James King - Fidelio - Gott! Welch Dunkel hier!

American heldentenor James King gives a moving performance as Florestan in Beethoven's Fidelio.

[@delosreyesgavikanes]

NO ?????? the best American tenor in the Wagnerian repertoire, and one of the nicest person and colleagues in the business. Be with God, my friend James, and sorry you were not with us when one of your former student whom you sent to me to teach and who sang a fantastic Tristan in Chicago few years back.

[@Moegiust]

Even very good tenors tend to do some bleating in this difficult area. How wonderful to have this document of James King in his vocal prime.

[@mattn2470]

King is so convincing and so convicted as Florestan. I have to believe he's have been Beethoven's favorite. King and Christa Ludwig. Wow. Two people with great voisce who inhabit Beethoven's characters.

[@LongEyelandGuy]

Dan; I heard your father sing this several times in Vienna in the early 70s. I was a young student and he was a true inspiration for me and for so many others. I even recall meeting him once at the American Church in Vienna. What a nice man and what pure talent God gave him.

[@fritzelas]

heard him also in Vienna and had some talks at the stage door....

[@markpianoman]

Dan, I had the awesome privilege of several times accompanying your father in his apartment on Harthauserstr. in Munich in the early 1980's. He paid me to play for him...I always felt as if I should be paying for the privilege! The sign at the doorbell out front of the apartment building read, "King James."

[@PcCAvioN]

A voice teacher of mine wrote his doctorate on how Beethoven wrote for two different tenors within the same piece; some sections were written with a dramatic tenor sound and others with a lyric tenor sound in mind. Here Mr. King shows himself to be the perfect Beethovian tenor, one capable of meeting all the demands Beethoven made on a singer

[@MonteStone]

And Parsifal and Walther. Great Bacchus and Kaiser too. His studio at IU had 4 Vienna State Opera posters with him as Lohengrin, Siegmund, Kaiser, and Bacchus. Didn't think much about it until I realized the dates were all within ONE WEEK.

[@roberttillman8872]

I have heard a lot of singers at the Met and other halls this guy was good. One of the best of all times. Thanks for posting.

[@sanjosemike]

runnins1 When Florestan starts singing: "You are always in my heart" it always brings me to tears. I don't know how a performer can keep dry eyed singing this. Congratulations to your Dad on a moving interpretation. sanjosemike

[@gaytenor]

rubbins1: Your father was a very great tenor that never really got the acclaim he deserved in his own country. His singing voice provided may great thrills over the years in Strauss and Wagner not to mention Die Tote Stadt and Samson. A very, very great tenor.

[@gratecourt]

Thrilling, moving. He makes it sound easy. The best - thanks so much for posting.

[@fritzelas]

heard him also in Vienna and had some talks at the stage door....

[@normhall1622]

A true Heldentenor. I love King's singing from Das Lied to Wagner to Beethoven.

[@foothillsbear]

Simply one of the greatest tenors of his era. The emotion and artistry he puts into his singing is spectacular. And his voice has a thrilling timbre. I just viewed Jonas Kaufmann singing this aria, and while he is excellent, he just doesn't give it the excitement that King does.

[@nadaabouri219]

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[@nadaabouri219]

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[@Merryjest]

BRILLIANT! A Heldentenor who doesn't push and uses his voice carry its natural weight and size! bravo! Excelent technique!

[@KASH10043]

Wow! What a beautifully lyric voice. Another tenor that I must look into more.

[@tenorschofield]

Extraordinary vocal talent presented by Mr.James King.He is to me a "master class" on stage. His musicality is almost perfect!!!. His vocal technique really makes this very dificult aria to look kind of easy.BRAVOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@nancyfi]

el mejor Florestan que he oído y he oído muchísimos. El timbre de la voz y un no sé que me emociona..." l'art est le vrai jugement dernier" dice Proust et je suis d'accord...Bravísimo! and Danny you can be very proud of your father....Bravo

[@pcorrigan1]

My favourite recording of Strauss Songs ever was a recording by a very young James King and I believe Dalton Baldwin was the accompanist. One side of the record was Strauss and the other was Schubert. I haven't seen a copy in at least 15 years. I would love to get my hands on one - it really is one of the greatest recordings I know.

[@Nagennif1011]

The pianist is William Hughes; the album was released on RCA records. I'm featuring it on my podcast this week (Countermelody), along with several other of King's unreissued LPs.

[@professionalmusician1172]

What a beautifully open, powerful, warm, and yet perfectly placed sound. He is in his prime here, able to do justice to all passages of this tremendously difficult aria. The cavatina has an almost Schubertian legato and unforced simplicity to it, while the dreaded, repeated climaxes of the final part are sung with great energy, but also with easy and aplomb, thanks to the perfect placing in the 'mask'. Thus, the high register has a concentrated, distinct Heldentenor 'ring' to it, without any throatiness or the faintest hint of a howl. All the Kaufmanns of this world can listen and learn from this... ;-)

[@tenorschofield]

Buenisimo era James King, Bravo!!!

[@astrophel1]

Such extraordinary singing. Wow. Thank you for posting this!

[@55werther]

Otro de los magnificos tenores, que mas admiro, los cuales son varios................ Gran artista, como, un exelente cantante. Un interprete ductilicimo con una gran solvencia artistica y expresividad vocal.

[@djcarno]

James King had that rare combination of a full-throated tone ("knadel in the throat") with tremendous brilliance, especially in the upper register. His was the ideal tenor for the major Strauss roles, and I wish the composer could have lived to hear him. Regarding "Siegfried", he did a concert version of Act III with Bernstein conducting. I have seen a video of this performance, and I think his fearless approach would have made him the best since Melchior, had he decided to take the plunge!

[@mk5244]

….a wise decision. Mr. King did what quite a few of his colleagues decided. It kept him this silver timbre, this ability to shine til old Tenor-Age. I always regarded him as one of the smartest Tenors in Music history. HE never did anything to harm this brilliant voice. Today the so called Star-Tenors are prisoners of marketing. And you hear it, all the Otellos, Tristans, dreadful would-be dramatic tenors. RDS

[@professionalmusician1172]

What you are referring to is actually a fault: "Knödeln" (verbalization of Austrian German "Knödel" for "dumpling") is a throaty and muffled sound usually caused by tension in the rear part of the tongue muscle, eccessive opening of the back of the throat while cutting off the higher resonance spaces. (I think an English equivalent may be the "hot potato" sound, but I am not sure abbout that.) This kind of sound can be heard distinctly e.g. in Matthias Goerne's singing, and, to a lesser extent, in Anna Netrebko's or Jonas Kaufmann's voices. Although James King's timbre has a nuance of throatiness to it, technically speaking his singing is the opposite of "Knödeln": it is a rich sound, supported and firmly rooted in the central musculature, with an open (although not eccessively open) throat, relaxed larynx, and an exceptional placing in the "mask" (the front resonance points around the eyes and on the forehead), adding the distinct Heldentenor "ring" to the voice.

[@markpianoman]

Naturlich versteht er was er da singt...er hat jahrelang in Berlin und Muenchen gewohnt. In den fruh 80iger Jahren habe ich oefters fuer ihn gespielt.

[@Hanako5100]

A very believable, moving performance and singing. Very impressive. I wonder when this was videoed and where.

[@akinkunmicook2977]

What a great singer he was!

[@hwh1946]

Saw him sing this a the "Old Met" and it was fabulous.

[@raphabenbenjamin]

funny, but my teacher used the term "knodel" (with umlaut) to speak of constriction in the throat as in "he sings with an apple dumpling (the translation) in his throat." Obviously no constriction here.

[@MidSummerOpera]

oh God this man was amazing!

[@clairerobsin]

One Violin Concerto, One Opera!

[@nancyfi]

The best of all!

[@Nello7]

I think Vickers was the greatest portrayer on stage that ever lived. I disagree on one fact-Italian singers are not known for their barking. I think the nuances of the italian language lend to a more lyric sound whereas German is always landing on consonants and therefore does not flow like the Italian language. It all comes down to the artist- Wunderlich could melt butter with his German and Gigli dripped sunshine from his voice in Italian!

[@Taehan_Kim_1]

Bravissimo

[@davidsimmons654]

AMAZING

[@vickersman]

a heldentenor, along with a few like Jon Vickers and now Ben Heppner, who not only had(have, in the case of Heppner) power but lyricism as well.German heldentenors must have that-no Italian barking here.J.K. was a brilliant voice and teacher as well-a great contribution to the vocal arts, and sorely missed.

[@grr8048]

Vickers Yes, Heppner ... odd taste...

[@sebthi7890]

man kann wunderbar die beindruckend tiefe Kehlkopfstellung beobachten

[@hwh1946]

Great in Frau Ohne Schatten as well.

[@Merryjest]

Were you often mistaken as a lighter tenor before? I'm only asking because I just recently had the experience where a tenor heard me and said that there was a LOT more to my voice than originally thought- originally billed as a Leggiero, but he thinks I could go for full lyric, and perhaps even more.

[@sanjosemike]

"Sweet consolation in my heart." "You are always in my heart." Gustaw, this is poetry, isn't it? Isn't that how you look at it? Does it make that much difference what the words are? Don't they mean the same thing? Must we look at that with only "German exactitude?" Supposing my translation was incorrect. Is it that important to you to show me that your German is better? sanjosemike

[@ONeirda]

Dear raphabenbenjamin, I share the same understanding of the meaning of "Knödel" or "das Knödeln" (in the substantized form of the verb "knödeln") in the context of vocal technique. It means singing with pressing and constringing the throat in order to get a kind of thicker, more mid-registered sound. Something amateurs and beginners do. Not to confond with openness of the throat that brings some dark resonances. To me, Jonas Kaufmann is an unfortunate example of a successful "Knödler"!

[@orsoghiotto]

@federricoilgrande Pessimo commento,mi spiace.. Cantalo tu,se sei capace! Una delle voci più belle e più grandi in teatro,chi l'ha sentito lo può dire..

[@markpianoman]

but translation is very important...i do it professionally

[@dg6da]

His singing is NOT american. First: His diction is perfect. And he did not force the way of singing which is called "singing in the mask", what americans often do. He sounds very german.

[@laurencelubin951]

And yet his teacher, Martial Singher, was French. His singing is international.

[@ONeirda]

James King spent over a decade shoveling free the ringing sound of his upper register. He was a baritone with full voice high C's, but they were thin and 'didn't come out'. So he had to allow head resonances open up and flourishing gradually and becoming more and more secure - over years and years. This is the way a real Heldentenor comes into his voice. Jonas Kaufmann, also a former baritone, unfortunately lacks ring in the middle register - a rather broken, two-fold voice: not homogenous.

[@borisvandruff7532]

ONeirda Homogeneity is not always the goal. Tenors naturally will have more ring up top.

[@pjotr669]

Write it right: Frankenstein!

[@nanbil]

No, James King never sang Siegfried nor did he sing Tristan. He sang many Siegmunds and Lohengrins.

[@rudolfsmolej9495]

He was singing it in Vienna ..

[@rudolfsmolej9495]

He was it singing in Vienna... Not in Oper

[@casimiralexander]

"dawg00000", to deign to address your self inflicted limitation, hatred, and giant ignorance is to elevate it to deserving a response which it truthfully doesn't. That said, i saw the "hip-hopera"-??... that Beyonce & co. did based (-lol), on Bizet's Carmen. Your own black grandmother would have laughed those weak, nasal, no- deeper-than-the throat-chicken headed ghetto non musical non singing voices, RIGHT OUT OF SUNDAY CHURCH! Get the Hell out of your BlackBox!-Arethra Franklin's most adored, favorite singer is Maria Callas. Beethoven IS the human Soul. Listen with your heart, NOT your little mind. This performance is exquisite, soulful singing. There was a time in Opera AND Gospel, R&B, Soul, and Pop, that singers sang on the chest, with an open throat, beautifully filling an entire house (meaning theater, church), WITHOUT A MICROPHONE. Furthermore, the biggest priducer in Hip-Hop IS Ronald Reagan who cut all funding for music classes so that lil black boys like you tragically never learned to play guitar, horn, piano... So, now, when hip hop "artists"? attempt to write a melidy they merely right a REDUNDANT, snippet of perhaps four repeated notes, at best a tiny motif, but not a soaring, moving melody. The reason hip hop artist require fans, lasers, smoke bombs, flashing lights, is because alone on a mic, the form does not live on a live stage in a large theater, like a Singer who can truly sing. This man sings, with such beauty, such soul, such power, that if you could learn a new musical language of greatness you would recognise his acvomplishment and gift offered to you. Stop limiting yourself Dawg. Pull up your pants, call yourself a Count, like Count Bassie, or a Duke, like Duke Ellington, madter a musical instrument, stop being stuck in your own Black and White film, the world is in technicolor, having many beautiful colors in its symphony. May God Bless you and heal your anger, and limiting prejudice which has left you deaf, blind, and merely, "Sounding brass..."

[@ManuelCerquera-bh7sb]

Descomunal

[@chevrox]

@dawg00000 Opera is not straight (huge gay patronage, and many roles in the Baroque and Classical repertoire were written for Castrati, not to imply they weren't straight), or white (Aida is Ethiopian, Otello is a Moor, Turandot is Chinese, Madama Butterfly is Japanese, Les pêcheurs de perles are Indians, and so is Lakme...), or Christian (Ascanio in Alba, Europa Riconosciuta, Der Ring des Nibelungen... pagan theme is a staple and Salome is literally blasphemy), or male (the fat lady sings!!!)

[@bigus]

too bad he didnt alway sound like this he could have been greater. he is most certainly NOT a helden tenor. just a lyric that pushed his voice into too heavy of roles and lost its beauty and purety because of it. he went from gorgeous pure heady sound to a loud strident sound without the depth and tone color of his early singing.

[@hansjancker5057]

You are right. When he doesn't push his voice, he sounds very good.

[@federricoilgrande]

Pessimo commento di un pessimo commento...l'ho sentito eccome se l'ho sentito, appunto per quello. In quanto al cantarlo, è un'affermazione puerile, allora via tutti i critici musicali e libero il passo ai King of Nothing

[@federricoilgrande]

pessimo, mi spiace ...