Jon Vickers - Every Valley

Jon Vickers singing this air for tenor from Handel's Messiah.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Jon
• Vickers
• Handel
• Messiah
• Opera
• Oratorio

[crabbe88]

Come on now, this is exquisite--powerful, musical, beautiful, inhuman runs for such a massive voice. I have never heard the like of it and likely never will again.

[mxl2003]

That's what blew me away when I first heard this recording...how such a massive heldentenor voice could navigate such treacherous runs...it's mind-boggling.

[Agorante]

I always pity those people for whom one version of an aria is the "best". There are far more singers than there are really good arias. If there were only one singer for each aria then very soon you would run out of things to listen to.

I first loved the Simoneau version. Although they are both Canadian, Vickers and Simoneau could hardly be more different. Both were exceptional.

I sang in the chorus once bhind Charles Bressler - a Handel/Baroque specialist. He was good too.

[mxl2003]

"I always pity those people for whom one version of an aria is the "best"."---I can't agree more with this statement. There are so many great performances that it's near impossible to call one the defined best.

Note that there will always be renditions we *like* the best, but this is purely opinion, and should be treated as such.

[billyguns2]

My favorite recording of this music. The chirping, additional orchestration tells me it must be the Beecham stereo set of MESSIAH.

[mxl2003]

You are right, it is indeed from the Beecham set.

[eeli1]

Any fool that would say that Handel would have objected to such a voice as his is just that, a fool. Every note is carefully placed, in tune and executed with both power and musicality. That's Vickers for you. The master. :D

[ChrisStockslager]

@deeefie Like Joan Sutherland!

[deeefie]

Totally agree! handel souns so much better when it's sung by bigger voices

[NoMoosic1]

SO glad this is shared on YouTube. An awesome rendition.

[Operaandchant90]

thankyou, mr vickers, for taking this aria out of the realm of the tiny tenor.

[jhb134]

Great work by the young Vickers, w/Sir Thomas Beecham. .. Compare this with the remarkable recording of Aksel Schiotz.

[melopedia]

¡Admirable, Jon Vickers!!!. Descanse en Paz.-

[aaronsande]

@chrisibzu Glad you liked it...I'm surprised I knew that much so long ago, looking back now! LOL

[chrisibzu]

@aaronsande Great anwswer, greetings!

[MisterSenseless]

I never cared for Wagner until I heard Vicker's interpretation of Tristan, but hearing him sing Handel is refreshing. Its living proof that that Handel is fully present in Wagner and Wagner also present in Handel, as they are both part of a living, breathing, continuous tradition of performance.