# HELDENTENOR TOURNAMENT (Quarterfinal 3): Melchior vs Suthaus



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Lauritz Melchior, Denmark, 1890-1973 (defeated King 18-0)

https://www.talkclassical.com/71726-heldentenor-tournament-round-1-a.html






Ludwig Suthaus, German, 1906-1971 (defeated Remedios 13-6)

https://www.talkclassical.com/71668-heldentenor-tournament-round-1-a.html






'O König, das kann ich dir nicht sagen' from Wagner's _Tristan und Isolde_.

Who's singing did you prefer and why?


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Suthaus has a beautiful voice and would have enjoyed hearing him sing Tristan, but he is no match for Melchior. Not only was Melchoir's beautifully sung, but each phrase was dripping with meaning. What an exceptional piece of music this is in his hands.


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Suthaus has a beautiful voice and would have enjoyed hearing him sing Tristan, but he is no match for Melchior. Not only was Melchoir's beautifully sung, but each phrase was dripping with meaning. What an exceptional piece of music this is in his hands.


Completely agree. Suthaus is exceptional, but this isn't even close; Melchoir's interpretation and singing needs to be heard to be believed. I feel any attempt to really describe this will inevitably do it no justice.

With Djokovic failing his bid for the golden slam in the Olympics and the GOAT debate in tennis therefore raging on (although it's definitely Federer, I mean, come on), we can at least sleep easy knowing that Melchoir is the GOAT of recorded heldentenors.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

What can one say? Suthaus has a great voice, but Melchior has so much more. Every phrase, every word is full of significance. Suthaus would win hands down against any of today's tenors, but Melchior is in a different dimension.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

This isn't even Melchior's best recording of this passage - he was already 52 and had been singing the heaviest repertoire for two decades - but it's still no contest, although it's Suthaus at his considerable best.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

It's nice to hear a bit from the live 1947 Berlin performance, which finds Suthaus in marginally fresher voice than he is in the 1952 studio recording with Flagstad (although his work there is still admirable). Nevertheless Melchior, 11 years older than Suthaus and not even at his absolute best here, is superior, not least in the firm legato line that was always the foundation of his singing regardless of the incomparable declamatory force that helped make him the most "helden" of heldentenors. In Suthaus's singing we often hear him working at legato, producing some exaggerated dynamic and verbal emphases, as if to signal "listen to my phrasing here!" We don't hear this sort of exaggeration from Melchior.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Melchior didn't have to artificially darken his voice like some of the modern tenors do in heavier repertoire. The singing is so effortlessly flowing and natural-sounding one can only wonder if all the elaborate teaching techniques of the modern day is a waste of time and talent.
Suthaus would have no competition today, but Melchior is a legend.

P.S. Melchior is able to build the arc of the piece so you definitely feel musical phrase finishes on "das sag ihm nun Isold'", with Suthaus it's rather like he finishes mid-phrase, although both sing same notes, same words.


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