The great American tenor James King sings Allmächt'ger Vater (Rienzi's prayer) from Richard Wagner's opera Rienzi, accompanied by Jeffrey Goldberg. Kennedy Center. June 16, 1982.
57 years old and his voice is SOLID AS A ROCK. No wobble in this great voice. And remember he sang Strauss’ Bacchus to Jessye’s Ariadne just as solidly as this (and with many high Bbs!) even when he was past 60. It’s on the Met DVD.
…trying this Rienzi with Piano only proves the core of his voice. Extraordinary quality that lasted for decades. James King will always one of the gems in Tenor Olympus. Mentioning Mr. Kaufmann in this context gives a hint of the diminished standard in Tenor Singing. Limited to say the least.
This is a prayer. So tell me God, could you hear it? Kaufmann sings it rather differently. He doesn't sing it this way, first of all because he couldn't. No one else can either. King sings it full out, balls to the wall. I love it but I wouldn't want to hear it that way in my living room. This is a voice for big theaters singing over a big orchestra. Fortunately I've heard him just that way and he was stupendous. He sang Florestan in Fidelio with Gwyneth Jones. The two biggest voices on the operatic stage in my life time. In the finale Jones and King sing alternating phrases with the whole chorus and orchestra. King and Jones were louder.
I have just listened to Domingo WHAT a difference!, I prefer Domingo’s interpretation because of the warm timbre of his voice, the elegance of his singing, the orchestration and the slower tempo
I am in a way happy that those big stars can have weak moments where they sound too a bit like us, faulty mortals although for me this would be a top moment of course.
He was singing this at the Kennedy Center, not someone’s living room. It’s a beautiful performance, and comparing him to modern tenors is futile. This is open-larynx, balanced registration , pitch-centered singing. He’s 57 and sounds 40. No wobble in THIS voice. Ever.
