Jess Thomas talks about young Heldentenors

I conducted this interview with the great American Heldentenor Jess Thomas only months before he died of a heart attack in 1993. He talks about the training of young Heldentenors.
Sorry, no music, just the interview

[@chrisbean]

So in the interview Jess Thomas in his 60s, but his voice sounds so youthful. Wow!

[@MrAristaeus]

A fascinating clip. Thank you for sharing it. His speaking voice perfectly demonstrates his point about speaking and singing and its similarities in the fundamentals of tone production. His phonation is astoundingly clear for a man at the end of his life and is unforced without a hint of vocal fry that has become almost omnipresent in speaking nowadays, sadly, most especially in the States which has affected English speaking inflections all over the world. There’s also great ‘sustain’ in his speaking sound too. A magnificent artist and a true Heldentenor.

[@chrisbean]

You are so on point.👏👏

[@johnblasiak607]

Well placed speaking voice a great place to connect your voice for singing correctly

[@phoebusapollo4677]

The absolute truth about singing!

[@Agorante]

The German teacher in America he studied with was Otto Schulmann. I studied with Schulmann at the same time. I was a bass. Thomas would leave as I arrived. Both of us had gotten a psychology degree at San Francisco State. Golden days.

[@voicualex87]

Man, I'm having some trouble to find my voice. I guess I am between baritone and tenor. I guess I am a dramatic tenor or heldentenor. I am already 31 years. Would you mind if you listen some audios of my voice? Maybe you can tell me what type of voice do I have. Thank you!

[@kennethwayne6857]

I got to meet his son some years back, who was very young when his dad died. He grew to be a virtual clone of his father.

[@robertwbecker]

Wonderful interview! Agree totally! Sustained SPEECH,,, and dealing with the human being!

[@dfddwm]

Thank you so much Ealdred for sharing this. I was stunned by how the speaking voice mirrored his singing voice - clear, youthful and natural. His distinction between Jugend and Schwer was interesting. Was Jess Thomas a real Germanic heldentenor? I think he was actually better than that. I also treasure his Das Lied von der Erde from a live concert conducted by Krips in 1972 with a radiant Anne Evans. It is great to hear this work sunv by two multi dimensional singers with real "heroic" operatic experience: Mahler I am sure would have appreciated it. Thanks once again.

[@sama.4471]

This guy is such a legend. I have his recordings of Parsifal, Lohengrin, Walther in Die Meistersinger, and his amazing Emperor from Die Frau ohne Schatten. It's so interesting to hear him speak here, thanks for sharing this!

[@humblecharlie4383]

great interview. a very pleasant speaking voice. i wish he had done more of the singing of american/english songs.

[@akinkunmicook2977]

Well said!

[@zriter59escritor33]

Thomas was a fine artist. But he was a jugendlicher heldentenor. Superb, early in his career, as Walther and Lohengrin. Also Siegmund. But becoming a full-time Wagnerian took a heavy toll on his voice. Whereas Vickers and King, for example, sang less Wagner, retained higher-lying Italian roles (King sang Calaf as well as Siegmund!). And their voices did not decline significantly even into their 60s.

[@Artiej0hn0]

Interesting.

[@uraniastern5755]

This kind of strong Mittellage is based on concentration on the throat chakra....easy, when a state of mind. All is build up from there. I met him too in his beautiful home around 1990.

[@grr8048]

10:35 He forgot to mention 'the look' as a significant factor in making his Wagnerian career. I am pretty sure he knew it.

[@FCOLAXCDG]

❤️🇱🇨!!!

[@cg4428]

Incidentally, when I hear his recordings, everything sounds very pushed, if not barked.

[@ralphoperaphile]

in which case, I suspect that you need to get your hearing checked.

[@cg4428]

@@ralphoperaphile Your suspicions as uninteresting as they are are your to have. However, his recorded and performed legacy speaks for itself. He is the weakest singer of any production; the voice has no chromatic interest, approximate pitch, and a unique coarseness that distinguishes him from any others. The World Wars and a general lack of true heldentenors are to blame for his career. He was the very definition of mediocrity. That you fly to his defence does not change his career, sawwy.

[@ralphoperaphile]

@@cg4428 A superb Lohengrin for Kempe, almost invariably recommended as the best recording, a fine Siegfried for Karajan, a lovely live Parsifal for Knappertsbusch in 1962 are just three examples of his excellence as a heldentenor of exceptional sweetness and musicality. He wasn't the greatest Heldentenor ever, no - that distinction belongs to Melchior et al - but he was a fine artist.

[@jmahlon]

@@ralphoperaphile CG is likely a member of an opera chorus, or some other failed soloist who feels he didn't get enough opportunity.

[@grr8048]

@@jmahlon Look who is talking? Leave them alone. Your unintelligent argument made both you and the other guy looked bad.

[@wotan10950]

He was so correct! Wagner singing became a competition of “anything you can sing, I can sing louder.” It’s exhausting for both singer and listener. Wagner himself admired Bellini and wanted a bel canto sensibility in his music. While I admire Nilsson Flagstad Varnay Jones, I really enjoy listening to Lehmann and her era. Of course Melchior is impressive, but I’m happy with Kaufmann RDSmith, Kerl, and yes Vogt. Heroic, to me, is phrasing and inflection, not decibels.

[@BenEmberley]

I was always a Poul Elming fan ^_^

[@giannizeno9571]

Thomas was a wonderful Lohengrin, Walther, Parsifal and, for my money, the best and youngest sounding Siegfried with Karajan on record. Tristan, no. I don't believe that it is really fair to evaluate a singer when they age and are passed their prime. No, he is no Melchoir but, is there anyone on here who had the career Jess Thomas had?

[@peterpaul2556]

Gianni Zeno Ja, Peter Hofmann!

[@Artiej0hn0]

​@@peterpaul2556Peter Hoffman possessed a beautiful voice. I heard him in the Met Opera House.

[@bradleymonroe6443]

Are there any Heldentenors singing Il Trovatore as Manrico?

[@Ettoredipugnar]

Bradley Monroe the American Tenor James King sang Verdi.

[@Itschriscruz]

Best advice for Wagner singers: Sing it like it’s not Wagner. 😉

[@jefolson6989]

I agree with Jess about singing Wagner with bel canto technique. BUT, he was unable to really stick to that and ended up frayed and spread like all the rest. Jonas kauffman. Is singing wagner like an Italian and italian and French like a heldentenor

[@mk5244]

...as far as Mr. Kaufmann is concerned, if you don’t have the voice for italian/French opera, you sing it like he does. Smart, however no italian/french color. That applies for Wagner too. It is all about the voice, the reason I am not fond of his singing. RDS

[@celibidache1000]

Kauffman is a joke.

[@alcoyot]

A Siegfried voice should not sing Tamino.

[@darklord220]

Volker sang both live.

[@farisschulz5412]

+alcoyot As did Hans Hopf.

[@AfroPoli]

Don't think Völker ever sang Siegfried.

[@Ettoredipugnar]

alcoyot he's speaking about flexibility.

[@bradleymonroe6443]

What about a Siegfried voice singing Manrico and Canio would he do well with that?

[@singer2362]

Heldentenor, not in my opinion, He's delusional! Lauritz Melchior was a, "Heldentenor!" Thomas was a, "mediocre tenor!" "When one cannot get horses they get mules!"

[@franzleiermann4955]

This mediocre tenor would be king now, the quality of tenors present on stage today considering. Want to see a mule? Check your bathroom mirror.

[@jimh23]

@@franzleiermann4955 You have your opinion, I have mine. You don't have to get, "Crude," if you don't agree with mine! That's what makes the world go round!

[@franzleiermann4955]

@@jimh23 too easy to insult a great dead artist.

[@jimh23]

@@franzleiermann4955 Everyone dies! If he's dead, he will never know what my opinion of him was! That's the way thing's are. I have read negative opinions of many singers, that's the nature of thing's, if one think's everyone likes you, you are in the wrong business!

[@franzleiermann4955]

@@jimh23 no shred of dignity in that shallow brain of yours. Are you really an opera lover?