Jon Vickers: Early Telecasts From Radio Canada - 1954-1956 DVD

Though Jon Vickers had a wide ranging repertory moving with stylistic ease from Monteverdi to Wagner to Britten he never took on such quintessentially Italian roles as Des Griux Cavaradossi or Manrico. Collected on this remarkable DVD however are scenes with Vickers in all three of these roles which he never performed on stage. They are taken from Radio-Canada's L'Heure du Concert a series of live TV broadcasts from Montreal studios in the 1950s. It was an exciting pioneering time for opera in Canada and a time of experimentation for Vickers. He tried on many operas... during this time some of which he decided were too light for his voice - Cosi fan tutte Don Giovanni Rigoletto La Traviata. When it came to Manon Lescaut Vickers says I never thought I was a Puccini singer. He did have a yen to do Tosca but the right situation never arose. Of Il Travatore he says That really calls for a spinto-dramatic tenor which I never possessed. I felt it was not ideal for me.What we have here then is the only record of Vickers in the ardent music of Des Grieux and Cavarodossi and as Manrico in the final dramatic prison scenes. Although these roles never became a part of his repertory these performances offer a fascinating look at the beginnings of the unique dramatic and musical involvement that became the hallmark of the tenor's landmark portrayals. [show more]

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