Robert Merrill & James McCracken - Sì, pel ciel [Otello] - 1964

Yes, by god!
See Merrill's performance of the Credo here:
• Robert Merrill - Credo...
.....................................
This channel is primarily about vocal emission-aural examples of basically correct singing, correct impostazione-chiaroscuro, vowel clarity, firm and centered pitch, correct vibrato action, absence of throatiness or thickness, sounds free from constriction and from the acoustic noise that accompanies it-with occasional video examples that demonstrate what the body, face, mouth, jaw, and tongue look like when used with correct impostazione-the vocal emission of the one and only Italian school.
Caveat: I'm biased in favor of baritones and baritone literature, but if you want to learn about and listen to all the greatest singers in the old-school tradition, explore this spreadsheet (voice parts are separated by tabs): bit.ly/2W4qmE3

[@user-il5oq5df6l]

Great singing by McCracken and Merrill.

[@johnhoie1]

I saw McCracken and Milnes in this opera in 1972, back when the Met toured. Marvelous!

[@stevevandien310]

Hard to believe now that variety programs on network TV once included opera

[@ronaldgoff7499]

remember voice of firestone in 50s great

[@xxsaruman82xx87]

And great opera at that.

[@oliverdelica2289]

@@xxsaruman82xx87 yeah what do have now? Yusif Eyvazov butchering Turandot? 🤣🤣

[@xxsaruman82xx87]

@@oliverdelica2289 Sad but very true...

[@oliverdelica2289]

@@xxsaruman82xx87 he's so bad that he doesn't have a wikipedia page. His info can be found in his website where he calls himself a "dramatic" tenor. 🤮

[@tenore8]

To think this was a television broadcast. Now we have Real Housewives of wherever... Bravi Uomi.

[@mona1017]

tenore8 the sung soap opera

[@delosreyesgavikanes]

I saw his first Othelloat the old MET 1963-64 with Merril and Gabriela Tucci. Then I was very impressed by his acting and intensitive; but a few years before hearing Del Monaco in La Habana in the same role, waa a complete different experience for a 25 years old student,

[@jmccracken1963]

And then, a little more than 10 years after seeing that "Otello" at the old Met, you made YOUR debut at the new Met - as Chevalier des Grieux in "Manon Lescaut."

[@tenorschofield]

Marvelous both artists!!!a deluxe cast McCracken and Merrill....BRAVISSIMOS!!

[@SleepDisorderedBreathing]

WOAH!!! First time listening to a young McCracken WOW!

[@tenorschofield]

MARVELOUS!!!

[@corneliuswhite5139]

Wow!!

[@tenorschofield]

MARVELOUS BOTH!!! BRAVISSIME!!!

[@giuseppedimarco8358]

Great! Thanks!

[@AHalfBaritone]

Merrill is always impressive with that voice. Here, McCracken is particularly affecting in this dramatic passage. He has a real intensity with his characterisation that's hard to top. It must have been exciting in the theatre....?

[@photo161]

Yes, I assure you. McCracken was incredibly committed to this emotionally extravagant role. He truly tore the place apart

[@keithswanson5750]

I did see him sing this role in the spring of 1967 in Minneapolis. I had just turned 16 years of age. Even from my seat high in the balcony, his voice had a clarion quality. Unforgettable performance.!

[@davidandeileenwall1641]

It was very,very exciting in the theatre !!! Covent Garden 1964 , McCracken and Gobbi.

[@photo161]

Though far from young at the time of his sudden death McCracken was singing magnificently, never better...a terrible loss.

[@edwardamosbrandwein3583]

True! Such a great yet somewhat underrated tenor! Way better than Domingo!

[@photo161]

@@edwardamosbrandwein3583... Domingo had no right to walk on the same stage as McCracken.

[@edwardamosbrandwein3583]

@@photo161 You couldn't have said it better!

[@photo161]

@@edwardamosbrandwein3583 OMG Yes!

[@tenore8]

I could never warm up to McCracken.

[@Agorante]

His acting seems a little over the top with all these close ups. But it looks just fine from the upper balconies. There were three fat tenors in this time frame. Botha, Pavarotti, and McCracken. Botha - the fattest. Pavarotti - the best vocalist. The best on a live stage in a real opera - McCracken. Biggest voice too.

[@williammountfield8508]

Those three were slightly different periods.

[@labienus9968]

You have your time frame confused. Yes Pav and McCracken overlapped-but Botha is much later. Never thought of McCraken as fat-big chest, solid-but not obese like the other two In terms of vocal size Pav was a lyric

[@peterbogyo6693]

Thrilling. Thank you. This was from the Firestone broadcast, yes?

[@yaelpalombo4093]

👏👏❣️

[@luissuccar]

questo da siccuro fu un cattivo giorno per McCraken ( qualche malatia corporale puo facere dal male alla voce ) , il tremore da sua voce e insoportabile , ma si ascoltassimo questa registrazione in parangone con altri tenori come Cura , Domingo , Kaufmann . Craken ci parvera superbo acanto loro .

[@robertklopper7108]

Geil!

[@uppityglivestockian]

I've liked this video for its historical value and contribution to the body of art called opera around the world. While I keep giving McCracken a chance to win me over in this role, so far, no go. Merrill, a tremendous baritone with great acting chops, is fun to watch work. Now that Placido Domingo has stopped performing Otello, there is now plenty of room for someone to come along and make us compare them to him with hopeful excitement and encouraging terms. Of the other major tenors in the past 20 years to date? I am not yet optimistic.

[@dubbelhenke854]

McCracken is anything but subtle, while Merrill is a glorious singer. Merrill has always great taste but unfortunately McCracken makes me squirm…..

[@xxsaruman82xx87]

McCracken was 50 times the Otello Domingo ever was. And Del Monaco is the best Otello.

[@alanhowe1455]

Merrill was the better vocalist - by far. But what a performance by McCracken!

[@kimmillard9445]

I honestly think this was just a bad day for McCracken. There's a video of him singing this role in Berlin in 1987 at age 60, and he sounds VASTLY superior to the way he sounds here. He sounds very constricted and strained in this duet here, but in the 1987 video, you hear a vibrant ringing top combined with superb phrasing.

[@johnwerner7142]

He wasn't ready for this role at this point in his career.

[@edwardamosbrandwein3583]

@@johnwerner7142 He'd been singing "OTELLO" since 1960, which means he was already familiar with the role. Of course his interpretation, both vocally and dramatically, matured as his career progressed. But to say that "he was not ready for this role at that time??"

[@edwardamosbrandwein3583]

@@MaxdeSantana It may not have been the most beautiful one, I agree. But neither was Jon Vickers's

[@edwardamosbrandwein3583]

@@MaxdeSantana But both were great performers, vocal flaws notwithstanding

[@giuseppestefano6278]

我也能唱

[@alfredbernasek3912]

ZWEI AUSNAHME SÄNGER

[@mrantiquedealer]

THIS is an Otello voice!

[@cliffgaither]

In the operas that I heard McCracken, I didn't like his voice & thereafter, I just ignored him. Then I heard him sing Le Prophete w / Horne & Scotto. I really changed my mind. And ... tonight ( August 5, 2022 ) ; 2:30am ... I'm hearing him sing this great scene ! I've never heard ANY Tenor sing this role w / such an incredibly clear upper-voice. His voice is pristine ... beautiful ... powerful ... expressive ... this character really can be a turn-off ... McCracken gives him such Humanity ... his performance is the only one that has made me feel any empathy for this character. ( His _O Dio's_ were heartbreaking. ) God ! Thank you ! Trrill ! I have missed a lot of this great singer's voice !

[@stevevandien310]

As the great critic Conrad L. Osborne has said, we used to have this thing called makeup. Otello (also Shalespeare's "Othello") is dark-skinned. Therefore Caucasians, to play the role, had to wear dark makeup. This, for heaven's sake, is not the same as blackfsce.

[@kyleaustin7045]

@Jordan Reynolds Blackface would be more exaggerating, in order to degrade a person of color. In blackface, lips would be thick and red, skin would be really dark, etc. Make up is not the same. Just google and see for yourself.

[@kyleaustin7045]

@Jordan Reynolds Comparing movie and opera is wrong. Movie requires one to portray a character using everything, appearance included. Opera requires one to portray a character using voices. And voices come first. Everything else doesn't really matter, as long as they are appropriate. By your logic, MDM's legacy should be dismissed, as his Otello is "blackface", per your definition. So should be Callas' (Ethiopian princess Aida), Corelli's (Calaf), and other great singers. The color doesn't matter. What matter is the voice. We don't dismiss a singer just because their appearance doesn't fit the score.

[@kyleaustin7045]

No, I shouldn't be sitting here and debating the obvious with you, which is the fact that opera is about voice. Everything else is just a frame. You didn't counter a single point in my comment. Your arguments seem irrelevant. So my question stands: should we dismiss the legacy of great singers because they weren't appropriate for the character they portray on stage visually? Also, the production never calls for someone black or white or anything. They call for someone who can handle the music. If a singer can handle it, terrific. The color of their skin doesn't matter. Actually, let's reverse this a bit. Take Leontyne Price. Should she be banned from performing Il Trovatore, La Forza del destino because she wasn't white? After all, the heroines are white. Obviously no. She had the voice. And that's all. Also, I won't deny the racial tension and inequality in the U.S in every major area, opera included. To deny it would be stupid. But make up isn't blackface. It's simply a frame, nothing more. What matters is if the singers have the voice.

[@kyleaustin7045]

@Jordan Reynolds I would like to make another point. When I said "black makeup" was fine, I meant the makeup seen here with McCraken. I very much condemned the makeup that is obviously blackface and racist (Aldo Protti's makeup in his Tokyo Aida). Still, I firmly believe that in opera, voices come first, so this kind of makeup should be acceptable. In cinema, I stand against this kind of makeup. Again, I'll reiterate that I'm very much aware of the racial tension and I hope that I did not cause any offenses or being insensitive. If I did, I would like to offer my sincere apology.

[@xxsaruman82xx87]

@@kyleaustin7045 No. None of this is fine, blackface or not. Opera is about VOICE. You said it yourself. Therefore is no need for makeup.

[@petergraham8681]

Merrill had without question a fabulous instrument but in roles like this & Scarpia, which he seldom performed, he could really be dramatically embarrassing. All he needs here is a mustache to complete the picture but on two studio recordings he had more success in his characterizations as Ford in FALSTAFF & especially Michele in IL TABARRO. In the latter role he may still be the best vocally on studio recordings as well as showing some subtlety in his characterization.

[@kyleaustin7045]

Merrill is amazing, as always. They could have used a better tenor though. Someone with great acting and great voice. Someone with a history of appearing in television like this. Yes, I'm referring to Franco Corelli.

[@trudischleifer7245]

Yes, he would have been great. He' did the love duet with Teresa Zylas-Gara for a Met gala when he was 50 or 51 and he was phenomenal. (It's on KZbin.)

[@xxsaruman82xx87]

McCracken had a great voice!

[@operalover3966]

McCracken is constricted

[@trrill]

Indeed; I uploaded this video in order to feature Merrill :)

[@operalover3966]

@@trrill Merrill is amazing thanks!

[@dubbelhenke854]

Merrill has one of the most beautiful of all baritone voices.

[@ronaldgoff7499]

mccraken never my favorite copare del manoco but merrill great

[@johnwerner7142]

That did not go well for McCracken...probably not something he should have been singing at that point of his career.

[@user-py1jg6bb2r]

you mean too old at that year? No supporting info,

[@tenoroyal]

Cracken by name, Cracken by voice! What torture to listen to this scream!! Torturing the listener and worse his poor cords!!! This is no del Monaco. Merrill is superb - the one bright spot in the darkness...

[@xxsaruman82xx87]

McCracken is great?

[@tenoroyal]

XxSaruman82xX is your question rhetorical?

[@brblum]

Merrill missed his entrance and left McCracken to bellow his cries of "Sangue" hy himself. Awkward. Great afterwards. Cheers!