# TENOR TOURNAMENT (By Request): Schicoff vs Lemeshev



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Neil Schicoff, USA, 1949-






Sergei Lemeshev, Russia, 1902-1977






Who's singing did you prefer and why?


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Bonetan:
How very kind of you to include my favorite tenor singing my favorite aria. I hope you won't mind if I also include a video of Neil Shicoff so that others can see his expressions as well as Lemeshev's (who was simply wonderful). I am grateful for your kindness.
Of course my vote goes to Shicoff but they were both superb.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Both terrific, but I prefer Lemeshev's more lyric sound and elegaic manner of singing.

And it's not even Lemeshev's best recording of the piece. This is from a couple of decades earlier:


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

This is very difficult. I love Neil Shicoff, so my first instinct was to go with his heart-on-sleeve approach to this aria. After all, the man is going to duel with his best friend, having already lost his Olga. I do prefer Shicoff's voice over Lemeshev. But I ultimately found Lemeshev more controlled singing to be more suitable; he's Russian after all, has intimate knowledge of the character's language, and his control of dynamics is masterful, the line sometimes spun out to a _fil di voce_.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I've always found Lemeshev incomparable in this. He's a lesson in the importance of developing and integrating the vocal registers, which is essential to dynamic control and thus to truly expressive singing. If there's a tenor in the last thirty or forty years who can bring comparable chiaroscuro to his singing, please tell me who it is. And thanks to wkasimer for posting Lemeshev's earlier recording. The voice, so technically superb, held up well over the years.

Shicoff is fine, but this is no contest for me.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Can't say I blame anyone for not choosing Shicoff (not Schicoff) in the presented audio.
The one I listed in my post seems to equalize Lemechev's because one can also see his facial expressions as in Lemeshev's (so very much a part of the drama) which is missing by just listening to an audio recording.
That said, I do agree with posters that Lemechev's is simply glorious and very much deserves a vote.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Woodduck said:


> If there's a tenor in the last thirty or forty years who can bring comparable chiaroscuro to his singing, please tell me who it is.


The only one who comes close is Gedda, on a 1954 recital LP for EMI.



> And thanks to wkasimer for posting Lemeshev's earlier recording. The voice, so technically superb, held up well over the years.


Particularly amazing for a tenor who had a serious lung infection in mid-career.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Lemeshev of course 
He comes closest to portraying the original character of Lensky. Words vs vocal nuances, all there. "_Желанный друг, приди, я твой супруг_" - this is so exciting!
And yes, it's quite hard to abstract from Shicoff's accent (it's not easy to sing in Russian, his attempt is very good indeed, I'll give him that). He sings beautifully, but more lyrical approach is required here.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

at least kindly spell that able tenor's name correctly.
Shicoff.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

nina foresti said:


> at least kindly spell that able tenor's name correctly.
> Shicoff.


Noted and done.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> at least kindly spell that able tenor's name correctly.
> Shicoff.


Just be happy no one has tried Shecough... But I suppose that's the feminine of hiccough.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

wkasimer said:


> The only one who comes close is Gedda, on a 1954 recital LP for EMI.


Of course that's 57 years ago. I was being either cautious or hopeful.



> Particularly amazing for a tenor who had a serious lung infection in mid-career.


I didn't know that.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I love Shicoff in this aria, he's the highlight of the Levine recording, the rest of which doesn't quite work for me.

I prefer Kozlovsky over Lemeshev anyway and so I was going to go with Shicoff due to the intensity of feeling he finds in this wonderful aria! BUT, after listening Lemeshev has the edge (it helps having a conductor who understands what Tchaikovsky was doing in this opera, as well as the art of rubato).

N.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

The Conte said:


> I love Shicoff in this aria, he's the highlight of the Levine recording, the rest of which doesn't quite work for me.
> 
> I prefer Kozlovsky over Lemeshev anyway and so I was going to go with Shicoff due to the intensity of feeling he finds in this wonderful aria! BUT, after listening Lemeshev has the edge (it helps having a conductor who understands what Tchaikovsky was doing in this opera, as well as the art of rubato).
> 
> N.


Click on my post "The C" and give the video Shicoff an equal chance. I wonder what you'd think of that offering.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I actually know this aria quite well, as I used to sing it back in my singing days (coached in Russian by an old emigré my singing teacher knew). 

With apologies to Nina Foresti, I'm afraid Lemeshev wins by a mile for me. Shicoff sings it well up to a point, but his emotive, heart on the sleeve approach is, to my thinking anyway, off the mark. The remarkable thing about this aria, and in fact this whole scene, one of my favourite scenes in all opera, has always seemed to be its restraint. The mournful nature of the music presages Lensky's death and I've always thought it should be performed with a sense of resignation, as if Lensky has already decided that he is going to die, passion having been spent in his outburst at the party which is quite different in style. Lemeshev is superb, even finer in the excerpts Wkasimer posted. He's a bit past his best on the Khaikin recording but is still a major asset to that wonderful recording.

I also second Wkasimer's recommendation of Gedda's 1954 recital recording. Wunderlich also recorded an excellent version in German.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I actually know this aria quite well, as I used to sing it back in my singing days (coached in Russian by an old emigré my singing teacher knew).
> 
> With apologies to Nina Foresti, I'm afraid Lemeshev wins by a mile for me. Shicoff sings it well up to a point, but his emotive, heart on the sleeve approach is, to my thinking anyway, off the mark. The remarkable thing about this aria, and in fact this whole scene, one of my favourite scenes in all opera, has always seemed to be its restraint. The mournful nature of the music presages Lensky's death and I've always thought it should be performed with a sense of resignation, as if Lensky has already decided that he is going to die, passion having been spent in his outburst at the party which is quite different in style. Lemeshev is superb, even finer in the excerpts Wkasimer posted. He's a bit past his best on the Khaikin recording but is still a major asset to that wonderful recording.
> 
> I also second Wkasimer's recommendation of Gedda's 1954 recital recording. Wunderlich also recorded an excellent version in German.


I certainly appreciate your valid comments. I only hope that when you listened to both you decided to compare the two with my video instead of the less-than-clear enough audio for Shicoff. 
And as to characterization, you make a very good point about Lensky having resignation rather than outward anguish.


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## Gabriele Adorno (May 30, 2014)

I like how Lemeshev sings effortlessly (I know it's far from, of course) and freely, with a mezza voce to die for - compared to Shicoff's more strained interpretation.


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## SanyiKocka (May 6, 2020)

Although Lemeshev ranks first in my mind for this aria, the comparison of "Kuda" is not fair for Shicoff anyway...since Russian is not as common as Italian in operatic world.


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