Hah, it's called "singing for him" when they lip synch along like that. Watch that kid, in a few years it'll be him playing Scarpia and being all impressive.
George london,tito gobi,ruffo,grandforte,herlea,bastiannini,warren,tibet,mc neil,milnes,capuchilli,guelfi,theres just a few everyone of them better,goodnight
Antonio Scotti, not the first Scarpia (that'd be Eugenio Giraldoni) but one of the first and one of the all-time greatest. Superb acting and a smooth lyric-bass tone, probably like George London. Too bad he never recorded the Te Deum or Ha piu forte sapore, even on those scratchy old Victrolas.
I saw Lucic do this also. I think they're trying to insert a bit of foreshadowing, like that's right where Floria's gonna stab him later. Gobbi had this down cold, he did it perfectly, not too much but enough that you saw what it was. There's a difference between a wide-scan theatrical approach (so they can see what you're doing from the gallery) and being stagey or overdoing it.
Best villain in years. Saw him yesrs ago. Was great. Was so convincing as the evil Scarpia the crowd booed him .I cheered! Will see him on the 4th of Nov at the Met. Rock on!
How can one expect him to sing the Te Deum when he gets obliterated by the sound of the chorus and the orchestra? Is this really this generation's "dramatic" baritone? You got to be kidding me!
In an opera house, you will usually have a chorus of around 50-80 trained opera singers in Tosca. In the end of Te deum everyone is singing the exact same melody in octaves, in a live setting it's very unusual for the Scarpia to be heard over the chorus. Many use the tactic of starting slightly earlier and finishing slightly later than the chorus to be more audible. And old opera goer who had seen countless Tosca's in the same american opera house commented that Cornell McNeil and Ingvar Wixell were the only Scarpia's you could hear over the chorus. In studio recordings and professional live recordings the soloist is usually mixed to be more audible ofcourse. It also makes a difference how large and how professional the chorus is ofcourse and where they are located on the stage. Not that I'm not saying that Gagnidze is the greatest baritone either.
@@revivaljesus Indeed, expecting one single scarpia to be heard over a full chorus of opera singers who are singing exactly the same notes written fortissimo is stupid. If anything, I'd be worried about the quality of the chorus if a single singer could outsing the entire choir in this part. It would be a different story if the part was written in a way that makes it easier for the soloist to be heard, but puccini wrote it in a way where it wouldn't make sense for the soloist to be heard more than any of the chorus members.
On reflection I think you're right. One should normally hear him a little, wending in and out of the chorus - not, of course, drowning them out - that distinctive ring of a dramatic voice helping to cut through. And he really struggled for that F on "mi fai dimenticare iddio" - perhaps fair enough, it's a tough note, but you don't expect to see that level of visible difficulty at the top level of the profession. One wonders if he's been cast a little outside his Fach...?
@@caeruleusbritannus he's a pure lyric baritone, singing dramatic baritone repertoire. He initially started by singing Marcello in Boheme, a role originated by a lirico baritone in Giuseppe de Luca.
Have you seen him live? I'd like to think that all of the reality checks you've been doing would allow you to reserve judgment. Maybe you have and know by first-hand experience. If not, i say do the reality check, then report back.
