Comments on: Curious? George.

By: CruzSF

CruzSF — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:09:12 +0000

25: LOL.

By: browser

browser — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:47:29 +0000

And for those talking about bass-baritones singing Scarpia…the problem is that it goes up very quickly, and down very quickly!

By: browser

browser — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:44:46 +0000

Maltman? Are you SURE?!

No Italianate baritones don’t have to be from Italy (hence the term ItalianATE); but to suggest that Maltman could even exist in the same league as Zancanaro or Bastianini…

By: Clita del Toro

Clita del Toro — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:22:51 +0000

Monty: YES, London was a wonderful Scarpia–with Callas, 1956 at the Met!

By: Graciella Scusi

Graciella Scusi — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:52:33 +0000

As non Italian Scarpias go, Bacquier was one of my favorites. Not a glam voice, but a suberb singing actor who could be rough and elegant at the same time, and even in his late prime had plenty of volume for the Met.

By: Krunoslav

Krunoslav — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:36:05 +0000

22 Maltman as Scarpia?????? Is this the Vicar posting under a new name?

Perhaps with Rebecca Bottone and Ed Lyon as Tosca and Cavaradossi, staged with string quartet in Wigmore Hall.

By: Cassandra

Cassandra — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:27:50 +0000

George has a smallish sound which he uses well. He was okay with the Philharmonic. He’s not particularly good on stage, so the match up with Mattila will be… interesting.

By: MontyNostry

MontyNostry — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:26:17 +0000

Clita: Now, Warren is **much** more to my taste as a voice! Sometimes it ‘yawns’ a bit (Milnes, maybe a bit of a Warren imitator did that too), but I find that big, warm sound very moving. And I think George London must have been glorious live. (I know he’s more bass-baritone than pure baritone, but we are talking Scarpias, so I thought I’d drop him in.)

By: devon.c.estes

devon.c.estes — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:15:49 +0000

browser,

Not all Italianate baritones have to be from Italy…

I heard Terfel sing the Te Deum at last year’s Tucker Gala and it was all ring. Now, he clearly didn’t want to be there that day, but he still sounded as meanicing as Gobbi ever did.

Also, Christopher Maltman (this year’s Pappageno and last year’s Silvio at the Met) is another masky, dark, aggressive baritone that can put some evil behind his sound and be great in this role eventually, as he was great as Tarquinius.

Also, I forget his name, but whoever covered Alfio last year at the Met had a great Italianate sound. He was also the Tonio in the Pag, and was very creepy.

Lastly, Furlanetto is a bass, but he could have sung Scarpia when he was younger, and when I saw him in Ernani was by far the biggest voice on stage (with Hampson, Radvanovsky, and Giordani).

By: Clita del Toro

Clita del Toro — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:31:37 +0000

Monty Nostry:

Gobbi was a wonderful actor, but a better musician and singer. And I happen to LOVE the sound of his (dry) voice and especially how he uses it. For me he was the greatest Jago, Falstaff and Scarpia–saw them all in person.
This “only a great actor” thing (charge) is similar to what I used to hear about Callas–as if acting was their only asset.

It’s fine that you don’t like or “get” Gobbi. Can’t love everyone.

P.S. I was also a big Warren fan (not so much on recordings)–the two greatest baritones (Italian repertoire) I have ever seen. And Taddei was great too!

By: Clita del Toro

Clita del Toro — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:31:21 +0000

Monty Nostry:

It’s fine that you don’t like or “get” Gobbi. Can’t love everyone.

P.S. I was also a big Warren fan (not so much on recordings)–the two greatest baritones (Italian repertoire) I have ever seen. And Taddie was great too!

By: MontyNostry

MontyNostry — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:12:53 +0000

browser … It must also amaze you, then, that people think that Hvorostovsky, with his voce sempre soffocata, can pass in a role like Luna. I saw him as Germont last year and he had about three notes with any ring. The rest were all stuck somewhere in his tonsils .

By: MontyNostry

MontyNostry — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:01:35 +0000

Vicar, is Mrs Coleman-Wright Cheryl Barker, stalwart of Chandos’s Opera in English series? Sopranos singing poor English translations of other languages tend to sound like they are about to spank someone. She certainly does.

By: browser

browser — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:58:14 +0000

But all of this comes down to that fact that there are pretty much NO real italianate baritones singing at the moment – and that’s what you need for Scarpia (and that’s what Gobbi had) – BLADE. Gobbi’s SPEAKING voice could be heard across a room without him putting any weight behind it… The same for Zancanaro…

There is no-one to compare at the moment…

By: browser

browser — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:50:24 +0000

Gobbi’s voice wasn’t particularly big….

By: arepo

arepo — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:41:15 +0000

All in all, I really enjoyed his Scarpia. Yes he has some pronunciation problems but that is nit-picking when he projects the character that well.

What really annoyed the hell out of me was the disgustingly slow pace of the orchestra–almost like wanting to upstage the singer. It lost all the dynamic flow.

By: Claudia4Ever

Claudia4Ever — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:29:56 +0000

browser: just by posting a clip of a great performance doesn’t mean i think only that 1 person can sing the role. the question i was offering a reply to was whether or not i think his voice is going to be big enough for the enormous Met house. gobbi’s was. and of course others’ as well. perhaps when you wrote “people think” you were referring to others?

By: The Vicar of John Wakefield

The Vicar of John Wakefield — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:15:39 +0000

Commonwealth Artist Peter Coleman-Wright and his better half should be brought in at once. Georgians and Finns– the very idea…

By: MontyNostry

MontyNostry — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:51:41 +0000

Here’s a confession — I find Gobbi almost impossible to listen to. That strait-jacketed timbre and those short top notes … He might have been a great actor, but I’d much rather have Taddei, for instance.

By: browser

browser — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:12:41 +0000

Sad when people think only one person can sing a role. Yes, Gobbi was a great Scarpia; but what wbout Guelfi or Stabile. Callas was a great Tosca; but what about Tebaldi and Kabaivanska.

By: Claudia4Ever

Claudia4Ever — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 07:22:47 +0000

no, it isn’t. but his was

By: jatm2063

jatm2063 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 05:14:23 +0000

His voice in this clip seems closely miked for some reason, but can’t tell for sure. But he certainly has the Scarpia type of sound. Those of you who have heard him live, is his voice big enough for it in the Met?

By: Claudia4Ever

Claudia4Ever — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:51:20 +0000

oops sorry. note to self: bring iPod with callas/gobbi stellar performance & nude colored headphones for discretion and not to detract from my dress

By: Claudia4Ever

Claudia4Ever — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:50:01 +0000

By: Claudia4Ever

Claudia4Ever — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:48:21 +0000

yikes. maybe folks will be too sensory overloaded from the red carpet scene & all the perfumes/colognes/aftershave. you would THINK the met, of all places, would… well… ya know. wonder what jimmy is thinking

By: louannd

louannd — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:17:35 +0000

Love his Nabucco more than the dutchman; traviata wasn’t bad either. Hope it’s better than this clip.

By: Quanto Painy Fakor

Quanto Painy Fakor — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:49:58 +0000

Maybe Nico Castel can offer Sig. Gagnidze some much needed help with his Italian: ['Skarpje] [Vaw Toska] [spaSImo]; hardly world class, but all are wished great success for the opening. Hopefully Gagnidze won’t do the Mark Lamos masturbation moves during the Te Deum just because he’s in New York.

By: brooklynpunk

brooklynpunk — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:44:44 +0000

For what it’s worth, Tony T. commented, in his review (NYTimes) of the NY Philharmonic’s Concert version of “Tosca”, last year…”The Georgian baritone George Gagnidze was an exceptionally menacing Scarpia, singing with robust, earthy power and seductive lyricism when the villain turns on the charm.”

By: SilvestriWoman

SilvestriWoman — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:37:40 +0000

Agree, not bad… Georgian, so Gelb surely got him cheap…
http://www.gagnidze.com/index.php?ID_Modul=1&language=en

By: brooklynpunk

brooklynpunk — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:32:53 +0000

not TOO bad..and he was a hell of a lot better sounding then that orchestra/and/or its Conductor, whoever they might be…

Was this live, or or studio recording?