# 1st Round: Bass Ella giammai m'amò. Nesterenko, Siiepi, Christoff



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I am not allowed to imbed Siepi's video but you can click on the Youtube link in the black box where his video should be. Of course I hit an extra key in his name in the title. You may be like me and not know Nesterenko, so I have an intro below.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

If you aren't familiar with Evgeny Nesterenko, he was not only one of the main Boris's in Russia in his day,, for which he won the Golden Viotti Medal, but at the same time he sang both deep bass and baritone roles. He also had a noted career as a voice teacher in Moscow and Vienna. He sang 50 bass roles often in original languages.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Man, oh man, what to do? Three magnificent voices and what grand singing! I can't fault any of them and I didn't notice any aspirates at all. All had exemplary _legato_ and we're very lucky to have had these three in our lifetime.

Both Nesterenko and Siepi, sing in a concert setting, and are fantastic, but are stymied by the venue - there's only so much they can do.

Christoff, having the advantage of a staged scene, makes the most of it, singing softly at times, as befits a man voicing his inner thoughts - a fabulous performance from a singer known for his acting ability. I don't think I've seen a better realization of this scene.

I've watched it several times. Now, where's the Inquisitor scene?

P.S. I was very lucky to see both Nesterenko and Siepi live at the San Francisco Opera, Nesterenko as Phillip II, his only appearance here - the voice sounded huge in the auditorium and he had great stature in the role. Siepi, too was a stage giant - he sang *Don Giovanni *, Jacopo Fiesco to the *Simon Boccanegra* of Renato Bruson, and a very funny Don Basilio in *Il Barbiere di Siviglia*.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Seattleoperafan said:


> If you aren't familiar with Evgeny Nesterenko, he was not only one of the main Boris's in Russia in his day,, for which he won the Golden Viotti Medal, but at the same time he sang both deep bass and baritone roles. He also had a noted career as a voice teacher in Moscow and Vienna. He sang 50 bass roles often in original languages.


Also a fine singer of concert music - his recordings of Mussorgsky and Shostakovich songs are superb.

As for the "contest", I'll take Siepi. Nesterenko is fine, but his voice lacks the beautiful resonance that Siepi possesses, and I sense that he's a baritone trying to puff up his sound to sound more like a bass.

I have to confess that I've never been a fan of Christoff, particularly in Italian and French repertoire, where I think that his Slavic edge never sounds quite right to my ears, and he engages in too many histrionics for my taste.

Siepi possesses a smooth, noble, resonant voice that many basses have tried to imitate, without much success.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

wkasimer said:


> Also a fine singer of concert music - his recordings of Mussorgsky and Shostakovich songs are superb.
> 
> As for the "contest", I'll take Siepi. Nesterenko is fine, but his voice lacks the beautiful resonance that Siepi possesses, and I sense that he's a baritone trying to puff up his sound to sound more like a bass.
> 
> ...


@wkasimer
I heard comments that Nesterenko used to sing both baritone and bass roles, but never heard him as a baritone. I also hear people who don't like Christoff for whatever reason, but people hear voices differently.

I love Siepi ever since his *Mefistofele *recording, still my favorite. I would've voted for him if it weren't for Christoff's video.

Frankly, I wasn't going to vote at all, as I think they're all magnificent, but one must play the game or not.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Agreed, this is a tough competition. I really can't choose one voice over another, but I think I like best the sound that Nesterenko is making, with the qualification that he and Siepi are recorded so differently that it's hard to tell what's in the voice and what's in the acoustic. Christoff is a great artist, dramatically and vocally splendid, and in Russian music he's hard to beat, but like wkasimer I'm slightly distanced by his very Slavic sound, a certain guttural snarl/roar that's relatable to the vocal placement of the Slavic languages. I don't find it really intrusive here, as I sometimes do in other non-Russian repertoire, but I hear less of it in Nesterenko.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

I knew I couldn't watch because it would give Christoff too much of an advantage and it didn't even matter, he still had too much of an advantage. Not even close. 

I don't know which role the man was born to play more, this or Boris, but he finds the depth in this king's sadness that Verdi must have dreamed someone would find. I thought the music was beautifully conducted as well. Now I'll go back and watch.......yeah, he didn't let me down. I've seen video of him doing this before, not sure if its the same. But this and Schwarzkopf at the end of Act I of Rosenkavalier. I know of no more heart rending musical presentations of the absence of love.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Agreed, this is a tough competition. I really can't choose one voice over another, but I think I like best the sound that Nesterenko is making, with the qualification that he and Siepi are recorded so differently that it's hard to tell what's in the voice and what's in the acoustic. Christoff is a great artist, dramatically and vocally splendid, and in Russian music he's hard to beat, but like wkasimer I'm slightly distanced by his very Slavic sound, a certain guttural snarl/roar that's relatable to the vocal placement of the Slavic languages. I don't find it really intrusive here, as I sometimes do in other non-Russian repertoire, but I hear less of it in Nesterenko.


I am happy you find this a tough competition. A year ago I knew nothing about basses.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I actually saw Christoff as Felipe at Covent Garden in 1979, which must have been one of his last performances (he'd have been 65 at the time). He was still a powerful presence, even if his voice had lost some of its power. Despite what others say about his voice not really being right for Italian repertoire, I think Felipe was one of his greatest roles, his greatest Verdi role without a doubt, though he was a fine Fiesco and Procida. His 1950 performance of this aria (with the most moving orchestral introduction I've ever heard from Karajan and the Philharmomia) is one of the prizes of a wonderful box set called _Les introuvables du chant Verdien_, but this performance is almost as good. Of the three magnificent basses here, he is the most moving. Of course it helps that he is performing the scene on set in costume whereas the other two are in concert, but he really makes me feel Philip's pain at the realisation that his wife never loved hm and never will.

Oh what magnificent music this is! I sometimes think that *Don Carlo* is Verdi's greatest score, despite how uneven it is. The characters are some of the most complex in the Verdian canon and it tells us so much about the human condition. All three performances are worthy of this superb music, but Christoff's is the one that moved me most.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Despite what others say about his voice not really being right for Italian repertoire, I think Felipe was one of his greatest roles
> 
> Oh what magnificent music this is! I sometimes think that *Don Carlo* is Verdi's greatest score, despite how uneven it is. .


Agreed on both counts. I find the Slavic bite in the voice adds to the impression. And my enthusiasm for Don Carlo goes up as the years go by.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

ScottK said:


> Agreed on both counts. I find the Slavic bite in the voice adds to the impression. And my enthusiasm for Don Carlo goes up as the years go by.


Agreed. I have recently seen the Metropolitan Opera's French version and, despite the largely inadequate cast, it still made a deep impression.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Three superb voices indeed!

Nesterenko seems to be dialling it in for most of the aria and I'm not getting any _feeling_. I also don't find his voice as smooth as Siepi's or as characterful as Christoff's.

I find it difficult to choose between Siepi's soulful rendition and Christoff's version. Christoff seems to offer more light and shade, but Siepi has the perfect balance of technique and feeling.

I'm going with Christoff, but only because I think the aria sounds like more of a natural fit than it does for Siepi and there is more variety of colour in his performance.

N.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Siepi has always been my favorite bass and this proves why. His voice is simply glorious yet he expresses that underlying pain inside his gut. This aria is one of my top favorites and the entire scene itself with the GI is absolutely opera at its most heart-grabbing.


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