# New Great Hunky Heldentenor: Brian Jovanovich



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I saw Brandon
Jovanovich as Siegmund last night here. Gorgeous to look at and a really wonderful sound. It was a recital so I don't know how he acts. He came up through the young artist program here. Here he is in 2007 singing Siegmund when he won the Tucker Award:



OOPS.



 Here he is 4 years ago. He was amplified so I can't attest to his theater filling sound but it sounded big and rich to my ears.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

I take it you mean Brandon Jovanovich.  I’d like to hear his voice 14 years on. He sounds a bit lightweight here and his German pronunciation is no great shakes. I’ve heard worse though he isn’t a Siegmund to my taste. Maybe a Walther or a David or even a Loge.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Sorry bad post.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Barbebleu said:


> I take it you mean Brandon Jovanovich.  I'd like to hear his voice 14 years on. He sounds a bit lightweight here and his German pronunciation is no great shakes. I've heard worse though he isn't a Siegmund to my taste. Maybe a Walther or a David or even a Loge.


OOPS Can't change titles. He was miked so I am not sure how he sounds live but he sounded like the real thing to me. HOW do you spell miked? Spell check won't help me.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> OOPS Can't change titles. He was miked so I am not sure how he sounds live but he sounded like the real thing to me. HOW do you spell miked? Spell check won't help me.


I think fastidious people probably spell it "miced." How doing that doesn't nauseate them I don't know. I'm more of a phoneticist, myself, and prefer to keep cute rodents in their place.

Jovanovich has an attractive voice, and miking can work wonders. Like Barbebleu, I don't think he's natural Siegmund material, but if the choice were between him and Andreas Schager I'd beg him to sing it on my knees. Remember this unspeakable horror?


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Woodduck said:


> I think fastidious people probably spell it "miced." How doing that doesn't nauseate them I don't know. I'm more of a phoneticist, myself, and prefer to keep cute rodents in their place.
> 
> Jovanovich has an attractive voice, and miking can work wonders. Like Barbebleu, I don't think he's natural Siegmund material, but if the choice were between him and Andreas Schager I'd beg him to sing it on my knees. Remember this unspeakable horror?


That video makes me feel like I'm going to vomit. These are the world's best Wagnerian voices? I refuse to believe it. I'm embarrassed that I once enjoyed Schager live. I must have had an ear infection...

As for Jovanovich he doesn't strike as a Wagnerian voice, but I know he's been singing the jugendlich rep everywhere for a while now...I believe we share colleagues. I'll see what they have to say about the size of his voice.


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Seattle, message me if you're interested in the feedback I received


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Bonetan said:


> I'm embarrassed that I once enjoyed Schager live. I must have had an ear infection...


I once enjoyed the sound of rain. I must have had an ear cancer...



SanAntone said:


> Aries said:
> 
> 
> > Do you guys know this? It sounds good:
> ...


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

...........................


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Woodduck said:


> Remember this unspeakable horror?


I had to make a meme about it:


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I not only remembered his name wrong intially but really should have used the term jugendlich tenor, but this is not my speciality. Forgive


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

I've only heard Jovanovich on broadcasts - he sounds like a good lyric tenor, perfect for roles like Lohengrin and the Prince in Dvorak's Rusalka. I can't imagine him singing Siegfried, Tannhauser, or Tristan.

As for Wagnerian tenorizing in general, the problem is that there are too many issues that are in conflict with one another. First is the primacy of conductors, something that's been increasing in the opera world for decades. Those big name conductors, who spend much of their time in front of a full orchestra, aren't going to be so willing to conduct a reduced band. 

Second is the issue of cuts. Wagnerians hate cuts, and so do most conductors, but it's worth remembering that until fairly recently, Wagnerian operas were performed with substantial cuts; Melchior, for example, never sang a complete, uncut Tristan at any time during his career.

Third is house size. Wagner is expensive to stage and cast, so a company needs to sell a lot of tickets for those performances. The Met's capacity is over 4000, while Bayreuth holds fewer than 2000 and has a covered pit, which allow lighter voices to succeed in roles where they might not in a larger house.

Fourth, of course, are Wagner's demands. Let's face it - the number of singers who can sing the most difficult Wagnerian roles - and I'd say that would include Siegfried, Tannhauser, and Tristan - is never very large, as witnessed by the fact that we keep mentioning the same names over and over on this forum.

And finally, there are audience expectations. Vocal size and vocal beauty do not often coincide in the same tenor, and if a company wants to cast one of those big roles, they often have to choose between an ugly-voiced tenor whose sound will carry to the back of the hall, like Jon Frederic West or Schager, or a lighter voice that may not have quite as much impact. I'm always mystified, for example, by criticism of Alberto Remedios as Siegfried. No, he doesn't sound like a typical Heldentenor, but to my ears, that's all to the better. 

There has never been a perfect singer. Jovanovich? Not enough heft. Kaufmann? Too baritonal. Vogt? Sounds like a falsettist. I could go on and on. But all I ask is - can they sing the role effectively and musically? At the moment, most tenors who are singing these roles can't, because the people doing the hiring are emphasizing physical beauty over vocal and musical assets.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I figure with a title like *New Great Hunky Heldentenor*, one should expect _at least_ one shirtless photo! :lol:
He is handsome and looks great on stage. He has sung in San Francisco roles in *Madama Butterfly*, *Il Tabarro*, *Die Walküre*, *Lohengrin*, *Die Meistersinger*, *Das Rheingold*, and *Rusalka*.

Though he sings Wagner, I am not sure of the *Heldentenor*, but since _Heldentenoren_ are rather thin on the ground, some lyric ones have to step up!


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> I figure with a title like *New Great Hunky Heldentenor*, one should expect _at least_ one shirtless photo! :lol:
> He is handsome and looks great on stage. He has sung in San Francisco roles in *Madama Butterfly*, *Il Tabarro*, *Die Walküre*, *Lohengrin*, *Die Meistersinger*, *Das Rheingold*, and *Rusalka*.
> 
> Though he sings Wagner, I am not sure of the *Heldentenor*, but since _Heldentenoren_ are rather thin on the ground, some lyric ones have to step up!


I try to clean up my act for this classy crowd, Mr Mas LOL. 
Brandon sounded like a heldentenor with amplification so perhaps that could explain my mis -classification.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I try to clean up my act for this classy crowd, Mr Mas LOL.
> Brandon sounded like a heldentenor with amplification so perhaps that could explain my mis -classification.


It IS amazing when voices come over the microphones! When the annual Opera in the Ballpark is presented, some of the singers sound so much better. In the performance of *Samson et Dalila* the tenor, who sang like a pig (an Italian-derived insult) in the house, sounded so good for the microphones that it was like a totally different singer. He probably wished the critics had reviewed that performance instead of the first night.


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## Fredrikalansson (Jan 29, 2019)

I have recordings of Jovanovich in a recording of Gurrelieder and Braunfels' The Birds (DVD). Both very enjoyable, and his voice is suited to both roles.

He's not a heldentenor, but then I always thought Windgassen was a big-voiced lyric tenor, not a true heldentenor like Melchior. Maybe Jovanovich is going to go down that road. He'd be a credible Florestan, Radames, Calaf or Dmitri, roles he should maybe try before tackling the killer Wagner roles.


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