# LONGEVITY in Opera Singers.



## Pip (Aug 16, 2013)

I have started this thread having watched the live TV transmission yesterday of the Salzburg Festival's new production of Don Carlo.

I will list just the male singers.

Don Carlo - Jonas Kaufmann (44) the youngster!
Posa - Thomas Hampson (58)
Grand Inquisitor - Eric Halvorsen (62)
King Philip - Matti Salminen (68)
Monk/Charles V - Robert Lloyd (73)

This must take some beating in a top line festival production. I first saw Salminen in Bayreuth in 1976. I also saw his Philip in Köln in 1980. 

This must be the summer for longevity among leading singers. At the Proms just a couple of weeks ago the role of the Wanderer in Siegfried under Barenboim was sung by Terje Stensvold who will be 70 in october.
Anyone hearing that performance would be sure that the singer was half his age. Incredible.

Sadly this was not the case with Salminen and Co. last night. 
The ladies ran away with the honours. Anja Harteros and Ekaterina Semenchuk were outstanding.
None of the men, including Kaufmann really got going vocally until over half way through.

Does anyone know of other remarkable vocal feats of longevity?


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Angelo Loforese aged 92! Thanks OperaFocus


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

The great Russian singer Mark Reizen singing Prince Gremin's aria at 90 years old:






Love can strike at any age, indeed...


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Check out Birgit Nilsson at the Levine Gala at age 62 in Isolde's Narrative and Curse. Joan Sutherland singing a rockin' High D in the big trio from Norma at her gala with Horne and Pav in her early 60's, Dorothy Kirsten singing Butterfly in her 60's sounding 30, Leontyne Price singing recitals to at least 70 and check out the soaring Zweite Brautnacht by Strauss at the Carnegie Hall Gala at age 64.... awesome! Domingo continues to defy age at age 70. Flagstad's Isolde at age 61 in her Furtwangler recording is matronly but still truly amazing, even if she had her high C's dubbed.


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## Pip (Aug 16, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Check out Birgit Nilsson at the Levine Gala at age 62 in Isolde's Narrative and Curse. Joan Sutherland singing a rockin' High D in the big trio from Norma at her gala with Horne and Pav in her early 60's, Dorothy Kirsten singing Butterfly in her 60's sounding 30, Leontyne Price singing recitals to at least 70 and check out the soaring Zweite Brautnacht by Strauss at the Carnegie Hall Gala at age 64.... awesome! Domingo continues to defy age at age 70. Flagstad's Isolde at age 61 in her Furtwangler recording is matronly but still truly amazing, even if she had her high C's dubbed.


Yes I agree. They are all well known, and Lauritz Mechior as well. Singing Siegmund at age 70 for Danish Radio in 1960 is also an amazing feat.
I was just fascinated that my observation with so many together in one performance is perhaps a little out of the ordinary.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Pip said:


> Yes I agree. They are all well known, and Lauritz Mechior as well. Singing Siegmund at age 70 for Danish Radio in 1960 is also an amazing feat.
> I was just fascinated that my observation with so many together in one performance is perhaps a little out of the ordinary.


Posa - Thomas Hampson (58)
Grand Inquisitor - Eric Halvorsen (62)
King Philip - Matti Salminen (68)
Monk/Charles V - Robert Lloyd (73)

Basses & baritones can sing well into their 50s and 60s & anyway they take longer to cook according to Simon Keenlyside


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## HumphreyAppleby (Apr 11, 2013)

Nicolai Gedda certainly had a long career. He played the emperor in Turandot not long after this. Sining Lehar at 72.





And Cavaradossi at 61!





And Magda Olivero singing (quite shakily, but well for a 99 year old lady) Datemi pace.


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

Humphrey, I see your Cavaradossi 61 with Olivero debut at Met in the role of Tosca at 65.






That video with Angelo Loforese is incredible.


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## HumphreyAppleby (Apr 11, 2013)

Bardamu, I raise you a Hugues Cuenod making his Met debut as the emperor in _Turandot_ at 84!







> That video with Angelo Loforese is incredible.


Isn't it? I couldn't believe it when I saw that.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Gwyneth Jones performed Herodias last year at the ripe old age of 76 at the Vienna State Opera. That makes for approximately 50 years of international career.


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## Pamina (Sep 5, 2012)

Giacomo Lauri-Volpi did a live performance in a concert of "Nessun dorma" in 1972. He was born in 1892. So at 80 he could still sing that aria. Every time I hear it I tear up at the end when he sings "vincerò!" I can't help but think of Tosca's quote, "Ecco un' artista!"


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

Jerome Hines who did his last performance at 80 - and died at 81.


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## Rose (Feb 9, 2015)

I saw Leontyne Price in concert in Houston just before she retired. If anything, I felt that the years of experience had honed her skills and added depth to her singing. It was a great experience.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

*Carlo Bergonzi *at the Met at James Levine anniversary at the met 1996 at more than *60* years old


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

Ooh.... I want to be an opera singer now.


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## DonAlfonso (Oct 4, 2014)

Sutherland singing the role of Gilda at 61


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

DonAlfonso said:


> Sutherland singing the role of Gilda at 61


Nice comment from a viewer:

Opera is about the beauty of the voice not the face. Joan might have been a little older here but the voice is wonderful (anyone care to sing like that in their sixties). Isola holds here own beautifully here ( no pun intended ) against 3 absolute greats.:tiphat:


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Dorothy Kirsten sang Butterfly at 60 on a Met opera broadcast on Sirius and sounded like 25! Leontyne Price gave recitals up to 70 and still sounded very good. Nilsson sang Elektra at 62 on a broadcast. She also sang Hojotoho for a James levine gala in her late 70's. Sutherland sounded great into her early 60's. Flagstad sounded wonderful in her early 60s.


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## DonAlfonso (Oct 4, 2014)

Pugg said:


> Nice comment from a viewer:
> 
> Opera is about the beauty of the voice not the face. Joan might have been a little older here but the voice is wonderful (anyone care to sing like that in their sixties). Isola holds here own beautifully here ( no pun intended ) against 3 absolute greats.:tiphat:


I totally agree, I did not give that example as a criticism but as a complement to her.
To anyone who thinks it necessary that singers look like the character they portray watch that clip and pay special attention to the last 2 minutes which is rapturous applause from the audience. I doubt anyone walked away from that performance disappointed that Gilda didn't look like a young woman.


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## Retired (Feb 15, 2015)

I sang with Aldo Protti who was then in his 60s and glorious.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

One of my favorite singers Fritz Wunderlich had to die early . So sad.

Think if he had lived until 80.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Couchie said:


> Gwyneth Jones performed Herodias last year at the ripe old age of 76 at the Vienna State Opera. That makes for approximately 50 years of international career.


And she already had a wobble 40 years ago.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Woodduck said:


> And she already had a wobble 40 years ago.


Great actress though.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Dorothy Kirsten sang Butterfly at 60 on a Met opera broadcast on Sirius and sounded like 25! Leontyne Price gave recitals up to 70 and still sounded very good. Nilsson sang Elektra at 62 on a broadcast. She also sang Hojotoho for a James levine gala in her late 70's. Sutherland sounded great into her early 60's. Flagstad sounded wonderful in her early 60s.


I have the Furtwangler Tristan and Flagstad definitely sounds past it by that stage!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

DavidA said:


> I have the Furtwangler Tristan and Flagstad definitely sounds past it by that stage!


Past "it"? Past her prime, sure. But she still exhibited a richer, clearer, more technically perfect voice and, no less important, a firmer legato style, than anyone who's done the role since. All she really lost was ease above A and B-flat; the rest of the voice was still magnificent. Flagstad's unforced and equalized voice, even at 60, leaves cumbersome and pushed voices like Modl's and Varnay's, even in their primes, in the dust; we might prefer those ladies' greater dramatic imagination, but in terms of singing there's no contest. In 1959, when she was 65, she sang a fine Fricka in the Solti _R__ing_, and the huge, deep-toned voice sounds like a goddess's should. Apparently when she uttered her first line at the recording session the entire Vienna Philharmonic turned to look at the little old lady who was the source of that majestic sound.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Pugg said:


> Nice comment from a viewer:
> 
> Opera is about the beauty of the voice not the face. :


Well that's the source of a whole different debate, which I believe has its own thread somewhere on TC. Personally, in the opera house anyway, I like a bit of dramatic verisimilitude. I might be prepared to accept a large, aging soprano in certain roles, but I'd find it harder to accept her as the young, virginal Gilda, however beautiful the voice.

What a difference between this and the dramatically vital and complex production I recently saw at the Royal Opera House with Simon Keenlyside, a delightful Aleksandra Kurzak, and Saimir Pirgu. Interestingly, I note from comments on the Royal Opera House's website, that traditionalists didn't like it. They would no doubt have preferred what we get in the Sutherland/Pavarotti video.

For a woman of 61, Sutherland _sounds_ amazing, I'd agree, but, for me, opera is more than costumed concert, and really that is all this performance is. It might be ok if you close your eyes, but then in that case, I might as well just stay at home and listen to it on record. Fortunately, the audience probably knew what to expect and the singers certainly delivered. Judging by the applause at the end, they got what they wanted, i.e. great singers still delivering the goods at an advanced age. Does it really matter what the opera's about?


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

GregMitchell said:


> Well that's the source of a whole different debate, which I believe has its own thread somewhere on TC. Personally, in the opera house anyway, I like a bit of dramatic verisimilitude. I might be prepared to accept a large, aging soprano in certain roles, but I'd find it harder to accept her as the young, virginal Gilda, however beautiful the voice.
> 
> What a difference between this and the dramatically vital and complex production I recently saw at the Royal Opera House with Simon Keenlyside, a delightful Aleksandra Kurzak, and Saimir Pirgu. Interestingly, I note from comments on the Royal Opera House's website, that traditionalists didn't like it. They would no doubt have preferred what we get in the Sutherland/Pavarotti video.
> 
> For a woman of 61, Sutherland _sounds_ amazing, I'd agree, but, for me, opera is more than costumed concert, and really that is all this performance is. It might be ok if you close your eyes, but then in that case, I might as well just stay at home and listen to it on record. Fortunately, the audience probably knew what to expect and the singers certainly delivered. Judging by the applause at the end, they got what they wanted, i.e. great singers still delivering the goods at an advanced age. Does it really matter what the opera's about?


Give me drama or give me death- absolutely.

If I see an opera that just has a bunch of people standing around like stick figures who occasionally raise their arm- I don't want my money back- just my _time back_.

'Boring' leaves more of an inexcusably acrid taste in my mouth than merely 'badly performed.'

I want to indulge a visceral, flesh-and-blood experience.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Woodduck said:


> And she already had a wobble 40 years ago.


'Tis heavy, heavy opera. At some point you need to just stop worrying and love the wobble.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Couchie said:


> 'Tis heavy, heavy opera. At some point you need to just stop worrying and love the wobble.


I neither love nor worry about wobbles. Wobbles are the farthest thing from my mind. I just listen to Leider, Flagstad, and Nilsson. I am content.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Woodduck said:


> Past "it"? Past her prime, sure. But she still exhibited a richer, clearer, more technically perfect voice and, no less important, a firmer legato style, than anyone who's done the role since. All she really lost was ease above A and B-flat; the rest of the voice was still magnificent. Flagstad's unforced and equalized voice, even at 60, leaves cumbersome and pushed voices like Modl's and Varnay's, even in their primes, in the dust; we might prefer those ladies' greater dramatic imagination, but in terms of singing there's no contest. In 1959, when she was 65, she sang a fine Fricka in the Solti _R__ing_, and the huge, deep-toned voice sounds like a goddess's should. Apparently when she uttered her first line at the recording session the entire Vienna Philharmonic turned to look at the little old lady who was the source of that majestic sound.


Listen to the Lieberstod and she us very strained. I was quite shocked when I heard it as I was expecting better. I had just been listenng to Margaret Price on the Kleiber and this highlighted Flagstad's difficulties at this stage in her career. Note I was talking about her Isolde not Fricka!


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Woodduck said:


> I neither love nor worry about wobbles. Wobbles are the farthest thing from my mind. I just listen to Leider, Flagstad, and Nilsson. I am content.


I guess you also never watch DVDs. I will take a good Meier or Jones DVD over a crackling Flagstad mono, hold the nostalgia.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Couchie said:


> I guess you also never watch DVDs. I will take a good Meier or Jones DVD over a crackling Flagstad mono, hold the nostalgia.


True. I mostly just listen. I'm frequently nostalgic too. No wobblers allowed.


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