# HELDENTENOR TOURNAMENT (Quarterfinal 1): Vickers vs Thomas



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Jon Vickers, Canada, 1926-2015 (defeated Jerusalem 19-3)

https://www.talkclassical.com/71557-heldentenor-tournament-round-1-a.html






Jess Thomas, USA, 1927-1973 (defeated Slezak 8-7)

https://www.talkclassical.com/71614-heldentenor-tournament-round-1-a.html






'Amfortas! Die Wunde!' from Wagner's _Parsifal_.

Who's singing did you prefer and why?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I like Jess Thomas in this role. The soft patina of his strong voice, here in its youthful prime, suits the character and the subtly blended sonorities of the score, and he sings intelligently and with feeling. I can see why Frida Leider complimented him. That said, there's no denying the greater intensity that Vickers is able to bring to this tortured music, in part as a result of his incisive timbre, and in part as a consequence of a slightly superior imagination. He does forget his words at the start of the quiet phrase "Es starrt der Blick dumpf auf das Heilsgefass," but in live performance these momentary lapses are forgivable. 

Too bad we don't get as much of the music with Vickers, but I'll choose him by a narrow margin.


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## Dimace (Oct 19, 2018)

More lyric, less dynamic (and Wagnerian) performance from Jess, which I found very good and I voted for him. Jon is the legend here (and everywhere) but for a change *I went to Jess,* who in his short carrier gave us many diamond performances. That was a good battle.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

This was much closer than I was expecting based on Thomas' last entry, which I did not like at all. This recording gives his voice some very welcome depth. Still, Vickers is overall better here.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

No contest for me. Vickers puts much more fire and passion into his performance.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Vickers is very intense and would have been my primary choice but for his voice. Not a youthful impression definitely and I guess it's to my detriment I've always found his voice quite unpleasant and grating on my ears. No amount of suspension of disbelief could make him sound like a "youthful, pure fool". So beg your pardon, Jess Thomas is my man here.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

As others have noted, Jess Thomas is very good here. If only we had a singer half as good to sing Parsifal now. But he is up against my man, Jon Vickers, who always sang with such intensity and fire. I wish he'd recorded the role in the studio.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

This was harder than I expected. Both are excellent in what is essentially their signature role, but Thomas sounds like he's working a little too hard, particularly in terms of getting his lips around the German language; he always sounds a little clumsy to me. Vickers' German isn't perfect, but doesn't seem quite as effortful. 

Vickers by a nose.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Azol said:


> Vickers is very intense and would have been my primary choice but for his voice. Not a youthful impression definitely and I guess it's to my detriment I've always found his voice quite unpleasant and grating on my ears. No amount of suspension of disbelief could make him sound like a "youthful, pure fool". So beg your pardon, Jess Thomas is my man here.


I do share your feeling that Thomas's voice has a more youthful quality, and that this suits the part. Of course this is the moment in the opera where Parsifal loses his boyhood, and the thoughts he expresses are, shall we say, a bit grown up for a teenager.

This excerpt is from the complete 1962 Bayreuth recording, in which Thomas is an excellent component of a fine ensemble under the masterly conducting of Knappertsbusch. In the context of the whole performance, which conveys a real sense of rightness, I find that Thomas leaves little to be desired, but other singers have brought a more intense and visionary quality to the role. We have yet to hear from Melchior...


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Then you have James King with Kubelik/Bayerisches RSO 1980. Stupendous recording! The ending is transcendental...
Listening to it at this moment...


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> As others have noted, Jess Thomas is very good here. *If only we had a singer half as good to sing Parsifal now*. But he is up against my man, Jon Vickers, who always sang with such intensity and fire. I wish he'd recorded the role in the studio.


Don't forget Kaufmann. Parsifal is one of his very best roles. In his Met performances of several seasons ago he really impressed me. I'd be a little skeptical about his Tristan, which received mixed reviews, but in the less strenuous roles of Siegmund, Parsifal and Lohengrin I think he's quite good.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Azol said:


> Then you have James King with Kubelik/Bayerisches RSO 1980. Stupendous recording! The ending is transcendental...
> Listening to it at this moment...


King is very fine in that recording, considerably better than in his 1970 Bayreuth recording under Boulez.


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## Dimace (Oct 19, 2018)

Tsaraslondon said:


> As others have noted, Jess Thomas is very good here.* If only we had a singer half as good to sing Parsifal now.* But he is up against my man, Jon Vickers, who always sang with such intensity and fire. I wish he'd recorded the role in the studio.


Wait some years more. You haven't seen anything yet. The opera singing is dead. (the piano is also > take a look at the Chopin Competition with some Unbelievable mistakes for this level and general mediocracy to this point.) Paul Pot, Bocelli (sorry if the names are wrong written) and FFFFF Maria, Christa, Rene, Jon, Tito & Company.


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