This is one of the best Escamillo scenes. His voice, his confidence and his ability to command the attention of his audience are without equal. Brilliant.
Yes, I have seen Raimondi live 3 times--I saw him as Duke Alfonso (in "Lucrezia Borgia" (2008) and as Scarpia in Vienna and Berlin (2009). He was absolutely fantastic every time! He truly becomes his characters on stage, and his voice is as powerful and resonant as ever.
Absolutely agree with you, particularly about Ruggero Raimondi! As for looks becoming a priority--not a problem for Ruggero Raimondi! he has the looks and the charm and the magnetism and the voice!
Raimondi fascinated me when i saw him for the first time in Don Giovanni movie - and it was a ground breaking performance (for me).Since then i was follwing his produktions and movies and i was never dissapointed. :-)
I saw Hvorostovsky in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra at The San Francisco Opera: I can't believe I wasted my money on STANDING ROOM to see him. I've heard nearly every baritone (and tenor) during the last nine years at SF, and most of them were loud and clear in standing room, but Hvorostovsky is the biggest pipsqueak I've ever heard there, and yes, I have been going to the opera since I was six-years old, and proud of it. However, the rest of the cast was superb.
You're so far off the mark, it's not funny! Ruggero Raimondi isn't a plastic Ken, he's a tall, handsome, and very sexy live man! And he's a brilliant singer and actor! Only the jealous people like yourself write negative things about him.
Raimondi had a long stage, television and film career spanning over 20 years as primarily a bass-baritone. This aria is admittedly high for him but he sings it in the famous 1984 film version of Carmen with Domingo. Many bass baritones with a secure top often tackle this role. As far as Hvorostovsky goes, his career is not even 10 years old and already his voice is in decline. A wonderful voice that will never reach its potential because of poor repertoire selection.
He is a bass-baritone. He has the possibility to encompass both bass roles and baritone roles. And he did so quite sucessfully during his carreer. Other notable bass-baritones include Jose van Dam , Samuel Ramey , George London and other.
D'Arcangelo? Really? Not a lot of pitch center there, alas. I fail to see how anyone could be a better Escamillo than Raimondi; he's got the voice, he's got the looks, and he's got the moves. I'm not sure who was José in this production, but whoever it was, I'd leave him for this Escamillo in a heartbeat!
raimondi was in his time one of the biggest and the best voices of the operatic world: his voice was big, not too thick, and had the most wonderful sound. you should hear him in other roles.he was a great actor also. gyimka is another type: for me he and d'arcangelo are the best escamillos... of course amny people criticize gyimka for that he has certain "problems" with his voice and repertoire: you should consider that he is not a "normal" opera singer, he is something else... a wizard instead.
BAD description of a Bass baritone, i'm one... and a bass-baritone has a Dark and heavy timbre as a bass but a flexible and brilliant voice as a baritone... basicly is both but mixed, not like a bass not as a pure baritone, a mix.... anyways IS THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD hahaha :D
It is always a challange with Raimondi. His voice is very colorful and strident, but not large for a bass, in the verdi rep, but it doesn't really sit high enough to sing Baritone roles. But he obviously had a awesome instrument, so he carved his own rep. Don GIovanni, Scarpia, The COunt, Escamillio, on the baritone side The 4 Villains, Basilo, Silva in Ernani from the Bass side .. all parts that sit in between that he is accociated with.
Das ist doch ein Escamillo, wie er im Buche steht! Bisschen schwach der Nachwuchs in dieser Rolle, der momentan auf den europäischen Bühnen steht- man muss doch verstehen, für wen Carmen Don José verläßt:-) 1980- meine Güte- ein Traum!
On the contrary, Raimondi had a big voice, whereas Hvorostovsky's is small live, a disappointment. Besides, Raimondi is bass-baritone, Hvorostovsky a baritone trying to deepen and darken his voice.
Yes, I agree. I have heard Raimondi several times live. Amazing presence, a brilliant actor, big voice with individual timbre. I can understand, that Hvor. is a phenomenon for his fans, has his allure, but alas for me, having listened to him live, was a dissapointment.
@trem0lo Hvorostovsky's career is not even 10 yrs old?!?!? where have you been? He has been singing for many years. He came to worldwide recognition winning the Cardiff competition the same year as Bryn Terfel, in 1989, which is now 21 years ago. He is still singing well, and shows no signs of slowing down. Are you one of those people who doesn't consider a person's career to have started until YOU have heard of them?
baba, not to get off topic, but a singer absolutely chooses his or her own repertoire in consultation with their manager. If Hvorostovsky is letting inappropriate roles get pushed on him then that's his own fault and just shows his naivety. Maybe he should consider a new manager!
you should know that repertoire is not chosen by the singer but by intendants or impressarios. singers can say no to a role, but after twice saying no, the singer can say goodbye to his/her career. hvorostovsky mentioned in an interview that he had many fights with this, but if he wants to remain a singer, he has to accept bad roles too.
Jose Van Dam, as an art song fan, is indispensable for a mellow, beautiful voice. In opera, he sings the same rep. as Raimondi in opposing style. Raimondi's voice is strident, dry and open, Van Dam is more on the head voice side and easily produced. Raimondi has stage presence. I agree that below a certain point Van Dam's voice turns into a stage whisper. Both sing into their 60's, Van Dam maintains a certain charm, with drying tone, Raimondi is quite totally spent with regards to both.
i agree: this one seems just to earn good profit on him, not considering his real interests. gyimka is naive, really, so what? it is a sin just in the western world... regarding raimondi: I still love him, he is the nicest ugly guy on the world!
I don't want to come off too authoritative here because I've never heard him live. I understand he has a big voice. I bought a Rigoletto LP set to hear him on records. That was about 1967. He sang Monterone. I didn't like his Giovanni in the movie. I was surprised at how good his Attila was. In general I don't find his voice attractive. He's high bass like James Morris but I like Morris better.
There are at least three different types of bass-baritone. There are the basses with weak low notes. The baritones with weak high notes. And there are finally those who sound like a bass but have the range of a baritone. Raimondi, Terfel, and London respectively. Raimondi is very good in this song. He is also an excellent Attila and Scarpia. His voice is not attractive enough or rich enough for mainstream Verdi bass roles.
Dr Katalin Nagy:Bravo Maestro pour le Don Giovanni, pour le Figaro/le Comte aussi!.R ossini:Stabat mater, Le Donprofondo,Il viaggio á Reims, Boris Godunov, Escamillo-Scarpia -vous etes admirable et inatteindable Bien affecteusement á Budapest
