I am an old man. There was someone who came close to my heart and who flew away. She died two years ago. I never got to say these words to her. Tears wet my cheeks and my soul aches in eternal pain.
Some nights everything just comes together. A brilliant moment. Many truly great voices have sung this - Ezio Pinza! Giorgio Tozzi! - but somehow this live recording may be the best version ever.
Yes this is definitely the best version I’ve heard - in fact, BSM’s in this scene and song would be in my top 5 best recordings of a live performance from anyone, anywhere - across all genres. Sublime!
I was lucky enough to see Stokes in concert with the Houston Symphony a couple years ago. He did this song in the concert. Even after seeing the UA-cam video of it dozens of times before the concert, I was sobbing for five minutes after he finished.
I was there in Carnegie Hall that night. One of the most powerful nights in the theater I have ever seen-- this song by Brian Stokes Mitchell was, as one newspaper reviewer wrote, "shattering". He wove a spell. You could have heard a pin drop at Carnegie Hall, which was packed. Thank God they recorded that one-night show.
All these heartfelt commentaries rest upon the miracle of the original genius of Richard Rodgers profoundly simple and simply profound music, and Oscar Hammerstein incredibly compelling and deceptively simple lyrics. A song? Or an area? Does it matter?
I was fortunate to see him perform a while ago and was enthralled. He even directed a love song towards me. I melted... He's a superb performer and fabulous singer!
Sung with pathos that I have never heard before . I loved ezio pizza singing this beautiful poignant lyric by Oscar Hammerstein and music by Richard rodgers but this performance touches me to the depth of my being. Bravo.
I have been so attached to South Pacific since I was a teen. Razanno Brazzi (sp) sang it for the original movie. This performance is so passionate, so heart felt, so believable that I cry each time I hear it. What artistry.
I have recently discovered this man here on UA-cam WOW doesn’t even come close ,he has the most amazing voice and talent why haven’t we seen more of him over the pond.
Total perfection! First time I heard this version I could barely breath. Every time I revisit this singularly brilliant performance my soul is once again touched. Thank You Brian Stokes Mitchell for sharing your amazing talent xx
I've only these last few days come upon this whole concert, watching of which has been a joy. One of those times one would have liked to be in the audience. Reba was a revelation. Baldwin was ... well let's skip that one. But this gentleman was excellent throughout. And his delivery of this song ...Oh my! Utterly utterly sublime. Shivers up and down listening. As others have said, its being live adds another level. Totally wonderful.
The man wiping his eyes was John Schuck, a veteran actor whose best-known role was in McMillan and Wife, a light-hearted detective series in the 1970s. It starred Rock Hudson and Susan St James, and John Schuck played a cop.
@WinterBird I always thought that Pinza's voice had an unpleasant and prominent vibrato. Mitchell's voice is much smoother and it's a really beautiful voice.
Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote the role and music for Ezio Pinza to star in the Original Broadway Production. Ezio Pinza was a popular performer at the Metropolitan Opera at the time. He owned the part and I remember very well marveling at his rendition at the time, he fit the role and his voice was smooth and free and open, very effective and beautiful. He was famous for holding this distinction for a very long time. I also remember hearing the Carnegie Hall performance for the first time with Brian Stokes-Mitchell and being completely astounded and delighted. I was thinking to myself as Brian was singing and as I was emotionally melting under the spell that he created, "I never thought there would be a singer to unseat Enzio Pinza's ownership of this role, but I am now seeing it, and hearing it. and it is absolutely fabulous.."
It is almost incomprehensible that this is the same gentleman who played Jackpot on "Trapper John M.D." What talent. I saw him on Broadway as Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha 20 years ago. an unforgettable experience.
god I dreamed last night I was playing this song on my alto sax but the words haunted me. so I've watched Rosanno Brazzi, Pinza and others but Brian Stokes Mitchell singing live is so moving...
Brian Stokes Mitchell has one of those voices that even if he sang the alphabet song, you could cry. So beautiful, and his voice too! Oh, let’s face it. Nobody reading this comment would kick him out of their bed!
What voice, Brian Stokes Mitchell matches Ezio Pinza in tone, power and emotion note for note. I've loved his voice since the first time I heard him sing.
I did not know about that sung lead-in ("I was cheated before...") until my old high school did South Pacific. Now, the show seems incomplete without it. I'm glad revivals have added it back in.
This song reminds me so much of Janis the I met and lost in 1955 during my National Service. Thank you Brian Stokes Mitchell for singing of someone constantly in my thoughts, This is for you Janis, happy times in Edinborough
He defined that song. It's now his.
I am an old man. There was someone who came close to my heart and who flew away. She died two years ago. I never got to say these words to her. Tears wet my cheeks and my soul aches in eternal pain.
She knows.
I am so sorry. Maybe she knew. They say one heart feels the other.
You will. 🌟
God bless you and keep you and heal your broken heart
He captured the pathod of this song. It is a seminal performance his performance is haunting
One of the greatest performances ever. EVER!!!
Totally agree with you - deeply affecting, moving and impressive in every way.
He takes my breath away. He captured all the pathos of this lyric and music. This is the seminal performance of this nearly was mine.
Well said.
How I adore Brian Stokes Mitchell. He sings, and I melt.
What a powerful, perfect talent.
I just hold my breath at the ending...I lost my love after 30 years and this song just just makes me so emotional. Once nearly was mine...so close.
One of the greatest performances in the history of Musical Theater. Magnificent!
I totally agree!!!
@@JanikaRiddell Me too.
Incredible!
@@ellenmenard4677 Agree totally. Extraordinary!!
THE definitive performance of this song. Absolutely radiant!
Magnificent
Easily the best version of this song. Absolutely stunning.
Some nights everything just comes together. A brilliant moment. Many truly great voices have sung this - Ezio Pinza! Giorgio Tozzi! - but somehow this live recording may be the best version ever.
Yes this is definitely the best version I’ve heard - in fact, BSM’s in this scene and song would be in my top 5 best recordings of a live performance from anyone, anywhere - across all genres. Sublime!
This particular performance is on another level. Not sure it gets enough attention.
Genius takes you to another place. Brian Stokes Mitchell did. A performance like this transcends, and defies description. He is the consummate artist.
Well spoken.
I was lucky enough to see Stokes in concert with the Houston Symphony a couple years ago. He did this song in the concert. Even after seeing the UA-cam video of it dozens of times before the concert, I was sobbing for five minutes after he finished.
Stokes owns this song!
I am so lucky and thankful my Mom shared her love of the R&H musicals when I was growing up. 60 years later it’s as strong as ever.
Same here and it was my mother AND father who shared their love of musical theater. They both sang and my dad sounded like this.
same here!x
I was there in Carnegie Hall that night. One of the most powerful nights in the theater I have ever seen-- this song by Brian Stokes Mitchell was, as one newspaper reviewer wrote, "shattering". He wove a spell. You could have heard a pin drop at Carnegie Hall, which was packed. Thank God they recorded that one-night show.
it must have been a life-changing experience to be enveloped in true art. when all became One. I am sure the Hall was levitating.
I have the performance on DVD. At one point, Mitchell's voice is barely a whisper, but the powerful climax was indeed the highlight of the evening.
douglas lambert Where can we buy it, and what title is it under? I would love to own this!
@@SarahDuke01 ---Titled "South Pacific At Carnegie Hall," available at 1.800.PLAYPBS or online at pbs.org....
@@SarahDuke01Also on DVD from PBS, "Ring Christmas Bells," Brian Stokes Mitchell w/The Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Stokes is perfection. He just opens his mouth and this happens....
All these heartfelt commentaries rest upon the miracle of the original genius of Richard Rodgers profoundly simple and simply profound music, and Oscar Hammerstein incredibly compelling and deceptively simple lyrics. A song? Or an area? Does it matter?
And let's not forget Robert Russell Bennett's inspired orchestrations. The use of the harp is exceptional.
Even his co-stars realize they are witnessing greatness.
Well said.
I still weep when you sing this. Many thanks.
I was fortunate to see him perform a while ago and was enthralled. He even directed a love song towards me. I melted... He's a superb performer and fabulous singer!
A perfect performance. I also return to this over and over, and never fail to be inspired by the artistry, and heart felt emotion this illicits.
Totally! And ditto.
Chills and tears! What more can I say?
Same here!!
Have been viewing this everyday for weeks now. It’s so exceptional!
Perfection! How wonderful that performance was.
Without compare. Simply the best of the best of the best.
Sublime! Simply perfection.
Definitive. There is no topping this performance of this song.
Totally.
Definitive
It's a show stopper, that one. Well deserved applause.
The reactions of every single person on stage speak volumes about this man's artistry and greatness.
Sung with pathos that I have never heard before . I loved ezio pizza singing this beautiful poignant lyric by Oscar Hammerstein and music by Richard rodgers but this performance touches me to the depth of my being. Bravo.
Brilliant no other words.👏👏👏👏
Superb performance! Perfect, emotional, mesmerizing: he had the whole audience and even some of his fellow cast members enthralled and me as well.
Truly America's best baritone...
Dial up his rendition of "The Impossible Dream." Equally spectacular...
Gods damn it! That is how it is supposed to be done! BRAVO!!!
My husband and I just love this! This guy really delivers! Have watched this dozens of times!
I have been so attached to South Pacific since I was a teen. Razanno Brazzi (sp) sang it for the original movie. This performance is so passionate, so heart felt, so believable that I cry each time I hear it. What artistry.
Omigosh, I hate to tell you this, but Brazzi’s songs were dubbed by a great operatic bass named Giorgio Tozzi.
@@MasonBarge Tozzi's voice is terrific, but I wish they hadn't cut the bridge out of this song.
The best ever rendition of this awesome song -- just wonderful, heartfelt and utterly brilliant!
Talk about stopping the show...absolutely amazing!
He brought the house down.
Completely agree with Gregg Anderson - one of the greatest performances in the history of Musical Theater. Magnificent is almost an insufficient word!
Love to hear him sing...”Ol man river”
this is so deeply moving, so incredibly beautiful. So perfectly given to us. thank you Mr. Mitchell for showing us what this song truly is. Thank you.
This performance is PARADISE !!! Oh, Stokes, thank you forever, for pouring out your heart to us fans!
Magnificent!!!!!
Speechless.
I have recently discovered this man here on UA-cam WOW doesn’t even come close ,he has the most amazing voice and talent why haven’t we seen more of him over the pond.
O GOD , THANK YOU FOR MUSIC
Total perfection! First time I heard this
version I could barely breath. Every time I revisit this singularly brilliant performance my soul is once again touched. Thank You Brian Stokes Mitchell for sharing your amazing talent xx
A real voice. A real performance. Magnificent.
The standard to which no one may possibly compare!
I've only these last few days come upon this whole concert, watching of which has been a joy. One of those times one would have liked to be in the audience. Reba was a revelation. Baldwin was ... well let's skip that one. But this gentleman was excellent throughout. And his delivery of this song ...Oh my! Utterly utterly sublime. Shivers up and down listening. As others have said, its being live adds another level. Totally wonderful.
Sublime You can see the orchrstra conductor wiping back tears.Thanks for sharing
Where is that....can't see. The man sitting down behind him with glasses wiped his eyes too.
I thought the man wiping his glasses was the orchestra leader.Apologies for my mistake.
The man wiping his eyes was John Schuck, a veteran actor whose best-known role was in McMillan and Wife, a light-hearted detective series in the 1970s. It starred Rock Hudson and Susan St James, and John Schuck played a cop.
I have not heard this man sing before I found this,what a voice!
It's so movings it brings me to tears, a marvelous interpretation, emotional and vocally very powerful. Perfect.
Incredible, what else can you say.
What a voice!
I was raised on Ezio Pinza, but this moving song belongs to Brian Stokes Mitchell now!
I prefer the version by Giorgio Tozzi.
@WinterBird I always thought that Pinza's voice had an unpleasant and prominent vibrato. Mitchell's voice is much smoother and it's a really beautiful voice.
Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote the role and music for Ezio Pinza to star in the Original Broadway Production. Ezio Pinza was a popular performer at the Metropolitan Opera at the time. He owned the part and I remember very well marveling at his rendition at the time, he fit the role and his voice was smooth and free and open, very effective and beautiful. He was famous for holding this distinction for a very long time. I also remember hearing the Carnegie Hall performance for the first time with Brian Stokes-Mitchell and being completely astounded and delighted. I was thinking to myself as Brian was singing and as I was emotionally melting under the spell that he created, "I never thought there would be a singer to unseat Enzio Pinza's ownership of this role, but I am now seeing it, and hearing it. and it is absolutely fabulous.."
@@smudger671 That one's good, too. Bryn Terfel's rendition is another favorite of mine.
One of the best new singers on the scene. He has an absolutely beautiful
voice.
@@douglaslambert3133Cam Winston
It is almost incomprehensible that this is the same gentleman who played Jackpot on "Trapper John M.D." What talent. I saw him on Broadway as Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha 20 years ago. an unforgettable experience.
Such a beautiful song. Bravo!
What an absolutely glorious voice, wonderful.
It gives me goosebumps. What a truly wonderful performance. Takes me back to my highschool days playing in the orchestra for South Pacific. Thank you.
Is he a bass-baritone? A baritone? A lyric baritone? High, low, mezza voce, falsetto- he does it all!!!
This performance has made me love this song.
This is extraordinary. Brian Stokes Mitchell is incredible. Love this recording.
Just fantastic, beautiful voice, beautiful song.
Breath taking. Such a passionate song.
Credit the musical genius of the late Rodgers & Hammerstein, as well. But Mitchell is ASTOUNDING.
Exquisite. I love you, Brian! So thrilled that you have recovered from your battle with Covid. And beyond happy for you and your family!!😍😘
Wow!! Christ!! He leaves the movie sound track for dead!! Rivetting.
With the enthusiasm of the audience, I would have thought they'd all be standing... (They should have been!)
I agree.
Yes!! I thought(and I’m sure many people) the same thing!! I wonder why they didn’t stand. But there was thunderous applause!!
Near perfection, both the song and the rendition,
Hmm, actually..perfection.
I’ve rarely seen or heard this, that I don’t cry...amazing performance. Incredible.
Amazing!!!!
god I dreamed last night I was playing this song on my alto sax but the words haunted me. so I've watched Rosanno Brazzi, Pinza and others but Brian Stokes Mitchell singing live is so moving...
He really took the words to heart!
a performance worthy of God's attendance !!!
Brian Stokes Mitchell has one of those voices that even if he sang the alphabet song, you could cry. So beautiful, and his voice too!
Oh, let’s face it. Nobody reading this comment would kick him out of their bed!
Bravo!! AMAAAAZZZZZING!!!!!
I had seen Brian Stokes Mitchell on television but I had no idea he had such a magnificent voice! I am chills from head to toe, it was stunning!!
Tears every time I hear this tour de force performance. Bravo! 👏🏻
What voice, Brian Stokes Mitchell matches Ezio Pinza in tone, power and emotion note for note. I've loved his voice since the first time I heard him sing.
There may be a greater performance of this number somewhere, but is hard to imagine! Just impeccable!
I did not know about that sung lead-in ("I was cheated before...") until my old high school did South Pacific. Now, the show seems incomplete without it. I'm glad revivals have added it back in.
This song reminds me so much of Janis the I met and lost in 1955 during my National Service. Thank you Brian Stokes Mitchell for singing of someone constantly in my thoughts, This is for you Janis, happy times in Edinborough
...with love for Janis.
My heavens! First time I have heard this. Wonderfully done. How it must have sounded in that hall!
Bravo!!!!!
A tribute to the Greatest Generation.
Unbelievably gorgeous. Thank you for this!
Outstanding.
Perfection! ❤
Wow absolutely stunning. Totally got teary at the end!!
BRAVO 👏!!!!!!
He is just incredible in everything he does.
What is amazing (beyond the voice for which there are no words) what it takes to sustain such a long song
Magnificent. Check out his Some Enchanted Evening at the same concert- breathtaking, like a new song.
He's the GOAT!
the expression on his co-star's face just after 4:30 says everything about this magnificent performance
When you realize they've seen him rehearse and still had that reaction. Look up has rehearsal performance of "Bui Doi" from Miss Saigon.
absolutely fantastic.
My God, does it get any better than this?????
No, I really don’t think it does get any better!
Wonderful!!!!!!!!😃
A truly memorable performance!
😢😢😢❤