George London sings Verdi (vaimusic.com)

[@shicoff1398]

In the 1960's I saw him at orchestra hall Chicago, he was in wonderful rich and strong voice at that time, backstage afterword he gladly spent time with all of us there and was gracious. RIP.

[@Hako2004]

Fantastic. What a beautiful black tone....and such squillo to boot. A truly rare instrument.

[@aleksandrsantonenko4402]

OMG. Best example how to attach tone and keep it at the same place in throat. Wow!!!

[@allenjones3130]

Once again, London proved that he had the goods! He was no stranger to Verdi, having sung Amonasro in "Aida" and the bass role in the "Requiem".

[@道-p2e]

Gigantic bass baritone, bravo!

[@tropicanzio]

una delle voci da baritono scuro, piú belle di sempre. Un impasto vocale. ricchezza di armonici, potenza, tutto al massimo.

[@BaroneVitellioScarpia1]

George London era un basso-baritono vero.

[@mino7520]

Très grand artiste. R.I.P.

[@ВладимирДанилов-ь8ч]

Спасибо 🎉

[@HellasItalia4]

Cavolo...... di solito non sono geloso........ LONDON - STORICO !

[@bassobari]

That last 30 seconds is so thrilling and at the same time, chilling! What great acting (in a tux yet!) One of the all time greats! I believe that he and Mario Lanza came up at the same time and knew each other somewhat. What different avenues their careers took,... Mario seduced by the instant gratification of movies and George going on to be one of the legends in operatic history.

[@allenjones3130]

Messrs. Lanza and London joined forces with soprano Frances Yeend to form a short-lived ensemble called the Bel Canto Trio.

[@yt4la]

George London studied with the same teacher in NYC as did Nicolai Gedda. She was Paola Novikova. Wonderful technique!

[@ClaudiaLopez-vt5jz]

Hermosa voz !!!!!

[@jrrtex]

London was the man. A voice of a generation.

[@sirenadellopera]

Another great, great Jago: Aldo Protti.

[@camonzongo]

Honor a quien honor merece, Bravo maestro London!! Una inspiracion y ejemplo para todo cantante. Una bravia interpretacion con una intimidante mirada y con precensia nobiliaria.

[@ruffoite]

canadian born, but sent from heaven.

[@theoperatripleaxel5417]

Great acting, great singing... Read about him in a Callas biography talking about Tosca.

[@barrister79]

One of the amazing voice quality of the 20th century opera.

[@pamelajoyce91]

Fantastic find for me

[@ritache-mponda7165]

Superb voice

[@sirenadellopera]

yeah, that voice was a one-in-a-million.

[@ManuelYrizar]

Gran artista, gran intérprete, gran cantante.

[@mxl2003]

You're right! Mario and George actually sang together in a group called the Bel Canto Trio (along with soprano Frances Yeend, I believe) before they got their big breaks. I can't imagine hearing such a group!

[@jefolson6989]

Just amazing! The muscular effort to carry his chest voice to the top of his range must have been tremendous! I wonder if this technique contributed to his paralyzed vocal cord? ( but he kept singing, with regular silacone injections to plump it up). MARVELOUS!

[@rosshalper6708]

Actually the silicone (Teflon?) was to allow him to speak only I believe.

[@MrGer2295]

Beautiful singing ! Thanks for posting :)

[@JoeySinko]

Love this guy.

[@KaleidoscopeAct]

His voice is like a velveteen cannon. I always wondered why he sings out of the corner of his mouth?

[@embenadorfinearts]

George London had strokes over the years it is why.

[@swissarmytenor]

No, this was made years before his catastrophic health problems, after which he never sang again.

[@MrQwerty88]

Singing out the side of the mouth brings the voice forward... Bad form.

[@dynomax101]

London's voice was a fantastic instrument. One in a million? I doubt there are any matches for him. Yes, there were bigger voices, but how many George Londons have come down the pike? Like Ruffo, suis generis. At least, we have his recordings.

[@hannelorerochmes5348]

einfach nur herrlich

[@Taehan_Kim_1]

Bravo

[@BaroneVitellioScarpia1]

La perfezione.

[@allenjones3130]

Rest in peace, George.

[@SuperDarchangel]

the aura of Wotan in within him :)

[@Agorante]

@jthom606 He always sang out of the side of his mouth. When I first heard him at Constitution Hall in Washington DC it was even more pronounced. That was a dozen years before the stroke.

[@20dty]

Realy cool! 👌👌👌

[@inpyohong7787]

I wanna to see him ㅜㅜ

[@Agorante]

Indeed.

[@omarchidofine]

Great!!!!

[@Rigoletto69]

Omen!.... it is best iago from last century

[@trevorm74]

good God his hands are huge...

[@forrestshepherd1029]

No they aren't. When he held them up the old camera exaggerated their size as they were much closer to the lens. But when he dropped them to his sides, they were only ordinary.

[@MrAristaeus]

I agree. I know about camera distortion and that doesn’t explain it. He also had a massive (and hugely resonant) head.

[@MrAristaeus]

P.S. when the camera pans out (as in the very last shot) his hands are still huge. It’s interesting to note his physical characteristic when attempting to understand his unique instrument.

[@piasecznik]

Actually, there are some written A naturals in this part. 'Inaffia l'ugola'... the 'bevi, bevi bevi con me' parts.

[@giovannitartaglia3747]

Grande baritono drammatico

[@eduardogambarotocrispim7643]

Basso cantante

[@aguacun]

I find this performances great. He had a paralisys on his vocal cords (I think in one) because a nervous system disease

[@robertwbecker]

@DonPaolissimo Yeah, I totally agree with you!

[@piasecznik]

So do I ;) But I'd still consider a role with several high A naturals and some sustained F sharps one with a somewhat high range, just like most other Verdi baritone roles. I don't think that Iago's tessitura is lower than for example Renato's.

[@wotansings]

Soweit ich weiss begann die Stimmbandlähmung schon im Jahr 1961. Also vor der Operation.Dazu meine ich, dass das permanente, auf stimmliche Expansion konzentrierte Hochdrucksingen damit wahrscheinlich in Zusammenhang zu bringen ist. - Für mich ist London auch ein grossartiger Sänger-Darsteller, aber bestimmt nicht ein begandeter Vokaltechniker

[@musicman051189]

What Year Was This?

[@gregberg5559]

This is on Volume 2 of VAI's highlights from the Bell Telephone Hour- and VAI has it listed as 1962.

[@egymagyar1111111]

did you listen him Verdi's Requiem Eugen Ormandy in Chicago as the bass, and what bass

[@andrewmargrave7518]

I did. I played through that recording. The chorus was fine. Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted each other well. But the solo lineup was not felicitous. Only Richard Tucker, the tenor, was suited to his part, and he brayed like a donkey. He sounded like Bad Italian Tenor, Bad Wagner Tenor, and Bad Cantor rolled into one. The other soloists were Lucine Amara (voice too light for the soprano part), Maureen Forrester (voice too deep for the mezzo part) and London (voice not deep enough for the bass part).

[@allenjones3130]

Mr. Margrave is entitled to his own opinion. In my book, the Amara/Forrester/Tucker/London/Ormandy recording of Verdi's REQUIEM is the definitive performance of this classic work.

[@stephpwall]

TV in the 60s, hmmm. Here is George, dressed in a tux, lacking only a tray of martinis to serve at this suburban garden party, and yet he is able to chill us to the core with Iago's malevolent evil. What a scary guy!!!

[@lehar]

you're taling about a singer. I'm thinking of a composer, who reached his apex when he has 74 years old. That's patience!

[@vonmeppen]

Ja, das wird wohl so sein.

[@jthom606]

He had a stroke at some point, and it changed his face a little--perhaps he was paralyzed. But, maybe that's how he always sang!

[@ColonelFredPuntridge]

He may have had Bell's Palsy. It often paralyzes one half of the face.

[@keithtwa]

Hans Hotter sings this aria even more comfortably, and he was no baritone and one heck of a Wotan.

[@wotansings]

I am always far impressed by GLs performances,but also I think this was not really relaxed and confortable singing, to much pressure (which in my sense maybe was one of his later vocal problems). Can someone tell me what really happened to him?

[@allenjones3130]

Based on what I heard and read, London came down with a rare illness that paralyzed one of his vocal cords and eventually forced him to retire from singing in the late 60s.

[@DonPaolissimo]

I adored London's Boris, Wotan, Dutchman, et. al.. However, a Verdi baritone he never was!!!

[@BorisGodunov]

Would that more of today's baritones sounded like Leonard Warren...

[@st14]

His Russian singing is better than his Italian singing.

[@walpolenut5351]

London could do both the singing and the acting. Domingo can only sing.

[@andrewmargrave7518]

London's characterization was superb, but Iago's "Credo" was simply too high for him.

[@gregberg5559]

Especially by this point in time, when he was beginning to lose his voice.

[@BaroneVitellioScarpia1]

That's why he never sang the entire opera.

[@purisermonisamator]

Увы, Вагнер а его исполнении намного более удовлетворителен, чем Яго, где он не точен даже ритмически. Звук форсированный и крикливый, исполнение очень поверхностное, так сказать - "as if". Поэтому и совершенно не задевает, ибо монолог ВНУТРЕННЕ НЕ ПРОЖИТ. ВЕСЬМА ПЕЧАЛЬНО. Я бы рекомендовал изменить всё, начиная с "инструментовки голоса".

[@BorisGodunov]

Only by ducking the high As in the drinking song and other high notes elsewhere.

[@abracadabranque]

Je n'aimais déjà pas ce timbre guttural et truqué;en le voyant chanter,je persiste en pleine connaissance.