Jon Vickers: Winterreise 1/2

[@operaman2078]

Vickers performs this work - like he does everything else-In a unique special way - that makes other performers seem superficial.I saw this performer as Tristan, Grimes, Siegmund, Otello, Aeneas, Samson, Florestan - no other singer has ever come close to his interpretations.

[@crabbe8819]

It seems artists need to be older to really wrap their artistic selves around this work. This performance is proof-nuanced, colour, full of pathos, a little regret--absolutely wonderful. I was at this performance, it was magical.

[@oliverkubiak6310]

Barely anyone is so slow in No. 1. I freakin love it. His articulation might not be one of a native speaker but his phrasing his artful expression, his musicianship.... Outstanding. What a voice! No one is singing this the way this old gentleman used to.

[@LaRush62]

I saw Vickers perform this in L.A. (I also saw his Peter Grimes and Das Lied Von Der Erde) and it was magical. He is and always will be my favorite tenor. He always knows how and what to do make every moment the most beautiful, exciting or heartbreaking, always serving the music and poet. His Grimes is the greatest performance I've ever seen by anyone.

[@angeladimario7007]

Che esperienza penso indimenticabile vederlo e ascoltarlo dal vivo! La invidio Mister Rush! Anche per me Jon Vickers è e sarà sempre un Artista unico, irraggiungibile...a volte sconvolgente nelle sue inimitabili interpretazioni..tra i più grandi di tutti i tempi.. Saluti..

[@accendiilcervello8612]

I absolutely agree with you. He always will be my favorite tenor

[@leonardogiacobbe5422]

Una bellezza commovente.Un canto nobilissimo e vario,che riesce,come per miracolo,ad esprimere l'inesprimibile.VICKERS ARTISTA ASSOLUTO.

[@ezequielstepanenko3229]

There is a studio recording of this, I've never knew there was a live recording, what a precious discovery!

[@LvJols]

Excelente. Buenísimo. Gracias alesscort.

[@rich38300]

a very distinctive voice, easy to recognize

[@richardzuelch375]

Recorded live in Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Canada on Sunday, October 2, 1983, less than a month before Vickers' 57th birthday (October 29th). He retired five years later, in 1988.

[@mk5244]

....his unique voice will be remembered for all times. I saw him as Otello in Covent Garden, outstanding. Even as non native speaker JV convinces in „die Winterreise“ through his interpretation. So called Star-Tenors ought to listen. And current audiences for very useful comparisons. Mi piace moltissimo

[@weidingerc5203]

He was opera's only true "Method" actor. He sang incredibly well with solid technique - but on his own terms. Vocalism was not his prime consideration. It was dramatic truth he sought - and found. Indeed, other performances by great vocalists DO seem dramatically superficial in comparison to his interpretations of just about anything. His physical presence and charismatic power on-stage were genuinely awesome - even frightening. I was "his niece" in Peter Grimes and he held me under one arm like a sack of potatoes as he power-housed this role - which for me, he really "discovered" and gave to the opera dramatic validity. Anyhow, he scared the hell out of me. It was like being too close to an atomic explosion! For sure, we will never see or hear his likes again. I am so glad I got to witness his performances and even to share the stage with this giant of an artist.

[@OscarLevant1]

He was HARDLY a method actor!!! He was a MANNERED singer and actor. By acting standards he fell well below his job. I coach accents and voice with some first rate actors here who have won a lot of serious awards, Golden Globes, Tony Awards, and I asked them all to come over one Sat. They knew something of opera but not a lot. I put on the video of Vickers' Otello and asked them to judge his acting. We watched the whole fourth act. When it was over they sat with grins on their faces, shaking their heads, and then finally they said in agreement, "There was not a word of truth in it!" I saw Vickers on stage many times. He contented himself with striding about the stage with grand gestures and generalized representations. This was HARDLY Method acting. For that, look to Chaliapin who was the basis of Stanislavsky's Method. The one role he rose to believable status was Peter Grimes, but he could not carry that depth of identification with any other of his roles.

[@siukola1]

Joseph Shore was this written by the baritone Joseph Shore?

[@OscarLevant1]

YES

[@michaelfuting2403]

You are so right with all what you said, because performing art is to make it to your own deep truth. Otherwise it is like sport...

[@pauldoniger1065]

I am a classically trained actor, taught acting for many years, directed many productions of plays and musicals. I have seen and heard Mr. Vickers perform several and I can assure you that he was honest, truthful, skilled, and spot on in his characterizations every time. Attending one of his performances was an epiphany.

[@monsieurpasquindupre4712]

¡Que novedoso me resulta escuchar a un tenor tan heroico, con una bella linea de canto para ópera, cantar lieder!

[@ralphoperaphile]

The main problem here is nothing to do with Vickers' mesmerising performance but the constant, inconsiderate hacking from the audience, Some of the comments below accusing Vickers of being too slow and "mannered" are ridiculous - there was never a more sincere artist and the beauty of both his vocalisation and his inflection of text is all the more tellingly revealed because of the those tempi. His vocal range is superb - from pianissimo falsetto to a true Heldentenor opening up - but I would still recommend over this the Warner "In memoriam" recital of "Winterreise" which is obviously free of coughing and four minutes faster.

[@sgnmath1234]

Recorded for EMI the same year. Not the easiest recording to find, however, but it's out there.

[@maximeduche8518]

RIP monsieur Vickers

[@sgnmath1234]

Since the sound appeared to be professionally recorded I wonder if it was video taped!!

[@peterschaaf1398]

It was not videotaped, but was a live coast-to-coast broadcast on CBC radio.

[@Apprendreleviolonatoutage]

A écouter en regardant les photos du livre de Valérie Simonnet Voyageuse d’hiver

[@grantc.7838]

Is he singing gute Nacht in c minor?

[@peterschaaf1398]

Yes.

[@westlin6568]

It’s a pity he sings the hole cycle in baryton key. Sounds very odd.

[@gileschance952]

Wonderful voice, but too slow imo.

[@lucapostorini7598]

Why does he take it all so slowly? He had the technique to do the cycle better.

[@coloraturaElise]

So faster is better? Faster is easier, certainly.

[@AlexanderArsov]

Strange performance indeed. Some interesting phrasing here and here, some interesting colouring of certain words. But overall disappointing. This glacial tempo cannot but harm the music. I thought this was an invention of Ian Bostridge, but I now see, and hear, that Vickers was there first.

[@OscarLevant1]

Mannered singing. I hear no truth here. He is illustrating a preconceived idea. Illustration is not acting and it is not interpretation!

[@oliverkubiak6310]

ach shut up!

[@ezequielstepanenko3229]

You have way too much free time

[@632ash]

You have no idea.......

[@coloraturaElise]

So he should be "acting" when he sings lieder, as though he was performing a role on an opera stage?

[@OscarLevant1]

@@coloraturaElise yes and no. Inner character the same, outer acting may be fore confined.