Woah, no Renée Fleming!? She's my favorite Manon! I love how faithful she is to the notation in anything she sings. Anyway, I'm going to sing this at a concert next month, so it was very helpful to see ten interpretations compiled in one video. You've earned yourself a new sub!
Thank you for your comment and for subscribing! True: Fleming is a fantastic Manon. And: Wow, you will sing this in concert? Would love to hear that! I hope there will be a recording?
Oh blimey! I knew I should have been a soprano. The very thought of being able to snog the face off someone like Jonas Kaufmann makes me go all funny! 😂😂😂 Ahem, of course this all serious research and vital for our education!! ❤
Excellent video as usual! Opera and passion should go together always. One thing we should note is that the films from theatre performances tend to look overacted, since they are meant to be seen from a distance, so some of the examples may be perceived differently on the spot, more real and adjusted, compared to video. Having said that, I agree with and enjoy the three winners. There is one terrific piece of acting I saw on UA-cam some time ago: a Met “Otello” with Jon Vickers and (I think) Renata Scotto. It was the Act III duet, where Otello openly accuses Desdemona and calls her “cortigiana”. It is electric in the video and it must have been on stage. It is a different kind of passion, but it is powerful. I guess it must be still available. I am not a Vickers fan, but I admit he was a very good performer. You should also not shy away from German Opera, there are also good examples of passion even in such a “barbaric” language (I am joking, any language is barbaric to those that do not speak it!). It is said that the Emperor Charles the Fifth (in the 16 Century) was very proud of speaking Spanish, French and German: Spanish he would use to talk to God, French to talk to women and German to talk to his horse.
Charles the Fifth sounds like a swell guy 😂 Your observation about the different perception when sitting in a live performance is spot on!!! I even planned to say something about that but then the video was already so long - well, I am glad you brought it up. About Vickers: he had a very special voice. Not really beautiful or smooth per se but intense. And in that regard perfectly suited to sing Otello. And the clip you mentioned is really powerful. I am huge fan of Renata Scotto who, like Vickers, didn't have the "sweetest" voice but was just sensational in my opinion, especially her pianissimo in the high notes, breathtaking... As always I appreciate your comment and your input, thank you very much!
Wasn‘t that your first video ever? Certainly the first of yours I came across. Time flies. The second one I remember was the Rigoletto one. May I hope to see that one transferred to english as well?
Good memory - yes, it was my very first attempt here on UA-cam. I think I will re-record 2 or 3 of them for the English speaking viewers over the next months but still mainly focusing on new content. Thanks for sticking with me 🙂🙏
Regarding No. 9: Can you imagine Elina Garanča singing the aria "Mon Coeur s'ouvre a ta voix" lying down, with Brandon Jovanovich on her (Berlin, 2019)?! I'm not an expert, but I always have the impression in the theater that a singer would sing better in a vertical rather than a horizontal position. And especially not with a load on her/himself.🤔
As I made clear throughout all of my videos: I am not a singer. However, I have worked as a stage director with literally hundreds of singers. My experience is that the first impulse of a singer when asked to sing "horizontally" is: "I don't think that I can do it". But if I could convince them to try it first before rejecting the idea right away most of them were surprised how well singing laying down goes. But with an (often) heavy man laying on top of you while you have to sing long phrases which need a lot of breath, well, that's a different story altogether 😄 Anyway, thank you for your comment - I appreciate it a lot!
@@peterpawlik2495 Thanks for clarifying my dilemma. In any case, kudos to Elina Garanča, but I was disappointed with such direction, not only because of her position but also the resulting acoustics
I am not sure I would call her selfish. Or better: yeah, she was selfish but she was young and this glamorous life was simply too appealing. I think of her more like an addict who didn't manage to pull her out of this parallel world she so desperately wanted to belong to. I don't know, my heart always goes out for people who are good at heart and still make stupid mistakes out of their youth or inexperience. What do you think?
I think you are very forgiving. Yes, you are probably right. I think Manon is a personality that one often comes across in today's society. So much attention is paid to materialistic ambition that love is a neglected emotion and is a rare quality to find. As for Manon, I think she is a precocious little madam!
I don't like real kisses between opera singers. They have to sing, and just pretending they are kissing. They are not always young and beautiful enough to represent like Brad Pitt and Angelina Joly. I always feel embarrassed! For me Beverly Sills did the best performance, different but very sensible, delicate, and of great class. Opera for me should not seem a vaudeville. In some of these scenes, my mother would have gotten up and left the theater, and my father would have, at least, close his eyes. Well, concepts have changed. I am 70 years old, and my mother would have 90 and my father has 92.
Thank you for your comment! I agree with you that it is not necessary to act out the kissing. If the singers involved are comfortable doing it then I have no problem with it. And I don't think that kissing should be reserved for beautiful people like Jolie or Pit. If that were the case there wouldn't be much kissing going on worldwide 😄 I guess my point of criticism in my video was that you can't make up for passionless acting while singing by wild kissing after the difficult singing is done...
Sorry, pressed the "send" button accidentally too fast 😄 I wanted to add two things: first, I am glad you liked Beverly Sills' performance as much as I did! And second: I like that you are not commenting in a negative spirit even if some kind of performances are not your cup of tea! I wish more people in the internet would follow your example... Thank you again for your comment and all my best!
Thank you for your kind replay. You are completly right, and I understand different points of view. The main reasons of our differences may be that you are German, much more open minded than a latin like me; you are younger, and you are an artist with less prejudice than me. For my taste, opera singers would barely touch each other. Just an old men that like singers just singing and showing their feelings with their voices and not with their bodies, even if they are young and beautiful, like Anna Moffo was. You, for instance, produce your videos with an extreme good taste, with a lot of content, good humour and a posture and speech of very high quality, totally within "MY" standands. I don't know if this statement will be considered as a compliment to you...lol. All the best, and ssuccess@@peterpawlik2495
I love Roberto Villazon. His body language, his expressions are exiting, no matter what he sings.
That Anna and Rolando last clip, #10. Phwoar!! Now that's what you call passion! Great article again 😂
I don't speak French but English and Spanish, so I love the spanish subtitules, I was able to understand what they were singing.
To learn Spanish is on my bucket list 🙄 Thanks a lot for your comment!
Woah, no Renée Fleming!? She's my favorite Manon! I love how faithful she is to the notation in anything she sings.
Anyway, I'm going to sing this at a concert next month, so it was very helpful to see ten interpretations compiled in one video. You've earned yourself a new sub!
Thank you for your comment and for subscribing! True: Fleming is a fantastic Manon. And: Wow, you will sing this in concert? Would love to hear that! I hope there will be a recording?
Oh blimey! I knew I should have been a soprano. The very thought of being able to snog the face off someone like Jonas Kaufmann makes me go all funny! 😂😂😂 Ahem, of course this all serious research and vital for our education!! ❤
😂😂😂
I'm working my way through your videos, this one made me laugh out loud. Thank you once again, and I've learned not to have sex in a church 😂
@@michaelsmith4854 That was always my focus from the start: to teach proper behavior in churches 😄✌️
Excellent video as usual! Opera and passion should go together always.
One thing we should note is that the films from theatre performances tend to look overacted, since they are meant to be seen from a distance, so some of the examples may be perceived differently on the spot, more real and adjusted, compared to video. Having said that, I agree with and enjoy the three winners.
There is one terrific piece of acting I saw on UA-cam some time ago: a Met “Otello” with Jon Vickers and (I think) Renata Scotto. It was the Act III duet, where Otello openly accuses Desdemona and calls her “cortigiana”. It is electric in the video and it must have been on stage. It is a different kind of passion, but it is powerful. I guess it must be still available. I am not a Vickers fan, but I admit he was a very good performer.
You should also not shy away from German Opera, there are also good examples of passion even in such a “barbaric” language (I am joking, any language is barbaric to those that do not speak it!). It is said that the Emperor Charles the Fifth (in the 16 Century) was very proud of speaking Spanish, French and German: Spanish he would use to talk to God, French to talk to women and German to talk to his horse.
Charles the Fifth sounds like a swell guy 😂
Your observation about the different perception when sitting in a live performance is spot on!!! I even planned to say something about that but then the video was already so long - well, I am glad you brought it up.
About Vickers: he had a very special voice. Not really beautiful or smooth per se but intense. And in that regard perfectly suited to sing Otello. And the clip you mentioned is really powerful. I am huge fan of Renata Scotto who, like Vickers, didn't have the "sweetest" voice but was just sensational in my opinion, especially her pianissimo in the high notes, breathtaking...
As always I appreciate your comment and your input, thank you very much!
Wasn‘t that your first video ever? Certainly the first of yours I came across. Time flies. The second one I remember was the Rigoletto one. May I hope to see that one transferred to english as well?
Good memory - yes, it was my very first attempt here on UA-cam. I think I will re-record 2 or 3 of them for the English speaking viewers over the next months but still mainly focusing on new content. Thanks for sticking with me 🙂🙏
@@peterpawlik2495 not at all. I have thouroughly enjoyed every second of it. Thank you for giving us so much amazing content.
Regarding No. 9: Can you imagine Elina Garanča singing the aria "Mon Coeur s'ouvre a ta voix" lying down, with Brandon Jovanovich on her (Berlin, 2019)?!
I'm not an expert, but I always have the impression in the theater that a singer would sing better in a vertical rather than a horizontal position. And especially not with a load on her/himself.🤔
As I made clear throughout all of my videos: I am not a singer. However, I have worked as a stage director with literally hundreds of singers. My experience is that the first impulse of a singer when asked to sing "horizontally" is: "I don't think that I can do it". But if I could convince them to try it first before rejecting the idea right away most of them were surprised how well singing laying down goes. But with an (often) heavy man laying on top of you while you have to sing long phrases which need a lot of breath, well, that's a different story altogether 😄
Anyway, thank you for your comment - I appreciate it a lot!
@@peterpawlik2495 Thanks for clarifying my dilemma. In any case, kudos to Elina Garanča, but I was disappointed with such direction, not only because of her position but also the resulting acoustics
@@mimikrya8794 yeah, Garanca is an impressive stage personality in any way 🙂👍
Incidentally, who do you reckon was the most wicked Manon, Massenet's or Puccini's? Or, in fact, was she wicked at all or just selfish?
I am not sure I would call her selfish. Or better: yeah, she was selfish but she was young and this glamorous life was simply too appealing. I think of her more like an addict who didn't manage to pull her out of this parallel world she so desperately wanted to belong to. I don't know, my heart always goes out for people who are good at heart and still make stupid mistakes out of their youth or inexperience. What do you think?
I think you are very forgiving. Yes, you are probably right. I think Manon is a personality that one often comes across in today's society. So much attention is paid to materialistic ambition that love is a neglected emotion and is a rare quality to find. As for Manon, I think she is a precocious little madam!
Anna Netrbko sounded so good when she was younger but now it's a total mess. So sad.
I don't like real kisses between opera singers. They have to sing, and just pretending they are kissing. They are not always young and beautiful enough to represent like Brad Pitt and Angelina Joly. I always feel embarrassed! For me Beverly Sills did the best performance, different but very sensible, delicate, and of great class. Opera for me should not seem a vaudeville. In some of these scenes, my mother would have gotten up and left the theater, and my father would have, at least, close his eyes. Well, concepts have changed. I am 70 years old, and my mother would have 90 and my father has 92.
Thank you for your comment! I agree with you that it is not necessary to act out the kissing. If the singers involved are comfortable doing it then I have no problem with it. And I don't think that kissing should be reserved for beautiful people like Jolie or Pit. If that were the case there wouldn't be much kissing going on worldwide 😄
I guess my point of criticism in my video was that you can't make up for passionless acting while singing by wild kissing after the difficult singing is done...
Sorry, pressed the "send" button accidentally too fast 😄 I wanted to add two things: first, I am glad you liked Beverly Sills' performance as much as I did! And second: I like that you are not commenting in a negative spirit even if some kind of performances are not your cup of tea! I wish more people in the internet would follow your example... Thank you again for your comment and all my best!
Thank you for your kind replay. You are completly right, and I understand different points of view. The main reasons of our differences may be that you are German, much more open minded than a latin like me; you are younger, and you are an artist with less prejudice than me. For my taste, opera singers would barely touch each other. Just an old men that like singers just singing and showing their feelings with their voices and not with their bodies, even if they are young and beautiful, like Anna Moffo was. You, for instance, produce your videos with an extreme good taste, with a lot of content, good humour and a posture and speech of very high quality, totally within "MY" standands. I don't know if this statement will be considered as a compliment to you...lol. All the best, and ssuccess@@peterpawlik2495