Jon Vickers sings Wagner conducted by Karl Bohm (vaimusic.com)

I had to laugh a bit after reading your comment on the Sat. Met broadcast they had an intermission feature with the German diction coach Vicker's singing this (not this recording) was playing in the background as an example of good diction! I prefer my idiosyncratic to your "actually not very good" I played phrases that bothered me to German friends-didn't bother them reminded me that distortion, always occurs in singing also that there is great variety in pronunciation even today in Germ

this is also a fairly early recording I 'd have to dispute your "feeling" that he doesn't know what he's singing he ALWAYS knew what he was singing about, studied it, pondered it, the words were essential to him and not simply for sound projection His whole concept was tied to the drama more than the singing itself so the words and meaning obsessed him I know at least later in his career he learned to speak German well enough(unlike many singers)

Certainly I defer if it is your native language I study it forever! and am particularly sensitive to it being sung My friends one is a language teacher , another MD/psych opera fanatic-only passing on their reactions and as you know in Germ. as in GB regionalisms still predominate but too many great opera singers have not really "known"/or at all- the language they sing in but Vicker's would have worked his ass off on meaning even early in his career

so much even great singing (although to a native speaker there is always a difference) is by singers not fluent in it-how could they possibly know all the languages required today?-except somone like Gedda I remember a story about Hotter coaching J. Morris who did not/does not? "know" German-and saying something about well he might not know it but he can sure sing it I always found Vickers e's i's odd as in Euch werde Lohn but several native speakers had no problem you do-what can I say?

@chichovifil You don't need to have a good understanding of bel canto to sing Wagner. And if you think that Fritz Wunderlich doesn't know how to do belcanto, you have no clue. Most of the best Wagner, Schubert, Beethoven singers are German. Not all of them, some are from countries around Germany, like Denmark (Melchior) or Norway (Flagstad), but most are German.

@piasecznik you would sing Wagner a lot better if you had a good understanding of bel canto For a long time Wagner singing was afflicted with the Bayreuth bark-precisely because singing was confused with declamation and not good at that evenness beauty of tone a good musical line is not incompatible with clarity of text Wunderlich was exceptional because he incorporated the bel canto tradition even when singing in German

@Labienus no- more like because Wagner wanted it that way. 'Wagner (18131883) decried the Italian singing model, alleging that it was concerned merely with "whether that G or A will come out roundly". He advocated a German school of singing which would draw "the spiritually energetic and profoundly passionate into the orbit of its matchless Expression"'

Sounds like Wagner but he also admired Bellini surely not for the orchestration? What he was decrying was frivilous singing not proper vocal production I think he turned over in his grave when the maniac Cosima codified Bayreuth singing as BAD singing -that's what it was- thankfully no more Yes we want depth, meaning, spirituality-whatever that is-but that is not incompatible with good singing which for all that derives from the "grand tradition" and based on the principles of bel canto

@Labienus Well, I don't know. When I listen to very old recordings by pre-Caruso tenors, for instance Tamagno, I think that they're incredibly boring. Wagner describes my feelings there actually perfectly, that they're just concerned with their -perfect- vocal production, but not with emotions. A Wagner singer often values interpretation over beautiful singing, a little bit like Verismo singers. Well, and in Wagner operas good interpretation mostly results in barking.

@Labienus and there were lots more good German (or Austrian) bel canto singers. Slezak, Schmidt, Jadlowker, Tauber...

Seems to be some confusion regarding the original motivation for my response. So you have me confused. I am talking about the means of vocal production which derive from the Italian bel canto tradition. There's a right way to sing for our music, and that can be applied to any style, any era. What a particular artist brings to it in terms of interpretation and depth, meaning etc. varies-but the core vocal techniques - how you create the sound-should be the same.

Again don't get your pt. We know that the style of singing (in Italian opera) became more dramatic and realistic at the beginning of the 20ieth cent-and not just Caruso. Pre-verisimo Ital. opera had more standard forms and a kind of instrumental style for the voice-but we know eg Callas -that the same music could be sung in the style but also with great meaning. Plenty of Germ maybe more Austrian! who sang beautifully-because they understood the Italian tradtion combined it with their style

@dg6da i totally agree: it's insane to say vickers is screaming in this piece. jon vickers like no other dramatic tenor that i know of, treated music with the utmost respect, using more dynamics (singing both soft and loud) and fewer fashionable slurs (portamenti) than anyone else. and this short piece he doesn't use any kind of force, he isn't even singing his top notes full forte/fortissimo, he doesn't need to, his huge voice does all the work for him! great technique too!!

...and a very good german pronounciation!

if i were singing up there all i would be thinking "i hope i don't fall"

@unethicaldenier He's a dramatic tenor singing a Wagner aria. I have a feeling your idea of 'lyrical' is the antithesis of thrilling.

@erd5215 thanks, I was in doubt for long years, and had to recognise your reason he is the gretast, in Norma in Orange 1973 or so yes MDM was the only who could match this tempest

@unethicaldenier I quite liked him as Don Jose, Otello, and Rhadames as well. I'm not german so I can't comment on his pronunciation..... however I can assure you he has german fans. Like Callas and others, the attraction is power and emotional intensity, and I guess 'musical intelligence.' Not so much wanting to hear a beautiful sound.

Jon Vickers was a superb artist and singer.

Unreachable!

Dis sho aint bel canto!

Are you deaf? LOL - Vickers was a master. And what a voice! Indeed, oh would we had a Vickers today.... Have you heard his recording of Peter Grimes? Incredible really... full of colour and strength - no one matches him.

I think that with having the orchestra before him, it must have been more like singing at Bayreuth... and of course, Vickers has the horn to sing from the cheap seats!

Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond,
In mildem Lichte leuchtet der Lenz;
Auf linden Lüften leicht und lieblich,
Wunder webend er sich wiegt;
Durch Wald und Auen weht sein Athem,
Weit geöffnet lacht sein Aug.

Aus sel’ger Vöglein Sänge süss ertönt,
Holde Düfte haucht er aus;
Seinem warmen Blut entblühen wonnige Blumen,
Keim und Spross entspriesst seiner Kraft.

Mit zarter Waffen Zier bezwingt die Welt;
Winter und Sturm wichen der starken Wehr:
Wohl musste de tapf’ren Streichen die strenge Thüre auch weichen,
die trotzig und starr uns trennte von ihm.

Zu seiner Schwester schwang er sich her:
Die Liebe lockte den Lenz,
In uns’rem Busen barg sie sich tief:
Nun lacht sie selig dem Licht.

Die bräutliche Schwester befreite der Bruder;
Zertrümmert liegt, was je sie getrennt;
Jauchzend grüsst sich das junge Paar:
Vereint sind Liebe und Lenz!

довольно героический вокал, но немного чересчур непосредственный

BRAVO!!!

I'm a great admirer of Jon Vickers but in this particular role I prefer the recording by James King/VPO/Solti who imparts more melody in his voice.

Constance Lambert ( rip 12-13-2016), John Victors, George London, Joe Roulou, Andre Turp. legends in Canadian Opera!!

Bravo! Wunderbares! Singen!

My very favorite version of this beautiful piece 😊

Grandissimo e indimenticabile Maestro

The best

If I remember corectly, Vickers sang 3 arias at this concert.

Bravísimo!

Imagine a Canadian that can sing Wagner like that . His Lohengrin is Unsurpassed .

Why is he standing on this balcony.Vickers and Birgit Nilsson was someting.

Imagine it on a modern recording equipment

Bought this on VHS many years ago....blew me away, and still it remains my favourite ....wonderful!! Thank you 😚

Vickers was a monster in his repertoire, and in the theater, I am sure, was impressive. In recordings he was not a Mediterranean singer. His sound is disagreeable to me, but art is subjective. He was one of the great ones, but in his repertoire.

Bravo!

In another Vickers-Wintersturme video, he announced beforehand that he thought this aria represents evil. Evil!! I couldn’t believe it. He agreed that it’s a beautiful piece, but said that beauty often hides evil. I can’t watch him sing this anymore — I never thought of Siegmund-Sieglinde as evil, and I don’t think Wagner thought so either. Weird.

Most beautiful voice in wagnerian history

Most human sounding heldentenor ever.

Jon Vickers, John King, and Wolfgang Windgassen were great Wagnerian tenors. But Lauritz Melchior was the greatest Wagnerian tenor.

Wonderful memories of him in the theater. The sound was enormous, but never pushed. Completely unique timbre. A great singer indeed.

How did he get up there?

Wundervolle Heldentenor.

Vickers was a legend Best Peter Grimes ever!

K fea vozzzxx pero le saca un no sequé