# HELDENTENOR TOURNAMENT (Round 1, Match 8): Melchior vs King



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Lauritz Melchior, Denmark, 1890-1973






James King, USA, 1925-2005






'Preislied' from Wagner's _Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg_.

Who's singing did you prefer and why?


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

This is very difficult. Both have their merits and their faults but wouldn’t you love either in a hall today? King was one of the first heldentenors I heard when I got Kempe’s Lohengrin so I have a soft spot for him. Melchior is Melchior! I do think though that Walther was not the best fit for his voice as I think the tessitura lay a bit high for him. Picky, I know. King tended to go slightly sharp when the voice was put under pressure but better sharp than flat. All in all I think I will vote Melchior but there’s really nothing in it. Hard choice.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

As Barbebleu says above, both are very good. If I voted for Melchior, it is because I preferred his slightly sweeter delivery at the start. I's be happy to hear a tenor as good as either nowadays.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

To be honest, they're both a little too stentorian for my taste, but I voted for Melchior for the brilliance of his upper range and ease negotiating the passaggio in an aria that's brutal for most tenors.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I don't think this is as close as others do. On every measure, Melchior is superior, technically and interpretively. King is strong and efficient, but can't make us forget that this is not an easy thing to sing. The angular line needs a strong legato to bind it, and the voice needs reserves in order to build the excitement over the long spans toward a climax. Melchior, here in his absolute prime, pulls off the miracle. I don't think I've heard the aria sung better, by Melchior elsewhere or anyone anywhere.

Walther was one Wagner role Melchior didn't keep in his repertoire because, he said, the tessitura was too consistently high. But all his recorded excerpts are splendid, including that never-to-be-equaled recording of the quintet with Elisabeth Schumann and Friedrich Schorr.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

If I didn’t know better I’d say you favoured Melchior over, well, over every other tenor who walked the earth!:lol:


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Barbebleu said:


> If I didn't know better I'd say you favoured Melchior over, well, over every other tenor who walked the earth!:lol:


I'm not as knowledgeable in these areas but my sense is that in Heldentenor roles there was Melchior and then everyone else. I don't think he would have been the best voice for Verdi though I am sure he could have had a career in Verdi. Some others might have had more beauty or interpretive skill but he had the "goods" for Wagner like Flagstad did.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I don't think he [Melchior] would have been the best voice for Verdi


Au contraire...


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Barbebleu said:


> If I didn't know better I'd say you favoured Melchior over, well, over every other tenor who walked the earth!:lol:


No, that would be Caruso. The gods of opera reign together in eternal harmony.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I'm not as knowledgeable in these areas but my sense is that in Heldentenor roles there was Melchior and then everyone else. I don't think he would have been the best voice for Verdi though I am sure he could have had a career in Verdi. Some others might have had more beauty or interpretive skill but he had the "goods" for Wagner like Flagstad did.


He was a terrific Otello. I have a disc of him singing a variety of things other than Wagner and he is never less than amazing even singing arias like Vesti la giubba, in German.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

wkasimer said:


> Au contraire...


Words fail..........


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

I agree that it's too bad we don't have more recordings of Melchior in other rep. I always wanted to hear Melchior as Dick Johnson from _Fanciulla_. And Flagstad sang Minnie back in Norway. That would be quite a pair...

I also agree with Woodduck on this one. Not even close. Melchior is incredible. The only other singer I've heard navigate the climax of this piece with such ease is Piccaver.


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

All I have to say is that Lauritz is the real King here.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

vivalagentenuova said:


> I agree that it's too bad we don't have more recordings of Melchior in other rep. I always wanted to hear Melchior as Dick Johnson from _Fanciulla_. And Flagstad sang Minnie back in Norway. That would be quite a pair...


That would certainly be a unique _Fanciulla._ I know Flagstad sang plenty of Italian opera in her younger years (it's hard to remember that she was forty when our first recordings and broadcasts of her were made - by which time many of the "stars" of today are already past their prime), but I have to admit to being unable to imagine her in Puccini. I do find the equally un-Italianate Nilsson to be a very appealing Minnie, though, so why not?


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Barbebleu said:


> He was a terrific Otello. I have a disc of him singing a variety of things other than Wagner and he is never less than amazing even singing arias like Vesti la giubba, in German.


Thanks for teaching me something. I only knew the Wagner and that was enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Thanks for teaching me something. I only knew the Wagner and that was enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Don't miss Melchior's Canio. Maybe only Caruso's is better.











Melchior would undoubtedly have sung Italian opera in Italian at the Met if the management had allowed him to. It's our loss.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Don't miss Melchior's Canio. Maybe only Caruso's is better.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thank you. I may need to do a Toastmaster talk on him. That was wonderful


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

I loved both takes, to be honest. James King sings with sheer brilliance and Lauritz Melchior with great ease and attention to details. James King conquers while Melchior rules. It's even harder to pull off at the end of Act III because you've basically heard the piece like twice by this time (wink wink).
I wish once again that we would have been allowed two votes 
Okay, Melchior it is.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Azol said:


> I loved both takes, to be honest. James King sings with sheer brilliance and Lauritz Melchior with great ease and attention to details. James King conquers while Melchior rules. It's even harder to pull off at the end of Act III because you've basically heard the piece like twice by this time (wink wink).
> I wish once again that we would have been allowed two votes
> Okay, Melchior it is.


_Meistersinger_ may be the only opera in which you get to hear a character composing his own aria. Of course it's a work in progress as Sachs coaches him, and the tune is not yet in its final form.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

no fair, King would have beaten almost anyone else


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