# Second Round:Ah mes amis... Pour mon ame. Pavarotti, Brownlee, Kraus



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

They all start around 4:35.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I really like them all and was surprised that I liked Kraus best since I was not familiar with him. I heard Brownlee in concert where he sang this piece twice as an encore. The audience went crazy. He was wonderful but his voice was hard to hear.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Pavarotti is in good voice and sings energetically, and is probably more vocally endowed than the competition, but for this role he sounds rather heroic. My taste leans to a sweeter, more youthful timbre, and in that respect I prefer Brownlee.

You've posted the wrong part of the opera for Kraus. Here's the part we want:






Based on this, I prefer Kraus. He isn't as sweet as Brownlee, but he sings with a swagger that's totally winning.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I think it was this piece that got Pavarotti the title "King of the High Cs" and he is quite thrilling here. Brownlee is sweet but I can imagine him being a bit small scale in the house.
Kraus's voice was always drier but his technique was superb and he was still singing high Cs with ease in his 60s. I thought I'd be going for Pavarotti, but I find I rather prefer Kraus's lighter touch, coupled with the ease and swagger of his top notes.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Pavarotti is in good voice and sings energetically, and is probably more vocally endowed than the competition, but for this role he sounds rather heroic. My taste leans to a sweeter, more youthful timbre, and in that respect I prefer Brownlee.
> 
> You've posted the wrong part of the opera for Kraus. Here's the part we want:
> 
> ...


I changed it but I listened to it three times and I could have sworn it was the right part. If there are mistakes that can be made I make them.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I changed it but I listened to it three times and I could have sworn it was the right part. If there are mistakes that can be made I make them.


Well, that's a bafflment. 

I'm always willing to be proven wrong.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Just like in the Kraus video, Pavarotti comes off a bit better live.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Going strictly by the first video, I will go with Luciano, as he was my first (you always remember your first). I’ve never been fond of the Kraus timbre and though his high Cs are marvelous, they don’t _sound _easy to me. I suppose they are not easy for anyone, but I like Pavarotti’s voice and his golden timbre.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> Going strictly by the first video, I will go with Luciano, as he was my first (you always remember your first). I’ve never been fond of the Kraus timbre and though his high Cs are marvelous, they don’t _sound _easy to me. I suppose they are not for anyone, but I like Pavarotti’s voice and his golden timbre.


I have a hard time choosing between more exciting live recordings that aren't recorded so well or well recorded but not so exciting studio ones. Maybe I should consider more live recordings.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Easy for me. Brownlee.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I really like them all and was surprised that I liked Kraus best since I was not familiar with him. I heard Brownlee in concert where he sang this piece twice as an encore. The audience went crazy. He was wonderful but his voice was hard to hear.


I must disagree, in that this is opera, and you cannot be wonderful if you're hard to hear, as you've failed at the very first hurdle of properly opening and projecting your voice.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Op.123 said:


> I must disagree, in that this is opera, and you cannot be wonderful if you're hard to hear, as you've failed at the very first hurdle of properly opening and projecting your voice.


I would clarify that this is opera " in North America" where almost all the theaters are huge. One could hear him but he almost never made a real punch with his beautiful sound except on high notes . In Europe he could be very successful with their mostly smaller theaters. Even Bayreuth is much smaller than your average opera house over here. He gave overall the best recital I ever heard with him narrating each piece he sang with his wonderful oratory. It was so beautifully produced and you really got to know him as a complete performer. He has a real gift in that regards.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

I voted but didn't have time to write. Unlike previous round I chose the only artist I heard live. It doesn't deminish my admiration of Kraus and Pavarotti. It's just a rarest case when a contemporary artist has a chance to be compared with old masters. 
I don't always understand whether the voice is small or not. In Bavarian opera, a big XIX century theater, one of those where requirements to performers of romantic opera were formed, his voice didn't seem small. 
P. S. What is the purpose of huge theaters, mentioned in previous post? Opera's chances to compete for box-office with cinema or football are hopelessly lost.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

l


ColdGenius said:


> I voted but didn't have time to write. Unlike previous round I chose the only artist I heard live. It doesn't deminish my admiration of Kraus and Pavarotti. It's just a rarest case when a contemporary artist has a chance to be compared with old masters.
> I don't always understand whether the voice is small or not. In Bavarian opera, a big XIX century theater, one of those where requirements to performers of romantic opera were formed, his voice didn't seem small.
> P. S. What is the purpose of huge theaters, mentioned in previous post? Opera's chances to compete for box-office with cinema or football are hopelessly lost.


Unlike in Europe where until recently opera houses were state supported, opera companies in the US need to fit in lots of paying ticket goers to pay for the very expensive art form that opera is today. My sister performed in an opera house that sat 700 in a medium sized German city. Seattle Opera has about 2000 more seats than that. Vienna, a major European city, has a 1000 seats less than our opera house. Covent Garden has 500 less and the seats are all closer to the front than the much longer configuration here. Munich, the biggest opera house in Germany, has 500 less seats than here and all are also closer to the front. The new opera house in St Petersburg seats 1000 less than our theater in Seattle.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Well I know and like the Pavarotti and it's wonderful. Yes, the 'French' leaves something to be desired, but his slightly rough manner and Bonynge's penchant for the old oom pah pah actually work perfectly in this piece. And that ending! Bravo!

Brownlee's voice isn't as distinctive as Florez or Pavarotti. I was a little bored listening to his version. The high Cs are nice, but this doesn't have the confidence of the Pavarotti version.

Krauss should be the most stylish of the three and I wasn't expecting the arresting version heard here. It's not subtle, but perhaps this aria doesn't need nuance. I like his really full high notes too. Wow.

I'm torn, I like Krauss and Pavarotti, but does Krauss oversing and push it too far?

I'm going with Pav.

N.


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## ALT (Mar 1, 2021)

No denying the prize goes to Kraus. He is remarkable here.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

I like to think that If I could be objective I would still vote for Pavarotti because of all the qualities in his singing But it’s a useless thought because objectivity is far out of reach on this one. His rendition of the aria was such a fixture in my household growing up And my whole family adored it, me as much as anyone. This is the first time I’ve ever heard Brownlee and he does have a beautiful HighC. But I don’t hear much else to make me think of him as being competitive with Pavarotti and Krause. The rendition does not have a particular charm for me, nice enough, and the voice is not to My ear particularly distinctive. The beat in it doesn’t help. Krause’s voice just doesn’t have the inherent smile that this music requires. He attempts to compensate by throwing himself into it but this causes him to break the lyric line. I know this contest is old but I’ll be eager to hear the other tenors who sang this because I really cannot imagine anybody can compete with Pavarotti in this song. Infectiously charming and unaffected, completely on the musical line and the capper is those glorious High C’s sung in a Puccini weight voice. Pavarotti at his best and that’s really something!


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