I CANNOT STAND THIS | Opera Singer Reacts | Toreador Aria Explained
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- Опубликовано: 5 сен 2024
- Obviously this is one of the most iconic melodies in opera...but the content? HARD PASS from me.
Full opera here with Agnes Baltsa, Jose Carreras, Samuel Ramey, James Levine (1988): • Carmen - Baltsa, Carreras
Interpreters of the Toreador:
Alan Titus:
• Carmen, Act II: Votre ...
Dmitri Hvorotovsky:
• Dmitri Hvorostovsky "T...
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opera, pavarotti, nessun dorma, reaction, react, Diana damrau, l'opera et ses zouz, the charismatic voice, professional opera singer, franco corelli, joyce didonato, Puccini, Verdi, singers, singing, jonas kaufmann, anna netrebko, toreador, carmen, bizet,
Escamillo has to be a rock star! Samuel Ramey is one of the singers who understand this. So many Escamillos are so dull and boring (I'm looking at so many Escamillos, but in particular Ruggero Raimondi in the 1982 film version with Domingo. Raimondi is positively somnambulant), but Ramey is one of the few who gets that Escamillo must be a rock star. At the beginning of this particular performance Ramey comes in to the upper level of the tavern, tosses his hat to the crowd, runs down the stairs, leaps up onto a table, drinks a toast, tosses his glass to the crowd, and begins to sing. (He even jumps down from the table without jarring his voice.) This is my favorite Escamillo performance; Ramey's gorgeous voice, marvelous stage presence, and rock star quality. One reviewer said of this Ramey performance, "At last, Escamillo is no longer the dullest man in Spain". As for Escamillo and Carmen being a good match and staying together longer than for a short amount of time, one opera reviewer summed up the plot of the opera thusly: "Micaela loves Jose, Jose loves Carmen, Carmen loves Escamillo, and Escamillo loves only himself."
Samuel Raimy is a true legend. Excellent voice and that rock star personality works well in the role of Escamillo. Top notch.
I love him as Don Giovanni too. He. Is. Awesome!!!
Samuel Ramey is both the God and the Devil of the Opera! Last spring, his voice was the thread that saved my psyche... ❤🩹
16:18 I think that he is imitating the intimidating presence of the bull itself, the hooves on cobblestone make a similar sound to his boots on the wooden floor. "The bull comes and then knocks again". Dang I am not trained at all but I made it my goal to sing Toreador this year.
Anecdote: my wife is vegetarian. Thus, she bloody hates bullfighting. So she has no sympathy for Escamillo. I was watching the Rosi movie adaptation one day and when Jose and him fight, she's completely on Jose's side and got really not happy when Carmen stops the fight. She wanted Escamillo to die. It's funny how sympathies switch according to the time period.
She sounds fiery!
@@operaanna She's very sweet. Most of the time.
I am enjoying your exposition of this genre of music that is completely alien to me, outside of the ubiquitous Carmen, Delibes and Nessun Dorma.
In an earlier video, you mentioned O mio babbino caro as being too difficult for beginners. The most popular video that I found was by a teenage girl (who was not even opera trained? IIRC). I am hoping that if you do cover this aria, that you please elaborate or place into context what you meant by your earlier comments.
I found Renee Fleming's rendition of it technically brilliant but in the end when Caballe reached up into the heavens and pulled down the pianissimo, I fell in love with the aria.
I am SO glad you brought that up! I remember mentioning that during the Opera in Movies if I'm not mistaken, and it's absolutely something I need to come back to. Honestly, devoting an entire video to these 'prodigies' is something I'm contemplating at this point. I will come back to it soon, I promise. Caballé has the most beautiful pianissimo ever, I can understand completely why you fell in love with it after seeing her sing!
Ooh, I like your analysis of the action on stage! And yes, Samuel Ramey slays here. I think maybe my favorite Carmen has to be the one with Corelli (surprise surprise) because all of the characters in it aren’t hate-able for me and also because the director makes The Most of action on stage. Corelli is a great lead, not a wimp or excessively controlling. He is built to rip my little baby heart out because he makes his José really seem like someone who did it all for love. The Carmen is pretty good too, often a little chipper but I will take that over an uncaring, steely, selfish, cold little vixen I so loathe for a Carmen type. Micaëla is a sweetie and I vibe with her. Escamillo (as pointed out by a review I read) might not have a realistic appearance for a….toreador….. but I do like that he is very expressive and makes the most of the part, not wooden at all. I think in the opera Escamillo does mention to José that Carmen only sticks with a guy like what, 6 months? idk. But even so I do hope these celebrities wouldn’t theoretically break up because I ship Carmen and Escamillo. Oh well!
Anyway I’ll also mention it was earlier in Corelli’s career so we get to hear what Mario del Monaco’s termed “Pecorelli”-Corelli had a very noticeable vibrato, and Mario was saying it sounded like bleating and made a pun off of it (actually I think it was a relative of his he took the term from). Whether it’s noticeable or not, hard to say. But regardless that is easily one of my comfort movies :)
I LOVE YOUR NAME!!!
@@gabykogut6462 thank you!!! It’s from Gilbert and Sullivan :3
But you may know that :D
Ohhh I need to see this. Do you know if it's somewhere online?
The earliest Franco Corelli recordings did have a faster vibrato which he managed to normalize without difficulty. To say it was "bleating" is, I think, inaccurate. Del Monaco no doubt recognized the arrival of a very fierce competitor for greatest tenor.
17:22 Actually it's not always required to be on a horse to stab the bull with the banderillas. There are people who are stand up and run right next to the bull and they stab it exactly with the gesture that Samuel did there. The people on horses actually just are like "bullfighter socorrists" if that makes sense haha. I'm from Spain so I kind of know the basics of it, even tho I'm not very interested on it... It truly is a very controversial topic here in my country lol. Anyway, your videos are amazing!! Keep doing them
Fun fact: In spain we call it "Torero" more than "matador". Like, matador is the one who kills the bull at the end, but there can be other "toreros" who fight the bull and not kill it. Only one of them, the leader lf the team, kills the bull and is the "matador". So, well, they are all "toreros" but only once they're "matadores"
Thank you for the insight! I definitely would rather be on a horse if it were me... The whole thing actually seems really complicated tbh. Once I started reading about it, I immediately got confused!
I live a few hours from the college Ramey taught at and wanted to eventually go there for finishing my undergrad or my masters BUT then he retired 😢
Nooo that's so frustrating 😭
I ❤ your commentary - I’ve been listening to Ramey for decades. My fav singer - ok after angelic Pavarotti. Thanks for your analysis.
Thank you!
I think the aria is not only about love: it's about love and death, Eros and Thanatos. And the relationship between the two, bloody violence being a stimulant and an attraction. Women are not so much attracted to Escamillo because he is charming, they find him charming because he kills.
hmmm interesting! Kind of the danger that comes along with him?
@@operaanna Yes. That's why some women like a man in uniform: not because it looks good, but for what it implies.
Love your reviews; especially how you explain the context of each aria. Please do a review of one of my favorite up and coming singers Patrica, Janekova. I know she was not in a full blown production due to her passing at such a young age of 25. But she could have become one of the best. Here she is at a rehearsal for a concert singing Quando Men Vo from La Boheme.
the fast forward button: "im tired, boss. 😫"
9:38 it's called "el capote"
Wonderfully young Sam Ramey! His voice sounds an octave higher than I'm used to hearing, ha ha. Love the table dive. Youth AND talent. Such an infuriating combination once you pass 55.
laurent naouri does a good toreador too!
Oh I LOVE Carmen! It's the very first opera I listened to. Literally my first operatic love. I was obsessed about it, I must have been ten, top. I was not a popular kid at school.
I love the opera! As soon as I started looking at the text for this aria though I was like 🤐🤐
@operaanna How about the quintet later when it's say that to fool, to cheat and to scam, you better have a woman helping you?
Carmen was the first opera I saw and was the reason I kept coming back
I recently had the delight of watching a rehearsal of Carmen, with Escamillo being sung by the cover...and he was outstanding! Still trying to find out his name. That being said, I do feel that this is a difficult aria to perform poorly!
Toreador - who knew? Thank you for that little gem. And yes, you should be a director, ideally whilst also singing the lead role, and providing the press office with content to attract the masses!
That's a lot of hats to wear!
Love to read summaries like THAT instead of the boring old concert notes that one almost falls asleep to - Very entertaining and kind of subversive - perfect.
👀👀👀 thank you!!!
love this! they're singing esca-MEE-yo
I've watched this SO many times, and then as I sat to watch it I was like, wait how do you pronounce it? I couldn't remember if the pronounce the 'l' or not
Just discovered your channel. Very good. Especially your enthusiasm. I would suggest the black eye mentioned is that of Death. His life is at risk at all times. To win and receive the love mentioned, especially that of the women, he must avoid the black eye.
Funnily enough, the French town where i live is having its annual bullfights this weekend, in celebration of juillet 14. I too love the opera, hate bullfighting...
I think that Escamillo's appearance marks a turning point in the course of the opera. Carmen is attracted to him because he is a winner and let's face it, Don José is a loser. As for the interpretation of Votre toast, I find it difficult to sing convincingly, on the one hand because of the voice it requires and on the other the appropriate physical presence. As for bullfights, they have different parts called thirds; thirds of rods, of banderillas and of death. When the bull goes out to the ring the "torero" receives it with the fighting cape, more or less like Samuel Ramey does with the woman's cloak; the gesture he makes by lowering both hands is that of placing the "banderillas", this is done on foot, facing the bull. In bullfights on foot, the only one on horseback is the "picador" but there are also bullfights on horseback, these are called "rejoneo o corrida de rejones" and require great skill from the rider and very well-trained horses to avoid the bull's attacks. .
have you seen Carmen directed by Calixto Bieito? I watched it live from Gran Teatro di Liceu, in an American movie theater and some people started covering their eyes and complaining the show was not x-rated!
I don't think so! Can you see it somewhere online?
I'm far from someone who can intelligently compare operatic voices from a technical perspective, but of all the Carmens I've watched both live and on video, Robert Merrill's Escamillo captures the underlying arrogance of Escamillo's character best. Escamillo is the male version of Carmen, a balance to Carmen in the Plot. Escamillo & Carmen both show courage & arrogance in love, both are flawed. The bullfight is a testament to courage, even the bull's courage is cheered by the crowd. Perhaps the bull's death in Votre Toast foreshadows Carmen's?
The soprano is Agnes Baltsa?
Here as Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus.
ruclips.net/video/DY2oRvyKNZk/видео.html
I believe she is still alive.
My favourite for Carmen is Elina Garanca, at the moment. She has the right cold radiation combined with sluttiness.
As to the remark on Bullfighting. That goes back a long way - I mean really long way - in the entertainment industry. The latin word for a gladiator trainer is lanista - one of the few word we KNOW is etruscan. As to Spain one should notice that the emperor Trajan (I think it was) was spaniard. As to torture - well, there are a few schoolteachers I would like to see skewered - or burned at the stake in Piazza di Fiori (like Giordano Bruno) - though why not combine the popular entertainment? Roast pigs?
Here with Pavarotti:
ruclips.net/video/T0_UG2UnM7o/видео.html
Remy must be Swiss, as the uses his "muleta" like a flag schwingen. A spaniard would rarely do that. La muleta is kept spread out by the rapier and scabbard.
The picador is mounted - those that run up to the bull and place the spears in the neck are called banderilleros. But opera scenographers are generally a disaster. Vikings with horned helmets is also a scenographic mistake by Wagner productions.
Ramey is American if I'm not mistaken! But maybe the director is Swiss or just thought it was cool to twirl it like that... Baltsa is indeed still alive! I'm curious to see her Orlofsky, my fave has always been Fassbaender!
Now you should do Samuel Ramey as Don Giovanni under Herbert von Karajan.
Noted!
@@operaanna and Ferruccio Furlanetto performing as Leporello with Samuel Ramey as Don Giovanni, both under the baton of Herbert von Karajan. It is amazing and they play very well together.
@@swordforjustice sounds awesome! Do you know if it's on RUclips?
Francesco Rosi pretty much associated Carmen with the bull that will ultimately be killed.
Now that's a hot take 🔥
i think it's just called a cape
Lol that's what I realized while editing but I wasn't sure anymore
i had NO IDEA the word toreador was made up!!!
The greatest Escamillo was Nicolai Ghiaurov.
Okay I can't see straight because I just woke up, so my microphone may make this message indecipherable so my apologies
Ah, please sure actually saw this one. Granted it was a film version that may have had Placido Domingo in it. Completely hated it. Carmen was a b****, Jose was terrible. And I absolutely could not stand Placido Domingo's voice. If it was Placido Domingo. I might be thinking of the film version of Don Giovanni I saw with Kiri te kanawa. This was over twenty years ago. You're right that movie versions of operas absolutely suck balls. But I hated the entire story of Carmen. And I also wasn't a very big fan of the music. I think the big two are the only worthwhile songs and I don't even know if that's because they are good or because they are such ear worms that you can't escape them.
I anyway that's just my terrible opinion
That's the teaaaa. I love controversial opinions, keep em coming!
@@operaanna you got that song stuck in my head today. You might have to pay for that in the future LOL
@@leadingblind1629 bahha SORRY!! I literally still have vesti la giubba stuck in my head from last week
@@operaanna and the gentleman reminds me of a young Christopher Lee
I like the technical explanations a lot, but I'm not a fan of the interspersed video clips breaking up the flow...
How else does one make a reaction video
Well, he didn't had success with this opera back then, but at least music was still alive and you could hear fresh made operas every month, if not week. Nowadays instead the music world is dead as much as the composers that are performed. And at least back then being a composer was a real job, not like today that's more like a not so funny joke... 1800 was like the song of the swan, the golden century for music, before the roman like sudden collapse and dark age that followed, and keeps following still now. This Saturday they are gonna play Wozzeck on the internet radio, from a performance recorded in London this Spring, a rare thing. 🤔
True!! I would've killed to hear a new opera every week, kind of like going to the movies. I love working on contemporary operas, and I feel like the audience is much more anxious to see it instead of the same thing over and over.... The piece I worked on at the beginning of this year was sold out two weeks in advance!
How was the Wozzeck?
@@operaanna Well since it was my second time listening to it, the first time was when I was still studying and were just few highlights, I can't give an opinion on the performance, but sure I can tell you that I loved it a lot. If I should have to choose to go to listen to Turandot or to Wozzeck, I would surely choose to go to the latter, but of course I don't know if it will last forever, since some time there are musics that have a high impact at the first listening, but when you get the "mechanics" of it you loose sooner interest on them. And since I talked about Turandot, an opera that I know quite well, it amazed me of how far they were, how huge the difference between two pieces can be. And it wasn't just because Wozzeck was "atonal", whatever it means since I clearly heard several cadenzas along the piece. Maybe it refer to the fact that it shifts through various tonalities during the piece without sticking to a main one? 🤔 Buy the way Wozzeck sounded more like an opera written for adults, whilst Turandot is more like something meant for kids. And with Turandot I can put all the Italian Verismo, since if that was Verismo this one is Iper-realism! 😁
i prefer Bechi in the role of Escamillo.
I'll have to check it out!
cut from the same cloth
lol thank you, i had trouble finding my words that day
You talk too much
👍
You are even cuter in this video..marry me.