Peter Grimes - Jon Vickers
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- Опубліковано 6 чер 2009
- Act 3, scene 2 of Peter Grimes, with Jon Vickers in the title role. This 1981 Covent Garden Production also features Heather Harper as Ellen Orford and Norman Bailey as Balstrode. The Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, are conducted by Sir Colin Davis.
Fabulous singing actor. Best dramatic tenor of his era. English diction the best one can hear in opera. Bravo, Mr. Vickers! RIP
I had the good fortune of seeing Vickers sing this twice - once in 1977 and again in 1984. I still have gooseflesh. Most shattering experience in my nearly 60 years of opera going.
Yes. Yes.
Truly the GOAT in this role (and most of the others he performed).
My God.... 3 years without a comment.... JV's performance was the greatest opera/singer/actor performance ever.... I'm too emotional.... get back with more comments...
Your open mouth is a black hole, your questions are ours, your "strange" voice is our voice. You're a true artist, mr. Vickers, if the word "art" can be still used in this deaf world.
Vickers, an incredible voice and a great actor.
An unforgettable performance from the greatest voice of the 20th century. RIP Mr Vickers
Rest in Peace Mr. Vickers... one of Canada's greatest gifts to the world of opera.
You have no idea of the impact that Mr. Vickers made in this scene when experienced in the the theater. Spellbinding/hypnotic/breathtaking/riveting = ALL OF THE ABOVE!!!!
Paolo Ferraro At the moment a similar or even more devastating effect has José Cura in Bonn/ Germany. Absolutely fantastic. Normally I dont watch a performance more than once, but his performance is so incredible that I watched it several times and everytime especially at this scene the complete audience is like under shock.
I think I have an idea, because every time I watch this, I completely break down, out of control, and it's only a video. Thank God for technology!
He was devastating!
sobbing. I want to see all of it. Heartbreaking and incredible performance
Saw him sing this live at the Garden back in the 80s. Phenomenal! I had never seen this opera before at the time and when the apprentice fell from the ladder I nearly died with him....Vickers was intense, powerfully moving in this superb production. But this monologue is SOOOOO difficult - almost completely a capella - and requiring superlative acting as well. And superb singing from the chorus also, I might add.
An extraordinary artist. Sui generis.
I saw and heard Vickers in person twice, as Florestan and Parsifal, both at Chicago Lyric and each unforgettable. But my goodness, how I wish I could have done the same for his Otello, Grimes, Tristan, Samson --
His performance of this did and continues this day to undo me. I find that even my breathing in sync with his singing when listening to this. You can count his peers on one hand.
Probably the most exciting tenor I have ever heard, and I believe his performances with Colin Davis, even more than Britten and Pears established Peter Grimes as on of the all-time great operas.
SO kann man nur singen, wenn man genau denkt und fühlt, worum es in jeder Sekunde geht. So ergeben sich die Farben & Ausdrucksnuancen. Großartig!
I'll never forget the evening I spent at the Met, my first experience of GRIMES...and especially THIS scene, with Vickers. What genius! And what genius of Britten, to conceive this scene as essentially unaccompanied, but for the recurring fog-horn, and the distant chorus. And how dangerous, but thrilling, when after long unaccompanied and emotional meanderings, the pitch of Grimes and the pitch of the fog-horn unite perfectly. That is dramatic genius at work, both compositionally and in performance. It set a standard that is sometimes matched but never bettered.
Andrew Rudin I also saw Vickers do this at the MET in 1983. And in this scene, all the lights were out in opera house, even in the orchestra pit, except for one from the conductor's stand and two left and right offstage lights showing only Vickers and nothing else. The MET audience was completely silent during this quasi acapella passage as we were smitten and helpless under Vickers' amazing performance of a broken man. Seeing that changed my life. Thank you O' great force of nature! R.I.P. Jon Vickers.
Andrew Rudin Just curious- who else matched the "standard"?
Labienus Ben Heppner was close, but not quite there as Vickers was. Ironically, Britten was said not to have agreed with Vickers' interpretation. But Britten knew that most people disagreed with him.
CFC123 I misunderstood and thought you were talking generally, and not just about Grimes. I didn't see Heppner in Grimes-in fact, it must be a lot like people who saw Chaliapin in Boris, it became impossible to see anyone else in it-as it almost is for me with Grimes.
I liked Heppner, and saw him in a few other roles-but in the ones that both of them did-Fidelio, Aeneas, Parsifal, he was fine enough, but no Vickers. Also, his assuming Tristan was a big mistake, and not right for his voice.
I thought you were speaking of the standard, and type of performer Vickers was. The only other performer I've experienced who had that almost shamanistic quality, who you felt the voice and artistry served some deeper communication, who seemed to be a vehicle for forces beyond them was, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson.
Oh, Britten hated Vickers' Grimes-but he apparently didn't understand how great his own work is.
@@MrCC379 He may not have agreed with the interpretation, but he could not deny the effect it had on us, the TRUTH of Vickers' performance.
. I heard him in some of his best roles, including Grimes, and in recital,-but I should have pushed myself to have seen him more-it was always such an intense, remarkable experience.
He had enough trouble with the way the world was tending in his time, maybe he was lucky in a way to have been no longer aware where it's gone. Certainly the state of opera today, the dearth of great artists, the ludicrous tyranny of modern opera productions would have brought him to a state of rage. But then again if we had a large talent like his, maybe he could have forced changes.
The announcement, expected, but still a shock, for an artist that has meant so much to me-the great Jon Vickers.
I have both Otello and Fidelio with Vickers - both wonderful performances with his distinctive voice and interpretations. One of those rare singers who acts with his voice. Have just listened to this Grimes excerpt - and ordered the CD.
This is for the people who still believe that singers are not actors, and that they only run in the front of the stage to scream with one hand on the heart ...
Look at that and listen.
The opposite of the park and bark crowd (Pavarotti, etc.)
@@georgesclermont1911 Pavarotti was not simple park and bark; I'm not saying he was Vickers...who was?...but he gave a lot of expression.
@@coloraturaElise He 'showed' emotions sometimes but didn't express them through his voice. I believe that he became aware of his shortcomings when he was booed out of Otello at La Scala. Afterward, he never tried the difficult roles that require using the voice for projecting emotions.
@@georgesclermont1911 I'm sorry, but your idea of 'projecting emotions' through the voice and mine are completely different, because I think he did that in every phrase. As to the La Scala incident, he was booed for cracking on a high note. Had he cracked the same high note at the MET, he would not have been booed (Domingo in Samson, anyone?). La Scala is famous for its disrespectful behavior; he had sung many, many high notes there brilliantly, as no one else could, and they boo him for one crack? It is true that singing Otello was a risk for a lyric tenor, which no one was more aware of than he, but his experience had nothing to do with not 'projecting' emotions. Had he sung carefully and cleanly (like Alfredo Kraus, for example), with less 'expression', he would probably not have cracked on a high B, but he was going for the very expression that you say he eschewed. How many times did he sing Manrico and "di quella pira" with fire and power? Many, many times. And I disagree with your contention that only "difficult roles" (roles outside your fach?) require using the voice to 'project' emotion.
@Francoise Terrone Thank you! A lot of people do believe that. They've never seen Vickers...or Ferruccio Furlanetto...or Neil Shicoff, and others who can act. I just chose the three who I've always thought were the best actors...in addition, of course, to having excellent voices.
Assolutamente strepitoso,emozionante,artisticamente ineguagliabile!! Adoro Jon Vickers in questo ruolo e in molti altri..Le sue interpretazioni sono di un'intensità drammatica sconvolgente!! Grazie davvero!
A real musician....he willed that voice into endless dynamics and colors to get what the score demanded (and then some).
Just heard this in the car. Had to pull over. Absolutely amazing..
Absolutely incredible performance
I like his Peter Grimes better than Peter Pears's. Absolutely magnificent. I'm impressed by the versatility of his voice; he could master anything from Wagnerian heroes to Italian repertoire. Rest in peace, Jon Vickers.
Have you heard him in Camen's La fleur que tu m'avais jetée? I cried....
Apparently Britten and Pears walked out during his first performance at the Garden. But then one colleague of mine who worked with both described the partnership as 'one massive ego and one genius'.
I'll always love and respect his powerful voice and presence.Till yesterday I was ignorant about him.
How did he perform this without bursting into tears. . . ? It is sublime
One way to prevent crying while singing is to practice a lot; I used to cry all the way through "Ach, ich fuhls" from Magic Flute, for the first 50 times I sang it, but was finally able to stop after that. And that was also by using another tactic, which is to think about technique and line more than what I was saying. It took a little away from my interpretation, because I couldn't feel it as much as I wanted to, but it allowed me to sing it. When you listen to Vickers here, you don't hear anything lacking in his interpretation, do you? But he has to keep a part of his brain separate from his emotions so that he can allow us, his audience, to feel it ALL, and boy, do we!
In 1978, I was in NYC with a Japanese friend. She barely spoke English, did not understand a word of Italian, had never heard of Otello.
Yet, as we watched Vickers in Otello (on TV), there was an absolutely magical moment: just after Otello has strangled Desdemona, he sings a fabulous aria ("Un bacio…encora un bacio…"). The emotional power of Vickers’ rendition of that aria was so intense, not only was my Japanese friend crying (so was I), but here’s the “killer” (!): Desdemona, lying “dead” on her bed, could not control her sobbing either.
I have been given the privilege to experience great operatic moments, but that one is right up there with the very best of them.
I saw him 3 times in the house. Floristan , Otello, and Handel's Samson.. Truly a tremendous artist.
One of the reasons GRIMES is a great role in a great opera, is that it CAN be played in a number of different ways. Heppner's been mentioned. And I was quite moved by Anthony Dean Griffey. But, I must confess that Vickers somehow exemplified Grimes' torment and inability to adjust himself to the behaviors that would have given him the goal he THINKS he wants. Whatever Britten had in mind, and that Pears might have displayed in the original staging, Vickers made him into a colossal figure of great tragic import... in a way, as tragic as WOZZECK. I've always though that Pears was ideal as Captain Vere, and as Aschenbach in Death in Venice... but I think it will be a long time before anyone makes the indelible impression as GRIMES that Vickers did.
Il miglior Peter!!! Inarrivabile
RIP Maestro Vickers.
Vickers at his greatest, no doubt! He had an uncanny knack for bringing out the pathetic as well as the heroic aspects of a character. Grimes seems tailor-made for him.
Absolutely true... he had / has no equal. And the opera is stupendous, but would we have ever known it without his interpretation?
The supreme irony is that Britten hated this interpretation. He walked out of the theater on Vickers.
Well, that's cheered me up for the year! It's interesting how differently interpretations of despair can affect the emotions. Vickers has made me cry, but I am exhilarated by the artistry. Tito Gobbi at the start of Il Tabarro actually brought back my depression, which had to be fought off for a day, and Christopher Robson working with Yvonne Pouget, frightened me half to death!
Vickers conquered the tortured soul. Vocally, musically, and dramatically he excelled with this bit. There is no better theater than what you see here that is more unique, yet is treated so elitist and unfamiliar. It needs to become like this. This is where opera should be always going.
Incredible. An astonishing performance.
Absolutely brilliant!!!
Simply stunning.
Grandissimo
Genius.
Pears' Grimes was pathetic, misunderstood, insane. Vickers was all of that and also truly menacing...
RIP
Ce rôle est terrible, pour le chanteur et pour l'auditeur. Grace à Vickers, gigantesque interprète de Grimes, la tension est limite supportable. On sort vidé de la représentation. Jamais je n'ai connu une yelle émotion à l'opéra.
Je souscris à chacun de vos mots.
Ai entendu Vickers dans ce rôle à Paris et à Londres.
La salle entière comme suspendue au souffle du chanteur, comme empêchée de respirer normalement, tous autour de moi pleurant à la fin...
Art of the highest order.
✨
so singt ein wahrer ernst zu nehmender tenor eine rolle in einem gesamtkunstwerk
I was fortunate enough to hear both Pears and Vickers as Grimes at Covent Garden - all other pale in comparison.
Bernstein obviously had this scene in mind when he was writing 'things get broken' from his Mass.
Vickers for me is one of the best Grimes but Langridge nails it in this scene with his unhingedness.
Why is the music cut off at the end!!?? :----(
Towards the end of his career, Mr Vickers toyed with the idea of portraying Grimes as a black man in a white fishing village. He believed the opera revealed the universal tragedy of rejection and unrequited love. Would have been extraordinary.
Er singt dramatisch.
Britten disliked Vicker’s Grimes very much, both in his conception of the part and the fact that he apparently did not always sing the notes that Britten wrote. Minority opinion I would say.
Not sure I agree. JV sang the notes precisely as written. Britten wrote the opera for a particular purpose, and was successful in that endeavour (in 1948). JV, and the producers/directors of the 1967 met revival, envisaged a much bigger message of the opera (a revelation of rejection and unrequited love in general). As a well known Christian, JV took the heat for Britten walking out of his performance. JV was not alone in this greater view of the opera.
Without JV, the opera would still be gathering dust in some cabinet.
Kym Anthony You sound like a much more expert critic of the matter than I am. But I am virtually sure that I read a piece once where Britten was complaining about certain liberties Vickers took with his score. He was probably irritated that Vickers’ gigantic vocal presence dominated his music. He never had to fear that from Peter Pears.
@@ransomcoates546 True that. There was also the confusion created during the revival of the opera at the Met in 1967. Tyron Guthrie, the producer, and the conductor (I forget who that was) wanted to change a few words and phrases to make it more understandable to the American audience. Everything was cleared with Britten and really had nothing to do with JV. When Britten walked out, due to many reasons but mostly the universality of the interpretation (as opposed to its original purpose) which really had to do with the entire production, including JV. Because of JV’s well known Christian beliefs, he was immediately accused of changing the words (and notes) without permission (not true!). Anyway, the opera had indeed fallen “into the drawer” until the 1967 revival. Interesting tidbit is that opening night of the 1967 production was the day of the funeral of a very close family member of JV’s-adding to the tragedy.
Gripping.