# Final Round: Rachel quand du seigneur. Tucker, Del Monaco, Grigolo



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)




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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I was very affected by Grigolo's performance, having not heard him for a long time. His prominent vibrato certainly helped in the impression he made and made his pain credible. His anguished _acuti_ in the last measures certainly helps his cause.

Now to hear the others.

I'm discounting Del Monaco, whose relentless loudness is a pain in the ears. His French is italianate, curiously affecting his diction, some consonants more than others.

I left Tucker for last, knowing his is a famous assumption (which I hadn't heard) - his is a very external reading even to his French diction which sounds almost ultra French. But the pain I hear in Grigolo's or Shicoff's assumption is not there.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Mas, I'm with you when you say that you thought you didn't hear pain in Tucker's rendition. It also struck me as strange because if there was anything else he wanted in this world it was for Bing to fashion the opera for him. Yet though his singing was totally superb. his rendition was a disappointment for me.
I thought Grigolo showed much feeling although I felt his timing was a bit fast for this particular aria. But he showed depth and sadness and he easily got my vote.
As per usual, there were those super duper high notes of Del Monaco's but not much underneath.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

nina foresti said:


> Mas, I'm with you when you say that you thought you didn't hear pain in Tucker's rendition. It also struck me as strange because if there was anything else he wanted in this world it was for Bing to fashion the opera for him. Yet though his singing was totally superb. his rendition was a disappointment for me.
> I thought Grigolo showed much feeling although I felt his timing was a bit fast for this particular aria. But he showed depth and sadness and he easily got my vote.
> As per usual, there were those super duper high notes of Del Monaco's but not much underneath.


nina foresti, I think there was a broadcast in which Tucker did justice to the role, but I don't know whether it is accessible; it's probably not this video. I agree that Grigolo's is possibly too fast compared to others, but it's not supposed to be declaration, but an expression of his guilt and pain and loss. The others are too expository.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I am happy Grigolo has done so well in the contest. Is Mario inconsistent because he can at times be fabulous?


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I am happy Grigolo has done so well in the contest. Is Mario inconsistent because he can at times be fabulous?


He's just like a bull in a china shop - he thinks his voice sounds best at full throttle and he modulated it infrequently. The only thing I like him in is in *Mefistofele* - it was my first recording and I didn't know any better. To this day, I can't like anyone in that role.


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## Shaafee Shameem (Aug 4, 2021)

I voted for Tucker. He sings technically better than Grigolo, and his French is much much better than Del Monaco's. He isn't as insightful in his reading as the three from the previous round though.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Interesting trio. a step down from the first three. Tucker is no doubt less emotive in this studio recording than in his live performances, but his singing is clean and strong. Del Monaco is very much himself. As with most of his work, I'm slightly at a loss, and this is not among his best outings. The interesting one here is Grigolo, who I wouldn't expect to sing this role. It's a real interpretation, and maybe I should like it more than I do, but I just can't buy his youthful timbre and his relentless emotionality as a representation of Eleazar. I can't quite explain why I don't think he sounds Jewish, but comparing his brand of emoting with some cantors - including Richard Tucker, one of the best cantors of modern times - might provide a clue. I'm voting for Tucker.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Interesting trio. a step down from the first three. Tucker is no doubt less emotive in this studio recording than in his live performances, but his singing is clean and strong. Del Monaco is very much himself. As with most of his work, I'm slightly at a loss, and this is not among his best outings. The interesting one here is Grigolo, who I wouldn't expect to sing this role. It's a real interpretation, and maybe I should like it more than I do, but I just can't buy his youthful timbre and his relentless emotionality as a representation of Eleazar. I can't quite explain why I don't think he sounds Jewish, but comparing his brand of emoting with some cantors - including Richard Tucker, one of the best cantors of modern times - might provide a clue. I'm voting for Tucker.


I do like Tucker a lot in his Verdi duets with Farrell so I am surprised he is not as interpretive here. His voice is marvelous.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I do like Tucker a lot in his Verdi duets with Farrell so I am surprised he is not as interpretive here. His voice is marvelous.


Tucker was an important singer in the '50s, invaluable at the Met in the spinto roles that are hard to cast well today. The timbre of his voice has never really moved me; I find it handsome, weighty, dark, solid, intense and sometimes thrilling, but not particularly poetic or sympathetic. Given his prominence during the '50s it's surprising he didn't make more recordings of complete operas.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I couldn't get to the end of Del Monaco's version. I just wanted him to stop shouting at me. Not to my taste at all.

Now Tucker is a different case. The voice is magnificent and there is a great deal of pleasure to be derived from the mere sound, but (there's always a but) he has this annoying habit of aspirating any slurred notes, even if it's just a pair, and once you've noticed it, you can't unhear it. I also thought his interpretation lacked any kind of _innigkeit_. I know this was one of his best roles, and he no doubt sang more feelingly on record, but here he didn't get to me at all.

Which leaves Grigolo, which is the only performance here that affected me emotionally. I take Woodduck's point that he sounds too young, but this is a real performance and I enjoyed it more than the other two, so he gets my vote here.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

And this group? Grigolo??...He does great stuff when properly directed, I've enjoyed his performances twice live, but this??? Not for me!........I think the big difference for me between Tucker and Delmonaco is the firm articulation of the text that Tucker brings and Delmonaco does not. Both to me are pretty firm throughout, not the worst thing when its voices like these two but not the best either. But Tuckers way has, for me , nobility.


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