Thomas Hampson - Avant de quitter ces lieux (Faust)

Gala of Young Opera Stars
Frankfurt Opera House, 1986
Conductor: James Levine

Category:

Music

Tags:

• thomas
• hampson
• bartitone
• opera
• avant
• de
• quitter
• ces
• lieux
• faust
• gounod
• french
• valentin
• aria
• cavatina
• gala
• young
• stars
• frankfurt
• james
• levine

[junehilde]

Levine knows every note, every part, every nuance. No wonder singers love him.

And Thomas Hampson is a remarkable baritone: beautiful voice, full of meaning, plus the intelligence to add nuances to his words. He also makes himself available to the public, and is very gracious.

[dimoaar]

why are we discussing Verdi baritones at all?...last time i checked, hampson is singing Avant de Quitter ces lieux, which last time i checked was NOT written by Verdi...

and as on offhand, there are many good Verdi baritones out there, just because you dont see them on the cover of Opera Superstar Monthly doesnt mean they dont exist.

[thamestango]

Classical singing should reflect a singers unique timbre like any other singing. Hampson sounds wonderful in this, and does sing it like a prayer unlike Keenlyside. Some baritones sing it more lightly, but that's a matter of choice. Also some baritones have more of a bass quality, some have a tenor ring to their voice.

[Agorante]

Hampson is good on stage - he's 6'5". He's good on records too - a very sweet voice controlled by real musical intelligence. But on TV or YouTube we have to endure all those grimaces and faces. Ugh!

[CarlosSaenzBaritone]

@htothenan100 its part of the character he's portraying. Its a prayer and he loves his sister and hes getting redy to go off to war!

[eddunz]

@htothenan100 maybe for more brightness behind it, and keeping it forward so it doesn't come off the voice? listen to the line he is producing before and after that [ i ] ... lol you really wanna risk ruining that? lol

[eddunz]

Lol shit he is good lol

[jpg0901]

@frankbaritone It's not as easy as it looks, I'm not gonna lie about that. Once you get the hang of it though it's really an amazing aria. It's in most Baritone aria books and available on Schubertline...my voice teacher had it out when we were working on it and he uses Schubertline for almost everything. I recommend the one from the Baritone aria book though because it has the little bit before it (Dmitri is the only one I can find singing that part on here)...Good Luck :)

[htothenan100]

@LibbySingsMezzo

I also love Mr. Hampson, and really don't mind the faces he makes.....but on the other hand, pause it on 1:10 and tell me if you think that's the necessary face for a simple [ i ] vowel.....he sounds great though!

[ian1856]

@bodiloto e vero

[bodiloto]

Tenore corto.

Da 3:14 grida,non canta il finale.

Poca voce,brutta.

[LibbySingsMezzo]

Mr. Hampson can make faces at me any time he wants, just so long as I get to hear the voice! Valentin sounds like a great fit for his voice.

Great singing requires making your body parts do things not necessarily natural in order to make resonant sound. Look how wide the mouth is open on some notes.  Looks odd, feels weird, but the air can't get out if the opening is too small.