happy birthday, jon vickers!
The legendary dramatic tenor is 82 years old today.
Joining Vickers for this 1967 clip from Die Walküre is Gundula “They tried to make me go to rehab” Janowitz.
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Gawd, who is the conductor? This is so slllooooooow that there’s no sense of ecstasy or passion possible…
Vickers sings pretty, though. And Janowitz, well, let’s just say she’s no Amy Winehouse.
Happy birthday to a Legend. Maestro Vickers’ Samson and Peter Grimes will stand for generations to come- among other roles.
Wonderful clip – great executioner material there as well! Happy Birthday sir.
Isn’t the conductor Herbert Von Karajan?
saw Vickers in Tristan with Roberta Knie in Chicago in 79, still the finest Tristan I have ever seen though I loved Janice Baird’s Isolde last season. Also saw him in Pagliacci in London in the same year with Stratas and Glossop with a Cav with Cossotto, Mauro and a young Juan Pons. (Those were the days my friend) and his Otello with Scotto of course,He put his stamp on whatever role he did. and while he wasn’t a nice man to deal with and a real homophobe, (Britten hated his Peter Grimes) he had that rare demented quality that makes a star singer. You can quibble about his vocal technique and his crooning, etc. It really isn’t a voice for recordings, but in the house he was phenomenal. at the end of Pagliacci he picked up Stratas’s “dead” body and carried it off the stage- It was also the first time I saw Stratas live and knew I was in love at the way she cleaned her toenails on stage. These were stars and real actors.
Yeah, that’s Herbie the Love Bug at the podium. So of course the tempi are wehwalt … but God, what a voice!
Happy Birthday Maestro!
I’ve just been listening to a 1957 Walkuere from Covent Garden. The Sieglinde is Sylvia Fisher, a soprano who has completely eluded me until now. Does anyone know anything about her?
Is it true that Vickers has Alzheimer’s?
Vickers. God. You never knew quite WHAT you were going to get on a given night — but the one thing you did get every time was a performance that would remain crystal clear in your memory twenty, thirty, or forty years later. He was an artist to the tips of his fingers.