Samuel Ramey in complete scene of Susannah FLOYD.1994

[@ariabeert9483]

we're doing this opera at my university and Sam Ramey joined the cast as one of the elders. he's awesome. and super nice it's an honor to work with him

[@Arashi110]

He's absolutely, mind-blowingly great as Blitch in the full recording of the opera. Can't even imagine a better performance of this role.

[@philinevanlidthdejeude2801]

Jeffrey Wells. Heard him do this at CT Opera. Close 2nd to Sam.

[@washingtonisaacholmes2093]

Arashi110 ah, watch Norman Treigle. Then...

[@charlescoleman5509]

Love Norman Triegle who created the role, but Ramey is just astounding.

[@aneamarlivana172]

Flawlessly sung. Gorgeous voice and excellent technique and interpretation. And let this be a lesson to other opera singers who are native English speakers and who can't be understood when they sing in English. You can understand every word Ramey sings and says here.

[@danpendley1]

Those last few lines of dialogue send cold chills down my spine. Absolutely magnificent performance.

[@scottjohnson9873]

Glorious performance as no other could present, but Samuel Ramey. I loved listening to this recording. He is secure and fully in command of the dramatic impact of Susanna.

[@wolfgang7319]

Lord, I miss Live from Lincoln Center and hearing such glorious singing. The PBS of yesteryear is something that many like me must certainly mourn. The revival scene from Susannah is arguably the most visceral scene in American opera and when Blitch is sung/acted with this level of commitment, there's just no denying it. Ramey was a force of nature

[@rojp08]

Absolutely peerless! What a great rendition!

[@stevehinnenkamp5625]

His commitment is electric. He is master of the role. I forgot he was wearing formal clothing, forgot he was at concert. Just was transfixed by the character Sam Ramey portrayed. Magn

[@NYCOPERAFAN]

Spectacular. What an incredible artist - one of the finest North America has ever produced.

[@wbondar]

Wishing Sam a very Happy Birthday today! This is Awesome, what a great singer! Bravo Sam!

[@Dan6erous]

Samuel Ramey = bad-ass! awesome!

[@classicaldame4372]

Samuel Ramey IS a bad-ass....WOW😲😲!!

[@justinleemiller]

This music is incredibly difficult to sing. I’m speechless. Never heard this concert before

[@ilovetorre2]

Mamma mia e che fenomeno Ramey.

[@tonshaad1230]

This dude is singing Baritone arias with so much ease. Man, bass baritones need to step it up!

[@aneamarlivana172]

Samuel Ramey is a bass. What probably threw you off is the fact that he's a basso cantante, rather than the profundo type of bass that you likely are used to hearing. Ramey also has an extremely wide range voice for a bass. In addition, his voice is very flexible and agile, which is unusual for a bass, and gave him the opportunity to sing many of Rossini's coloratura bass roles. You might want to listen to him singing the role of Mustafa in "L'Italiana in Algeri", Selim in "Il Turco in Italia", and Assur in "Semiramide".

[@PeterBarber]

He can, but Olin Blitch is a bass role. Perhaps considered bass-baritone at the highest, but not baritone.

[@BaritoneDeLaTorre]

Blitch is NOT a baritone role, it's written for bass. Bass-baritone at the highest.

[@tonshaad1230]

@@BaritoneDeLaTorre considering it was written for Norman Triegle, a lyric Bass-Baritone, it makes sense that someone would assume as that person did.

[@pinkaminadianepie4735]

Fuck that’s dope

[@SilfredoSerrano]

That poor soprano had to pull that note out of somewhere....

[@herminestover]

all that voice and WHAT A HOTTIE!

[@thecatspajamas8918]

I dislike this opera, but have performed it with Ramey as Blitch. He’s amazing.

[@pagliacci83]

It is absolutely not supposed to be a scream...Susannah is supposed to sing the word "No!" twice on a Cb. This woman just screams...that was the point of my post.

[@andrewmargrave7518]

I hear Ramey as a Heldenbariton rather than a bass. Some would agree with me, some would not. We can agree to disagree on whether Ramey is a baritone or a bass. But his singing of this scene is quite fine. He gets both ends of the scale with real aplomb, and brings out the sleazy, creepy, smarmy Gantryism of the Reverend Olin Blitch.

[@PeterBarber]

Ramey is not a Heldenbaritone, or any kind of baritone. He did not sing ever that repertoire, and sang all the bass repertoire extremely well. He is a bass, a lyric bass.

[@tamolyn5141]

I agree with Peter Barber. Ramey is a bass. You could call him either a lyric bass or a basso cantante. Some people think basses all have to have the basso profundo sound, but that's not true. The lyric bass or basso cantante is as much a bass as the profundo. They just have a different sound. A profundo, however, would never have Ramey's flexibility and agility.

[@KrzysztofRatajskimusic]

@@tamolyn5141 also Ramey has an easy C2...FOR example in "Ecco il mondo" of a bassy quality, which even basses loose sometimes singing. he is just very versatile

[@aneamarlivana172]

I hear him as a true bass with a very extended upper register.

[@FranciscoFerrerGaliana1930]

EXQUISITO

[@pagliacci83]

Um....what on EARTH is happening at 11:21????? LOL!

[@harpguy18]

pagliacci83 it's meant to be Susannah, as she walks up to Blitch she sees the evil in his eyes and screams and runs out.

[@curaticac5391]

A great bel-canto singer who could sing without being overweight. Remarkable!

[@aneamarlivana172]

The myth that opera singers need to be overweight is just that...a myth. May I also present Ferruccio Furlanetto, Lawrence Brownlee, Thomas Hampson, Franco Corelli, Juan Diego Florez, Elina Garanca, Maria Domashenko, and many, many others.

[@pkkakes]

how do you watch through one of the most captivating/mesmerizing performances of one of the most theatrical scenes to come out of recent operatic history and your only thought to comment is "thank god he's skinny."

[@rasputinaxp]

@@aneamarlivana172 In this case I'd believe OP is stating that his VOICE is not overweight, meaning he can sound like this and still be vocally agile.

[@aneamarlivana172]

@@rasputinaxp It doesn't come across that way. I think the term the person would have used would have been "weighty" rather than "overweight" if he or she were talking about weight. In the final analysis the comment is ambiguous.

[@aneamarlivana172]

@@pkkakes Agree. Far too many people think that a person's appearance is the most important thing in opera. Sadly, many opera directors today are placing too much emphasis on what a singer looks like. That's how the Met got one soprano who sang so poorly in her first appearance there that the Met tried to buy her out of her contract. They were unable to do this, so they had to honor the contract and let her perform there again. This philosophy may bring some people into the opera house who just want to look at the performers, but the real opera fans are just turned away by having to listen to pretty people with inferior voices.