u/Bigo-Ted

Great singing. In my opinion, the best Otellos ever along Plácido Domingo, José Cura, Mario del Monaco and Jon Vickers.

In opera, there are many characters who have a modern profession. Many of them are high paying (doctors, lawyers). But the question is which of them are most competent. Who seems like the best practioners of medicine, theology, rule of law, police work, and well, who is the best poet…

1. Which character would you like to hire as your family doctor? There are many: Dulcamara, the doctor in Wozzeck, Doctor Grenvil in La traviata and Doctor Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia.

2. Which priest would you like to have as your parish priest? (Or local rabbi). Some of the characters are Padre Guardiano and Don Alvaro (La forza del destino), Stiffelio, Bonzo in Madama Butterfly, Padre Confessor in Dialogues de Carmelites, Eleazar in La Juive, and the priests in Die Zauberflöte.

3. Which lawyer do you think would represent your interests best? We have Doktor Blind in Die Fledermaus, Un giudice in Un ballo in maschera, or Don Curzio in Le nozze di Figaro?

4. Which police officer would you trust the most with solving an everyday crime? Frank in Die Fledermaus, Baron Vitellio Scarpia, Spoletta or Sciarrone in Tosca, Jack Rance in La fanciulla del West or the police officer in Der Rosenkavalier?

5. Which poet is most useful? Andrea Chénier, Rodolfo in La bohème or Flamand in Capriccio?

I think I would hire Dulcamara (he is probably cheap), use Don Alvaro as family priest (he seem quite nice). Of the attorneys I think Blind at least is trying the most, and I would probably trust Jack Rance. He’s not the smartest but he tries a lot. There are many more characters of those I mention, so if I missed someone pick them.

I just heard Lise Davidsen as Lady Macbeth in Copenhagen. It was a fabolous experience, even though it was a concert performance. Lise Davidsen was completely galvanizing. Exciting; but not crazy and not too cool. She could make good trills, her voice soared out in the ensemble, loud and clear. It’s like always incredible how beautiful her voice is. She was best in the Brindisi. But she nailed the high notes in the sleepwalking scene. WOW. It was amazing. She is really a queen.  She was confident, and looked fabolous as well. How she sang Lady Macbeth like this was wonderful. It sounds like she would be a fabolous Leonora in Trovatore - if she would want. Even though it was a concert performance she had the role more or less the role under her skin and had a great sense of acting as well.

Quinn Kelsey was a bit rough in the beginning, but he could put some good pressure on his voice so his voice grow with the time. His sound is a bit more lyric and tenoral, but even though that, it shows that it’s never wrong to sing heavier repertoire. He was especially good from “O mio terror” and in the final aria. 
Freddie de Tomasso was a nice baritonal tenor à la Giuseppe Giacomini. His voice is a little bit pinched in the top, but his timbre is fine, and he also was allowed some rubati in his big aria which like always, of course is a showstopper.  Alexander Köpeczi as Banquo had an attractive bass-baritone, but was buried in the score most of the time; so neither the duet with Macbeth or his big aria “Studio il passo” was as rewarding as it could be. 

Antonio Pappano conducted Det Kongelige Kapel with great success. The orchestra and chorus is truly excellent. He is incredibly singer-friendly, and he has a great sense of style. He’s the best Verdi conductor ever alongside Muti. The tempi was on the slower side, but he also held the orchestra back when it was adequate and didn’t create a loudness war with the audience. 

Lise Davidsen is the new queen of opera. The problem after a performance of this calibre is that you dream about the roles you want to hear the singers in. A good idea I think would be Il trovatore with Lise Davidsen as Leonora, Freddie de Tomasso as Manrico, Quinn Kelsey as Conte di Luna in Il trovatore conducted by Antonio Pappano. It would be fabolous. Throw in Elina Garanca for good measure. 

If you would have to pick one historical opera singer you like more than anyone else, who would you pick?

I would pick Eleanor Steber. I think she was one of the most exciting sopranos ever. Listen to her Fanciulla with Del Monaco (1954). She had a great feeling, versatilty ability to shape all kinds of music. But especially in Mozart/Strauss perhaps. Unfortunately she was unlucky with Rudolf Bing and others. Despite her success in Europe she didn’t conquer Vienna.

Who is your favorite historical singer?

There’s a lot of great baritones today. I think actually when it comes to baritones that the ”field” is better now than it was 20 years ago. Then it was Juan Pons, Paolo Gavanelli etc. Now we have Quinn Kelsey, Ludovic Tezier, Peter Mattei etc.

But if we should rank baritones, who are the best in your opinion?

Peter Mattei is the best baritone I’ve ever heard. His voice is velvetly, completely in control, and he is so seductive as Don Giovanni. I think the charisma he has is something different. Of course he is cautious in his repertoire choice. He has at various points been announced to sing Verdi roles like Macbeth and Germont in La traviata - he has withdrawn from these projects; and one can just dream of his Rigoletto. But he also showed that he has plenty of heft like Jochanaan in Salome. One can say that he has specialized in Don Giovanni, Conte in Le nozze di Figaro and Eugene Onegin - and are extremely succesful in these roles. 

Quinn Kelsey - one of the best Verdi baritones ever. He is a good Rigoletto for instance. I think he would also be successful in Wagner if he tried.

Thomas Hampson - a wonderful stage personality, but he never had the most beautfiul baritone. Very correct singing, excellent technique. I respect him but he is not my favorite.

Simon Keenlyside - a great baritone, in the shadow of Thomas Hampson. But even more exciting, good high notes, good technique. 

Ludovic Tezier - a great Verdi baritone. Maybe he can bark a little bit, but the timbre is beautiful and he is sometimes excellent. Handsome figure on the stage. 

Christopher Maltman have moved form lyric baritone repertoire into heavier roles. It has been a complete success, and shows that singers should not be afraid to sing heavier repertoire. I think he will be great as Wotan. A wonderful stylist. 

Who’s your pick?

Is the opera world more liberal than conservative?

It seems to me like that very few people with Conservative views are avid opera-goers. Opera is performed in urban areas with a high degree of eduacated population, and where there is fewer people of the conservative ideology. In the music business many of the European directors of the regie-theatre, are of left-wing biases; and premieres at the Met definitively doesn’t feel like operas that attract conservative people.

I don’t know what would attract them, though, but I just feel like very few conservatives seem to like opera. The lack of conservatives possibly makes it more difficult to find donors, like megarich people.

Why aren’t conservatives more interested in opera?

Which of all smaller, comprimario roles in opera do you like the most?

My favorites are: Lucia in Cavalleria Rusticana, Alcindoro in La bohème and Giovanna in Rigoletto. Without them the operas would not be the same.