Isn't this strange?

[marvinbrown]

That might be your dream, let's not assume that every Wagner singer is a Wagnerian. It wouldn't surprise me if most of them view it as a business and just go where there is money and incentives. If you are James Morris or Deborah Voigt wouldn't you rather be close to home, sing in front of your fellow countrymen and make a lot more money at opera houses like the MET or San Francisco?

  That's a very good point PW.  Yes I would imagine opera singers are in it to earn a living above all else.  I will admit that the thought of James Morris NOT being a Wagnerian had not occured to me!  However I reserve the right to believe that he is indeed a Wagnerian.

  marvin

[Haffner]

James Morris' Wotan is one of my favorites. He was very powerful (for me at least) in the Met Ring dvd. It amazes me he hasn't done Bayreuth considering the lesser talents they've showcased there.

[PSmith08]

James Morris' Wotan is one of my favorites. He was very powerful (for me at least) in the Met Ring dvd. It amazes me he hasn't done Bayreuth considering the lesser talents they've showcased there.

When you have John Tomlinson as Wotan, everyone else - save Hotter and Schorr - is a "lesser talent." When Wagnerians sit around and hammer out the occasionally depressing scene of the 20th Century, Tomlinson, Pape, and Quasthoff will be at the top of the heap for the Wagnerian basses (or bass-baritones, as it happens in some cases) - indeed, you can take off the modifying "Wagnerian" and just have an all-round contest.

[Wendell_E]

When Wagnerians sit around and hammer out the occasionally depressing scene of the 20th Century, Tomlinson, Pape, and Quasthoff will be at the top of the heap for the Wagnerian basses (or bass-baritones, as it happens in some cases)

Ah, yes.  Quasthoff, who's only sung a single, brief, Wagner role (Titurel) will certainly come out on top of Morris, one of the leading Wotans and Dutchmen of the era, and a pretty darn good Sachs.   

[PSmith08]

Ah, yes.  Quasthoff, who's only sung a single, brief, Wagner role (Titurel) will certainly come out on top of Morris, one of the leading Wotans and Dutchmen of the era, and a pretty darn good Sachs.   

Morris might get cast as Wotan and the Holländer with some regularity, but listen to Hermann Uhde or Simon Estes to hear how the Holländer should be sung. He is not a kindly uncle with some 'issues,' but - rather - a tortured individual on a heretofore-endless quest. As to Morris' Wotan, I am of the opinion that the less said the better. How one makes Wotan's Farewell from Walküre boring is beyond me, but slap my knees and call me 'Sally,' Morris didn't miss that mark by much. Sachs, however, does seem more Morris' speed, considering that the prevailing interpretation of that character is, surprisingly enough, a kindly uncle who makes sacrifices for art. That, I have no doubt, is a role bespoke for Morris.

Quasthoff, by the way, sang Amfortas under Runnicles in Vienna in 2004. That is not, as I recall, an insignificant role in the Wagnerian canon.

[Wendell_E]

Quasthoff, by the way, sang Amfortas under Runnicles in Vienna in 2004. That is not, as I recall, an insignificant role in the Wagnerian canon.

Amfortas.  OK, I stand corrected.  A major Wagnerian career!  Morris's name is not worthy to mentioned in the same breath.

[PSmith08]

Amfortas.  OK, I stand corrected.  A major Wagnerian career!  Morris's name is not worthy to mentioned in the same breath.

Quality will always trump quantity. He can sing Wotan and the Holländer as much as he wants, but if he doesn't have it, then he doesn't have it. It's a remarkably simple calculus, but one that leaves him coming up short in the final balance.

It's a testament to the dearth of Wagnerian bass-baritones that Morris had a career at all, much less a long and reasonably successful career. It was sheer luck that he was born after the golden age of Hotter, Uhde, Greindl, Frick, and the like. He hits the notes, though, and that might be enough, though listening to John Tomlinson shows that it usually isn't 'enough.' Certainly not in the instant case, at any rate.

You're right though: there are quite a few popular singers that shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as Quasthoff. "Adequate" and "great" are two separate and discrete classes.

[Haffner]

Well, I guess I'm in the minority. I love Morris' Wotan and look forward to checking out his Meistersinger.

[PerfectWagnerite]

Well, I guess I'm in the minority. I love Morris' Wotan and look forward to checking out his Meistersinger.

I adore him. He introduced me to the role of Wotan and the Ring Cycle and subsequently I have never felt he has been surpassed. I am of the opinion that music first and foremost should be pretty and with Morris you always get the role "sung" above everything else. Others like Steward and Tomlinson have more authority but as far as the VOICE is concern are just not nearly as good as Morris.

[knight66]

I am surprised. I find him a bland singer and although a beautiful voice is a great asset; I would far rather hear a good voice used with real intelligence. Singing opera and especially Wagner is about more than getting prettily around the notes.

Mike

[PSmith08]

I adore him. He introduced me to the role of Wotan and the Ring Cycle and subsequently I have never felt he has been surpassed. I am of the opinion that music first and foremost should be pretty and with Morris you always get the role "sung" above everything else. Others like Steward and Tomlinson have more authority but as far as the VOICE is concern are just not nearly as good as Morris.

I'm just going to have to disagree about that one. If you listen to, oh, say, "Abendlich strahlt der Sonne Auge," from Barenboim's Rheingold or the Summoning of the Vassals from Haitink's Götterdämmerung, you see that Tomlinson has just as much tonal beauty as anyone. His voice is a bit deeper, to my ears, than Morris', but he can certainly summon the sort of purity of tone that leads to vocal beauty.

Also, Wagner wanted to combine music with drama with the visual arts; 'pretty' voices are just one part of the equation.

I am surprised. I find him a bland singer and although a beautiful voice is a great asset; I would far rather hear a good voice used with real intelligence. Singing opera and especially Wagner is about more than getting prettily around the notes.

Mike

My sentiments exactly, though I wouldn't say 'bland.' I'd say dusty and soporific, but not now; not here.

[knight66]

Perhaps some will say he is not a true Wagnarian singer; but for me Terfel has all that is needed. I have seen Wotan and the Dutchman and they were both superb.

Not long ago I heard John Tomlinson in Parsifal. His voice was fairly dry, there was strain at the top; but he held the audience with the compelling use of the text, his acting and stagecraft.

Mike

[Haffner]

Can't wait to see the young Jerusalem in Parsifal! I wasn't wild about him as Siegfried at the Met (his was way too hyperactive and unlikably dumb at times for me). But Parsifal...!

I'm still sampling the Knappertsbusch on Rhapsody, and that particular recording is making me fall really hard for this music drama!

[uffeviking]

What entertainment to read about Morris vs. Tomlinson, et al. For years I have referred to Morris as the Cigar Store Indian. He is the original 'stand and deliver' Wotan. His German is still catastrophic, after all those years of practicing, and as has been implied: Hitting the notes where Wagner wants them, does not a great Wagnerian performer make!

Of the Wotans available now on video, John Tomlinson is at the summit of the mountain!

[Lobby]

I'm another person who is firmly in the Tomlinson camp when it comes to Wotan.

Some people may remember that Covent Garden put on four complete cycles of the Ring in October/ November last year.  Originally, Terfel was to sing Wotan and the Wanderer in three cycles, with Tomlinson taking over for one of the cycles in the middle of the run.  As is well known, Terfel famously pulled out during the rehearsals to spend more time with his family and Tomlinson bravely agreed to take over all the cycles; singing four complete ring cycles in pretty short order is an amazing achievement for anyone, let alone someone of Tomlinson's age.

Anyway, Tomlinson was magnificent.  His performances were truly the culmination of a lifetime spent with this role. If his voice is now a little ragged at the top, his great experience and understanding of every facet of the role more than compensated.  Interestingly, he also seemed to galvanise all around him, so that, what had seemed an incoherent production when new, was pulled together by his superb performances at the heart of the first three operas.

You don't need to take my word for it.  The critics were unanimous in praise of Sir John:

"John Tomlinson ... delivered what might just be the greatest Wotan of his career, the expressive reaches of his cavernous bass embodying the hopes and fears of this most subtle of all Wagnerian characters." The Observer

"In particular, this Ring counts as a personal triumph for the veteran John Tomlinson, originally scheduled to sing Hagen in all performances of Götterdämmerung, and Wotan/the Wanderer in the middle of the three cycles, but called on to fill Terfel's shoes in four cycles. His beard may be greying, and his voice more effortfully produced than of late, but his authority and stage presence as a Wagnerian remain magisterial. It has been fascinating to watch his development from the youthful, striving, athletic god of Harry Kupfer's unforgettable production at Bayreuth at the end of the 1980s to the majestic and resigned, Lear-cum-Prospero figure currently serving as Covent Garden's lord of the Ring. To write that Terfel is not missed would be an understatement, for Tomlinson's Wotan has bound this Ring together in a way I could not have expected when experiencing the production piecemeal." The Sunday Times.

I attended the final cycle of the four and can confirm every praise heaped on Tomlinson.  He received a standing ovation at the end of Die Walkure (and unlike at the Met, standing ovations at Covent Garden are extremely rare). 

At the end of Gotterdammerung, once the singers had all taken their bows in front of the curtain, the curtain was finally raised one final time to reveal Tony Pappano and the entire orchestra on stage.  As one, the audience rose to their feet and applauded their achievement.  They were then joined on stage by the singers who took their final bows.  We then saw some of the singers gesturing into the wings.  At first I thought they were calling Keith Warner, the producer, on stage, but no, on came Sir John Tomlinson in his civilian clothes to be greeted by one of the loudest roars of approval I have ever heard from an audience, despite his not having sung that evening.  It was a fitting end and tribute from all that this had been 'his' ring.  It was also, probably, a fitting end in that many recognised that this was likely to be the last time he will sing Wotan.

Apologies for the length of this post, but hopefully some of you will enjoy this story about one of the great Wotans of all time.

Jon.

[knight66]

Jon, Thanks for that and for including those quotes.

Mike

[Haffner]

Jon, Thanks for that and for including those quotes.

Mike

Yes, very cool, thanks!

[bhodges]

Apologies for the length of this post, but hopefully some of you will enjoy this story about one of the great Wotans of all time.

No apology needed--or accepted!     Loved reading it, since I'm a big fan of Tomlinson, although I don't recall ever seeing him do Wagner.  I did see him in his Met debut in Schoenberg's Moses und Aron, and his Bartók Bluebeard's Castle (with Anne Sofie) is my favorite recording of the piece.

--Bruce

[Haffner]

I did see him in his Met debut in Schoenberg's Moses und Aron, and his Bartók Bluebeard's Castle (with Anne Sofie) is my favorite recording of the piece.

--Bruce

The envy deepens.

[uffeviking]

My eyes are moist, Jon. Why? You wrote a most sincere tribute to this great Wagnerian, this man I have admired since I watched his first Wotan and when I watch his 'Leb' Wohl' in the Kupfer production, I am positive I see his eyes glittering with tears. He is living this great Wagnerian role, not only emitting the sounds. Nobody has ever achieved this.

Maybe the London marathon was his last Wotan, a sad thought; maybe that's too why my eyes are moist.