Act 2 - Placido Domingo as Il Duca di Mantova in the 1977 Met production of Verdi's Rigoletto. The Duke has discovered that Gilda has been abducted. In genuine despair he longs to find and comfort her Conductor: James Levine
The opening of the aria, "Parmi vede le lagrime" is fiendishly difficult. The blend of the A of Parmi with the other vowels and especially the A of lagrime catches others out. Domingo does it brilliantly. And to think he had already sung Otello at this stage. To be honest, I miss the top note at the end, but that does not detract from how beautifully he sings the aria.
Lo bueno de placido, que hace de director, del Mantova, y hasta de Rigoletto....jajaja.. todo con lo justo...un DIREC BARI TENOR (regular, a mi gusto...)
Placido Domingo was in his vocal prime at the time and,despite the high tessitura of the Duke's part,one which he despises owing to the blatant cynicism of the character,he fared quite well in this production.For those interested, several arias from the same 1977 performance are also available on RU-vid.
@enricodicapri y he cantado este aria más veces seguramente que el sr Domingo mismo y te digo que ese sib es el más difícil de la historia de la ópera y mas para una voz de lirico spinto como la de Placido.
This strikes me as odd...Levine is a very singer-friendly conductor, I'd think he'd be in favour of whatever the given tenor is comfortable with, especially since the interpoled B-flat is an established tradition. In any case, Domingo handles himself well here...he had a glorious sound in the late 70's.
Again, listen to Pavarotti in the 1960's version. Domingo here doesn't even attempt the Bb, which is arguably the most beautiful part of the piece...shame, he just didn't quite have what it takes.
The be fair, the B flat is a tradition, but it isn’t written in the original score. I like Pavarotti’s rendition more, but you could easily flip it and say “Pavarotti doesn’t even attempt the cadenza”
Many thanks for posting this video Ursey! Could you please add the "La donna e mobile" aria as well as the famous quartet: "Bella figlia dell'amore", since "Questo o quella" and the Act 2 love duetto from this production are already available on RU-vid. Cheers in advance!
You're right! I haven't sung 130 roles. But I have sung 30. My buddy Ross has sung maybe 200. And Cesare Curzi nearer 300. I've done 3 roles in Boheme. As you get older you add comprimario parts. It's not that 130 is so many it's that they're almost all lead roles on major recordings or major opera houses. Baritones like Taddei or Capecchi have done twice as many roles as Domingo But the only lead tenors with anything like his kind of range would be maybe Roswenge or Gedda.
i find this to be evidence that placi WASN'T EVER a baritone. this is one of the highest written roles that verdi composed for tenor! NOT only wouldn't pd be able to get thru this role but he also wouldn't be able to make such beautiful music. phrasing is so elegant and perfect for the character. many people who dont know about the voice blah blah all the time about himbeing a bari/tenor but really!! and what a bout singing edgardo in lucia at 19??no pushed up baritone would even attempt it!
Just because he sang high notes, dosen't mean they were any good and he also dosen't necessarily attempt some of the high notes such as in this aria were substitutes the high Bb for a lower note.
@@ssr6036 I know what repertoire he sings. But listen to serious baritones. The quality is not there. I do not know whether you understand what I mean. Meaning, yes, he has a baritonak timbre, but that does not realy make him sing in these positins well. I think ha has no real baritonal projection. He is able to sing baritone, many tenors with that color could do this, since his high notes are past. (the realy high notes, he never realy had, to be honest.)
@@adeeo Yes, I do know what you mean, but I don't think he sings well as a tenor nor do I think the quality is there for him to be a tenor either or sing those positions well. He just sings very forced and pushed and yes, had never had any high notes. So really, he would be better off as a baritone. He might not be the best baritone, but he certainly isn't the best tenor, and at least we won't have to hear him sing like he is trying to squeeze his voice through a straw.
There's no need to be abusive. Domingo wouldn't have been allowed to take the B flat at this performance, James Levine preferred to conduct it as written. I don't know if you are familiar with the story, but four years later when the Met did this opera, James Levine insisted that Pavarotti would sing it without the interpolated B flat. Pavarotti wasn't keen on this, but sang it as Levine wanted it until opening night when he let rip with the B flat, James Levine was absolutely fuming.
Didn't intend to be "abusive" Mooorhe, and no I didn't know that story, great! Is that performance on youtube? To be honest, I just can't hear Domingo even doing the Bb. Is there a performance where he includes it?
One of the best renditions of this aria. However, he sang angeli at 4:24 low, while other tenors sing it high. Also, the impromptu at 4:37 did not seem to add much.
In questa romanza preferisco Pavarotti....troppo sdolcinato il canto di Placido..che cosa ne pensi tu che sei una persona che fa parte di questo mondo..ciao
Caro Guido,il termino e perfetto,Franco Bonisolli fu un grandissimo Duca (una "bomba lirica"!!!!).Per me,giunto con Pavarotti anche Kraus, il massimo trio di tenore moderni...specialmente per queste storico ruolo d' Il Duca.Auguri caro amico
Plácido tuvo el "honor" de ser el peor Duque de Mantua y, ya de grande, el peor Rigoletto.... De tenor siempre sonó forzado, engolado,....horrible; lo salvaba su porte escénico. Y de Barítono ya mejor ni hablemos, no le da la voz....siempre estuvo a mitad de camino : ni tenor, ni barítono.... Por eso tiene un tremendo mérito la carrera que hizo siendo un mediocre tenor y un pésimo barítono. Aplausos a su constancia y dedicación!!!!Bravooo!!!
déjame discernir con esa opinión. Porque no toda su vida Plácido fue un tenor mediocre, de hecho de joven hacia todo increíblemente bien, absolutamente todo, y hay papeles que le quedaron como anillo al dedo. Y un detalle que tienes razón es que su voz era demasiado pesada para ser tenor y su última nota de su buen repertorio era el Si. Pero de ser un pésimo tenor a simplemente no tener sus fuertes hay un mundo de diferencia.
Mira, tal vez lo critico demasiado porque no me gusta; es cierto, tienes razón, pero creo que ha sido el tenor más sobrevalorado de la historia. Seguro que no fue el peor, pero un tipo que canta Donizetti como si fuera Puccini no puedo soportarlo....y de Verdi sólo cantó bien Otello.... Te mando un abrazo verdiano. Y Verdi
@@pedroaranguren6160 cierto, pero es muy a los gustos, por ejemplo yo sentía que alguien muy sobrevalorado fue Carreras. Pero tienes razón, saludos y suerte!
yes, singers occasionally sing the B flat at the end of this aria but as i stated before, it is not written and therfore NOT tradition in the traditional sense. the creator of this tenor role had an adaquate voice capable of singing high C's all night long so verdi obviously wrote the ending cadenza with a feeling and sentiment of longing at the end of this aria. therfore. EVRY tenor should sing the cadenza and NOT the self glorified B flat at the end. cheers
I think the _tradition_ is to sing the high note. But, yes, definitely not _written_ in the score. I think Jimmy Levine, and other conductors at the time, were in a "note-for-note, stick to the score" phase. He also wanted this from a Pav performance of Rigoletto; but when the time came, Pav simply turned his sight away from Jimmy and belted out the high note -- much to the delight of the audience -- but Jimmy wasn't too happy afterwards.
Digan lo que digan, la interpretación y musicalidad de Plácido son únicos, cuando lo escucho en todo lo que canta y escucho a otros cantar lo mismo, me doy cuenta de la diferencia. Plácido me transporta con su arte.
Bicker and argue all you want, but is doesn't change the fact that not a single one of you has successfully put 130+ roles on your resume, and not only still singing at the age of 60+, but singing none-the-less Wagner. All of you need to get off your high horse, sit back, enjoy art, respect the artist... oh yeah, don't forget that not a single one of you have had remotely close to his success.
Ese si b no esta escrito en la partitura originalmente...y te lo dice alguien que no es realmente (o para nada) fanatico de Domingo. AHORA....CRISTIANO RONALDO?....AHORA CANTA EL DELANTERO DEL REAL? jajajajajajajajaja
La gfran dificultad del si b qu se suele hacer por tradición al final de este aria estriba en cómo se ha llegado a lafrase "le sfere a gli angeli, per te, per te.. le sfere a gli an(aquí iría el si b)ge li..." y a mi parecer Placido canta esta frase con gran comodidad. el salto del fa al sib no debería haber sido un problema. e spor eso que creo mas que fue una decisión artística que una busqueda de "facilitar" el aria.
La musicalidad de Domingo, pese a los detractores que como siempre lo atacan, es impresionante. El hecho de que no sea un tenor lírico o ligero no le quita la belleza en su interpretación que para mí lo hacen único. Muchos cantan lo mismo pero no de la misma forma que lo hace él. El mejor del mundo, no quizá por la perfección de su voz sino por la perfección en su interpretación y musicalidad que simplemente transportan.
Alejandro Abad Cojo tu frase: muchos cantan lo mismo pero no lo hace como él. Yo a eso te contesto: Gracias sean dadas al Divino Hacedor. Este conjunto de recitativos, arias, cavaletas es endiabladamente difícil y creo sinceramente que no está escrita para la voz de Plácido.
Domingo's legato was not good, he not only broke it due to badly integrated registers, but the same thing you criticise Tucker for: overarticulated consonants, which are not compatible with a flawless legato line. An example is this video, in many spots he overpronounces his R 'farrrrrrti quaggiù beata' instead of adopting the correct R for a flowing legato line. This is a very basic musical flaw in his singing, which does not qualify him as a singer with good bel canto style.
Placido ha hecho carrera a fuerza de tener un estupendo sib (ya si natural y do eran no tan seguros y bastante mas feos)asi que si optó por respetar lo escrito debe haber sido por algún otro motivo, no incapacidad. Aparte ese es un Sib que no viene muy incómodo para darlo.
Guess what, yet more SOUR GRAPES from you as usual, what else can you expect. God help us if you were a Judge in a Singing Competition, the best would be last and the worse would be First. You beggar belief.
yes, singers occasionally sing the B flat at the end of this aria but as i stated before, it is not written and therfore NOT tradition in the traditional sense. the creator of this tenor role had an adaquate voice capable of singing high C's all night long so verdi obviously wrote the ending cadenza with a feeling and sentiment of longing at the end of this aria. therfore. EVRY tenor should sing the cadenza and NOT the self glorified B flat at the end. cheers
