Ramey is here in his prime. His voice is fresh, free, long-ranged and flexible. During 1986, Milnes was halfway through what he described in his autobiography as "the decade of panic." He had a vocal cord hemorrhage in 1981 and another a year or two later. I heard Milnes live and in person once, as Iago in Chicago during the fall of 1986. The voice, at least in that particular venue, was enormous. His tone struck me as slightly gritty, and his top notes didn't ring as resoundingly as in his first few albums, but they were certainly immense and imposing. Just a few months later, during a Met broadcast of "Rigoletto," Milnes seemed to have altered enormously his voice production. The formerly full onset was gone; he seemed instead to be yawning into every note, as though he feared a good attack would harm him further.
I heard him at Tivoli in Copenhagen in 1988, and he was not the Milnes I remembered from the numerous recordings in the 1970's. His tone had become woolly and unfocused but of course, he still had his charisma and impressive stage presence - and an excellent French/Italian diction
Uno dei duetti migliori che abbia ascoltato: le due voci sono molto diverse e si "scontrano" a vicenda creando l'effetto contrasto, voluto da Bellini immagino. 🔥🔥🔥
Very exciting rendition. Ramey in his prime, as good as it gets. Milnes near the end of his important career. But he still can bring the high notes, particularly at the end.
They brought the house down with this performance. That's saying something since they had to follow Dame Joan Sutherland in the glorious operatic scena "Qui la voce" in which the bel canto goddess stopped the show herself. I like Bonynge's cuts here very much.
walterneiva Metropolitan Opera House, New York City, on Saturday, 13 December 1986. (It's from a live Met matinee broadcast.) The conductor is Richard Bonynge. And, for the record, the other two members of the "Puritani quartet" for this broadcast were Joan Sutherland (Elvira Walton) and Rockwell Blake (Lord Arturo Talbot). (This clip must be from a French Canadian CBC rebroadcast of same.) Jose Turco If you saw Milnes and Ramey with Joan Sutherland and Salvatore Fisichella in I PURITANI at the Met, it must have been in the fall of 1986. The four of them sang the first four performances of the revival of the 1976 Met production of I PURITANI that season (with Richard Bonynge conducting the whole run, of course), and then Rockwell Blake sang Lord Arturo Talbot for the remaining five performances. (At one of those five performances (not the broadcast), Blake fell ill after Act I and his "cover," Stanford Olsen, sang the role for Acts II and III.) For the record, Joan Sutherland's final performance at the Metropolitan Opera was a song and aria recital on Sunday, 12 March 1989, accompanied by her husband, Richard Bonynge, on piano. Her final staged operatic performances were in 1987-1988, as Leonora in a new Met production of IL TROVATORE. And Richard Bonynge's final Met performances as a conductor were in the spring of 1991, conducting I PURITANI (but not with Sutherland as Elvira Walton).
This role perfectly in Ramey's voice. He sounds very comfortable here. But the part of Riccardo is clearly a bit too low for Milnes. This isn't surprising if you know anything about the original Puritani Quartet voices. The true modern baritone sound had not been invented yet. This is Bellini not Verdi. Milnes was a supremely successful Verdi baritone. The Bel Canto Quartet for which this piece (I Puritani) was composed was written for a soprano, a tenor and two basses. Milnes's vocal type hadn't been invented quite yet. He's a high baritone singing a bass part.
Yes, even though Milnes was past his prime here (he was 51 or 52 and had had that vocal-chord surgery), you *can* hear how he sounds more secure as the music rises in pitch. That's interesting about Sir Riccardo, though; I never before considered that it's not a "baritone" role in the modern sense of the word. Btw, Milnes was a great Enrico on the "Lucia di Lammermoor" recording with Sutherland.
I've heard him live many times. The first time was a recital with Warren Jones as accompanist. Ramey opened the second half of the performance with Olin Blitch's Prayer of Repentance from "Susannah". I had been listening to him sing for about an hour at that moment, so I knew he had a big voice. But when he hit the first not of the Prayer of Repentance, I literally jumped in my chair, I was so startled. It was also a very beautiful voice, and he sang with exemplary technique.
@@aneamarlivana172 I have a pic with him at University of Houston, where he was giving an informal talk. He's 5'10 in zipped boots, skinny, and in decent shape. A massive head! A speaking voice that was sepulchral. A most unpretentious man.
Splendide à 2 réserves près : 1) La laideur insigne du timbre de la trompette lançant le thème de "Suoni la tromba" 2) La coupure de la 2ème section dans la reprise à l'unisson. Sinon : légendaire !!! Où était-ce ? Le MET ? Quelle date exacte ?
Ramey and Milnes! Ramey sounds amazing here, Milnes has always been a favorite, though I feel this is not a role for him. Tesitura is low for him. Still, bravo!
+talkingbowl As wonderful as Samuel Ramey sounded (thus, proving his bass-baritone voice was impeccable when focused), I don't think he would've felt comfortable on a the G# or A flat (don't have the score).
@ixlioavoeqgni oeqgni Bass my foot! A bass can sing up to those notes yes but just like George London, Samuel Ramey could sustain notes higher than an Eb and F. His low notes could never be enough to sing Wagnerian bass roles like the likes of Jerome Hines, Boris Christoff, and Kurt Moll and it wasn't Baritone enough to sing convincingly the top-notch Verdi roles of di Luna, Iago or even Falstaff (the last 2 are more bass-baritone roles than pure Baritone roles so it could have fit his voice perfectly.) The overall quality of Ramey's voice is much higher than your typical Basso cantabile (Jerome Hines, Kurt Moll, Hans Hotter, George London for instance have extremely lower voices and more brassy than Ramey's in the bottom) and as such, it allowed him to easily tackle Rossinian bass roles. To simply say he can sing B flat makes him someone who trained his voice closely in the ways of the old masters -- anyone low voiced male classical singer can sing high notes above their natural range but the tessitura is telling when they attempt to do so hence why Ramey is a bass-baritone who killed his own voice by prematurely singing roles and notes that affected his overall production. Listen to him from the past 20 years and tell me he doesn't sound a hot mess and needs to step down and let some new bass-baritone come in.
@ixlioavoeqgni oeqgni Throaty timbres? Ramey's last great performance was him performing Rossini in 1982 but after that he was done. Jerome Hines was still singing in 1982 and had great low notes (E2 is really all you need to sing in bass roles as the lowest note to be sung in most of the bass repertoire is F2, outside of Osmin's aria which goes to a D2 and some of the Russian interloped music). Samuel Ramey always had issues with his lower-middle register, often at times forcing the voice to go down there when it wouldn't sustain certain higher notes. He was suited for low-middle passaggio singing -- Handel, Rossini, Mozart (his Don Giovanni is to die for as is his Figaro recording in the 80's with Thomas Allen singing the Count). He never performed Wagner because he never had the right voice type for the lower stuff and range is purely subjective and doesn't matter in an argument. The vast majority of the basses that are aforementioned all had lower ranges than he did and some even rivaled him on the top and middle of his voice. George London's "Die frist ist um" is objectively one of the very best renderings and readings of that aria and rivals anything Ramey has ever done and he's (like Ramey) a bass-baritone! Ramey was a bass-baritone; many teachers I have studied with and have told me in stories how his voice is not that of a Bass but of a bass-baritone and even I can hear bass-baritone in his voice. His main range is from F2 to F4 (G4 when he sings Handel's "Sorge infausta una procella"). He's a bass-baritone through and through.
@@deadwalke9588 :: _Thank You for this information about Ramey's range as a bass-baritone AND not the famous "bass" he is known for :: when hearing true basses AND returning to hear Ramey, something was always missing. NOW I have an idea as to the missing part ; yet, don't you think he had times of being a convincing "bass"_ _( ' Attila ' ) ?_
One of the best duets.
Everyone in America should hear this right now
Bravissimi.
Ramey is here in his prime. His voice is fresh, free, long-ranged and flexible.
During 1986, Milnes was halfway through what he described in his autobiography as "the decade of panic." He had a vocal cord hemorrhage in 1981 and another a year or two later.
I heard Milnes live and in person once, as Iago in Chicago during the fall of 1986. The voice, at least in that particular venue, was enormous. His tone struck me as slightly gritty, and his top notes didn't ring as resoundingly as in his first few albums, but they were certainly immense and imposing.
Just a few months later, during a Met broadcast of "Rigoletto," Milnes seemed to have altered enormously his voice production. The formerly full onset was gone; he seemed instead to be yawning into every note, as though he feared a good attack would harm him further.
I heard him at Tivoli in Copenhagen in 1988, and he was not the Milnes I remembered from the numerous recordings in the 1970's. His tone had become woolly and unfocused but of course, he still had his charisma and impressive stage presence - and an excellent French/Italian diction
Uno dei duetti migliori che abbia ascoltato: le due voci sono molto diverse e si "scontrano" a vicenda creando l'effetto contrasto, voluto da Bellini immagino. 🔥🔥🔥
j'adore Bellini et ses Puritains, quelle merveille ! compositeur génial béni des dieux
Both are great.
Samuel tiene la voz más preciosa que se puede oir.
Gracias, pero que sonido mas aterciopelado.
Very exciting rendition. Ramey in his prime, as good as it gets. Milnes near the end of his important career. But he still can bring the high notes, particularly at the end.
Insuperable Atila de Samuel Ramey
Stunning! I had no idea they ever sang together.
Delightful! My two favorite singers! They sound marvelous together
BRAVO!!!!
They brought the house down with this performance. That's saying something since they had to follow Dame Joan Sutherland in the glorious operatic scena "Qui la voce" in which the bel canto goddess stopped the show herself. I like Bonynge's cuts here very much.
THese two should follow fine
They are both superb
Ramey i Milnes, grans veus ...
walterneiva Metropolitan Opera House, New York City, on Saturday, 13 December 1986. (It's from a live Met matinee broadcast.) The conductor is Richard Bonynge. And, for the record, the other two members of the "Puritani quartet" for this broadcast were Joan Sutherland (Elvira Walton) and Rockwell Blake (Lord Arturo Talbot). (This clip must be from a French Canadian CBC rebroadcast of same.)
Jose Turco If you saw Milnes and Ramey with Joan Sutherland and Salvatore Fisichella in I PURITANI at the Met, it must have been in the fall of 1986. The four of them sang the first four performances of the revival of the 1976 Met production of I PURITANI that season (with Richard Bonynge conducting the whole run, of course), and then Rockwell Blake sang Lord Arturo Talbot for the remaining five performances. (At one of those five performances (not the broadcast), Blake fell ill after Act I and his "cover," Stanford Olsen, sang the role for Acts II and III.)
For the record, Joan Sutherland's final performance at the Metropolitan Opera was a song and aria recital on Sunday, 12 March 1989, accompanied by her husband, Richard Bonynge, on piano. Her final staged operatic performances were in 1987-1988, as Leonora in a new Met production of IL TROVATORE. And Richard Bonynge's final Met performances as a conductor were in the spring of 1991, conducting I PURITANI (but not with Sutherland as Elvira Walton).
So beautiful 💙
Saw them twice at the Met in the 90´s with Dame Joan and Fisichella. Splendid was the word for such rendering...JRT
Maravilloso dúo.
Bravo bravo bravo brilliance
This role perfectly in Ramey's voice. He sounds very comfortable here. But the part of Riccardo is clearly a bit too low for Milnes. This isn't surprising if you know anything about the original Puritani Quartet voices. The true modern baritone sound had not been invented yet. This is Bellini not Verdi. Milnes was a supremely successful Verdi baritone. The Bel Canto Quartet for which this piece (I Puritani) was composed was written for a soprano, a tenor and two basses. Milnes's vocal type hadn't been invented quite yet. He's a high baritone singing a bass part.
Yes, even though Milnes was past his prime here (he was 51 or 52 and had had that vocal-chord surgery), you *can* hear how he sounds more secure as the music rises in pitch. That's interesting about Sir Riccardo, though; I never before considered that it's not a "baritone" role in the modern sense of the word. Btw, Milnes was a great Enrico on the "Lucia di Lammermoor" recording with Sutherland.
@Sherrill Milnes Fan Agree, baritones are paid for a color and access to Gs and As, he and others get a pass on beautiful sounds on low As and below.
Even Leonard Warren had weak low notes; I'd still take a 1/3 of his voice and be satisfied.
@Sherrill Milnes Fan he must have been drinking the night before. DFD purportedly had a performance-level low C.
Let me guess you accept modern singers
done well by fine singers
Milnes simply brilliant!
A true masterpiece, a relic. Thank you for posting!
Well, that effing gave me chills. Ramey had a massive voice. Unbelievable volume out of a relatively small man.
I've heard him live many times. The first time was a recital with Warren Jones as accompanist. Ramey opened the second half of the performance with Olin Blitch's Prayer of Repentance from "Susannah". I had been listening to him sing for about an hour at that moment, so I knew he had a big voice. But when he hit the first not of the Prayer of Repentance, I literally jumped in my chair, I was so startled. It was also a very beautiful voice, and he sang with exemplary technique.
Is Ramey relatively small? I never know how big anyone truly is, on such a massive stage as the Met's.
He's close to six feet tall (I've stood next to him.), but he's slender.
@@aneamarlivana172 I have a pic with him at University of Houston, where he was giving an informal talk. He's 5'10 in zipped boots, skinny, and in decent shape. A massive head! A speaking voice that was sepulchral. A most unpretentious man.
Bravissimi
Great!
d'accordo
Splendide à 2 réserves près :
1) La laideur insigne du timbre de la trompette lançant le thème de "Suoni la tromba"
2) La coupure de la 2ème section dans la reprise à l'unisson.
Sinon : légendaire !!! Où était-ce ? Le MET ? Quelle date exacte ?
Ramey and Milnes! Ramey sounds amazing here, Milnes has always been a favorite, though I feel this is not a role for him. Tesitura is low for him. Still, bravo!
Samuel, grande . Occhio a Sherill
Titanic!
When and Where ??please
Metropolitan Opera, 1986-1987
Meglio Ramey
I'm only surprised they didn't both take the high note at the end.
+talkingbowl As wonderful as Samuel Ramey sounded (thus, proving his bass-baritone voice was impeccable when focused), I don't think he would've felt comfortable on a the G# or A flat (don't have the score).
talkingbowl ....
@ixlioavoeqgni oeqgni Bass my foot! A bass can sing up to those notes yes but just like George London, Samuel Ramey could sustain notes higher than an Eb and F. His low notes could never be enough to sing Wagnerian bass roles like the likes of Jerome Hines, Boris Christoff, and Kurt Moll and it wasn't Baritone enough to sing convincingly the top-notch Verdi roles of di Luna, Iago or even Falstaff (the last 2 are more bass-baritone roles than pure Baritone roles so it could have fit his voice perfectly.)
The overall quality of Ramey's voice is much higher than your typical Basso cantabile (Jerome Hines, Kurt Moll, Hans Hotter, George London for instance have extremely lower voices and more brassy than Ramey's in the bottom) and as such, it allowed him to easily tackle Rossinian bass roles. To simply say he can sing B flat makes him someone who trained his voice closely in the ways of the old masters -- anyone low voiced male classical singer can sing high notes above their natural range but the tessitura is telling when they attempt to do so hence why Ramey is a bass-baritone who killed his own voice by prematurely singing roles and notes that affected his overall production. Listen to him from the past 20 years and tell me he doesn't sound a hot mess and needs to step down and let some new bass-baritone come in.
@ixlioavoeqgni oeqgni Throaty timbres? Ramey's last great performance was him performing Rossini in 1982 but after that he was done. Jerome Hines was still singing in 1982 and had great low notes (E2 is really all you need to sing in bass roles as the lowest note to be sung in most of the bass repertoire is F2, outside of Osmin's aria which goes to a D2 and some of the Russian interloped music). Samuel Ramey always had issues with his lower-middle register, often at times forcing the voice to go down there when it wouldn't sustain certain higher notes. He was suited for low-middle passaggio singing -- Handel, Rossini, Mozart (his Don Giovanni is to die for as is his Figaro recording in the 80's with Thomas Allen singing the Count). He never performed Wagner because he never had the right voice type for the lower stuff and range is purely subjective and doesn't matter in an argument. The vast majority of the basses that are aforementioned all had lower ranges than he did and some even rivaled him on the top and middle of his voice. George London's "Die frist ist um" is objectively one of the very best renderings and readings of that aria and rivals anything Ramey has ever done and he's (like Ramey) a bass-baritone!
Ramey was a bass-baritone; many teachers I have studied with and have told me in stories how his voice is not that of a Bass but of a bass-baritone and even I can hear bass-baritone in his voice. His main range is from F2 to F4 (G4 when he sings Handel's "Sorge infausta una procella"). He's a bass-baritone through and through.
@@deadwalke9588 ::
_Thank You for this information about Ramey's range as a bass-baritone AND not the famous "bass" he is known for :: when hearing true basses AND returning to hear Ramey, something was always missing. NOW I have an idea as to the missing part ; yet, don't you think he had times of being a convincing "bass"_
_( ' Attila ' ) ?_
10:44: High A Flat
Milnes ,Yeowling as always !!
SEHR GUT
Ramey is good but Milnes is bad.
Оne baritone and one tenor, .I don't like it at all
Bellini se copia a si mismo igual que Verdi y Rossini.
I don't like diphthongs in Milne's bad Italian diction.
Meglio Hampson
Hampson e' un tenore corto, ma Milnes e' un baritono vero.
Sherrill in conflict with so many Italian grand voices. I love you