This is a tenor. Why is a tenor singing a Verdi baritone role? At the MET?? And why can't the tenor hit the interpolated baritone note at the end of the aria? If anyone wants to hear a baritone sing this like nobody ever has, then listen to the recording of Joseph Shore in Arizona Opera's Macbeth here on RU-vid. There was a 2nd Leonard Warren. His name was Joe Shore. I say that as someone who has always absolutely worshiped Leonard Warren. Please listen to the shore rendition.
Brilliant singing,very high class.Of course.if someone is a purist and believer in "Verdi baritones" dogma,cannot realise how superior to most of other renditions this one is.In general,such a complete artist.A diamond for Opera world
It's not only about singing but also about acting! This mans expressions are awsome, just done a version of this with Quentin Hayes as Macbeth, and I love this song whoever sings it!
paddyswok: I respect anyone who can finish a Verdi's opera. But this Met's level. It has to be outstanding. Or the Met has changed. For some one who knows and loves this art, this is not serious for big houses. If I had paid money I would have been pretty upset. Hampson is not a Vedi Baritone. Period. Only Placido surpasses him faking a Verdi baritone.
Bravo,AnjutaWren! Some days ago,I was thinking about posting the same video... This wonderful finale,the Macbeth's last aria!Your preferences are exellent!
Not convincing as a Verdi baritone; neither the voice nor the language. If we listen carefully to American baritones, we find that the wonderful line and warmth of the great post-war Italians is just not there.
I don't understand the criticisms below. What do you expect? This is highest art. It's live, full of most sincere emotions, tenderness, delusion, heart... Listen to the pianissimo at the end - which artist has the grandeur to let ring out as simply, truly, silently and eternally? Hampson is one of the greatest Verdi baritones to me, if not the very greatest. Anyone who's criticizing here should a) perform this with comparable perfection, b) be aware we're discussing the top level of singers.
You're bonkers. He's not even a baritone, let alone a Verdi baritone, let alone a good Verdi baritone, let alone the best. You should listen to Warren, Gobbi, Taddei, Sereni, Bastianini, Ruffo, Bechi, Danise, Valdengo, MacNeil, Merrill, Tibbett, Tagliabue, Guelfi, Cappuccilli, Zancanaro, Milnes, Capecchi, all of whom are infinitely better than this guy.
You are right, nothing compares to the live experience...unfortunately I didn´t had the chance to hear any of my favorite singers live, because theír appearances are sold out all the time... :-( But I don´t give up! Speaking of Mr. Hampson, he did not get famous because of his recordings. I mean, he is booked all over the world in the best opera houses for many years now. I think they wouldn´t invite him all the time if he was not good enough or if there were many others better than him...
Yeah; he sounds (and looks) a little too young and/or boyish for Macbeth. Hampson I think could, with his youthful looks and voice, make for a heartbreaking macduff since his youth would help to make him more sympathetic to the audience. I get that he wanted to branch out, but if he did want to, he would need to do it gradually.
Thomas Hampson is a wonderful artist. However, he is not a Verdi or Dramatic Baritone, but a Lyric Baritone. That being said this is a wonderful rendition of this aria. He sings with great technique and never pushes and you feel Macbeth's pain. He also has great dynamic control. Of course, if you expect to hear a larger and different sound, then this won't be the rendition for you.
@bodiloto Dearest "Bodiloto", almost all of your comments which I found here on youtube.com on behalf of contemporary classical singers are - as I read them - considerably angry, full of hate, defence, revenge etc. etc. You don't need to do this to yourself. Life and human relationships, the achievements in art of others and oneself, can be very beautiful, blessing, true and peaceful. I had the honour of meeting Mr. Hampson personally and there's simply no room for your insult. Love
MACBETH Pietà , rispetto, amore, Conforto a'dì cadenti, Ah! non spargeran d'un fiore La tua canuta età . Nè sul tuo regio sasso Sperar soavi accent; Ah! sol la bestemmia, ahi lasso! La nenia tua sarà .
Recording technology has come such a long way that it is impossible to listen to this objectively. The many available digital ways to share opera can sometimes deceive us. The purest form of Opera is(in my opinion) when it is witnessed live and without amplification. I'm glad his singing touches your heart, but I hope you don't limit yourself to recordings. A singer finding mainstream success is not always a result of meritocracy. There are some great Verdi baritones you should hear live...
I really do not wish to contribute to all of the vituperation I read her - most of it, unfortunately, deserved. It would seem that Mr. Hampson sells tickets, which would be the only possible reason opera houses cast him in these roles. The danger is, young singers hear this and think this is a Verdi baritone. Then, when they hear MacNeil, Bruson,Cappuccilli, etc. (real verdi singers) in this music, they don't like it, because they've been "educated" to think that this here is the real thing. Oh well, we can't change it. The PR and recording companies are too strong.
I think that I would love to have seen a (hypothetical) production, had Warren not died so young, Warren as Macbeth and Hampson as Macduff. Honestly, I also think that Hampson is a tad bit too young for the role here physically and vocally.
Guys give him a break, comparing to 90 percent of the opera singers today, he kicks ass. And besides, if lyric baritones are never allowed to sing Verdi, then they're robbed of their job! He did a pretty fine job in this one. Go get em Hampson!!!!!!!!!!
To think this American Dietrich-fischer Dieskau is actually singing Verdi roles even today is a huge reminder that Opera has effectively lost its magic and touch if a lied singer can actually get on stage and sing some of the grandest and tragic operas of all time. What a sham.
He is intelligent, dramatic and good musician, and...a tenor. Naturally there are people (plenty) that think he is a baritone. May be I am looking for a different sound and he is a lyric baritone. But if you like him that's all is important.
No, I would never have paid to see Hampson in a leading Verdian baritone role.....he needs to stay with Rossini and Mozart..This angers me that this is done to sell tickets (aka Pavarotti trying to sing Otello)....
I´m not a singer myself, so I don´t know about a goog technique or not, I don´t know what is meant when you say he is not a "Verdian singer", I just judge from what my ears love to hear and I have to say: Thomas Hampson has the best male voice on this planet!!! His voice and his interpretations are touching my heart and that´s all that matters to me!
My friend, I totally agree with you. I'm a Kavalier baritone (Which is neither lyric nor dramatic, it's between both) myself, and really, I hear a lot of lirical rendering of Verdi's work which are as credible as the more dramatic voices. Of corse, that doesen't mean we would go for roles like "Iago" but Macbeth is totally acceptable, in my humble opinion of corse. Why do we never hear, however, that dramatic baritones should sing... Barbiere? we praise them almost for doing so...its frustrating
@ruffatony In my taste, Thomas Hampson suits the Verdi repertoire very very well. Why should a "Verdi baritone" be dark, somber, muffled, intelligible and barking? I had the chance of listening to him at a recital at the Tonhalle in Zürich, with a full late-romantic size orchestra, performing Verdi. He blew the audience off - not with force but by the sheer resonant power of his extremely well placed voice. His acutes made my skull shake (!) and I was 30 m away !!!
Those people who say Hampson is a tenor clearly have no idea about categories in opera singers. A light baritone for sure but in no way a tenor! This is not what we hear with the great Verdi baritones of the past but it's by no means bad.
@bodiloto che mondo...... non so .... perche Franco Bordoni, per fare un umile esempio, non ha la fama di Hampson. La differenza e' scandalosamente gigantesca su tutto! Non capisco...... Un saluto da Thessaloniki!
Francamente rimango deluso da un cantante di fama mondiale come Hampson...un'interpretazione di valore e una tecnica di canto scadente ...completamente fuori dall'interno con conseguenza di suoni aperti e senza sostegno...ma canta sempre così? mi auguro per lui e per chi lo ascolta di migliorare la sua tecnica e di farci ascoltare un canto più bello, con la giusta tecnica...Vedi Warren, Cappuccilli, Bruson, Taddei...per citare alcuni grandi...o per lo meno tipo Carlos Alvarez...a presto
