Cornell MacNeil - Di Provenza il mar + Cabaletta

[@rdberg1957]

I heard him sing "Si puo" when I saw Pagliacci in Minneapolis in 1969. The Met touring company came to town. I was twelve. It was his singing that started my interest in opera. His voice was so rich; it filled Northrop Auditorium, a cavern which seated 4000 people at the time. The next year my father brought me to the Met to hear Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne in Norma.

[@larrywoods6318]

Truly one of the greatest baritone's ever. He had top notes most baritone's only dreamed of. A true american treasure in my book...........

[@MrJohnnystott]

MacNeil was a giant among 20th century opera singers. I saw him as Rigoletto and Scarpia with the Met, and he was the greatest.

[@arnoldamaral7406]

John Stott His Rigoletto in 77 with Cortrubas👑 is a classic. I have it on DVD. Domingo as well sings the Duke like a true tenor. Arnold Bourbon Amaral

[@timothychisholm2674]

Arnold Amaral i ok

[@valeriomessersi1016]

Che ELEGANZA nel canto e nel portamento !!!! Bravooooo !!!!!

[@rationalsceptic7634]

One of the greatest Baritones ever

[@amadyktiv]

CORNEL IS AMAZING AND PHENOMENAL!!!!

[@rosemaryallen2128]

I've always thought this scene ended rather abruptly! With the restored cabaletta, it makes much better dramatic sense. Which is what most opera directors lack, evidently.

[@Giannis81S]

Amazing singing position by MacNeil, it helped me a lot!!

[@PBXVIILY]

Beautiful MacNeil, so musical!

[@dvdgrog]

How beautiful!

[@radames5855]

MacNeil fenomeno!!!

[@amadyktiv]

Voce Stupenda!!! Meraviglioso!!!! Bellissimo!!!!

[@holborne235]

I saw this production at the Met when I was a teenager, with Ileana Cortrubas as Violetta. It was one of the first operas I’d ever seen and I’ve never forgotten it. Thanks for posting this.

[@arnoldamaral7406]

Laura Hogan We loved Cortrubas, Such a beautiful lyric voice. She was my favorite Traviata. When she sang @ the Met in 81.She later said that she was not in good voice & was not happy with her performance. We could tell as well. She always had high artistic standards & she was starting to decline vocally. In the 70,s She was considered the best Traviata by many.🌹🌎🌍🌏 Her recording is absolutely STELLAR👑 & I would highly recommend it. I have it in Vinyl & CD. Her Rigoletto @ the Met 1977 is also great & available on DVD. Arnold Bourbon Amaral

[@ixopo6715]

I saw Franco Zeffirelli’s film production of La Traviata with my Father when I was 22, and then we went back to see it again the following evening. I had always loved opera because of being introduced to it by Dad at a very young age, but that visit to the cinema made a lasting impression. The cast included Teresa Stratas, Placido Domingo and Cornell MacNeil.

[@kennethwayne6857]

@@ixopo6715 I had been exposed to some opera before, but I consider this film to be my true introduction. Ruined me for life. I first saw it when it was shown in a college course in late '85. Later I finally got to see it on a theater screen and then in 1989 onstage at the Met. Zeffirelli's first Met production was an almost exact replica of his film and it was an absolute thrill to see it unfold live.

[@willrobinson1229]

Very beautiful singing even late in his career. Nice.

[@photo161]

Not really the beautiful lyrical cantabile line that this aria, wherein a man recalls with deep affection the beauties of his beloved homeland, requires. For a far more deeply affecting and dramatically fulfilling truly Verdian performance turn to the several available here by Robert Merrill and especially Lenord Warren...

[@CesarFrigerio]

Me parece la actuación y canto de macneil fantástico.

[@Jacob-ry3lu]

And now Domingo is singing Germont...so funny

[@musiquesansfrontieres4519]

such a pitty !!

[@artistsf1]

and destroying all good memories of him in the process.

[@道-p2e]

Met is getting more politically correct...

[@berdiddyberdisberbaboint2763]

Yes.and youve done neither.

[@barbarasoprano5269]

You know Domingo began his career as a baritone...He was a part of the Israeli Opera’s-I guess the equivalent was young artist program...He met his future wife Marta there who was singing as a leading lady at the time...and apparently she was instrumental in helping him change to singing tenor.

[@radames5855]

Un baritono che ormai, si sono perse le traccia!!!

[@道-p2e]

Love his the best. Bravo!

[@65attila]

What a great baritone.

[@AreteSr]

What a treat to hear this! I grew up hearing recordings of opera and concerts featuring MacNeil, but never before heard this delicious cabaletta. Thanks.

[@luisnorbertogomez7058]

Una de las voces más impresionantes de baritono que escuche en vivo

[@francobianco2401]

Ottimo Baritono Fraseggi è Grante Qualita vera lirica e Ottimo Padre

[@baoanhnguyen9186]

Domingo sounds so squeezed. Macneil, as usual, is brilliant.

[@keithericbrinkley1428]

stunning.

[@herrbrucvald6376]

The scene makes more sense w/ the cabaletta, the timing, the 'beats' leading to Alfredo's running out. Alas, there's nothing like this at the MET now anymore. This is real vocal glamour. I like the way producers/conductors feel free to liberally cut Italian opera scores so frequently---usually because someone can't sing something!

[@kennethwayne6857]

Placido sang his very first opera performance with Cornell MacNeil. In the 1959 Rigoletto in which Domingo sang Borsa, MacNeil played the title role.

[@andreamoriondo576]

Da brivido...❤️😍

[@ey8767]

After I heard Domingo as Germont I am now so happy that he was Alfredo!

[@michaeldale3096]

Ah. A true baritone. There are some generous comments here and one at least as far as I have read ungenerous one complete with a rather bizarre analysis of his technique from the point of view of a technique much in favour some decades ago in Germany but not used in Italy. You know, no one wants to sing badly do they. As one hears from the applause this singer brought great pleasure to hundreds of people that night. He possibly lifted their spirits and even MOVED a few. THAT, by which I mean moving the listener, is the highest achievement of any singer. That is the singer’s REAL job, not to belt out high notes (although this world abounds with high note fanciers) nor to show off a bigger range than anyone else. No, the singer’s real job is to move his listener to a place, perhaps, harder to reach in the hum drum hurly burly of our daily lives. If the music is appropriate a well used voice in the hands of an honest singer can bring us closer to God.This level of singing defies analysis nor does it invite it. It simply stands alone, the testament to this ephemeral art lies in the heart and soul of the listener at the live occasion. Recordings, no matter how fancy or technically advanced, cannot capture this.Only the live performance. Here we can only glimpse a shred of what this did on that night way back. This is very fine singing, live, honest singing, an unfettered flow from the heart. Frankly, the odd note not meeting a particular listener’s taste doesn’t matter. Who has not been stirred by bird song, or had a new puppy gaze at one with that melting expression in the eye that puppies do so well. Would the experience be improved by analysing the structure of the iris, or dissecting a bird to see how it sings. I think not. I believe this urge to dismember someone’s art is destructive and I suspect it springs from the increasing dominance of the left hemisphere of the brain in our modern Western lives. It is in the right hemisphere that art, spirituality, love and joy are found. It is the singers job to take us from one side of the brain to the other. If even one listener achieves that then the true job is done. I doubt the baritone here was attempting to show perfect technique with flawlessly balanced registration (yes, I can quote modish jargon too). No, his job was to tell the story as honestly as he is able and move his listener. I for one, found he achieved this. So sorry everyone to bellyache on but as a singer myself I have become so fed up with the geniuses who dissect every note of every singers’ work, usually to find them wanting. This straw broke the camel’s back. I note these people never attach a link to their own technically perfect performances of the work in question to demonstrate how it ought to be done. No, they sit at a desk and carp-online. If a management and an audience want to hear a singer whom some consider past their prime that surely is up to them. I’ve heard audiences scream at the entrance of a fine singer, and cheer for the solitary ho-jo-to-ho of a leading Wagnerian brought out of retirement to join in a celebration of music. Remember, if a singer moves even one person, his duty is fulfilled and his appearance justified. Now, PLEASE, if you disagree with me and think everyone should be able to express negative opinions, you’re absolutely correct, which is why I didn’t reply directly to the negative comment. EQUALLY I have the right to my opinion, so if you disagree please keep it to yourself or post a fresh comment. Of course, if you are moved to agree I’d appreciate knowing that.

[@brandonburrell8517]

Marvelous comment brother.

[@UMVELINQANGI]

Well said, sir. You are exactly right, and your comment is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[@noemigonzalezm.2365]

Thank you very much for your comment! I really appreciate it! Best regards.

[@PamelaJean2013]

This is a rant that needs to be heard. Indeed, well said. Generosity is under-rated. Let's try to find the good first. The way I grew up as a classical musician I thought criticism was the only intelligent reaction....and I came to envy people who could simply listen and enjoy. I wanted to learn to do that, too.

[@PBXVIILY]

Bravissimo to you. My Dad was a huge MacNeil fan saw him in 1954 at the City Center, I saw him in the 1980s as a teenager, My greatest experience at the Met. MacNeil had a huge voice and great interpretive power, very talented he moved all of us that night. My favorite Baritone. I saw him I. Pagliacci he was amazzzzzing! The Big MAC was the best!

[@BrianJosephMorgan]

Bravo!

[@melissaschroeter161]

Lovely.

[@lindagranitto7340]

I’m loving this so much ❣️🎶🌹💐🥰

[@antoniopedrolisboadesouza5183]

Top

[@arnoldamaral7406]

Antonio Pedro Lisboa de Souza McNeils top voice was incredible my friend. Obrigado from USA . I'm only 1/8 Portuguese & I have embraced my Portuguese heritage. My Great Gandfater was Portuguese. My grandfather Mateo deeply loved him because he was such a good father & friend. He came to America🇺🇸 in 1820 @ the age of 17.He married a beautiful Mayan Indian lady @ the age of 19.Unfortunetly she died giving birth to twins @ the age of 17.😪 my grandfather s twin sister died as well.My great grandfather never remarried & died of a broken💔 when he was 45.My grandfather Mateo was 25 @ the time.He met my Grandmother Adele Bourbon when he was 26.They had 10 children in a large Farm in Arizona. All my 6 Amaral Aunts were very beautiful due to their Heritage, Portuguese, French, Mayan. My dear Father Daniel was a very good Father & Husband. My Great Grand Parents on my mother's side were Spanish, British & Russian. So you see my friend that's what an American is mutil nationalities. My wife of 46 years is 12 European nationalities. So you can imagine what our dear daughter Danielle looked like. Our friends would say when she was 16 Danielle looks like a very beautiful Audrey Hepburn & Maria Callas with Auburn hair & skin like porcelain. Danielle spoke 3 languages. Russian, English, Spanish. Thank you for listening Antonio. Who are your favorite Opera Singers? I really love Fado & Mariza, Dulce Pontes, Carminho. Sincerely Arnold Burton Bourbon Amaral Choa 🌍🌏🌎

[@andrzejzborowski4920]

I love this cabaletta :)

[@uppityglivestockian]

That was a real treat, to hear the cabaletta. I was so glad Zeffirelli cast him in the film. Three of my favorite singing actors in one art work, forever preserved for posterity on film. If you have the rest of this on VHS, please upload it so the decay of a/v can be arrested before it's too late. Thanks for sharing.

[@arnoldamaral7406]

UppityG Livestockian I had it on VHS now it's gone. So please post the rest. This is the only complete recording of Cortrubas Traviata. Not available on DVD by the MET 😬🤐 Arnold Bourbon Amaral

[@genaraestercabreragarrido1498]

Dónde encontrar la ópera completa. Plácido Domingo interpretando a Alfredo. Está muy joven y delgado.

[@charleswebb8230]

MacNeil was a much underrated Baritone. He seems to be a rara avis these days. Henry Webb

[@1947Rollo]

Si,può essere;sottovalutato però da chi applaude baritoni come Nucci o peggio come Domingo,non da chi apprezza la vera voce baritonale di vecchia scuola.

[@holborne235]

Agree that he was and is criminally underrated.

[@antoniopedrolisboadesouza5183]

-.-

[@Tkimba2]

Underrated? He had a great career...

[@labienus9968]

@@Tkimba2 Agree-what are they talking about?

[@petercates6706]

NICE

[@joserobertocursod1341]

Línea d canto perfectac Neil barítono verdiano extraocon el ,,,1964rdinario yo cante en el colon

[@00820082]

Niles and Mr. Sheffield ? Is the the Nanny playing Violetta?

[@arnoldamaral7406]

00820082 😂😂😂 Arnold Bourbon Amaral

[@francobianco2401]

Bravo Baritno voto Ottimo

[@pietervanderwesthuizen5484]

There's just something about MacNeil that made him the perfect baddy baritone - there was something dead within his tone that made this possible; yes, great voice, great musicality, great sonority, a huge sound. But dead, without humanity. That said, I'm still to hear anyone sing "Nulla Silenzio' from Il Tabarro better.

[@ronaldgoff7499]

lets not forget warren he drowned out del manaco in si piel ciel his high a great died so young

[@PGF2010]

Why not tell us where and when this was recorded, and under which conductor? Despite LH’s below assertion that she saw the production at the Met, the brief glimpse of the falling curtain tells me it is at San Francisco, so possibly a shared staging with that house. The great McNeil, who I saw several times on both sides of the Atlantic, makes it all sound and look so easy, even at this clearly late stage in his career. What a shame he only allows us one verse of the Cabaletta! A treasurable document nonetheless

[@BrianJosephMorgan]

This performance was from the Metropolitan Opera, March 28, 1981, conducted by James Levine and directed by Colin Graham.

[@arnoldamaral7406]

Brian Morgan That's right, I bought my first VCR just for this Opera $800.00 LOL. I HAVE SO MANY OPERAS ON VHS IN MY LIBRARY IT'S (⊙_◎). OH WELL THE BEAT GOES ON. Arnold Bourbon Amaral

[@photo161]

This is the first performance by MacNeil that I have heard where the effects of aging on the voice are so obvious. Only a very few years earlier and the voice seemed imperishable. Nevertheless, even here he is unquestionably an outstanding Germont.

[@rogerpropes7129]

The cabaletta is indeed rare--why is that? Unfortunately this role is usually given to older baritones correct for the story but past their vocal prime, as is the case here also.

[@ikmarchini]

Even Verdi didn't like the cabaletta form as he considered it a relic which slows down the forward action of an opera. In a few years when he was king he stopped writing them In 1853 he was not powerful enough to counter convention. He thought the cabaletta a relic from older days and not good for the drama. The tenor cabaletta is usually cut in Traviata as well. I think it odd that as we get farther from an age when singers had the tech inique for a cabaletta the younger singers want to open the cuts to prove they don't. Verdi was a great genius because he had the courage and sense to cut his own work, he never expanded, vis;, Don Carlos. "The food in this hotel is terrible" - "Yes, and such small portions." Agreed about "past...prime".

[@jimmychoo1857]

How can anyone cut such a great caballetta, that was written by a GREAT Verdi? It is 1 000 000 000 better than 99% of 20th century operas!

[@arnoldamaral7406]

Александр Ко Don't start with the MISERABLE MET my friend & thier mediocrity etc.Actually it's a world wide problem. Arnold Bourbon Amaral

[@kyleaustin7045]

Later on, Macneil would sing open higher and higher, specifically the passagio. Which causes his decline. An old Macneil is still BETTER than those we have now

[@TrueConnoisseur]

He was fine until he sang the Gb4 (at 4:14) wide open - that's certainly the step too far (literally and figuratively). Keeping Eb4 (and occasionally E4) open is what gave his top such power and ring, but for sure a Dramatic baritone such as Big Mac should've been turning at F4.

[@arnoldamaral7406]

Elliot Matheny He was really too old. But a Met favourite. I preferred Robert Merrill for an American Baritone.

[@thomaslehmanbaritone]

@@TrueConnoisseur Lol you are 100 percent right but that's not his downfall. Age was. Don't be rude.

[@pablodemarcos5379]

Which year ?

[@asterflamm]

Impressionante come MacNeil riesca a piegare il suo organo vocale possente per fare le mezze voci. Riesce a rendere piacevole addirittura quella orrenda cabaleta di Germont

[@jackbigbug]

beh orrenda non direi ...se ben cantata e interpretata non è così male...lui ci riesce a metà ...sicuramente la sua voce è più adatta all'aria che la precede

[@caseyfranco3959]

my thumbs up is for Macneil and NOT domingo

[@arnoldamaral7406]

Casey Franco Never liked Domingo. Unfortunately whenever I wanted to buy an Opera it was always him or Pav. as the tenor. I much preferred Carerras for that period. Scotto was another one whose top voice was awful. I loved Caballe, Price,& Cortrubas etc. Arnold Bourbon Amaral

[@caseyfranco3959]

@@arnoldamaral7406 oh my so true! Many a Great recording downgraded for the same reason. I L O V E Caballe and her partner was Carerras in a few but was always disappointed when she was paired with domingo.

[@道-p2e]

@@arnoldamaral7406 because "PEOPLE" buy his stuff so much, he appeared in almost every opera film, I love Jose C, but not after 90's, he used to be pure lyric voice similar to GDS(stephano).

[@darklord220]

Wide open high notes...

[@matOpera]

darklord220 He’d started singing F open a lot by this point.

[@rrgallo967]

Where was this?

[@channelbelcanto]

Доминго начинал свою карьеру как баритон, потом перешел в тенора.

[@jesusmunoz2400]

Cornell magnífico, Domingo totalmente fuera de estilo. Vociferante y verista.

[@ronaldgoff7499]

great singer loudest iv ever heard tucker merrill hines very loud live shame his style changed got wobble in voice

[@arnoldamaral7406]

RONALD GOFF Yes he did but in his prime he was excellent my friend.

[@ER1CwC]

Macneil must have hated his life when he was compelled to sing the cabaletta. This is a direct quote from an interview with Bruce Duffie: BD: Is it note-complete? I always miss Germont’s Cabaletta. They never do it in the theater. Did you sing that for the film? CMacN: No, we did not sing that, but I’ve done it in the theater. It’s a God-awful drag, and that causes the whole end of the act to fall right on its ass. It is terrible, dreadful, unbelievable what it does to the audience response. BD: Oh I disagree. Of course, you’re talking about what it does to the audience response, but the only times I’ve listened to it I think is makes much more cohesion for the end of that act. Otherwise Alfredo goes up too much like a fire cracker. CMacN: That’s what he is! BD: I know but he should have a little longer fuse with his father. CMacN: How many children have you got? BD: None yet. CMacN: I have five! [Both laugh] Your fuse is going to shorten with each one.

[@Tkimba2]

Nasale Domingo..

[@mikeziemann]

Come sempre...

[@arnoldamaral7406]

Tomba 2 He had no High C & his voice was very mediocre. Sad how his legacy will end. And James Levine as well. Arnold Bourbon Amaral

[@terrycloth6380]

I can’t believe Domingo has the sheer ego to sing baritone.

[@operalover3966]

Domingo is a joke

[@道-p2e]

Marketing tool, but he loves the stage that much, really should just appear as special guest or recital, not full formal opera, misleading to new opera goers...

[@jangdoong]

Regal