That tone is just so incredible.

My God. I heard him many times at the Old Met. He truly was a God to us standees.

@heldenbariton

2 жыл бұрын

Lucky you! I’m so glad that you have seen the golden era……

@carmenramonlluc

Жыл бұрын

¡Afortunados los que le oyeron y le vieron!

His speaking voice is so great!

2 жыл бұрын

Very elegant his voice speaking

@yurimeyrowitz6788

Жыл бұрын

His singing voice isn't so bad, either... :)

@BaroneVitellioScarpia1

Жыл бұрын

@@yurimeyrowitz6788 He is my favorite bass-baritone.

@verdiguy

Жыл бұрын

@@BaroneVitellioScarpia1 And a true bass-baritone as well. That dark, richness extended from the top to the bottom of his range and yet, it still had the flexibility and variety for him to sing Don Giovanni and Count Almaviva as well as Wotan and Boris. He makes the Toreador Song seem like absolute child's play and no other singer comes close to him as Mandryka in Arabella, which is my favourite of his roles.

@bradycall1889

5 ай бұрын

I know right? Very resonant bass-baritone speaking voice.

DER Wotan, nach meiner Erinnerung. Ein wunderbares Timbre und fabelhafte Textverständlichkeit.

One of the few singers who have managed to touch the sky...I am in awe...

No one has appeared after London that can match him.

@EmilyGloeggler7984

2 жыл бұрын

He's up there with other bad baritones - overrated and mouth full of cotton balls and bad acting.

London in his prime had everything. His voice was big, dark, thrusting, but also beautiful and lyrical. Buttressed at his best by a magnificent technique that encompassed highs, lows and everything in between. With a strikingly powerful, overwhelmingly masculine presence onstage. And magnificently musical. Have always believed that London would have expanded his repertoire farther into Verdi, to become a great Iago and Falstaff (perhaps Simone B. as well), if not for that paralyzed vocal cord.

@allenjones3130

2 жыл бұрын

Rest in peace, George London. You will always be the definitive Wotan in my book.

His very individual timbre is even audible when he talks! One of the greatest ever!

what a marvelous strong and resonant voice!

Great voice!

.....that is exactly what Bass Baritone is ! ...a bass with a good extended high range ...I know what I’m talking about ...there were times in my career when I could could sing from low D to high A...no,it wasn’t every day...

@Contesdhoffman

3 жыл бұрын

You indeed know what you are talking about, Sir! My deepest respect and admiration to you for your singing.

@mortenhjelt823

3 жыл бұрын

I once heard you as Macbeth on the met and was duly impressed 💪👏

@victorchristy1706

2 жыл бұрын

Indeed. Maestro, your voice, along with London's, others then, and some still around, have always been among the greatest I've ever listened to.

@meysamkermani7178

2 жыл бұрын

He is bass, not bass baritone

@stevenfredericks9844

2 жыл бұрын

You roar pretty well yourself, sir!

gorgeous; no one like him today.

The role of Wotan seems designed for London's voice. At the time of this performance, and ever since, no one has remotely approached the heroic and god-like tone he brought to the music. At the time Hans Hotter was admired for his interpretation of the role, but vocally he was past his best.

@marksmith3947

Жыл бұрын

Hotter suffered from severe asthma after around age 40. I heard this from a tenor who performed with him.

@xxsaruman82xx87

Жыл бұрын

@@marksmith3947 He also had vocal cord palsy, most likely due to a viral infection.

@giuseppedisilva3534

4 ай бұрын

@@marksmith3947 Hotter's asthma is an extremely well-known fact. That is why I said "past his best". He was a tremendous Wotan in the 1930s. The size and solidity of London's voice were unique, though. As part of his very astute and well-managed recovery from asthma (he went on to sing into his late 80s) Hotter made some Bach and German lieder recordings that are absolutely masterful. Despite that huge voice, he was one of the great masters of the very intimate and small-scaled German lied. A very great singer IMO.

@marksmith3947

4 ай бұрын

@@giuseppedisilva3534 have you ever heard him sing the Erlkonig of Loewe? It's chilling

magnifico . meraviglioso . fenomeno .

London at his best was a great singer; indeed, a great singer-actor. The voice was a large, full, true bass-baritone, voluminous yet vibrant and tinged throughout with lovely lyricism.

@pepeelsordo

5 жыл бұрын

Amen!!

@monsieurboks

4 жыл бұрын

I hope you mean 'great' in the classical sense; that is to say, superlative!

One of the great operatic monologues for bass/baritone, magnificently sung by the great George London.

He was just great!!!!!!

Ein wahrer Wotan!❤❤❤

Wow, what a voice!

What a voice!!!! 🥰

Wunderbar! Magnificent Wotan!

Amazing sound a true performer of the image of the germanic gods Wotan 😊

Awe-inspiring.

Absolutely stunning!

jesus christ mary mother of god. A freak . insane voice

Gewaltig!!

Heilige Kunst

Sublississime !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Incredible voice and stage presence!!!!!! A god of the Wahalla.

Unglaublich, umwerfend, die stimmliche Interpretation durch George London!

Si resta senza parole...è una meraviglia

After Frantz my favorite Wotan, gotta miss these kind of opera singera. The golden days

Thanks for this! Great find!!

Monumental

Maravilla.

notice his posture and how he keeps it throughout the piece - same as Flagstad for instance! - this is the best posture for singing, however, many modern singers constantly shift their posture or move parts of their body, invariably creating a disturbance in the voice

What a singer! Who could match him?

Le timbre le plus somptueux de tous les baryton-basses.

Incanto assoluto!

Wow, My God!!!

Extraordinary!

George London! Amfortas=God!❤

why did he get health problems with his voice! One of the best Wotans of all times

@xxsaruman82xx87

Жыл бұрын

Vocal cord paralysis, unfortunately. It didn't have anything to do with his technique

@berdiddyberdisberbaboint2763

Жыл бұрын

Get the book between gods and demons by his wife; fascinating but also sad.

solche bassbaritonstimmen in dieser qualität gibts nicht mehr

A God!!!

This caught London about five years too late. But impressive this is nonetheless, and unmatchable today. His was a good voice for Wotan: a tweener, more bass than baritone. Most singers today are "too late high enough, too soon too high" as they progess from bottom to top. Not London. His voice was rich and sonorous all the way down to low F with plenty of squillo throughout his range, and he could sing high G without falling over. If only someone had counseled him to stay away from standard baritone and high baritone material. He belonged in tweener roles like Wotan and high bass parts like Nilakantha, Pogner, and Méphistophélès in Gounod's "Faust".

@noeldunsky

3 жыл бұрын

What would you say were his best renditions? Could you please link them here?

@andrewmargrave7518

3 жыл бұрын

I have not heard much of London's recorded legacy, and some of what I have heard included Scarpia's "Te Deum", the bass part in the Verdi Requiem, and Iago's "Credo", all severely wrong for London's voice. The Iago and Scarpia bits were much too high for him, and the Verdi Requiem too low. But London recordings I can regard highly are this one and recordings of "Le Veau d'Or" and Schubert's "Die Allmacht" (in G major, the bass key).

@noeldunsky

3 жыл бұрын

@@andrewmargrave7518 thank you for your insight! :)

@andrewmargrave7518

Жыл бұрын

@noel dunsky I regret to say that I forgot to mention three other London recordings I have heard, complete: the 1958 "Rheingold" with London as Wotan; the 1960 "Flying Dutchman" with London in the title role; and the 1961 "Walküre" with London as Wotan. All three roles suited London. But all three recordings were made after his best years.

La madre que lo pario!!!Esto si eran voces estelares.

@arturolpc3593

5 жыл бұрын

EN mi opinión no ha habido otro mejor que él!

@quequitoAR

4 жыл бұрын

Verdad... Me irrita mucho cuando al lado de este nombre se coloca el de alguno de los aulladores modernos, como si tuviera algún sentido la comparación.

Superb. That young Wotan...

No two basses or baritone could ever have the same color or degree of darkness as well as range...I wish people would stop putting singers in strict categories .It doesn’t matter what you call them .it’s the individual’s REPERTOIRE THAT BEST DESCRIBES THEM...or what makes them unique.

Enorme

Schlicht phänomenal Gorge London als Wotan!!!

WOOOOOOW

My first Don Giovanni, Amonasro, Count Almaviva.

Wow, this is incredible - thank you so much for sharing! :D Does any more footage exist from this particular recital concert of London?

@javih7475

6 жыл бұрын

Hello Michael. I know another fragment of that concert: the Farewell and Death of Boris Godunov. kzread.info/dash/bejne/qI17wZVpoJaWcto.html

❤️

Splendid artist in his prime but by 1962 time he was often singing slightly out of the side of his mouth. This was also noticeable in a Scarpia performance from Stuttgart the year before. Was London trying to compensate for some indisposition? This visual element was not quite the case yet when singing in his more extreme upper range which is still pretty impressive here although not on as high a level as a few years prior. The problem with London‘s vocal chords remains a controversial opinion but, IMO, the gradual deterioration of his instrument was slightly apparent at this time & became more severe in a couple years from this performance. Close listening to London‘s voice from around 1959 even, in live recordings, reveals the origins of his technical problems. In a live Scarpia from the MET in 1959 even, it took some time for his voice to achieve its superb timbre. Scarpia‘s initial entrance is a case in point. It made little impact but improved as the performance continued. I write all of this regrettably since London‘s singular & unique sonority in his best years always gave me great pleasure. There has never been an instrument at all like London‘s & as with some of the comments made below I agree that he had all the virtues vocally & dramatically that few artists during his prime could equal.

A Titan !!!

Morel was still the conducting teacher when I was at Juilliard. His life did not end well, pretty much forgotten and ignored.

@darklord220

4 жыл бұрын

Not by his students im sure, how we look at life is a choice

Colossal!

Best ever Wotan

That form of art: opera ...probably one of the most artificial and denatured forms of artistic expression humans created...it is naturalized by outstanding artists...the voice of a god-as we can imagine- is here displayed in an almost archtypical form by the great George London

@thricegreatart

5 жыл бұрын

Artificial and denatured? I'm not so sure. I'd rather call opera the queen of the arts, seeing as it combines music, song, poetry, drama, dance, even painting and sculpture to create the sets. Only film can compete with it, but you can't go see a movie "live." And depending on the opera, we can even get crossovers with epic poetry and history. The only muse who doesn't participate in the grand spectacle is Urania as she presides over astronomy. Urania was always kind of a weirdo.

@davidmehnert6206

5 жыл бұрын

“Descend from Heaven, Urania, by that name If rightly thou art called, whose voice divine Following, above the Olympian hill I soar, Above the flight of Pegasean wing....” TO URANIA She was a bit a weirdo, with a habit at times Of peeling off ... Read between these serpentine Lines a subtle Wagnerian tribute, in absentia - Under her spell, Wotan lacked deep perspective - Something to do with his blind-in-one-eye directive - moc.media/en/2669

@antoniopedrolisboa

4 жыл бұрын

😧😧😧😨

@reviewsvoiceontube

4 жыл бұрын

@@thricegreatart well, a queen(amongst common humans not bees) is some sort of extravaganza, too, is she not?...opera as a form of artistic expression certainly involves all the skills and techniques you mentioned in a very elaborate form and that is exactly what I meant..it is indirect, complex, requires knowledge/education in a number of fields, the opposite of art brute if you will...but great singers like London can make it so direct und natural an experience. Thank you

“…Folge mir Frau, in Wallhall whone mit mir.”

For me his voice is not bass-baritone, it's true bass with greate upper range. He is darker than many basses, Ghiaurov, for example.

London is my all time favorite voice but god damn I have a hard time watching his facial contortions

@marksmith3947

Жыл бұрын

Those contortions are the visible signs that he is straining, over singing

The last great Wotan.

Eat your heart out Bryn Terfel. I heard London live in three different cities. He was supposed to come to San Francisco to do Boris but got sick and never sang again. There was a real Wotan hole after he left the scene. We had Hubert Hoffman as a substitute. Awful. In Europe they had to make do with the mediocre Theo Adam. The excellent bass Hans Sotin tried to move up. He was musical but just not a bass-baritone. Thomas Stewart was what I would call a place holder. The true successor as Wotan was James Morris - a very different sounding singer. The current top Wotan is Terfel. But he's a couple levels down from London or Morris.

@jmb4969

3 жыл бұрын

Excuse me ?!?!?!?!?

@Agorante

3 жыл бұрын

@@jmb4969 Did I use too many big words? What didn't you understand? London is simply the best Wotan especially the Rheingold Wotan. I've sung in Rheingold but not Wotan. I could have done it and would have had - I sang Fasolt and Fafner - if the opportunity had arisen. Wotan is just a trifle higher than the Giants. But if you cast your bass-baritone (Heldenbaritone) roles with basses what do you do with the true bass parts? The reason London is so good is that although he sounds like a bass he was always really a baritone. That's one reason he was so good as Boris too. Boris is not really a bass role - the Monolog in the First Act has high G Flats - bass-baritone territory. London's voice had real bite and buzz. When he was recording a rival on records was Dietrich Fischer-Diescau - as different a sound as can be imagined. I loved Fischer-Diescau in Bach but London was the guy you wanted on your mountain top surrounded by Magic-Fire.

@NYCOPERAFAN

3 жыл бұрын

Agree with most of that (though I think you're a little unfair to Thomas Stewart) but the best Wotan right now is certainly Michael Volle, definitely not Terfel (whom I think has dropped the role).

@EmilyGloeggler7984

2 жыл бұрын

Mattia Battistini could eat George London's voice out.

@labienus9968

2 жыл бұрын

@@NYCOPERAFAN Yes, Stuart a fine artist-voice a bit small for a house the size of the Met. Agree about Volle-did a great Sachs at the Met some yrs, ago, but at his age a bit past it now. Morris with the large scale lyrical velvet growl is underappreciated by Europeans. I heard London as a kid doing the Dutchman-it was scary. Too bad London's vocal troubles and career end came before he could make his true mark as Wotan. I can't think of a more difficult role than all the Wotans (Wanderer) to master-why only the greats even attempt it-and then you have the Act II Walkure monologue-good luck to keep that interesting.

and I'm the 600 th person thats l i k e d this.... !

Great! IMHO, he was not true bass-baritone, he was bass with great top register (and that is not true definition of bass-baritone, true bass-baritone is between bass and baritone). His timbre is bit darker than Ghiaurov's. I have note pleasure to listen them live, so my oppinion is based on recordings.

Interesting from a medical point of few, the paralysis of half of his face.

@joelkatz8729

2 жыл бұрын

Have compassion

@colonelfredpuntridge8799

2 жыл бұрын

@@joelkatz8729 Of course!

@xxsaruman82xx87

Жыл бұрын

@@joelkatz8729I, and I'm sure @Coloneal Fred Puntridge does too, but his case is very interesting from a medical point of view. I read a paper recently discussing it

Phwoar

NEC PLUS ULTRA WOTAN. NOTHING BETTER!!!!!

大哥作为一个英国人，英国话太牛屄啦

I'm sorry but I don't consider this good vocalism. London and Warren both had impressive sounds which were not natural. I rather like the sound of warren, although I find it strange. However I think London sounds horrible here. He's singing far too heavily. Hotter was indeed a far better singer

@xxsaruman82xx87

Жыл бұрын

Hotter was nasal most of the time, so I disagree. London was a far better singer.

@marksmith3947

Жыл бұрын

@@xxsaruman82xx87 Hotter performed when he was 80. His voice was definitely not nasal. London had vocal problems before he was 45 and was broken down by 47. London sang far too loudly and heavily. His voice was hideous in the last few years. Hotter had severe asthma after he was around 40, which seems to have affected the timbre of his voice. A tenor who performed with him told me this

@xxsaruman82xx87

Жыл бұрын

@@marksmith3947 You obviously know nothing about London’s vocal problems. His vocal problems were due to vocal paralysis, most likely as a result of a viral infection, and which had nothing to do with his technique. Hötter definitely was nasal in the 50s, but if you can’t hear that, that’s your problem not mine.

@marksmith3947

Жыл бұрын

@@xxsaruman82xx87 London already has vocal paresis when this recording was made. That probably explains the obvious deterioration in vocal quality. Saying that Hotter was nasal is not a serious comment.

@marksmith3947

Жыл бұрын

@@xxsaruman82xx87 that's a rude and inaccurate comment. Please don't write to me again

In comparison to better overall baritones, such as Pavel Lisitsian, Nelson Eddy, Thomas L. Thomas, Hugo Hasslo, Ferrucchio Corradetti, Joseph Schwarz, Heinrich Schlusnus, etc - London's delivery is atrocious and his tone sounds as if he has a mouth full of cotton balls and his delivery is no less subpar. It is a shame he never worked on correcting those critical problems, unlike his superiors.

@williamlansbury3752

2 жыл бұрын

I doubt Pavel Lisitsian, Nelson Eddy, Thomas L. Thomas, Hugo Hasslo, Ferrucchio Corradetti, Joseph Schwarz, Heinrich Schlusnus could be at least

@caseyfranco3959

2 жыл бұрын

Just listened to Joseph Schwarz singing traviata; what mellow warmth he would have gave wotan's farewell

@xxsaruman82xx87

Жыл бұрын

None of them could have sang Wotan because it is a bass-baritone role