BBC Programme "What Makes a Great Tenor?"

[Derek McGovern]

I've just watched all seven parts of this programme on YouTube, and I
was most impressed. This topic definitely deserves its own thread, so
I thought I'd move the earlier posts on the programme from the
"Miscellaneous Lanza" thread over to this one:


Hi All,

Here is the link to the videos of Villazon`s ``What makes a great
Tenor?``. He is talking about Mario in the 7/7 section. Enjoy it!

http://www.google.de/search?q=What%20makes%20a%20great%20tenor%20on%20bbc4&hl=de&prmdo=1&tbs=vid:1&source=lnms&ei=rk8RTPPXIcLDsgawhrXJBw&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&ved=0CCYQ_AU4FA

Cheers from Susan

****************************************************************************************************************************

Hi Susan: Thanks for that clip; you're certainly a whiz at finding
Lanza-related bits and pieces!

It was a nice little tribute to Mario, and I thought Villazon came
across as very sincere. The only niggling thing about it was that if
you'd never heard Lanza before, you'd assume from the two brief film
clips they showed that his voice was a bit on the thin and nasal side.
That's because both the Celeste Aida and Vesti la Giubba were running
a whole semitone fast, robbing Mario's voice of much of its resonance.
That semitone makes a huge difference, especially when it's young
Lanza that one is listening to.

How curious that the *Coke* version of Be My Love was played when
Villazon talked about the amazing success of the commercial version!

Cheers, and thanks again
Derek

*****************************************************************************************************************************

A PS to the above: do check out the rest of the BBC programme "What
makes a great tenor?". I've just watched the first part, and Villazon
does a terrific job of explaining the mysteries of the tenor voice.

Very enjoyable indeed.

Off to watch the second part now!

Cheers
Derek

******************************************************************************************************************************
Hi Derek,

Yes, it is really interesting and I am very glad that you enjoy it as
well. I`m always looking if I may find something about Mario and I was
very interested to hear and see this programme on BBC, and I am very
happy that I`ve found it, so we can look and hear the whole programme
in 7 sectors.

Enjoy the further parts and cheers from Susan

[leeann]

I loved this program--and Villazon's enthusiasm and involvement made
him a great host/narrator. It was so well-edited and well-written.
It's amazing how much was packed into a single hour, and it certainly
clarified a lot me me as a non-musician about complexities of the art,
of the different kinds of tenor voices--and oh yes, the High C--as
well as demonstrating various musical points Armando has written
about.

When I first heard Villazon quote Toscanini about Lanza and then
say, ..."great praise for a film star..." I was a bit worried, but
given the rest of the segment, I'm inclined to think that phrase was
simply to highlight the dichotomy that existed at the time between
opera and non-opera--especially since Villazon continues to define
Lanza as a classical artist, and operatic tenor, and a "a great tenor
playing a great tenor" in his discussion about the importance of The
Great Caruso.

I think a program like that--given the constraints of time and the
numbers of themes that can be expounded has to choose its icons quite
carefully--there's only room for a few among many possibilities.
Lanza's inclusion says a great deal about his place in that long
history of the tenor voice from castrati to The Three Tenors and
beyond. When he's placed in context, arguments about whether he is or
isn't an opera singer seem a bit off-point given the impact of his
legacy both on individual singers and on the direction of classical
music.

And then there's Villazon's parting comments about the importance of
charisma for the tenor. Well, that's certainly never been a Lanza
issue!

[zsazsa]

Hi Lee Ann,

I enjoyed very much your analyse of the Villazon BBC programm and agry
with you very much. Like you said, such programms are most important,
as many people (I`m talking about such journalists and TV people and
their followers) who have no knowledge about Voices, about anything,
which makes a singer a great one, they are just talking the same
trasch what they have heard or read in other papers, etc. but widhout
any knowledge. And that so many, many great singers and also very
young singers are all fascinated and magnetized not only Mario`s
fantastic voice, but his whole interpretation, which Domingo emphasize
always, it schows what a great singer Mario was and how enduring his
legacy is and remains on this earth. Thank you very much for your post
dear Lee Ann, it is a pleasure to read it. Best as always.

Cheers from Susan

[Jan Hodges]

I too was really impressed with the program. It was well put together and featured some very interesting aspects especially about the change from singing falsetto to full voice in the early 1800's. There was a nice little segment on Mario even if the choice of items was not necessarily the best to showcase his voice. Still I suppose we must be grateful he got a mention. I thought Rolando Villazon did an excellent job. Regards Jan

[garjayM]

Hello Derek,

I am so glad you posted this thread.
I viewed the 7 part tenor series last night on youtube..It was a great
program,and who better then Rolando to 'emcee' the show.He has such a
great personality,and his love of all things musical, simply shines
through his warm and inviting personality.
To be a great tenor.."Never Ending Work" yes indeed the answer is
evident in the terrific tenors we saw in this documentary.
Corelli didn't 'look' great but "ahh" that voice.
Placido,my god, 130 roles in about 3500 appearances,and he still
continues in his ever expanding musicianship.Definitely one of the
great tenors,and a true pro.
Could Lanza have made it in the operatic world?? Depending on those
who could guide him, and keep him on track..perhaps.
But how easy it was for him to get off path with his extreme ups and
downs. But that tenor voice of his..one of the best ever. In my
opinion "The Best" I shall ever hear.
Some of the clips shown did not show the best of some of the tenors in
the documentary; but Mario paid such a high compliments, from these
greats,at the end.

Kauffman was fabulous singing The Flower Song,and Placido as Othello.
Interesting comment re. Placido.."those singing beside him heard a
more 'quiet' voice," whereas, those in the far reaches of the opera
venues heard his booming,resonant, voice.

I enjoyed seeing and hearing a young Alagna as Romeo..such a lovely
voice..
And of course Pav. sounded like gang busters.

Wasn't it wonderful how Mario touched so many of these great tenor
singers as well as countless others , not to mention his adoring
public.

Cheers to all.
Gary

[Derek McGovern]

Great posts, everyone. I've just watched the whole thing again, and,
yes, I agree that Villazón is the perfect host. If his voice should
ever fail him permanently, then he could easily have a second career
as an on-screen opera educator! He's a great musical ambassador, and
I'm sure that anyone watching that programme who previously knew
nothing about opera would at least be tempted to attend a live
performance.

I was also very taken with Jonas Kaufmann's and Renée Fleming's spoken
contributions. Such interesting, intelligent people! As for Kaufmann's
singing, well, I still don't find his timbre particularly appealing,
but I was very moved by his on-screen performance as Don José in
Carmen. He's an exceptionally good actor, and, of course, it helps
that he's handsome and very charismatic.

Speaking of which, the usually striking-looking Corelli looked
dreadful in that clip of Di Quella Pira! He was obviously in a TV
studio lip-synching to an old recording (and the toupée was a bad
idea!). It was strange that the producers didn't come up with a clip
of him in his prime. Then again, I wonder if the BBC was trying to
keep copyright fees down here? The fact that they didn't use the RCA
recording of Be My Love, and that the Lanza film clips were in
scratchy black and white for the Midnight Kiss Celeste Aida and merely
the *trailer* in the case of The Great Caruso, suggests a limited
budget.

Yes, it was wonderful to hear Villazón describing Lanza's performance
in The Great Caruso as one great tenor playing another great tenor. I
just *wish* the film clips had supported that description! Mario
really didn't come off very well here, with his voice sounding so
(unfairly) thin in comparison with the rich, full-bodied sound of
Villazón, Kaufmann, and others. If I'd had anything to do with this
programme, I would have used the Che Gelida Manina scene from The
Great Caruso -- running at the right speed, of course!! -- to
illustrate what a thrilling voice Lanza had.

Still, as Lee Ann points out above, the fact that Mario was included
-- when so many other famous names (and full-time opera singers to
boot) were excluded -- says a lot about how the producers of this
programme regard his place in the history of the tenor voice.

Cheers
Derek

[Derek McGovern]

PS: I forgot to say that I think you're *bang on* here, Lee Ann:

"When I first heard Villazon quote Toscanini about Lanza and then
say, ...'great praise for a film star...' I was a bit worried, but
given the rest of the segment, I'm inclined to think that phrase was
simply to highlight the dichotomy that existed at the time between
opera and non-opera--especially since Villazon continues to define
Lanza as a classical artist, and operatic tenor, and a 'a great tenor
playing a great tenor' in his discussion about the importance of The
Great Caruso."

Yes, and I also think that the "film star" comment was meant as a
sarcastic slap in the face of Lanza's detractors: a pre-emptive
strike, in other words, against the objections of those who would
deride Lanza's inclusion on a programme dedicated to great tenors.
Still, there must have been plenty of Bjoerling, Del Monaco, and
Tucker fans watching that programme who were
apoplectic at the exclusion of their hero!

And a PPS to Gary, who wrote:


"Interesting comment re. Placido.."those singing beside him heard a
more 'quiet' voice," whereas, those in the far reaches of the opera
venues heard his booming, resonant, voice."

Funnily enough, Gary, the two times I heard Domingo in person, singing
at Covent Garden in 1982 in Puccini's La Fanciulla del West, I didn't
think his voice sounded remotely "booming". I was expecting a bigger
sound. And I sat in the Circle one night, and the back of the gallery
on the other. Domingo's high notes (well, the As at least) certainly
had genuine "ping" or squillo to them, but in terms of sheer volume, I
found Carreras had the bigger voice when I saw him as Don José at the
Rome Opera five years later.

Actually, we tend to forget that, as Armando points out in his book,
Domingo's voice is essentially a lyric one (not a dramatic or even
spinto one), despite the fact that he was a renowned Otello.

[Lover of Grand Voices]

Thank you so much Derek for the comments and Susan for the clip. This
reaffirms so much about what we all know concerning Mario's impact on
other tenors and the profession itself. The point that Villazon ends
with that great tenors need charisma is exactly what Lanza had in
addition to a marvelous voice and the ability to cross over to popular
music which is often the goal of most tenors. I attended a wonderful
private concert in Rome last night where an excellent tenor sang. He
told me after the concert that the tenor who had the most influence on
him was a young man from Philadelphia called Mario Lanza.

On Jun 11, 9:44 am, Derek McGovern <derek.mcgov...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I've just watched all seven parts of this programme on YouTube, and I
> was most impressed. This topic definitely deserves its own thread, so
> I thought I'd move the earlier posts on the programme from the
> "Miscellaneous Lanza" thread over to this one:
>
> Hi All,
>
> Here is the link to the videos of Villazon`s ``What makes a great
> Tenor?``. He is talking about Mario in the 7/7 section. Enjoy it!
>

> http://www.google.de/search?q=What%20makes%20a%20great%20tenor%20on%2...

[Heidi]

Hi Derek
I am sad, i`ve been a little late to watch the BBc-program because two
of the clips are no longer available in my
country , because of some rights. this
are 7/5 and 7/6. With luck 7/7 is running well also the
other four clips. I enjoyed it very much , and learned some
interesting news about the singing voice. I would love it, if this
program would be available on DVD.
Cheers Heidi

[Heidi]

A PS to my post. I made a mistake, it is only one clip, the 7/6 which
is not running in my country. Sorry
Heidi

> > spinto one), despite the fact that he was a renowned Otello.- Zitierten Text ausblenden -
>
> - Zitierten Text anzeigen -

[Derek McGovern]

Dear Heidi: Part Six is currently available on YouTube, so you should
be able to access it from Germany:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7-26-AcmJs

Good luck!

Cheers
Derek

[Heidi]

Dear Derek
Thank you for the link, but ,i am sorry, it does`nt work. ''This video
contains sony music entertainments and and ''kontor'' new media and is
in your land no longer avaiable''. This message appears on the
screene. Sad.
Cheers Heidi

> > > - Zitierten Text anzeigen -- Zitierten Text ausblenden -