What happened to Vladimir Chernov?

[Dan]

After watching the DG DVD release of Simon Boccanegra from the Met, and
being very impressed by Chernov, I wondered whatever happened to him after
this. He seemed to appear a lot at the met in the early 90s and then
disappeared completely. A search on Amazon shows a few Verdi operas on Sony
and a Rigoletto best left untouched on DG. Any thoughts? I really did like
him in this Boccanegra, any others share my opinion?

Dan

[Leonard Tillman]

From: dpet...@rogers.com (Dan)

>Dan

I liked him as Boccanegra, and in every role I've heard him sing,
including the Rigoletto you mentioned, and an Il Trovatore.

Someone here or on another group said that Chernov had some time ago
sustained some vocal damage and, at least for the present, has retired.
I'd certainly want for him to return to the operatic stage and
recordings.

Leonard Tillman
"One doesn't marry someone he can live with -- but rather, someone he
cannot live without."

[Operatunenity]

> Someone here or on another group said that Chernov had some time ago
>sustained some vocal damage and, at least for the present, has retired.
>I'd certainly want for him to return to the operatic stage and
>recordings.

What I heard was that he had sustained significant damage to his ears and has
lost much of his hearing.

[CHSIII]

He did sing in May of 2002 in the ROH Trovatore, in September in Sydney in
Eugene Onegin, in Ocotober in the same opera in Seattle, and was to appear
this last January in Munich in L'Arlesiana.

[Drakejake]

I believe that Levine tapped Chernov as his number one Verdi baritone. Chernov
apparently moved his family to NYC and made the Met his base of operations.
But vocal and health problems undermined his career at the Met. It is the
common story of a promising career derailed by unreliable technique combined
with illness. I also heard Chernov live in a Met Boccanegra and wasn't too
impressed, although the voice is beautiful. Mr. Domingo did wonderfully well,
as he usually does.

JD

[Daniel Kessler]

Yikes! You were impressed by Chernov's Boccanegra?

My problem is that my first Boccanegra was Tito Gobbi at the Lyric Opera of
Chicago, then Leonard Warren at the Met. I guess I'm spoiled. Chernov was
surely one of the weakest in that role I've known. He didn't seem to have a
clue dramatically.

[Daniel Kessler]

Oh, I forgot to mention. I think the Met has had it with him. You won't be
seeing him there anymore. He still sings here and there when they can't find
anyone else.

A funny story about him.....he used to show up at the Met as if he were to go
on - even on nights he wasn't supposed to sing and wasn't the cover. Go
figure!

[Sergio H. da Silva]

Recently (about 2 years ago) saw him on Oneguin and he was fine. He has sung
Boccanegra wih Abbado last year if I remember well.
Haven't heard of any news that he retired.
"Leonard Tillman" <tapef...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:20778-3E9...@storefull-2274.public.lawson.webtv.net...

[NBPalmer1]

>He did sing in May of 2002 in the ROH Trovatore, in September in Sydney in
>Eugene Onegin, in Ocotober in the same opera in Seattle, and was to appear
>this last January in Munich in L'Arlesiana.

and he seems busy enough with appearances in most parts of the world. I
believe he returns to the Met next season (Pique Dame)

Regards, NICK/London

[Adlerfh]

Why ridicule a singer whose bright future was tragically undercut by injury and
illness? I saw Chernov's debut at Covent Garden in Barbiere and he was
sensational. All the London papers raved that a star was born the next day.
This was the same period when I first heard Hvorostofsky in recital. Without
doubt, Chernov had the better voice, with a full top that didn't turn
monchromaticlly white. In my view, he made a mistake moving too quickly into
the Verdi repertoire, no doubt with the selfish encouragement of the Met which
was desperately looking for a house baritone. Simone probably was too heavy
for him, but I thought he gave a thrilling performance both vocally and
dramatically. His Forza left me vey much dissatisfied; perhaps by then his
voice had been injured. Chernov is a loss for all of us. Everyone complains
that there are no longer enough top-tier tenors. Think how much worse the
situation is, and has been for a decade, with baritones. Who today can give a
fully satisfying Rigoletto, Forza, Ballo, Nabucco, Otello, etc? With greater
wisdom and better fortuna, Chernov might have filled the void.

Frank Adler

Frank Adler

[Dan]

I agree with you that his voice is (was) much better than Hvorostovsky's.
It's really a shame.

Dan

"Adlerfh" <adl...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030412112704...@mb-cg.aol.com...

[GRNDPADAVE]

>Subject: Re: What happened to Vladimir Chernov?
>From: Daniel Kessler dkes...@pop.cybernex.net
>Date: 04/12/2003 9:30 AM Central Daylight Time
>Message-id: <3E9822FB...@pop.cybernex.net>

>
>Yikes! You were impressed by Chernov's Boccanegra?
>
>My problem is that my first Boccanegra was Tito Gobbi at the Lyric Opera of
>Chicago, then Leonard Warren at the Met. I guess I'm spoiled. Chernov was
>surely one of the weakest in that role I've known. He didn't seem to have a
>clue dramatically.

~~~~~~~~~~
My one and only live BOCCANEGRA offered the fine (and I think undervalued)
Frank Guarrera.

Renata Tebaldi and Richard Tucker were utterly magnificent in their duet. For
some reason Tucker really imparted power and beautiful tone this role as well
as a seamless legato.

==G/P Dave

[Terrymelin]

>Who today can give a
>fully satisfying Rigoletto, Forza, Ballo, Nabucco, Otello, etc? With greater
>wisdom and better fortuna, Chernov might have filled the void

He did a very nice Onegin in South Florida a few years ago and then just
disappeared. Too bad. I always thought he was an interesting singer.

Terry Ellsworth

[susurrus]

What happened? He attended one of D.F.Tritter's lectures on law and opera
and died from terminal snoredom.

susurrus

[dtritter]

don't forget the very estimable boccanegra of ingvar wixell.

dft

[dtritter]

call a medical malpractice attorney. someone botched
ssssssusssssuuurrrrrruuuuuussss' lobotomy. only problem with such a law
suit is it would be tough to prove damages. before and after, he's still
a mental delinquent.

dft

[Leonard Tillman]

Frank Adler wrote:

>Why ridicule a singer whose bright future was
> tragically undercut by injury and illness?

Some simply enjoy offering ridicule, no matter the circumstances of
the intended recipient.

>I saw Chernov's debut at Covent Garden in
> Barbiere and he was sensational. All the
> London papers raved that a star was born the
> next day. This was the same period when I
> first heard Hvorostofsky in recital. Without
> doubt, Chernov had the better voice, with a
> full top that didn't turn monchromaticlly white.

Same impression here, -- though I've liked DH from his earliest
U.S. appearances, Chernov had the (even) greater voice and dramatic
intensity of the two splendid baritones.

[Lis K. Froding]

If so, it's only for one performance of Pique Dame (feb 07), and
even that isn't conclusive from the information provided so far.

Lis

[Robert Gordon]

Leonard Tillman wrote:

>Someone here or on another group said that Chernov had some time ago
>sustained some vocal damage and, at least for the present, has retired.
>

Well, he sang Figaro (Rossini) in Los Angeles in January, rather nicely
I thought. I didn't hear any obvious vocal problems.

-- Rob Gordon

[Leonard Tillman]

From: srgo...@earthlink.net (Robert Gordon)

>Leonard Tillman wrote:

That's good news, as he's been missed for a long while. Btw,
another poster has mentioned that what Chernov had suffered was ear
damage, causing severe loss of hearing.

>-- Rob Gordon

[Alcindoro]

>Btw, another poster has mentioned that what Chernov had suffered was ear
damage, causing severe loss of hearing.<

If so than I believe the man deserves TWICE our admiration for the continuation
of his fine career, and not the disgusting and idiotic gossip that I've read in
this thread. And comparing Chernov and Hvorostovsky is ridiculous -- two very
different and individual voices and we are damn lucky to have them both around.

[john]

tapef...@webtv.net (Leonard Tillman) wrote in message news:<26702-3E...@storefull-2271.public.lawson.webtv.net>...

Here's the first part of L.A. Opera's "Barbiere" review (L.A. Times,
February 10, 2003). Chris Pasles is the reviewer.

john

Los Angeles Opera opened a low-voltage revival of Rossini's "The
Barber of Seville" on Friday at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. One reason
for its lack of impact might be that Mauro Pagano's symmetrical set
for the Cologne Opera, carried over from 1997, creates an inordinate
number of acoustical dead spots on stage. Then again, perhaps the
singers had small voices or didn't project well.

But with only a few exceptions, from a seat about six rows back from
the front of the stage, they sounded weak and easily overpowered by
the orchestra, which wasn't playing all that loud.

The leaden pace of the comic dialogue, however, couldn't be attributed
either to acoustics or to size of voice. Director Michael Hampe has to
take responsibility for that.

One of the vocal exceptions was Russian baritone Vladimir Chernov in
the role of Figaro. Chernov was heard as a nasty Albert in Massenet's
"Werther" and a darkly villainous Iago in Verdi's "Otello" in the
company's "Concert of Passion and Poetry" last month. His Figaro had a
steely edge, both in sound and in its opportunistic portrayal. And, in
"Barber," every time Chernov was on the boards, the vocal and energy
level went way up.

[margit...@gmail.com]

So good to read your posting - Vladimir Chernov is my favorite baritone, I adore him! Unfortunately he doesn't sing operas anymore, he is just teaching. And lucky me - he gives masterclasses in Austria! He spends his summers in Payerbach (Lower Austria) where he has a house in the forests. And since 4 years there is a final concert in July together with his students. His voice is still stupendous!

Kind regards from Vienna - Margit

[sopran...@gmail.com]

Vladimir is a professor of voice at UCLA and still performs from time to time, but UCLA does not like when he leaves for opera contracts, so he is more settled in L.A. He also has a summer program at his home in Austria. he is my mentor and he changed my life. He is a genius and super down to earth.

[azog...@gmail.com]

Ma! An outstanding singer. In Manchester he sang in Queen Spades, last I heard him live in Roberto Devereux (I think) in
Dusseldorf (I think) with Gruberova. On video he is superb in Stiffelio.

[a...@catsup.co.uk]

That's good to read, he was always my favourite too and I was fortunate enough to hear him a number of times. I first came across him in "Forza" when he was still relatively new on the scene and singing with Scottish Opera.

He flew under my radar from about 2000, I always thought he was the Millenium bug's sole victim, alhough I did subsequently hear he'd had health problems, which saddened me. Then he turned up at a recital in Graz somewhere in the mid noughties and the voice still had all the qualities that I liked so much.

There's an excellent download of a 2004 concert he gave with the Terem Quartet for sale here. http://www.perfomania.com/default.aspx?control=catalog_cd_details&code=r4bGqfYbT9vPIj12qVJgqQ%3D%3D The "Figaro", which he does as an encore is unbelievable.