# BARITONE TOURNAMENT (Bonus Matchup #2): Zancanaro vs Tezier



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Giorgio Zancanaro, Italy, 1939-






Ludovic Tezier, France, 1968-






Who's singing did you prefer and why?


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Well, I didn't like Zancanaro much except for the excellent Italian. But he breathes in every obvious place. Still a nice natural voice, one I was unfamiliar with. I was sure I would like Tézier better, as I have heard him before and was always impressed. 

Surprise! Here, he sounds raw and hoarse on the first verse, and his Italian is really not very good. Some of the notes in the passaggio sound as though he doesn't quite know what do to with them. He sounds a little better on verse 2. 

But I didn't really like either one of them a great deal.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I don't care for Zancanaro's way of breaking up the phrases (Battistini and Lisitsian take the first four in one breath!), but for sheer voice he trounces Tezier, who sounds like he's getting old. Was he better formerly, or simply overpraised by some people?

Am I the only one who wishes Verdi had written this in a lower key to spare us the desperate efforts of most baritones at the end?


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Being unfamiliar with both voices I had a clear field for choosing and frankly, from my amateur point of view found there was no contest.
Neither happens to be in my top 10 but being that I have to choose one over the other Zancanaro wins by a longshot.
If for no other reason than I happen to prefer his baritone sound over Tezier's.
However, I found it an extra special treat to be able to watch the superb expressions on Shicoff's face -- he of the opera tenor actor hall of fame in my book.
Not long ago there was a long thread here on a discussion about singers who were onstage but at the time were only "re-actors" while someone else was singing. Neil Shicoff is the poster boy IMO for having the most sincere and profound characterizations among tenors as a re-actor.
Anyway, I shall now go up and dutifully press the Zancanaro button.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

This is a battle of imperfections and I voted for most enjoyable one - Zancanaro.
Tezier can be very exciting but he sounds tired here, not sure why... and it's getting plain terrible from 4:15 onwards. I just cannot vote for _that_ kind of singing.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

I don't think either of them sang very well, but Zancanaro has a better voice.


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

Zancanaro, for me.

Zancanaro's singing here doesn't strike me as particularly imaginative: I wished for some pliability to his phrasing, some more give and take with the conductor. However, the voice itself is powerful and clear, thankfully. Not much to say, really, he sang the notes and...that was that.

Unfortunately, Tezier sounds pretty exhausted...I'll guess it was an off night? I don't know his work particularly well, so I'm not sure what is habitual. It does not sound like a glamorous voice as recorded here, dry and at times unsteady, the phrasing is a bit short-winded. Hopefully a blip.


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

I wanted to be sure to include Tezier in these comparisons because he's regarded by many as the leading Verdi baritone of today, but it sounds like I did I him a disservice by choosing this particular aria lol. I'm not a fan of his singing in general, but perhaps his Il Balen will be better received...


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

vivalagentenuova said:


> I don't think either of them sang very well, but Zancanaro has a better voice.


Exactly my take on it. Zancanaro has better technique and the voice is more solid, even and fluidly produced. However, as others have pointed out, his phrasing is all wrong. I'm not so much annoyed by his many breaths, it's that no sense is made of the music, as each line is delivered in the same way as the previous one. Very flat singing (in terms of style, not intonation).

Tezier, on the other hand, is all over the place!

N.


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Woodduck said:


> Am I the only one who wishes Verdi had written this in a lower key to spare us the desperate efforts of most baritones at the end?


Yes, perhaps. The aria does not lie that high. It's in D-flat, for mercy's sake, and the high notes are G-flats. If it were even a half-step lower, it could be a bass aria. The whole role of Germont _père_ is not particularly high.

What astounds me about Tézier's miserable rendition is that, in the first place, the tune is not particularly brilliant, and a slow tempo like the one Zancanaro sings it at can make it sound positively lugubrious. Tézier (and his conductor) start it out at a somewhat faster tempo. Tézier, I dunno, was he having like an extraordinarily bad day? Or year? But his instincts are all wrong: "I'm singing badly. Let's try to do some _rubati_ and _tenuti_ to show how musical we are." Absolutely sucking the life out of the thing.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Just to add something positive about Tezier I'll share the video of Rossini: Le Comte Ory @ Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Check out the aria (famously reused by Rossini himself from Il Viaggio a Reims, of course) starting at 1:40:40. To not derail the thread (too much) I am inserting it as a link to the correct timestamp position:






I guess this recording was taken about 17 years earlier than La Traviata one, but still...


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I voted for Zancanaro but only because Tézier was much worse. I know Germont is supposed to be an older man, but it doesn't mean he has to wobble so much. Zancanaro has a much finer instrument, but his version didn't afford much pleasure either. I can think of any amount of versions I'd prefer.


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## Sieglinde (Oct 25, 2009)

I feel like both of them would be better served with Rodrigo's death or Il balen  There's a Trovatore tv movie with a young and very cute Zancanaro


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

*Ludovic Tézier: "Ah, per sempre io ti perdei" from I Puritani*

I felt so sorry and disappointed in the Tézier aria here that I felt compelled to post this, for those who have not heard him sing well. I love this performance of "Ah, per sempre io ti perdei," (and believe me, it's not an easy aria, from someone who has tried it) and this is the kind of quality I was expecting in this cage match. 12-0 so far, how sad!


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Who is the tenor singing Alfredo with Tezier?


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