When Tucker sings it, there is emotion, eloquence, chiaroscuro--like a great soliloquy. When most tenors sing it, it's a pretty tune with effective high notes.
The first time I heard him,I went,Wow,I thought I'd heard the best,but he's my favourite.Hihh notes fabulous,but it's the sheer joy in his voice that I love most.
Wow..what a magnificent rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone, for years one of my favorite tunes. It touches the heart and almost blows you out of your chair. Mr. Tucker stands above some of the overpraised tenors of recent times (L.P.)
Tucker thrived at the Met for 30 years, sharing the limelight with two other great tenors, in Corelli and Del Monaco. All three tenors successfully represented the spinto dramatic repertory to the delight of their audiences, bringing down the house with great performances and applause.
@@KajiVocals The categorizations of the tenor voice often produces differences of opinions. Some posters regard MDM as a'' lirico pieno'' Volpi a lyric spinto or lyric dramatic. Tamagno, Escalais and Paoli were described as dramatic tenor's but today I think they would be considered Spinto dramatic, which is another sort of confusing title. Lauri Volpi told Tucker that he had a Caruso'' type'' voice, but strangely enough Volpi does not categorize the tenor voice in his book '' Voci Parallele'' Not to be argumentative, but perhaps Tucker was a natural lyric tenor, but with the ability to sing the heavier roles with much success. However, there have been many lyric tenors not suitable for the heavier roles.
This is the type of television show that I was accustomed to seeing when I was growing up. It was not unusual to have great opera singers like Richard Tucker performing on the various networks. Tuckers greatest asset was voice, voice, and more voice.
Boy does that sound right. Nessun dorma needs a big rich colorful voice like Tucker's. The only bone I have to pick with Tucker was that he so seldom came West. I missed hearing him sing Chenier with Bastianini. I thought I could catch them next season. But Tucker never came back and Bastianini died. More fool I.
That is one memorable performance. He is in such sublime control of his throat and his phrasing is unique. The tone and power of his voice are truly remarkable. He must have possessed a supremely well oiled machine, that is a real horsepower engine supporting that beautiful voice.
Agree about Earl W. An utterly wonderful vocal artist. Had a perfectly balanced tone and ease of singing. Not sure if Opera would have been his lane, although the production was correct. He fit the classical musicals of the era as well or better than any!!
Skitch Henderson? Wow! It's been decades since I watched him on TV. A+ Tucker at his finest, old enough to have perfected his voice and young enough not to be losing it to time's degradations.
As I’m sure you know, many other tenors of the “Golden Age” of the early-1900s could be added, including the stentorian Leo Slezak who was as great a lieder singer as he was a master of the Italian, French, and German repertoire. But the Metropolitan Opera of the Caruso-Slezak era was not the Met of Rudolf Bing’s era, when Tucker was a superstar.
@@RubyRosaRudy Yes, long before our times (and Tucker's) you had tenors singing a wide variety of roles like the mentioned (Slezak) and also tenor Jadlowker singing everything from Lyric roles, like Mozart and dramatic roles like Otello.
@@shicoff1398: And as you know, Jadlowker was also the cantor of the synagogue in Riga after he retired from opera. Tucker’s inspiration as a cantor, Mordecai Hershmann, could have sung any spinto role if he had chosen to. Even the lyric tenor Jose Mojica sang what are now considered spinto roles.
He is missed. Tucker was a hugely exciting singer and a fine artist. I regret never having had the opportunity to hear him live, as I did with Merrill, Vickers, Milnes, McCracken, Margaret Price -- also Hampson, a suberb lyric baritone and recitalist, but no way a Verdi baritone --
I see the writer of both Tucker and Ponselle books, Mr. James Drake ( a very in the know gentleman) has taken time to make some excellent recent comments here, all very interesting and of course your accurate comments also. I recently answered a Bjoerling fan about his voice type, great sensational artist of perfection but more a lyric or Lyric spinto type voice, then Spinto Tucker and Corelli Etc. MDM was surely a dramatic tenor as you and I both saw him in house.
He made one of the most difficult arias in all of bel canto opera sound effortless!!! Amazing and wonderful! Leaves you feeling breathless with excitement and awe. I so appreciate whoever posted this. Thank you with all my heart.
As Tucker's biographer, having interviewed nearly every singer, conductor, coach, et al., who was associated with him, I can tell you that his "ego" was a part of his public personality that he began to accentuate in interviews after his second publicist, Thea Dispeker, told him that self-inflating comments were "good press." He knew that he was not very good in interviews (he was sensitive about his limited vocabulary, a product of his limited schooling), and he needed a "hook" to stand out. Thea Dispeker conceived the "American Caruso" tag and urged him to back it up with (as she put it) braggadocio. He flatly rejected her strategy, especially the "American Caruso" part-but she reminded him that he had told his bride that one day he would be "a big opera star," and that if he didn't believe he could live up to the "American Caruso" PR line, then his self-confidence was a mask for self-doubt. He wanted time to think about it, and she said no, that the campaign would start soon, and he had to decide then and there. She told me he lowered his head and was silent for a moment, and then said, "Okay, I'm in. I can do it." There were times and incidents where he carried it too far in public-but among his circle of lifelong friends (almost none of whom were singers or musicians) he was (as his best friend Ben Herschaft said) "a sweet, generous, unpretentious guy, a real mensch."
Jim Drake The story here about buying his son a car with his gambling winnings makes me think he must have been a very sweet and generous person. 😊 Jan
+jan wintz: He was very good-natured as a parent, unless any of his sons was even slightly disrespectful to their mother. When that happened, his explosive temper would rival Mt. Vesuvius. Neighbors and friends recounted scenes of one or the other teenage boys being chased down the street, luckily for them several lengths ahead of their enraged father. Two hours later, when he had cooled down, he might be playing basketball or swimming with them in the community pool down the street from their home.
@@RubyRosaRudy One comment here by "Ransom Coates" said it sounded not "live" but dubbed in here , I doubt it, another asks if Bjoerling live in the aria had as big a voice, the answer is no, Jussi is best compared with Lyric tenors like Gigli or Pavarotti but as for size it wasn't in house the size of Tucker's if you saw both men in house.
Extraordinario, el mejor tenor spinto que ha dado los estados unidos, para uno de los cuatro mejores de todos los tiempos, en cualquier idioma, y el No: 1 en lengua inglesa.
What rich tone across the whole range.. and great dictionary!!! Hugely under rated. For me one of the all time greats. But being American obviously he can't be great, just like Lanza.
Rarely do singers today have a technique like this. They're singing the big roles well before they're ready and ruining voices. That's my opinion folks -- and I did study music, piano, organ and voice in college and grad school.
less and less, almost no more... and opera houses assign singers according to their LOOKS... expensive dramatic production with stunning lightings and costumes, but empty feelings, cause no voices there!!!
we live in a sad era of quick fame....its not always the students fault...its the system that is competitive...if u can do asap...then good..or else ur behind...its pretty sad...no one has the time to hone their craft.
@@Shamsithaca It's the agents, they control the system and few if any know anything about the develpoment of the voice. As Kraftpr said young singers getting big roles to soon. voice done in under a decade.
This recording is much better than the 1967 clip on you Tube. If you can find the Tucker 25th Anniversary at the Met album every track is a great experience! He is the standard other are judged by according to Domingo and Pavorratti.
The television show “Camera 3” from which these excerpts are taken was hosted by the Broadway baritone Earl Wrightson and, like Leonard Bernstein’s programs for young people, often had young musicians in the studio audience.
Love Earl Wrightson. His voice was beautiful and virile. Very different than popular baritone Gordon Macrae. Maybe not as large or as high.. But thrilling.
I believe this show (as the camera 3 show in 1970) was "live" with Tucker singing it then and there. The few young people there seem impressed, must have been something to remember for them! BTW where was this taped?
In the 1960s with Wrightson as host, “Camera 3” was taped rather than “live.” This particular one was recorded in late-February 1963 (not 1970 as the title reads), and Tucker’s sequence of the three operas he mentions (Turandot, Ballo, and Andrea Chenier) aligns with the late-February taping date. The show was recorded at the CBS television studios in Manhattan.
Yes, I checked and realized it must be 1963. During the show, he talks about singing Trovatore the next season. As for Peerce, he sang the B when he had the B- which is when he was quite a bit younger. On his commercial recording of this aria, he sings the B, but I believe such B's were long since past him by 1963-64. He might be able to reach the note, but it would be a sort of on pitch shout. And, btw, I loved Peerce, too, but Tucker had the vastly superior voice.
I have the great DVD that this was taken from. There are two shows form about a year apart. The first has Peerce, singing a rather "tight" Lamento di Federico, with no high note at the end. The second is this great show with Tucker. He just seems so casual, talking, laughing, and getting up and singing as only he could. And he usually didn't like to talk before he sang. Each show is about a half hour in length, and both are on the same DVD Ed
Tucker sounds much better here than on his studio recordings, for me at least. I doubt that the contemporary studio recording processes did full justice to Tucker's voice, because it was both big and finely focused. He sounds a little rough and even throaty on some studio records. Whereas here and in most live recordings, the live acoustic filters out the harsh sounds and we are left with this splendid voice in its full glory --
+Zriter59 Escritor: As his biographer, I interviewed the engineers who recorded him at both Columbia and RCA, and they all said that his was a voice that needed space around it and was never captured adequately in a studio environment.
@@shicoff1398 No doubt. And Tucker maybe has the cleanest diction of clear blue sky spinto tenor among non italian names and with italian name artists...
@@user-py1jg6bb2r yes! As with some tenors, especially big voices, they where best heard in house, anyhow also their age matters, to a degree, even if they last like Tucker, Pavarotti and Bergonzi did, no singer at 60 is going to sound quite like 40 and he may go on to heavier roles like Tucker did, singing Samson in 1971-72 and of course his final 4 years in Pagliacci, several runs, here and in Florence Italy. Pav. took on Chenier in the big Met. house at age 60 and managed it very well, even if far from his best role. Bjorling died before age 50, but though his voice of course did darken somewhat in his last five years, he was then in his middle 40's, he maintained the same roles he had sung even Early, in the 1930's in his 20's, his heaviest roles where in Aida and Don Carlo, he had success with Trovatore, especially later as Manrico in the 1950's, but wisely avoided Chenier, Forza, Calaf, Luisa Miller and Don Jose, however had he lived, and had better health, then perhaps he would have sung them, his heavy drinking may not have hurt his voice, but did take a toll on his health of course. The man however was still in excellent voice when he died, I saw him when he was 47, in 1958, just short of two years before he suddenly died, he also like Pavarotti recorded very well, better recorded compared to both MDM and Tucker. I wish I had heard Gigli in house, but missed him, I started going to the opera in 1957, saw GDS back then in the 1950's, he had perhaps the most beautiful Lyric tenor voice alive at that time, but it's all just a personal opinion, they where all great in their own way , but of the more lyric tenor voices back then, for me, Alfredo Kraus and Tagliavini also ranked high on my favored list, I saw them both in the same big Chicago opera house.
@@shicoff1398 Only through recordings, I have to say GDS has the most richly vibrated youthful lyric tone than others, but in house real time may tell different story. Pavarotti was humble enough not to take those heavy roles... but the whole world wants him to be the loudest Calaf!!! Maybe still is thinking that way. He loved Pasta and chocolate too much...if he could control the weight like 25% of Callas "just do it", I think he may stretch his career longer and also lived longer. Pavarotti said that he could not walk down stairs, when he returned to Met to do Tosca, they were kind enough to accomodate him by setting the painting scene on the floor...he slammed other opera houses big time and flattered Met the most. P wrote that he once was in big problem of undressed for Aida... because the show starts at 7:30pm, he thought it is 8pm, totally not dressed in his room while they knocked the door, then the show has to stop for "technical reason" to wait for his first aria... it takes huge amount of time for him to dress into the warrior suit...Pavarotti hated that theatre... And he also wrote about his constant problems with water issue. He demanded 2 bottles of water when at rehearsal all the time anywhere, but many times at european theatres he walked to his stand disappointed of not seeing any water bottle, then he mentioned it, all the sudden, doz of managers stuffs, are nervous and rushing out and apolizing... then ton of bottles of differnt waters surrounding him... He said at Met, he always knows his spot and there are always 2 bottles of water at his desk... By now, we all know the science of health that Carbs sugar be so deadly poisonous to liver and all health... while drinking be bad enough, if heavy drinking in bad mood, it is fatal so quickly...chinese enjoys RICE as "main food". Now it is ever fasting to have diabetics, liver cancer and stomatch, lung issues...they are still advocating people to eat a bit less, but still main food...I just cut it down, almost zero rice, noodles and carbs... almost all of my minor issues here and there disappear. There are also big lies of eating 3 meals as Mandatory at China... and adding 2 or 3 snacks be so "healthy"... I found it is another biggest mis concept. By eating one meals or 2 within 6 hours, and leaving huge time of no eating, plus frequent fasting of 24 plus hours... it is best thing to allow your body to heal and recover. Sorry to go wrong path of topics.
@@user-py1jg6bb2r Yes. Pav. obviously over ate, , got fat, later, trouble, of course he did last a long time in good voice though, longer then GDS did , because GDS sang wrong roles very soon and smoked, sang too open and so by his mid 40's he was getting past it, Pav. in his 40's was still viable and not to compare, but when I saw GDS in 1959' he still was very great, really beautiful, -- but not quite what he was a few years earlier, in the early and middle 1950's. Pav. even in his middle 40's was excellent, of course the very top was not quite what it was, but neither are most high C tenors at 45 versus 35, but by then his voice had a bigger middle, lots of good heft in the upper middle,-- of course early, his voice was no bigger then Jussi Bjorling's early, small but adequate, still I did prefer Jussi in most roles they both sang, but liked them both and saw both in the same house. Pav. died of liver cancer, age 71, now slim Alfredo Kraus ( I saw him many times, a wonderful Lyric tenor) great technique etc. he died at the same age as Pav.., also 71 of liver cancer and the slim fit Kraus did not over eat, smoke or drink much, just his genes, so yes I agree on your diet, but no guarantee of long life but a better chance-- over eating is an American problem, it seems, so many obese here unlike Europe and with diabetic conditions etc. I eat everything, meat every day and am slim and 80 years old, some health issues, but high protein, I like all foods little rice but some pasta and lots of eggs and dairy, bad I know, but I do not over eat and eat small meals now, so I'm not too bad.. Lanza drank and ate far too much, he dieted for film, died at age 38, -Bjoerling drank, a lot, and died at 49, perhaps he would have lived longer, but we do not know that, Pav. was Obese and no heart problem, legs etc. very bad-- a nice man, I met him twice and liked him as a person and as a fine tenor, no vocal bad habits really, amazing with no lessons! He and Jussi so great in Boheme! GDS had fantastic lyric beauty of course and was PAV'S favorite voice as he told me so, sure he loved JB's technique, he was a singer of perfection, GDS wasn't that, but great and very passionate, so Italian. So was Gigli! .
One of his better performances of this aria and the other songs were fantastic as well. Looks like Skitch Henderson is conducting. He conducted on Tucker's fantastic pop album mentioned here "The Fabulous Voice of Richard Tucker." Very happy to see this with excellent picture and sound quality and I'll be interested in obtaining the DVD it's from. I believe it also includes Peerce performing on the same show.
+darklord220 Not Lanza, IMO, though he did have a beautiful voice. I don't think anyone can be compared to Caruso who never sang complete operas. I believe that Lanza sang exactly 1. Tucker sang almost 800 at the Met alone!!
SHICOFF1 Leonard Bernstein was a gifted teacher, too. To bring music to its simplest terms for youngsters (or ANYONE) is, in itself, pretty genius.. ☺ Jan
The problem I have with calling Tucker the American Caruso was that Caruso was the American Caruso. He was a guy of Italian extraction who sang mostly at the Met - a premiere American venue. If he had sung mostly in Italy I would have considered him an Italian singer. But if you live in America and sing in America at some point you are an American. Not trying to start a fight. I considered Giorgio Tozzi for example an American singer. Most of us as Americans are immigrants.
IMO he was better than any of the 3 Tenors! There could have been a fantastic 3 Tenors concert in the 60's with Tucker, Corelli, Bergonzi! Now that would have been the concert of a lifetime!
robust, virile, effortless. even better than I remember him, from my youth, his recital mexico city, bellas artes, 1964. and red grape skins is so o o o o right. the folks he stayed with down in mexico city, his host and hostess, told my mom that mr tucker was VERY disappointed when some dip stick turned up the house lights at 10 pm closing time ... the crowd was on its feet, he did encore after encore .. the told his hosts he'da sung for another hour if they wanted him to.
+John Leddy It's been a year John but I came back to tell you a little story of the great Tucker. My father, RIP, loved going to Vegas on occasion to shot dice. That was before there were casinos all over the country. Seems that Tucker spent a lot of time at the dice tables too and made way more deposits than withdrawals. Dad got to know him. While gambling their asses off they were just 2 Jews throwing money away. Tucker could afford it, not dad.
+John Leddy: After one sojourn to Vegas in 1954, he handed his oldest son (Barry Tucker, long-time President of the RT Music Foundation) the keys to a brand-new Ford convertible, which he had bought with his winnings.
Tucker sounds like a million bucks, both stentorian and mellifluous! It's a shame he didn't sing Calaf more, although I am happy that I did get to see him do it when I was a kid. I didn't know at the time what a rarity that performance would be.
Tucker sang Calaf 7 times at the Met. Six times in the early 1960s and once in 1974. However it was Corelli's signature role and he sang Calaf 54 times starting in 1961 through 1974. Corelli sang 19 different roles at the Met in a 15 year period. Tucker sang 34 roles in a 30 year period.
@@sugarbist I know. I saw Tucker as Calaf once at the Old Met when I was a kid. The 1974 performance was a Met in the Parks concert in Queens. I was there. Tucker could still sing it beautifully only a few months before his death. But of course, it was Corelli’s role! Corelli had the looks, that voice, and the spectacular high Cs. But I honor what Tucker had too.
Lo vi en el Colón a mediados de los 60, en dos óperas de Verdi, una de ellas con Cornel Mc PNeil y Jerome Hines...qué lujo...fue Un Ballo in maschera...un torneo de canto...Para mí, junto a Franco Corelli y John Vickers integran la trilogía de los mejores tenores en el escenario. El Colón temblaba entero con Tucker, cosa que no ocurrió con Pavarotti que fue también un gran tenor pero con mucho menor caudal de voz.
@premiereopera1 His commercial recording does have the B but it was only a few years before this. Peerce had his full scale until he was no longer able to sing; he just rarely used it in performances even in his younger days. It's called being smart and is one of the reasons he was able to sing fine into his 80s.
I remember this show hosted by Earl Wrightson on Sunday mornings on CBS. But I don't recall its name. Also on Sunday morning was Camera Three. Amazing shows.
Inutile fare paragoni!!!!!!! Ma è immenso,!!!!!!!!! ci stava benissimo con i grandi del suo tempo. È un piacere ascoltarlo. Beautiful
At his best. Glorious
love Tucker
How lucky to be sitting in the front row of that audience hearing a voice like that.
When Tucker sings it, there is emotion, eloquence, chiaroscuro--like a great soliloquy. When most tenors sing it, it's a pretty tune with effective high notes.
The first time I heard him,I went,Wow,I thought I'd heard the best,but he's my favourite.Hihh notes fabulous,but it's the sheer joy in his voice that I love most.
Saw him at Covent garden in 73 in La JUIVE. Unforgettable. Certainly one of the greats
WORLD CLASS, better than all tenors today.
To this day Tucker is the greatest American tenor.
Whatever else Richard Tucker brings to his art (and there is so much else,) his is sheer perfection technically..
Oh my God, what a great voice and what a great technique Mr. Richard Tucker had, GREAT;BRAVOOOO!!!!!!!!!
Che pezzo di tenore?
Очень красивый голос!👍🏻💥💥💥
@@alexeyizmirliev64 Fu un bravissimo tenore lirico-spinto per me!!!😊🎶✌
Now this is "glory'. He had a glorious voice!
golden age of Bel Canto. the greatest american tenor! richard tucker!
Such a huge and yet warm voice!!! And effortless technique!
Absolutely faultless singing and brilliant voice-nothing quite like it today!!
nothing like it today? only if you have stopped listening to singers after this broadcast in 1964.
give jonas kaufmann a listen to on youtube. but technically tucker is amazing!
Cats mating sound better than Kauffman lol
@@richardtirre3001 ach du lieber! i think you're exaggerating.
@@humblecharlie4383 Myself and thousands more seem to be then
Wow..what a magnificent rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone, for years one of my favorite tunes. It touches the heart and almost blows you out of your chair. Mr. Tucker stands above some of the overpraised tenors of recent times (L.P.)
Tucker thrived at the Met for 30 years, sharing the limelight with two other great tenors, in Corelli and Del Monaco. All three tenors successfully represented the spinto dramatic repertory to the delight of their audiences, bringing down the house with great performances and applause.
@SHICOFF1 JB fans cannot accept the fact that Bjorling had a cold,SMALL beautiful lyric voice.
And Jan Peerce until his retirement, Jussi Bjoerling until his death in 1961, and Jon Vickers.
@@murrayaronson3753 JB died in 1960, Peerce in 1984, both more Lyric types then Tucker in his powerful Spinto Prime.
Tucker was always a natural lyric tenor.
@@KajiVocals The categorizations of the tenor voice often produces differences of opinions. Some posters regard MDM as a'' lirico pieno'' Volpi a lyric spinto or lyric dramatic. Tamagno, Escalais and Paoli were described as dramatic tenor's but today I think they would be considered Spinto dramatic, which is another sort of confusing title. Lauri Volpi told Tucker that he had a Caruso'' type'' voice, but strangely enough Volpi does not categorize the tenor voice in his book '' Voci Parallele'' Not to be argumentative, but perhaps Tucker was a natural lyric tenor, but with the ability to sing the heavier roles with much success. However, there have been many lyric tenors not suitable for the heavier roles.
A supreme generosity & openness comes across in everything he sings--from opera to Jewish liturgy.
This is the type of television show that I was accustomed to seeing when I was growing up. It was not unusual to have great opera singers like Richard Tucker performing on the various networks. Tuckers greatest asset was voice, voice, and more voice.
magnificent voice
I had forgotten what a great singer he was!
First time hearing this. This is about as special as it gets. Challenges the memory for comparison. Magnificent.
He truly was a giant !!
In memoriam, Luciano Pavarotti referred to Richard Tucker as "my idol." Tucker's interpretation of Nessun Dorma, demonstrates why.
They broke the mold on Tucker! A singularly amazing voice!
Tucker was always good, even on a bad night. Great technique. Ever attend one of his Master Classes? Let's not diminish this wonderful talent.
One of America's Greatest Tenors!!!
The greatest one!
@@maximtuboltsev6046 I agree. 100%.
Boy does that sound right. Nessun dorma needs a big rich colorful voice like Tucker's. The only bone I have to pick with Tucker was that he so seldom came West. I missed hearing him sing Chenier with Bastianini. I thought I could catch them next season. But Tucker never came back and Bastianini died. More fool I.
Yes with Tebaldi too. I was a starving student and could only afford one more opera in my season. I chose Pelleas - and hated it.
That is one memorable performance. He is in such sublime control of his throat and his phrasing is unique. The tone and power of his voice are truly remarkable. He must have possessed a supremely well oiled machine, that is a real horsepower engine supporting that beautiful voice.
Wow.. the Nessun Dorma. was incredible.. Such ringing high notes.. what a voice..
Thought I recognized Earl Wrightson. Earl deserves much more credit for his wonderful voice. Earl was one of America's greatest voices.
Agree about Earl W. An utterly wonderful vocal artist. Had a perfectly balanced tone and ease of singing. Not sure if Opera would have been his lane, although the production was correct. He fit the classical musicals of the era as well or better than any!!
Made me cry over and over love Richard Tucker
That's hilarious. One of the greatest performances of 'Nessun Dorma' ever and at the end it cuts to about 6 people clapping in the audience!!! Epic
Name any of those "startenors" of today who has the balls to perform live on stage in an TV show and delivers so effortless.
There is NOBODY
We have no Verdi/Puccini tenors in Tucker's class today.
Skitch Henderson? Wow! It's been decades since I watched him on TV. A+ Tucker at his finest, old enough to have perfected his voice and young enough not to be losing it to time's degradations.
He clearly has mastered the mix of head and chest tone quite amazingly!!!
He had a very powerful voice I am told. Very powerful
@@nthdegree1269 It was, and in house larger then it sounded on records.
Immenso... voci così non nascono più, non solo per la qualità vocali ma pe le emozini che sapevano trasmettere
God, what other tenor could sing full performances of Turandot, Ballo and Chenier all in one week and still have a voice left? Only Tucker!!!
Sorry, but the great Pertile if you every heard of him. did this routinely,once did Otello and Barber in the same day.
As I’m sure you know, many other tenors of the “Golden Age” of the early-1900s could be added, including the stentorian Leo Slezak who was as great a lieder singer as he was a master of the Italian, French, and German repertoire. But the Metropolitan Opera of the Caruso-Slezak era was not the Met of Rudolf Bing’s era, when Tucker was a superstar.
@@RubyRosaRudy Yes, long before our times (and Tucker's) you had tenors singing a wide variety of roles like the mentioned (Slezak) and also tenor Jadlowker singing everything from Lyric roles, like Mozart and dramatic roles like Otello.
@@shicoff1398: And as you know, Jadlowker was also the cantor of the synagogue in Riga after he retired from opera. Tucker’s inspiration as a cantor, Mordecai Hershmann, could have sung any spinto role if he had chosen to. Even the lyric tenor Jose Mojica sang what are now considered spinto roles.
What a Magnificent voice!
Magnificent!
He is missed. Tucker was a hugely exciting singer and a fine artist. I regret never having had the opportunity to hear him live, as I did with Merrill, Vickers, Milnes, McCracken, Margaret Price -- also Hampson, a suberb lyric baritone and recitalist, but no way a Verdi baritone --
Could never include Hampson in the category of those mentioned. Leider singer.
full of power. emotion and expression . really great
My favorite tenor of all!! (Do love many others including Villazon and Roberto Alagna )
R.Tucker è stato un artista magnifico!!!
Beautifully brilliant. Certainly one of the finest of voices along with, Björling, Lanza,
Gedda and all the greats. Thanks
I never noticed on my dads compilation Christmas album, Richard Tucker until about 10 years ago. Since have several of his albums. This just beautiful
Great Singing !
A really great inspirational interpretation of You'll Never Walk Alone" by a terrific tenor
I see the writer of both Tucker and Ponselle books, Mr. James Drake ( a very in the know gentleman) has taken time to make some excellent recent comments here, all very interesting and of course your accurate comments also. I recently answered a Bjoerling fan about his voice type, great sensational artist of perfection but more a lyric or Lyric spinto type voice, then Spinto Tucker and Corelli Etc. MDM was surely a dramatic tenor as you and I both saw him in house.
Why haven't I heard of this man before. Whenever he sings I can literally not stop myself from smiling
*****
What a voice and what a fantastic diction too!
He made one of the most difficult arias in all of bel canto opera sound effortless!!! Amazing and wonderful! Leaves you feeling breathless with excitement and awe. I so appreciate whoever posted this. Thank you with all my heart.
I listen to him on the radio as a child
anotrher great tenor from the golden opera years.
As Tucker's biographer, having interviewed nearly every singer, conductor, coach, et al., who was associated with him, I can tell you that his "ego" was a part of his public personality that he began to accentuate in interviews after his second publicist, Thea Dispeker, told him that self-inflating comments were "good press." He knew that he was not very good in interviews (he was sensitive about his limited vocabulary, a product of his limited schooling), and he needed a "hook" to stand out. Thea Dispeker conceived the "American Caruso" tag and urged him to back it up with (as she put it) braggadocio. He flatly rejected her strategy, especially the "American Caruso" part-but she reminded him that he had told his bride that one day he would be "a big opera star," and that if he didn't believe he could live up to the "American Caruso" PR line, then his self-confidence was a mask for self-doubt. He wanted time to think about it, and she said no, that the campaign would start soon, and he had to decide then and there. She told me he lowered his head and was silent for a moment, and then said, "Okay, I'm in. I can do it." There were times and incidents where he carried it too far in public-but among his circle of lifelong friends (almost none of whom were singers or musicians) he was (as his best friend Ben Herschaft said) "a sweet, generous, unpretentious guy, a real mensch."
Jim Drake
The story here about buying his son a car with his gambling winnings makes me think he must have been a very sweet and generous person. 😊 Jan
+jan wintz: He was very good-natured as a parent, unless any of his sons was even slightly disrespectful to their mother. When that happened, his explosive temper would rival Mt. Vesuvius. Neighbors and friends recounted scenes of one or the other teenage boys being chased down the street, luckily for them several lengths ahead of their enraged father. Two hours later, when he had cooled down, he might be playing basketball or swimming with them in the community pool down the street from their home.
@@RubyRosaRudy One comment here by "Ransom Coates" said it sounded not "live" but dubbed in here , I doubt it, another asks if Bjoerling live in the aria had as big a voice, the answer is no, Jussi is best compared with Lyric tenors like Gigli or Pavarotti but as for size it wasn't in house the size of Tucker's if you saw both men in house.
Wonderful!
I expected a beautiful, even line with "You`ll never walk alone".
Extraordinario, el mejor tenor spinto que ha dado los estados unidos, para uno de los cuatro mejores de todos los tiempos, en cualquier idioma, y el No: 1 en lengua inglesa.
What rich tone across the whole range.. and great dictionary!!!
Hugely under rated. For me one of the all time greats. But being American obviously he can't be great, just like Lanza.
Yo soy fan de Corelli pero hay que admitir que Richard Tucker canta bien
solamente "bien"? Creo que la palabra es "MAGNIFICO", verdad ?
Tucker. Meraviglioso!!!! Straordinario , Mitico. Mari
UNA BELLA VERSION
Rarely do singers today have a technique like this. They're singing the big roles well before they're ready and ruining voices. That's my opinion folks -- and I did study music, piano, organ and voice in college and grad school.
I remember reading and hearing something like this 66 years ago when I saw him at Don Jose
less and less, almost no more... and opera houses assign singers according to their LOOKS... expensive dramatic production with stunning lightings and costumes, but empty feelings, cause no voices there!!!
we live in a sad era of quick fame....its not always the students fault...its the system that is competitive...if u can do asap...then good..or else ur behind...its pretty sad...no one has the time to hone their craft.
@@Shamsithaca It's the agents, they control the system and few if any know anything about the develpoment of the voice. As Kraftpr said young singers getting big roles to soon. voice done in under a decade.
Altro che Kaufmann e la sua compagnia dei tenorini odierni...
Sublime Tucker Grazie !
Im fzut acceter l’idée que KAUFMANN est ténor ?
Ol transpose et fera comme PLACIDO MAIS PLUS VITE...UN BARYTON MARTIN ??
ELUZALYRICS
This recording is much better than the 1967 clip on you Tube. If you can find the Tucker 25th Anniversary at the Met album every track is a great experience! He is the standard other are judged by according to Domingo and Pavorratti.
The television show “Camera 3” from which these excerpts are taken was hosted by the Broadway baritone Earl Wrightson and, like Leonard Bernstein’s programs for young people, often had young musicians in the studio audience.
Love Earl Wrightson. His voice was beautiful and virile. Very different than popular baritone Gordon Macrae. Maybe not as large or as high.. But thrilling.
I believe this show (as the camera 3 show in 1970) was "live" with Tucker singing it then and there. The few young people there seem impressed, must have been something to remember for them! BTW where was this taped?
In the 1960s with Wrightson as host, “Camera 3” was taped rather than “live.” This particular one was recorded in late-February 1963 (not 1970 as the title reads), and Tucker’s sequence of the three operas he mentions (Turandot, Ballo, and Andrea Chenier) aligns with the late-February taping date. The show was recorded at the CBS television studios in Manhattan.
@@RubyRosaRudy Thanks for the accurate information!
Also forgot, if you can find Tucker's version of The Lord's Prayer, you will love it forever.
Yes, I checked and realized it must be 1963. During the show, he talks about singing Trovatore the next season. As for Peerce, he sang the B when he had the B- which is when he was quite a bit younger. On his commercial recording of this aria, he sings the B, but I believe such B's were long since past him by 1963-64. He might be able to reach the note, but it would be a sort of on pitch shout. And, btw, I loved Peerce, too, but Tucker had the vastly superior voice.
TOSCANNI, PREFERRED PEERCE HE DIDNT LIKE TUCKERS VOICE !
Classic: Richard Tucker with Skitch Henderson from the Johnny Carson Tonight Show!
Wonderful! Brings tears...
I have the great DVD that this was taken from. There are two shows form about a year apart. The first has Peerce, singing a rather "tight" Lamento di Federico, with no high note at the end. The second is this great show with Tucker. He just seems so casual, talking, laughing, and getting up and singing as only he could. And he usually didn't like to talk before he sang. Each show is about a half hour in length, and both are on the same DVD
Ed
He was definitely a tenor who could give the role what Puccini wanted.
Beautiful singing! Thank you so much :)
He is wonderful!
Tucker sounds much better here than on his studio recordings, for me at least.
I doubt that the contemporary studio recording processes did full justice to Tucker's voice, because it was both big and finely focused. He sounds a little rough and even throaty on some studio records. Whereas here and in most live recordings, the live acoustic filters out the harsh sounds and we are left with this splendid voice in its full glory --
+Zriter59 Escritor: As his biographer, I interviewed the engineers who recorded him at both Columbia and RCA, and they all said that his was a voice that needed space around it and was never captured adequately in a studio environment.
@@RubyRosaRudy Very true, it was a large Spinto voice and if closely microphoned was not heard to best advantage.
Grabaciones milagrosas de los años 60... emocionante ver Richard Tucker, GRACIAS!
Wow! The size and grandeur. Spectacular!
What a tenor!!! Superb!!
One of the greatest spinto tenors of all time.
@@shicoff1398 No doubt. And Tucker maybe has the cleanest diction of clear blue sky spinto tenor among non italian names and with italian name artists...
@@user-py1jg6bb2r yes! As with some tenors, especially big voices, they where best heard in house, anyhow also their age matters, to a degree, even if they last like Tucker, Pavarotti and Bergonzi did, no singer at 60 is going to sound quite like 40 and he may go on to heavier roles like Tucker did, singing Samson in 1971-72 and of course his final 4 years in Pagliacci, several runs, here and in Florence Italy. Pav. took on Chenier in the big Met. house at age 60 and managed it very well, even if far from his best role. Bjorling died before age 50, but though his voice of course did darken somewhat in his last five years, he was then in his middle 40's, he maintained the same roles he had sung even Early, in the 1930's in his 20's, his heaviest roles where in Aida and Don Carlo, he had success with Trovatore, especially later as Manrico in the 1950's, but wisely avoided Chenier, Forza, Calaf, Luisa Miller and Don Jose, however had he lived, and had better health, then perhaps he would have sung them, his heavy drinking may not have hurt his voice, but did take a toll on his health of course. The man however was still in excellent voice when he died, I saw him when he was 47, in 1958, just short of two years before he suddenly died, he also like Pavarotti recorded very well, better recorded compared to both MDM and Tucker. I wish I had heard Gigli in house, but missed him, I started going to the opera in 1957, saw GDS back then in the 1950's, he had perhaps the most beautiful Lyric tenor voice alive at that time, but it's all just a personal opinion, they where all great in their own way , but of the more lyric tenor voices back then, for me, Alfredo Kraus and Tagliavini also ranked high on my favored list, I saw them both in the same big Chicago opera house.
@@shicoff1398 Only through recordings, I have to say GDS has the most richly vibrated youthful lyric tone than others, but in house real time may tell different story.
Pavarotti was humble enough not to take those heavy roles... but the whole world wants him to be the loudest Calaf!!! Maybe still is thinking that way.
He loved Pasta and chocolate too much...if he could control the weight like 25% of Callas "just do it", I think he may stretch his career longer and also lived longer. Pavarotti said that he could not walk down stairs, when he returned to Met to do Tosca, they were kind enough to accomodate him by setting the painting scene on the floor...he slammed other opera houses big time and flattered Met the most. P wrote that he once was in big problem of undressed for Aida... because the show starts at 7:30pm, he thought it is 8pm, totally not dressed in his room while they knocked the door, then the show has to stop for "technical reason" to wait for his first aria... it takes huge amount of time for him to dress into the warrior suit...Pavarotti hated that theatre...
And he also wrote about his constant problems with water issue. He demanded 2 bottles of water when at rehearsal all the time anywhere, but many times at european theatres he walked to his stand disappointed of not seeing any water bottle, then he mentioned it, all the sudden, doz of managers stuffs, are nervous and rushing out and apolizing... then ton of bottles of differnt waters surrounding him... He said at Met, he always knows his spot and there are always 2 bottles of water at his desk...
By now, we all know the science of health that Carbs sugar be so deadly poisonous to liver and all health... while drinking be bad enough, if heavy drinking in bad mood, it is fatal so quickly...chinese enjoys RICE as "main food". Now it is ever fasting to have diabetics, liver cancer and stomatch, lung issues...they are still advocating people to eat a bit less, but still main food...I just cut it down, almost zero rice, noodles and carbs... almost all of my minor issues here and there disappear.
There are also big lies of eating 3 meals as Mandatory at China... and adding 2 or 3 snacks be so "healthy"...
I found it is another biggest mis concept. By eating one meals or 2 within 6 hours, and leaving huge time of no eating, plus frequent fasting of 24 plus hours... it is best thing to allow your body to heal and recover. Sorry to go wrong path of topics.
@@user-py1jg6bb2r Yes. Pav. obviously over ate, , got fat, later, trouble, of course he did last a long time in good voice though, longer then GDS did , because GDS sang wrong roles very soon and smoked, sang too open and so by his mid 40's he was getting past it, Pav. in his 40's was still viable and not to compare, but when I saw GDS in 1959' he still was very great, really beautiful, -- but not quite what he was a few years earlier, in the early and middle 1950's. Pav. even in his middle 40's was excellent, of course the very top was not quite what it was, but neither are most high C tenors at 45 versus 35, but by then his voice had a bigger middle, lots of good heft in the upper middle,-- of course early, his voice was no bigger then Jussi Bjorling's early, small but adequate, still I did prefer Jussi in most roles they both sang, but liked them both and saw both in the same house. Pav. died of liver cancer, age 71, now slim Alfredo Kraus ( I saw him many times, a wonderful Lyric tenor) great technique etc. he died at the same age as Pav.., also 71 of liver cancer and the slim fit Kraus did not over eat, smoke or drink much, just his genes, so yes I agree on your diet, but no guarantee of long life but a better chance-- over eating is an American problem, it seems, so many obese here unlike Europe and with diabetic conditions etc. I eat everything, meat every day and am slim and 80 years old, some health issues, but high protein, I like all foods little rice but some pasta and lots of eggs and dairy, bad I know, but I do not over eat and eat small meals now, so I'm not too bad.. Lanza drank and ate far too much, he dieted for film, died at age 38, -Bjoerling drank, a lot, and died at 49, perhaps he would have lived longer, but we do not know that, Pav. was Obese and no heart problem, legs etc. very bad-- a nice man, I met him twice and liked him as a person and as a fine tenor, no vocal bad habits really, amazing with no lessons! He and Jussi so great in Boheme! GDS had fantastic lyric beauty of course and was PAV'S favorite voice as he told me so, sure he loved JB's technique, he was a singer of perfection, GDS wasn't that, but great and very passionate, so Italian. So was Gigli! .
One of his better performances of this aria and the other songs were fantastic as well. Looks like Skitch Henderson is conducting. He conducted on Tucker's fantastic pop album mentioned here "The Fabulous Voice of Richard Tucker." Very happy to see this with excellent picture and sound quality and I'll be interested in obtaining the DVD it's from. I believe it also includes Peerce performing on the same show.
THE great American tenor!
his high notes were so clean, really impressive.
The American Caruso :)
+darklord220 Not Lanza, IMO, though he did have a beautiful voice. I don't think anyone can be compared to Caruso who never sang complete operas. I believe that Lanza sang exactly 1. Tucker sang almost 800 at the Met alone!!
I am thankful you introduced me to the amazing work of Tucker. In my view, one of the greatest of all time and indeed the American Caruso.
SHICOFF1
Leonard Bernstein was a gifted teacher, too. To bring music to its simplest terms for youngsters (or ANYONE) is, in itself, pretty genius..
☺ Jan
The problem I have with calling Tucker the American Caruso was that Caruso was the American Caruso. He was a guy of Italian extraction who sang mostly at the Met - a premiere American venue. If he had sung mostly in Italy I would have considered him an Italian singer. But if you live in America and sing in America at some point you are an American.
Not trying to start a fight. I considered Giorgio Tozzi for example an American singer. Most of us as Americans are immigrants.
Caruso was not nasal.
IMO he was better than any of the 3 Tenors! There could have been a fantastic 3 Tenors concert in the 60's with Tucker, Corelli, Bergonzi! Now that would have been the concert of a lifetime!
magnifico Tucker!!!
robust, virile, effortless. even better than I remember him, from my youth, his recital mexico city, bellas artes, 1964. and red grape skins is so o o o o right. the folks he stayed with down in mexico city, his host and hostess, told my mom that mr tucker was VERY disappointed when some dip stick turned up the house lights at 10 pm closing time ... the crowd was on its feet, he did encore after encore .. the told his hosts he'da sung for another hour if they wanted him to.
John Leddy John, what a nice little vignette in the life of Mr.Tucker. His Nessun Dorma is as good as any I've heard.
+John Leddy It's been a year John but I came back to tell you a little story of the great Tucker. My father, RIP, loved going to Vegas on occasion to shot dice. That was before there were casinos all over the country. Seems that Tucker spent a lot of time at the dice tables too and made way more deposits than withdrawals. Dad got to know him. While gambling their asses off they were just 2 Jews throwing money away. Tucker could afford it, not dad.
+John Leddy: After one sojourn to Vegas in 1954, he handed his oldest son (Barry Tucker, long-time President of the RT Music Foundation) the keys to a brand-new Ford convertible, which he had bought with his winnings.
SHICOFF1
Did he also love Tony MARTIN?
😊 Jan
shıcoff-----gut dass sie immer noch verfügbar sind und uns mit ihrem immensem opera wissen aufklaeren.Vielen dank!
Takes me back to my dad's house. He loved listening to Tucker's records, and "When You Walk Through a Storm" was his absolute favorite. Thanks, Ed.
Back in the day, there was much less distance between classical and popular singing.
There is now an abyss between them.
Tucker sounds like a million bucks, both stentorian and mellifluous! It's a shame he didn't sing Calaf more, although I am happy that I did get to see him do it when I was a kid. I didn't know at the time what a rarity that performance would be.
Tucker told his friends, including Robert Merrill, that as a role Calaf belonged to Franco Corelli.
Tucker sang Calaf 7 times at the Met. Six times in the early 1960s and once in 1974. However it was Corelli's signature role and he sang Calaf 54 times starting in 1961 through 1974. Corelli sang 19 different roles at the Met in a 15 year period. Tucker sang 34 roles in a 30 year period.
@@sugarbist I know. I saw Tucker as
Calaf once at the Old Met when I was a kid. The 1974 performance was a Met in the Parks concert in Queens. I was there. Tucker could still sing it beautifully only a few months before his death. But of course, it was Corelli’s role! Corelli had the looks, that voice, and the spectacular high Cs. But I honor what Tucker had too.
@@richardholmesmusic2128 You were fortunate to see Tucker live. Enjoy
Skitch Henderson and the sound engineers make that little orchestra sing, too. Loved playing with Skitch in the 90's.
Lovely! Can't decide between his brother-in-law Jan Peerce's and his rendition. Both great!
Sublime!!!
GRANDE .....GRANDE:....GRANDE....
Beautiful
Lo vi en el Colón a mediados de los 60, en dos óperas de Verdi, una de ellas con Cornel Mc PNeil y Jerome Hines...qué lujo...fue Un Ballo in maschera...un torneo de canto...Para mí, junto a Franco Corelli y John Vickers integran la trilogía de los mejores tenores en el escenario. El Colón temblaba entero con Tucker, cosa que no ocurrió con Pavarotti que fue también un gran tenor pero con mucho menor caudal de voz.
@premiereopera1 His commercial recording does have the B but it was only a few years before this. Peerce had his full scale until he was no longer able to sing; he just rarely used it in performances even in his younger days. It's called being smart and is one of the reasons he was able to sing fine into his 80s.
What a technique!
I remember this show hosted by Earl Wrightson on Sunday mornings on CBS. But I don't recall its name. Also on Sunday morning was Camera Three. Amazing shows.
Tucker also sang on camera 3 long after this, in 1970.
espectacular tenor!!!
Immenso!!!!
Splendid!!!!!!!
Magnifique, quelle splendeur !