Cornell MacNeil - Di Provenza il mar + Cabaletta  

MacNeil was a giant among 20th century opera singers. I saw him as Rigoletto and Scarpia with the Met, and he was the greatest.

Truly one of the greatest baritone's ever. He had top notes most baritone's only dreamed of. A true american treasure in my book...........

I heard him sing "Si puo" when I saw Pagliacci in Minneapolis in 1969. The Met touring company came to town. I was twelve. It was his singing that started my interest in opera. His voice was so rich; it filled Northrop Auditorium, a cavern which seated 4000 people at the time. The next year my father brought me to the Met to hear Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne in Norma.

And now Domingo is singing Germont...so funny

Che ELEGANZA nel canto e nel portamento !!!! Bravooooo !!!!!

One of the greatest Baritones ever

I saw this production at the Met when I was a teenager, with Ileana Cortrubas as Violetta. It was one of the first operas I’d ever seen and I’ve never forgotten it. Thanks for posting this.

Very beautiful singing even late in his career. Nice.

Voce Stupenda!!! Meraviglioso!!!! Bellissimo!!!!

Domingo sounds so squeezed. Macneil, as usual, is brilliant.

Amazing singing position by MacNeil, it helped me a lot!!

I've always thought this scene ended rather abruptly! With the restored cabaletta, it makes much better dramatic sense. Which is what most opera directors lack, evidently.

MacNeil fenomeno!!!

Ah. A true baritone. There are some generous comments here and one at least as far as I have read ungenerous one complete with a rather bizarre analysis of his technique from the point of view of a technique much in favour some decades ago in Germany but not used in Italy. You know, no one wants to sing badly do they. As one hears from the applause this singer brought great pleasure to hundreds of people that night. He possibly lifted their spirits and even MOVED a few. THAT, by which I mean moving the listener, is the highest achievement of any singer. That is the singer’s REAL job, not to belt out high notes (although this world abounds with high note fanciers) nor to show off a bigger range than anyone else. No, the singer’s real job is to move his listener to a place, perhaps, harder to reach in the hum drum hurly burly of our daily lives. If the music is appropriate a well used voice in the hands of an honest singer can bring us closer to God.This level of singing defies analysis nor does it invite it. It simply stands alone, the testament to this ephemeral art lies in the heart and soul of the listener at the live occasion. Recordings, no matter how fancy or technically advanced, cannot capture this.Only the live performance. Here we can only glimpse a shred of what this did on that night way back. This is very fine singing, live, honest singing, an unfettered flow from the heart. Frankly, the odd note not meeting a particular listener’s taste doesn’t matter. Who has not been stirred by bird song, or had a new puppy gaze at one with that melting expression in the eye that puppies do so well. Would the experience be improved by analysing the structure of the iris, or dissecting a bird to see how it sings. I think not. I believe this urge to dismember someone’s art is destructive and I suspect it springs from the increasing dominance of the left hemisphere of the brain in our modern Western lives. It is in the right hemisphere that art, spirituality, love and joy are found. It is the singers job to take us from one side of the brain to the other. If even one listener achieves that then the true job is done. I doubt the baritone here was attempting to show perfect technique with flawlessly balanced registration (yes, I can quote modish jargon too). No, his job was to tell the story as honestly as he is able and move his listener. I for one, found he achieved this. So sorry everyone to bellyache on but as a singer myself I have become so fed up with the geniuses who dissect every note of every singers’ work, usually to find them wanting. This straw broke the camel’s back. I note these people never attach a link to their own technically perfect performances of the work in question to demonstrate how it ought to be done. No, they sit at a desk and carp-online. If a management and an audience want to hear a singer whom some consider past their prime that surely is up to them. I’ve heard audiences scream at the entrance of a fine singer, and cheer for the solitary ho-jo-to-ho of a leading Wagnerian brought out of retirement to join in a celebration of music. Remember, if a singer moves even one person, his duty is fulfilled and his appearance justified. Now, PLEASE, if you disagree with me and think everyone should be able to express negative opinions, you’re absolutely correct, which is why I didn’t reply directly to the negative comment. EQUALLY I have the right to my opinion, so if you disagree please keep it to yourself or post a fresh comment. Of course, if you are moved to agree I’d appreciate knowing that.

CORNEL IS AMAZING AND PHENOMENAL!!!!

Un baritono che ormai, si sono perse le traccia!!!

Beautiful MacNeil, so musical!

How beautiful!

The scene makes more sense w/ the cabaletta, the timing, the 'beats' leading to Alfredo's running out. Alas, there's nothing like this at the MET now anymore. This is real vocal glamour. I like the way producers/conductors feel free to liberally cut Italian opera scores so frequently---usually because someone can't sing something!

Da brivido...❤️😍

Ottimo Baritono Fraseggi è Grante Qualita vera lirica e Ottimo Padre

Me parece la actuación y canto de macneil fantástico.

MacNeil was a much underrated Baritone. He seems to be a rara avis these days. Henry Webb

What a treat to hear this! I grew up hearing recordings of opera and concerts featuring MacNeil, but never before heard this delicious cabaletta. Thanks.

What a great baritone.

Love his the best. Bravo!

Placido sang his very first opera performance with Cornell MacNeil. In the 1959 Rigoletto in which Domingo sang Borsa, MacNeil played the title role.

Una de las voces más impresionantes de baritono que escuche en vivo

stunning.

There's just something about MacNeil that made him the perfect baddy baritone - there was something dead within his tone that made this possible; yes, great voice, great musicality, great sonority, a huge sound. But dead, without humanity. That said, I'm still to hear anyone sing "Nulla Silenzio' from Il Tabarro better.

Dónde encontrar la ópera completa. Plácido Domingo interpretando a Alfredo. Está muy joven y delgado.

Bravo!

I’m loving this so much ❣️🎶🌹💐🥰

Lovely.

That was a real treat, to hear the cabaletta. I was so glad Zeffirelli cast him in the film. Three of my favorite singing actors in one art work, forever preserved for posterity on film. If you have the rest of this on VHS, please upload it so the decay of a/v can be arrested before it's too late. Thanks for sharing.

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I love this cabaletta :)

After I heard Domingo as Germont I am now so happy that he was Alfredo!

Later on, Macneil would sing open higher and higher, specifically the passagio. Which causes his decline. An old Macneil is still BETTER than those we have now

NICE

Línea d canto perfectac Neil barítono verdiano extraocon el ,,,1964rdinario yo cante en el colon

my thumbs up is for Macneil and NOT domingo

lets not forget warren he drowned out del manaco in si piel ciel his high a great died so young

How can anyone cut such a great caballetta, that was written by a GREAT Verdi? It is 1 000 000 000 better than 99% of 20th century operas!

Niles and Mr. Sheffield ? Is the the Nanny playing Violetta?

This is the first performance by MacNeil that I have heard where the effects of aging on the voice are so obvious. Only a very few years earlier and the voice seemed imperishable. Nevertheless, even here he is unquestionably an outstanding Germont.

Bravo Baritno voto Ottimo

Impressionante come MacNeil riesca a piegare il suo organo vocale possente per fare le mezze voci. Riesce a rendere piacevole addirittura quella orrenda cabaleta di Germont

Why not tell us where and when this was recorded, and under which conductor? Despite LH’s below assertion that she saw the production at the Met, the brief glimpse of the falling curtain tells me it is at San Francisco, so possibly a shared staging with that house. The great McNeil, who I saw several times on both sides of the Atlantic, makes it all sound and look so easy, even at this clearly late stage in his career. What a shame he only allows us one verse of the Cabaletta! A treasurable document nonetheless

The cabaletta is indeed rare--why is that? Unfortunately this role is usually given to older baritones correct for the story but past their vocal prime, as is the case here also.

Which year ?

Wide open high notes...

Cornell magnífico, Domingo totalmente fuera de estilo. Vociferante y verista.

Nasale Domingo..

great singer loudest iv ever heard tucker merrill hines very loud live shame his style changed got wobble in voice

Доминго начинал свою карьеру как баритон, потом перешел в тенора.

Where was this?

Macneil must have hated his life when he was compelled to sing the cabaletta. This is a direct quote from an interview with Bruce Duffie: BD: Is it note-complete? I always miss Germont’s Cabaletta. They never do it in the theater. Did you sing that for the film? CMacN: No, we did not sing that, but I’ve done it in the theater. It’s a God-awful drag, and that causes the whole end of the act to fall right on its ass. It is terrible, dreadful, unbelievable what it does to the audience response. BD: Oh I disagree. Of course, you’re talking about what it does to the audience response, but the only times I’ve listened to it I think is makes much more cohesion for the end of that act. Otherwise Alfredo goes up too much like a fire cracker. CMacN: That’s what he is! BD: I know but he should have a little longer fuse with his father. CMacN: How many children have you got? BD: None yet. CMacN: I have five! [Both laugh] Your fuse is going to shorten with each one.

Domingo is a joke

I can’t believe Domingo has the sheer ego to sing baritone.

Regal