parterre box

51 comments

• eugene says:

  Benjamin, you are not. Her Eva, Elsa, Arabella, Vier letzte lieder are my real favs.

  on October 30, 2008 at 10:51 AM
• rd says:

  Benjamin, count me in for the pro-Janowitz group. I find her Sieglinde, both in the official recording and the broadcast, radiant. Again I agree with the opinion that she was particularly effective in those jugendlich dramatisch roles.

  on October 30, 2008 at 10:53 AM
• Maury D'Annato says:

  Benjamin: I’m with you. Her Capriccio final scene is so very lovely, and her Ariadne. Big fan here.

  on October 30, 2008 at 11:36 AM
• kashania says:

  I wouldn’t call hers one of the most beautiful voices of the 20th century but I’m certainly a fan. Her tight vibrato doesn’t bother me like it does others and I agree that she was a radiant singer.

  on October 30, 2008 at 12:00 PM
• Tom N says:

  Vickers was honored at a gala in Montreal in 2001 and read his remarks in English. I thought it was odd that someone who sang French roles couldn’t speak it, but maybe it was just the beginning of memory issues.

  on October 30, 2008 at 12:31 PM
• Buster says:

  Benjamin – I am another Gundulaflapper, just love her to bits.

  on October 30, 2008 at 1:20 PM
• danpatter says:

  Janowitz was always a favorite of mine, from the first time I heard her recorded Pamina. I never saw her live, sad to say, but I listen to her frequently. I am particularly fond of her video Arabella. Yes, she’s too old and plump for the part, I suppose, but she’s so “into” the role and sings it so beautifully that it doesn’t matter. That is a lip-synched movie, of course, but still my favorite Arabella video. Weikl and the rest of the cast are superb, with Solti at the helm.

  on October 30, 2008 at 2:01 PM
• lorisi says:

  Were you aware that before the ROH Don Carlo that put Vickers on the international map, his roles in Toronto had included Alfredo, the Duke of Mantua and Alfred in Fledermaus? As Anna Russell said, “I’m not making this up!”

  I was lucky enough to see him as Don Jose, Radames, Otello and Siegmund. As someone said earlier, his performances stay with you. For me, the greatest were his Otello with Stratas and Quilico at Expo 67 in Montreal and a concert Walkure Act 1 with Régine Crespin at the opening of the Ottawa Arts Centre. Now, there was a team made in heaven!

  on October 30, 2008 at 3:55 PM
• kashania says:

  I’m so jealous. I would loved to have heard Vickers in person. I’m not a fan of his slow-motion style of acting (though he’s OK in this video clip) but to hear that voice live!! That Otello with Stratas/Quilico sounds heavenly, as does that first act of Walküre with Crespin.

  on October 30, 2008 at 4:23 PM
• jatm2063 says:

  I don’t find it slow. I find it fits what Vickers voice will actually do very well. Certainly the postlude is fabulous as well. I’ll take Karajan over any modern conductor of Wagner any day.

  Vickers sounds very good in this. Can’t stand her though. Fluttery is right.

  on October 30, 2008 at 6:26 PM