James Milligans Wotan
Richard Loeb
only knew from one of Sargent's Messiah recordings is a fabulous Wotan - I
wonder why he didn't do more Wagner?? Richard
Mike Scott Rohan
from "Richard Loeb" <loe...@comcast.net> contains these words:
> Listening to the 1961 Bayreuth Siegfried under Kempe - James Milligan who I
> only knew from one of Sargent's Messiah recordings is a fabulous Wotan - I
> wonder why he didn't do more Wagner?? Richard
A sad answer, I'm afraid. He was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, won a
major singing competition prize in Geneva in 1955 and sang with the
Canadian National Opera and in England at Covent Garden and
Glyndebourne, which got him into recordings -- Arbace in John
Pritchard's Glyndebourne Idomeneo on EMI, and minor roles in Sargent's
HMS Pinafore and Gondoliers, which I imagine led to the Messiah. Then he
was invited to Bayreuth, and shortly beforehand joined the Basle Opera.
He won exceptional praise for his Wanderer, acting as well as the
singing -- he seems, as you say, to have been something special. Then
four months after Bayreuth, during a Basle rehearsal, he dropped dead on
stage. He was only thirty-four. Sic transit, poor fellow.
Richard Loeb
"Mike Scott Rohan" <mike.sco...@asgard.zetnet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:200410051...@asgard.zetnet.co.uk...
JimBodge
> Listening to the 1961 Bayreuth Siegfried under Kempe - James Milligan who I
> only knew from one of Sargent's Messiah recordings is a fabulous Wotan - I
> wonder why he didn't do more Wagner?? Richard
Mr. Milligan chose to sing only this role for his Bayreuth debut. He
would have returned but was killed (in a car accident, I think) before
the 1962 festival. It wasn't until 1965 that Bayreuth really
recovered from the loss, as their casting of Wotan was quite
inadequate until then.
Richard Loeb
death Richard
"JimBodge" <bo...@boston.quik.com> wrote in message
news:c8c3236f.04100...@posting.google.com...
Mike Scott Rohan
from "Richard Loeb" <loe...@comcast.net> contains these words:
> It wasn't so hot in 1965 either!!!! See Mike Scott Rohans remarks
> about his
> death Richard
You mean Theo Adam, I presume? I only got to know him on records,
including a grotty Classics for Pleasure release -- but (apologies to
those who've heard this before) when I actually heard him in the flesh,
in Vienna in '78, I was seriously startled. None of the gritty tone,
nothing of the wobble was apparent -- the voice sounded huge and rich,
even better than the Klemperer Dutchman (which was what he was singing).
No doubt the grit etc was there, but with a stage acoustic -- and I was
in a good stalls seat -- I didn't hear it. It was a real eyeopener in
not trusting the microphone record of a singer -- at least on its own.
From what I heard, I'd have cast him as Wotan any time.
The more so, given his predecessors at Bayreuth: Hermann Uhde, a
splendid singer but not really a Wotan, except perhaps in Rheingold, and
Jerome Hines, who doesn't seem to have taken to the role.
Cheers,
Mike
Richard Loeb
better in the theatre - he was singing an awfully long time Richard
tnews:200410061...@asgard.zetnet.co.uk...
JimBodge
> Yes I saw him sing Gurnemanz in Bayeuth in the late 70s - he did sound
> better in the theatre - he was singing an awfully long time Richard
>
> >> about his
> >> death Richard
> >
> >
> > You mean Theo Adam, I presume? I only got to know him on records,
And I got to know him from radio broadcasts of Bayreuth's 1966 season
and thought him a great breath of fresh air compared to what we were
hearing in NYC, and Bayreuth's recent experiences from 1960 onwards.
They were actually using folks like Otto Wiener and Hubert Huffman, as
well as the aging Hans Hotter and the not quite right Jerome Hines.
After 1965, Adam shared the role with Thomas Stewart and eventually
Donald McIntyre, right up to 1975. I saw him in the part at the 1970
Festival, the first year of Wolfgang Wagner's second staging. I was
much impressed, as I had been with his MET broadcasts of RHEINGOLD and
WALKüRE for Karajan the year before. MANY years later - 1988 - he
returned to the MET for a couple of WALKüRE, but it was much too late.