Jon Vickers sings Wagner conducted by Karl Bohm (vaimusic.com)

[@eeli1]

Gotta love how he sings over that full orchestra with ease, you go Vickers.

[@aidavdbrake]

@dg6da i totally agree: it's insane to say vickers is screaming in this piece. jon vickers like no other dramatic tenor that i know of, treated music with the utmost respect, using more dynamics (singing both soft and loud) and fewer fashionable slurs (portamenti) than anyone else. and this short piece he doesn't use any kind of force, he isn't even singing his top notes full forte/fortissimo, he doesn't need to, his huge voice does all the work for him! great technique too!!

[@SPTN58]

Jon Vickers was a superb artist and singer.

[@ransomcoates546]

Wonderful memories of him in the theater. The sound was enormous, but never pushed. Completely unique timbre. A great singer indeed.

[@pammyjones1151]

Bought this on VHS many years ago....blew me away, and still it remains my favourite ....wonderful!! Thank you 😚

[@giglistignanipinza]

My very favorite version of this beautiful piece 😊

[@primobaritono]

Wow, he looks so celtic !!! Great singer, Great artist.

[@SymphonyBrahms]

He was Canadian.

[@berlinman46]

Jon Vickers my Favorite Heldentenor,and a wonderful musician,a Male Callas..just try the Dallas Medeas` he did with her stunning!!

[@Johnny1206]

Lorenz, Melchior, Völker and Vickers are my favorite tenors in the wagnerian repertoire.

[@stranraerwal]

Völker wasn't a Wagner tenor-he sang some excerpts.

[@kidd32888]

Such grace with a big voice!!

[@talvela100]

Grandissimo e indimenticabile Maestro

[@Labienus]

this is also a fairly early recording I 'd have to dispute your "feeling" that he doesn't know what he's singing he ALWAYS knew what he was singing about, studied it, pondered it, the words were essential to him and not simply for sound projection His whole concept was tied to the drama more than the singing itself so the words and meaning obsessed him I know at least later in his career he learned to speak German well enough(unlike many singers)

[@goldiebrightcomet9129]

Are you deaf? LOL - Vickers was a master. And what a voice! Indeed, oh would we had a Vickers today.... Have you heard his recording of Peter Grimes? Incredible really... full of colour and strength - no one matches him.

[@photo161]

His live performances of Grimes very superior to that recording. He experienced a marked vocal decline after 1974.

[@Labienus]

What a bunch of odd comments about one of the most remarkable singers to ever appear on an opera stage I heard him live many times-the voice was huge even the top could be great with the right approach it was like surround sound in the theater His German was well idiosyncratic but hardly awful his soft singing could carry to the last row Why would Corelli sing Wagner? that was not his fach his voice was also huge with the most brilliant top ever heard and was intuitively musical

[@paulostroff99]

Jon Vickers rules. Bravo! TY.

[@mezereum]

el mejor Heldentenor de todos los tiempos. mi humilde opinion

[@AnaLuiza-rl9ee]

De acordo

[@holgate1970]

Constance Lambert ( rip 12-13-2016), John Victors, George London, Joe Roulou, Andre Turp. legends in Canadian Opera!!

[@donaldrose]

Vickers always sang with tenderness and musicality while del Monaco seemed to need to sing at the top of his voice at every opportunity. Having said that, there is a instance here on KZbin where del Monaco sings In Fernem Land from Lohengrin with great sensitivity and musicality and his voice had a lovely sound.

[@marksmith3947]

I have found Vickers exceeds MdM in being expressive most of the time. For instance, JV was overwhelming as Canio , much more effective than MdM

[@garyblais8602]

Imagine a Canadian that can sing Wagner like that . His Lohengrin is Unsurpassed .

[@franzleiermann4955]

Never sang the part.........

[@jordipanadesribera6890]

Wundervolle Heldentenor.

[@surtr9728]

Imagine it on a modern recording equipment

[@BrianJosephMorgan]

Bravo!

[@Piacevole]

His voice is incredibly focused! Almost hard.. But I love this.

[@giuseppedimarco8358]

Bravo! Wunderbares! Singen!

[@wanderleyreis7233]

BRAVO!!!

[@vickersman]

I don't understand this statement at all.I'm sure you have a strong point, but would you mind making it clearer. I'm listening to "Him" sing Wintersturme as I write this....and to me his was the best tenor voice of the century (20th)-including Caruso,Corelli,Bjorling,all fall behind...the voice just had so much character, very few tenors can ever master the "heroic "tenor quality.Jon did.But,it wasn't easy.

[@vickersman]

My favourite tenor-so a great pleasure to see this.Such a strange set-up, with Vickers "up- on- high", -didn't help the sound recording very much. Still, the then 39 year old Vickers sounds wonderful.

[@omairagamboa7821]

Bravísimo!

[@sgnmath1234]

Check out the lady's hat at 0:19

[@vickersman]

I can't really add more than I have already stated on Vicker's falsetto(as distiguished from head voice.)He used it in soft passeges to great advantage,but to me seeing all of Dichterliebe falsetto-well it's not my favourite-but he was a heldontenor,and I'd say he NEVER, EVER sounded like a barker or honker.But he could unleash power like none other!That's what I think we love to hear in Jon Vickers-the power,wrapped in a beautiful sound.

[@ezequielstepanenko3229]

Most beautiful voice in wagnerian history

[@SymphonyBrahms]

After Melchior.

[@marksmith3947]

Most expressive

[@piasecznik]

I think he knows that, the colours of his voice match the content of the words he's singing pretty well. I agree about his German though, most vowels are somewhat off, plus he was singing 'Keim und Spross entspricht seiner Kraft', not '....entspringt' . Despite of all that, his singing is great, and I believe that he improved his German later on, as evident in his Fidelio.

[@vickersman]

I don't see any veins popping, as you suggest.I also think the rest of your statement is wrong.He is singing unmiked at the back of the orchestra and singing over them.If you think Melchior had a more beautiful voice than Vickers-heaven help us! Vickers was an excellent musician.I sang on stage with him and watched him "teach" a conductor or two.He WAS Otello on stage-perhaps there were others who sometime sang better-but none acted better!

[@Labienus]

I had to laugh a bit after reading your comment on the Sat. Met broadcast they had an intermission feature with the German diction coach Vicker's singing this (not this recording) was playing in the background as an example of good diction! I prefer my idiosyncratic to your "actually not very good" I played phrases that bothered me to German friends-didn't bother them reminded me that distortion, always occurs in singing also that there is great variety in pronunciation even today in Germ

[@nickdryad]

Vickers was a legend Best Peter Grimes ever!

[@Labienus]

Seems to be some confusion regarding the original motivation for my response. So you have me confused. I am talking about the means of vocal production which derive from the Italian bel canto tradition. There's a right way to sing for our music, and that can be applied to any style, any era. What a particular artist brings to it in terms of interpretation and depth, meaning etc. varies-but the core vocal techniques - how you create the sound-should be the same.

[@photo161]

If I remember corectly, Vickers sang 3 arias at this concert.

[@cfreetenor]

@unethicaldenier He's a dramatic tenor singing a Wagner aria. I have a feeling your idea of 'lyrical' is the antithesis of thrilling.

[@ezequielstepanenko3229]

The best

[@dg6da]

...and a very good german pronounciation!

[@egymagyar1111111]

@erd5215 thanks, I was in doubt for long years, and had to recognise your reason he is the gretast, in Norma in Orange 1973 or so yes MDM was the only who could match this tempest

[@vickersman]

Vicker's had one thing that so many big-voiced barkers never had-and that is a beautiful head voice-which he used to amazing lengths-sometimes too much?I think he learned this from George Lambert(his teacher at the Toronto Conservatory)Lambert was a big voiced baritone.I think he taught Vickers how to handle his large sound.Did he have some rough nights- of course he did.I liken it to driving a large truck down an icy road at 80.Sometimes there are slips.Big voices are hard to handle-I know!

[@yourfieldofdreams]

if i were singing up there all i would be thinking "i hope i don't fall"

[@kymanthony3977]

Most human sounding heldentenor ever.

[@jbjorling]

Which video were you talking about? Do you mean the ones of Bryan Register?

[@291rko]

How did he get up there?

[@SymphonyBrahms]

Jon Vickers, John King, and Wolfgang Windgassen were great Wagnerian tenors. But Lauritz Melchior was the greatest Wagnerian tenor.

[@thomasdahlen2158]

Why is he standing on this balcony.Vickers and Birgit Nilsson was someting.

[@Labienus]

Again don't get your pt. We know that the style of singing (in Italian opera) became more dramatic and realistic at the beginning of the 20ieth cent-and not just Caruso. Pre-verisimo Ital. opera had more standard forms and a kind of instrumental style for the voice-but we know eg Callas -that the same music could be sung in the style but also with great meaning. Plenty of Germ maybe more Austrian! who sang beautifully-because they understood the Italian tradtion combined it with their style

[@ShawDAMAN]

@unethicaldenier I quite liked him as Don Jose, Otello, and Rhadames as well. I'm not german so I can't comment on his pronunciation..... however I can assure you he has german fans. Like Callas and others, the attraction is power and emotional intensity, and I guess 'musical intelligence.' Not so much wanting to hear a beautiful sound.

[@ShawDAMAN]

Corelli couldn't sing Wagner and Fidelio. Vickers didn't scream. His voice could be a bit dry perhaps but by all (or most) accounts it was great to hear live. And no, Corelli was not a very musical singer at all, although he had an incredible voice.

[@TheVaughan5]

I'm a great admirer of Jon Vickers but in this particular role I prefer the recording by James King/VPO/Solti who imparts more melody in his voice.

[@Erkele]

That is fine 3,34 seconds.

[@MrGratefulheart]

I think that with having the orchestra before him, it must have been more like singing at Bayreuth... and of course, Vickers has the horn to sing from the cheap seats!

[@franzleiermann4955]

In Bayreuth, the orchestra is not placed in front of the singers, but below them.

[@sobatinyela]

all other WIntersturmes on youtube bow down to this one.. ein Meister! but you fanboys need to relax about the "back of the orchestra" BS.. any resonant, "larger" voice would carry in that situation due to the phenomenon of the singer's formant. I'm also sure he didn't just show up and decide to sing from back there on the day of the performance!! His position was probably experimented with during rehearsal until the best balance was achieved... relax!

[@Labienus]

Certainly I defer if it is your native language I study it forever! and am particularly sensitive to it being sung My friends one is a language teacher , another MD/psych opera fanatic-only passing on their reactions and as you know in Germ. as in GB regionalisms still predominate but too many great opera singers have not really "known"/or at all- the language they sing in but Vicker's would have worked his ass off on meaning even early in his career

[@berlinman46]

Tolg364 Melchoir was a Pushed up Heldentenor in that he started his career as a Baritone, and I have allways found his voice a bit too Steely for me!! allthough he was "OK" I prefer Jon Vicers

[@piasecznik]

@Labienus and there were lots more good German (or Austrian) bel canto singers. Slezak, Schmidt, Jadlowker, Tauber...

[@Labienus]

so much even great singing (although to a native speaker there is always a difference) is by singers not fluent in it-how could they possibly know all the languages required today?-except somone like Gedda I remember a story about Hotter coaching J. Morris who did not/does not? "know" German-and saying something about well he might not know it but he can sure sing it I always found Vickers e's i's odd as in Euch werde Lohn but several native speakers had no problem you do-what can I say?

[@piasecznik]

@Labienus no- more like because Wagner wanted it that way. 'Wagner (18131883) decried the Italian singing model, alleging that it was concerned merely with "whether that G or A will come out roundly". He advocated a German school of singing which would draw "the spiritually energetic and profoundly passionate into the orbit of its matchless Expression"'

[@piasecznik]

@Labienus Well, I don't know. When I listen to very old recordings by pre-Caruso tenors, for instance Tamagno, I think that they're incredibly boring. Wagner describes my feelings there actually perfectly, that they're just concerned with their -perfect- vocal production, but not with emotions. A Wagner singer often values interpretation over beautiful singing, a little bit like Verismo singers. Well, and in Wagner operas good interpretation mostly results in barking.

[@dg6da]

...Vickers is "screaming"? Are you insane?

[@wotan10950]

In another Vickers-Wintersturme video, he announced beforehand that he thought this aria represents evil. Evil!! I couldn’t believe it. He agreed that it’s a beautiful piece, but said that beauty often hides evil. I can’t watch him sing this anymore - I never thought of Siegmund-Sieglinde as evil, and I don’t think Wagner thought so either. Weird.

[@jamesmorris1657]

Well he certainly sounds evil. I don’t like his voice at all.

[@gweiss5000]

Vickers was a devout Christian who refused to sing the title role in Tannhauser

[@Labienus]

@piasecznik you would sing Wagner a lot better if you had a good understanding of bel canto For a long time Wagner singing was afflicted with the Bayreuth bark-precisely because singing was confused with declamation and not good at that evenness beauty of tone a good musical line is not incompatible with clarity of text Wunderlich was exceptional because he incorporated the bel canto tradition even when singing in German

[@pepeelsordo]

Vickers was a monster in his repertoire, and in the theater, I am sure, was impressive. In recordings he was not a Mediterranean singer. His sound is disagreeable to me, but art is subjective. He was one of the great ones, but in his repertoire.

[@piasecznik]

@chichovifil You don't need to have a good understanding of bel canto to sing Wagner. And if you think that Fritz Wunderlich doesn't know how to do belcanto, you have no clue. Most of the best Wagner, Schubert, Beethoven singers are German. Not all of them, some are from countries around Germany, like Denmark (Melchior) or Norway (Flagstad), but most are German.

[@vickersman]

A male Callas-what an insult!-yes Callas was a great...great talent as an operatic actress, but her voice faded fast-compared to the heroical exploits of Maestro Vickers,who not only championed the notion of 'singing actor', but maintained a vocal ecellence that lasted, unblemmished into his 60's. The same can not be said of diva Callas, who unfortunately relied too much on what she had done and less on what she could do.

[@caninbar]

Too many words!!!!

[@donaldrose]

Vickers was a fine musician but willingly put dramatic values over musical valus. Note that in this he is singing at THE BACK of a full orchestra and unmiked. Not many singers have the power or the 'cojones' to attempt this.

[@Labienus]

Sounds like Wagner but he also admired Bellini surely not for the orchestration? What he was decrying was frivilous singing not proper vocal production I think he turned over in his grave when the maniac Cosima codified Bayreuth singing as BAD singing -that's what it was- thankfully no more Yes we want depth, meaning, spirituality-whatever that is-but that is not incompatible with good singing which for all that derives from the "grand tradition" and based on the principles of bel canto

[@robertotorres9945]

K fea vozzzxx pero le saca un no sequé

[@nibelung1646]

довольно героический вокал, но немного чересчур непосредственный

[@olegvr5499]

Это обычный драматический тенор. И притом далеко не самый выдающийся. Его голос был с каким-то тускловатым, характерным тембром. К тому же после сорока лет он начал деградировать и хрипеть. Куда ему до Дель Монако или Корелли - он и рядом с ними не стоял!!!

[@nibelung1646]

Смотря с чем сравнивать, Олег, согласитесь. Если с Виккерсом или Мельхиором-да, если с современниками, то пойди еще найди такого

[@sergeymedvedev2493]

Никак не могу назвать его "обычным" тенором. Викерса можно назвать слишком манерным, гнусавым и слишком резким, но никак не "обычным". Это обладатель уникального, ни на кого не похожего голоса, и своеобразной манеры. Да, несомненно, этот голос и манеру можно отнести к категории героических теноров, но этим пение Викерса никак не исчерпывается. Этот певец - яркая индивидуальность, у него есть как преданные поклонники, так противники, которых его пение, скорее, раздражает. Мне Викерс, скорее, не нравится, чем нравится, но, тем не менее, я признаю его величие.

[@franzleiermann4955]

@@sergeymedvedev2493 never heard a tenor less nasal than Vickers......

[@josephcold]

lol! IGNORANCE FTL

[@caninbar]

Dis sho aint bel canto!