Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) DON CARLO "Il grand'Inquisitor!" Filippo II - CESARE SIEPI L'Inqusitore - GIULIO NERI Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino 1956
@@vitormrmrsi è no...non esistono cantanti del genere in quest'epoca!!! Gli spettatori si adeguano a quello che gli viene offerto,quindi è scesa la qualità dei cantanti e delle voci...io penso questo
Sottopongo un parallelo: Lloyd/Rouleau ROH, 1985 Haitink. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nLwOmvC-EqM.html Comincia a 2:17. Mi pare eccellente.
Solo un genio inigualable e irrepetible como Verdi pudo crear algo como esto, un dúo entre dos bajos, con tal musicalidad, fuerza y majestuosidad, que por los siglos nos seguirá impresionando. En el caso de esta versión casi casi perfecta, dos monstruos en el mejor sentido de la palabra. Siepi creo que es Felipe II por excelencia...y que decir de Neri, bajo profundo por excelencia.
He sang this role at San Jose Opera. Overpowering! The greatest singing actor of all. Don Basilio in an hysterically funny performance at SF Opera. An elegant and unsurpassed Don Giovanni there as well. Truly the greatest bass/baritone ever.
I've a friend who sang in the chorus for Parsival... Siepi was the magnificent Gurnemanz... my friend told me that not only was his singing unforgettable, but that he was also quite the gentleman.
Oh cruel Verdi! Often he wrote really high notes for low voices. The Grand Inquisitor is a deep bass (maybe even basso profundo) with a few high Fs! He did the same thing with Asucena - very uncomfortable high C for low mezzo! Yes, Meyerber wrote high Cs for mezzos often, but not such suicidal as Asucena's high C.
A basso profondo (very low bass) should have rock-solid command of top F. All the great bassi profondi of yesteryear did: Mardones. DeAngelis. List. Kipnis. Weber. Moll. And of course Neri. To cite just some examples.
My favourite Philip-Inquisitor pairing, because they are the perfect examples of the difference between a basso cantante and a basso profondo. In some cases, like Christoff/Neri, they sound equally dark, but these two are very distinct. I'm a big fan of basses, so this duet is perfection.
A basso profundo and a basso cantante are two forms of the bass voice. A basso cantante has a higher rich quality than the deep, low, dark, and cavernous quality of the basso profundo. In Italian, the term basso cantante means "singing bass." He can sing as low as it goes, but can ascend to a high notes that is nearby close to a baritone range. Not all basses did this role, there are some called bass-baritones, who are bass singers that sing with a natural baritone texture. The example of a true bass voice is that at the end of the duet, Philip sings with a high F, but sings down to a low F with the phrase, "dunque il trono piegar dovra sempre all'tare!" which means "So, then the throne shall bend down before the altar shall!" The cantante is Siepi. The profondo is Neri.
"Basso cantante" literally means "singing bass". "Basso profondo" literally means "deep bass". They are the two versions of the true bass voice. The terminologies are actually misnomers, because any good singer of any voice category is singing, and any true bass voice is deep. A more accurate terminology is "low bass" (cantante) and "very low bass" (profondo).
....how modest of this icon of singing. Cesare Siepi will be one of the voices of his century and an example for every Basso generation to come. Mi piace moltissimo
Dear Mr. Shore, since I know you were a common presence at the MET, can I ask you if Siepi told you this personally? Thanks for sharing your knowledge of the operatic world in many videos and comments.
In 1973, James Levine tried to talk Tito Gobbi into learning and performing the role of the Grand Inquisitor. Of course Gobbi, a middle-of-the-road baritone, would have been miscast out of his mind in that part. Nevertheless Gobbi began to learn the part. Then one night, while sleeping, Gobbi dreamed that Neri, who by then had been dead for nearly fifteen years, and who did have the right sort of voice for the Inquisitor, came by and said, "Tito, é non per te" (Tito, it is not for you). The very next day, Gobbi notified Levine that he was not going to attempt that role after all.
I enjoy the Siepi and Hines version more when it comes to showing contrast between the two, but my favorite version of this duet is siepi and macurdy (macurdy being the inquisitore) because of the sheer beauty of his low E (and the sheer power in his voice). Macurdy was very underrated.
Sam Ramey's the one Basso I know of who can sing both of these rolls.... I think Cesare Siepe is one of the greatest singers of the 20th Century. Such elegance, power, and clarity!
Neri is amazing. I love his singing. Few singers have come along with that kind of a voice, and more importantly, the ability to sing beautifully with that voice.
@@gerardomalzone1281 dear sir, try to listen to Ramey with Ghiaurov in this duet and then know how to tell me how baritone he is..then I was lucky enough to hear him live several times when he was fit .. let's say that compared to other basses that hang themselves in the register acute he was one of the few who knew how to turn the treble correctly and then he could give some the idea of a baritone but if you then listen to the medium and serious notes you can very well think again. Certainly we are not at the level of these two titans (Siepi e Neri) as vocal range but certainly it was a Rossini bass singer who knew how to make a great Verdi. Unfortunately he declined prematurely but certainly not because of the technique and those who know him or they sing in theaters they know why.
Apart from the low Eb (for which Verdi provided an ossia), the part of the Inquisitor is actually quite high with a few high Fs in addition to a generally high tessitura. I do not really find Mr Neri's high notes that impressive (I have heard many better in this part).
Ive just listened to a 1954 recording by Gabriele Santini in Rome & Giulio Neris voice was much stronger. This is 1956. You should listen to that recording with Boris Christoff.
