John McCormack sings 'Salut, demeure, chaste et pure," from Gounod's Faust. 1910 (In Italian)
Вставка
- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- The great Irish tenor lends his beautiful voice and immaculate diction to this classic tenor aria. Many tenors rely on devices of one kind or another to navigate the tessiture of this aria, especially the exposed high C, which has been the death, on stage, of many a tenor. These tricks include a barely noticeable modulation in chord progression in the early part of the aria, or the use of a reasonably substantial head voice. McCormack simply sings the aria transposed one half tone down. It is still a lovely piece of singing, even if the transposition throughout the piece can lead to a certain sleepy kind of tenderness of which Gounod would probably have disapproved. He would, I suspect, simply have recommended taking the C in head voice, which was the tradition in France at that time. Techniques aside, McCormack sings it beautifully, which is all the audience then or now would really care about.
YOU CAN FOLLOW MY BLOG AT:
GREATOPERASINGERS.BLOGSPOT.COM
McCormack is a synonym for magic. His voice is clean; it rings; it is produced with effortless grace. Just sit back and enjoy this magnificent artist.
@EdmundStAustell I love the story of McCormack greeting his idol, Caruso, in the hotel lobby in which they were both staying, one morning. 'Hello, Enrico' said John, '& how is the world's greatest tenor this morning?' - To which Caruso instantly replied with a humility that only inhabits the prodigiously gifted; 'And since when, John, did you become a baritone?' - Two great singers, whose ability to move & empathise obviously sprang from big & humble souls.
voce divina !
Meraviglioso !
Splendido !
Sublime !
I knew of John McCormack from his albums of Irish music. Didn't know he sang opera until much later.
I like John McCormck's version of this aria. I do like the French language, so I would have preferred this in the original, but one soon forgets all that when you listen to the beauty of McCormack's voice and his lovely phrasing.
Hermosa voz!!!
Buenas noches
gracias!!🌿
Thank YOU, my friend! It's one of my favorites too. McCormack never ceases to amaze; he was such a wonderful tenor!
DIVINE.
Quanta felicità... Great voice!
Stupendo
Divine, magnific!!!! John McCormack!!!!, mercí Edmund!!!!
Sheer artistry - way beyond our current big name singers.
Un giusto riconoscimentoalla terra D'Irlanda:tenore dalla bella voce e dalla ottima tecnica belcantistica.Sappiate,purtroppo,che nella sua terra non ho trovato un solo disco da lui inciso!
Nul n'est prophète en son pays .soltanto che magnifico tenore della scuola bel cantista.bravissimo.
Yes, it is excellent. He was a first class tenor, in all the standard tenor genres, and many sing it in Italian, so that's a non issue, really. He's a great tenor, plain and simple! Thanks for the comment!
Great singing is all about artistry and getting the message across. Schipa traveled throughout the world with a trunk-full of transposed arias; is there anyone who questions his place among the great singers of the twentieth century?
Puccini wrote the transposition for "Che gelida manina" for Caruso himself. It was done all the time then. In addition, every country performed opera in their native language. I remember Pilar Lorengar, whose opera house was Munich, and who sang Mistress Ford in German and the rest of the cast sang it in Italian at the Met in the 1960s. she since then relearned her roles as she became international. Jess Thomas also sang a performance of Radames in German when he sang it at the Met and eventually relearned it in Italian.
Ausgezeichnet, tolles Timbre, gefällt mir.
McCormacks voice wasn't that big but he had the art of bel canto firmly in his pocket. Caruso was bigger, robust, even macho in today's vocab.but not the subtlety of this man. You can have one but not both. Bjorling gets close to these two qualities.
I totally support the adulation expressed these postings. Strangely, no-one comments on the fact that he is singing in Italian!
Nice Explanation & so true-about giving the Audience a rapturous presentation.
What struck me here, was that it was-Sung in Italian. Would that have fried Gounod's bird??
In Italian and a half-step down, still magnificent and unapproachable by anyone today. The high B is stunning in the best way, and McCormack had a superb downrange, a huge necessity for this aria especially when transposed down and indeed for the entire role.
dayum, I know this is off topic, but he was a heartthrobe when he was younger XD
Bonci was adjudicator at a singing competition that McCormack entered as a young man He turned to the panel after hearing him and said -Signori abbiano finalmente trovato il tenore! !!
FANTASTISCH
excelso............................
Lovely singing and an impeccable legato. As for transposition, well, they all do it. Why not. Why should the performance hang on one note.
Thank you. Yes, that is interesting. I guess we have got used to the idea that these great operatic airs need to be sung in Italian or French, primarily in Italian. Opera and the Italian language are just a natural couple, I suppose, at least in the English speaking countries. No one would ever sing them in English, although the Europeans will often translate them into the local language. Opera is still an exotic plant in America and other English-speaking countries, it seems.
I sang two operas in English 60 years ago, chorus of course. Rare, but it is done.
Yes, I’ve heard opera in English but it is harder to understand the words. In Italian it’s easy and the language itself is musical. I love the English language but it doesn’t lend itself well to music or, I mean, to the listener’s understanding of the words-though it works fine in show tunes. Also the translations can vary-a chore for the performer-while the original libretto stays the same.
However, John's rendition ,in English, of Wagner's Master singer is sublime!! W.H.
wow . he did it - singing Salut demeure in Italian makes you give the high C with the sound of Italian U, which together with the Italian I are feared by many singers (have anybody hear a soprano singign the I in "sempre lieta nel ritovi" - they sing "nel ritrovi ah ahhhh" or "nel ritoO vi" ----- Sounds bizarre to my ears hearig this not in the original French- "Che a me riveli la fanCIUla che al guardo mio si cela" vs. "ou se devine la preSENce d'un âme innocente et divine" greetings from Lima, Peru. (Aug 9, 2015)
McCormack did not make a sexy sound, like Thill or Di Stefano, but he sings this lovely cavatina with such rapt tenderness and silken-smooth phrasing that he certainly seduces me.
Gounod would have loved his Mozartian elegance and subtle rubato.
What a shame - he has a beautiful technical voice but he doesn't act! He sings as if he's bored! Terrible performance by him, sadly.
you are an idiot.
Have yet to read a positive comment from you.you are always putting singers down unless they are your favourites.mc cormack sings this wonderfully and every post bar yours agrees.