!!

[aroncooker]

I am so sick of people saying Pavarotti wasnt a good actor. People are effing stupid. Just watch his expression and subtlety. THIS IS ART! What we have today is shit. Shit singing, and shit "ACTING". People dont know what acting is. Everyone wants to be spoon fed everything. God what has this world come to. PAVAROTTI= PERFECTION

[mrluistena]

@aroncooker Pavarotti was not perfection at all, he had for a number of year a high quality voice sound and a rare personality but miles aways from perfection at least from a true career opera point of view, in my opinion too of course. If you want me to name you a perfect career in opera, that would be Sutherland, Kraus, Nucci.

[QuiRan82]

I also would like to have that recording! :)

[mlr115]

I love this Tosca and I have been trying to find it for three years.Does anyone know where I can get a dvd or even a vcr of this. Thank you for posting one of the greats in opera ,Pavarotti.I too miss him.

[Jokanaan]

I'm pretty sure the conductor of this broadcast was James Conlon, not Levine.

[stevevandien]

I doubt that Pav, Mac and Verrett rank among the GREATEST interpreters of these roles. But good grief, what would we give to have three such singers performing "Tosca" today? --

[Mooorhe]

I think they are pretty high up in the standings as far as full casts are concerned. Pavarotti and Verrett are very lyrical and beautiful in their singing of the roles. They act in a beautiful, albeit simple way. MacNeil is definitely among the greatest Scarpias ever though, he gave some really bad performances of the role as he sang for years too long, but at his best in the '60s, he was close to unbeatable, in my opinion anyway.

[stevevandien]

Good points, Mooorhe. Still not sure whether Verrett's Tosca was in Callas' class, or Pav's Mario with Bjorling, Gigli, Corelli. ( Verrett SANG Tosca better than Callas at this stage in their respective careeers.) Having seen more examples of MacNeil's Scarpia, I grant that his acting approached Gobbi's. Mac's SINGING was certainly superior. And let me reiterate that we would certainly use welcome this "Tosca" cast today:) --

[leadoffeohippus]

Oh he was the best Scarpia ever.

[bluesfriar]

The "l' alba vindice appar'" had me in tears, Pav is so superb: What a clip!

[31122051]

Tre interpreti a dir poco meravigliosi !

[stevevandien]

I saw this performance live on PBS in 1978. Verrett, Pavarotti and MacNeil were superb. Verrett was the SEXIEST of the (roughly) six Toscas I've heard, seen or both. Not excluding Callas --

[alvarogm86]

Mc Neil, the best actor opera had. Pav's great

[leadoffeohippus]

Sorry, I have to say Gobbi was the best actor.

[TreblesBasses]

FANTASTIC!

[nnmakowska]

Sure, it was great.

I loved particularly the moment when he hurled himself at MacNeil...

[GermanOperaSinger]

It is wonderful, but he really seems to be pushing it...

[Mooorhe]

Pushing it?

[GermanOperaSinger]

Pushing his voice. Watch his face.

[Mooorhe]

I think the facial expressions are for dramatic effect. A good example of him pushing for a note is the 1981 Rigoletto in the Addio duet (on my profile) and the 1979 Sutherland/Pavarotti joint recital also on the Addio duet from Rigoletto (can be found on YT under a video labeled 'Signor ne principe') where he tenses every muscle in his face to try and hit that C# on pitch.

[aroncooker]

@Mooorhe good example, and very true. He's not pushing here.

[fabrizzzio48]

@Mooorhe Just saw the Signo ne principe clip. True he is pretty engage in that C#, but while the face might show a a lot of action, the throat is loose, and column of air, not too powerful but satisfactory.

[TheInquisitive4Ever]

If you call this pushing it then lots of top tenors are growing a hemorrhoid when they reach the top. The way Pava looks seems perfectly normal to me; I agree with Moorhe on this one.

[NEMORINO1976]

¿?

[jenni4claire]

If I were a man I would be in love with Shirley Verret.

[Mooorhe]

...I've no doubt that Luciano enjoyed working with her ;)

[yappity]

I still don't find the acting very convincing, but the voice is incredibly beautiful. That prolonged "Vittooooria" - wow! And he also manages to convey something like Schadenfreude on the lower notes ("me vedrai...").

[Mooorhe]

Interesting, what doesn't convince you about the acting?

[TheInquisitive4Ever]

Acting is done with the voice in opera. The exaggerated gestures and such which were extensively used by the likes of Domingo, Carreras, Villazon etc is to distract the audience from their flawed singing. The voice is everything in opera although relatively recently some idiots in the opera world are trying to shift the emphasis on the so-called acting as the slate of alleged top tenors are quite pedestrian as compared to the GREATS of the past.

[yappity]

Oh, I dunno...

I somewhat agree with you about the exaggerated gestures, and I do expect a singer to sing well, it's their job after all. But if the only acting you do is with the voice, why have a staged performance? I could just as well listen to a CD then.

There's no need to play off acting and singing against each other, they should go together and that IS possible (Simon Keenlyside, anyone?). Opera is musical theatre after all.

But to each their own. :-)

[TheInquisitive4Ever]

The stage is the backdrop/background.

[vinoverita]

oh...much truth in that one paragraph!

[aroncooker]

@TheInquisitive4Ever couldnt have said it better myself! :)

[aroncooker]

@TheInquisitive4Ever its unfortunate, but it will change! Promise you!

[fabrizzzio48]

@TheInquisitive4Ever

Well applied poison is medicine.

[cattleman6420012000]

This is truly wonderful.I miss Pavarotti's wonderful voice.The music is of course one of my favourites. I played in both Opera and Symphony Orchestras for years.Franco Ferraris was the best conducter I ever played under for Italian Opera.