Correct me if I am wrong but I don't think James Morris has sung at Bayreuth? Has he been invited to sing at Bayreuth and declined? Isn't it strange that one of the towering Wotan's of our generation has yet to step foot on the biggest Wagner stage in the world?
You had me stumped also! Googling for Morris showed no reference to any Bayreuth performance. I am not aware of any and wouldn't buy any recording, audio or video, of his Bayreuth activity. But then, of course, I don't share your enthusiasm for his talent as Wotan! ;)
Quote from: uffeviking on January 01, 2008, 07:36:40 AM
You had me stumped also! Googling for Morris showed no reference to any Bayreuth performance. I am not aware of any and wouldn't buy any recording, audio or video, of his Bayreuth activity. But then, of course, I don't share your enthusiasm for his talent as Wotan! ;)
Apparently neither does the management team at Bayreuth. But whether you like him as Wotan or not you have to admit it is pretty strange. I wonder has he appeared at other major opera houses like the Bavarian State Opera or the Vienna State Opera?
As far as I know he also never appeared in France or Spain or Austria. It is possible it's not the fault of foreign opera houses, his absence from their stages, it could be his own doing, refusing to appear in certain countries. I don't think he even appeared on any UK stage.
It's up to his agent to book his engagements and if Morris instructs the agent: "No engagement in ..... " nothing the agent can do, but follow the instructions.
I found this in a 2002 Chicago Sun-Times article, when Morris was singing Wotan at LOC:
QuoteHe even turned down an invitation in 1988 to sing Wotan at Germany's Bayreuth Festival, the holy of holies in the Wagnerian universe and the site of the first complete "Ring" cycle in 1876.
"I had a commitment at the Sante Fe Opera," said the singer who doesn't take his contractual obligations lightly. "Bayreuth wanted a five-year commitment for their 'Ring' cycle. Wolfgang Wagner [the composer's grandson and longtime, iron-willed director of the festival] evidently took exception to my turning them down."
Wolfgang's never been known for his forgiving nature. ::) And Morris seems to have done well without Bayreuth, thank you very much. ;D
Here's a link (http://209.85.207.104/search?q=cache:XHlJIY82F3gJ:findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20021129/ai_n12487271+james+morris+bayreuth&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us) to Google's "cached" copy of the article. I couldn't get the regular, non-cached one to come up.
BTW, that 1988-1992 Bayreuth
Ring would be the Barenboim/Kupfer one, which ended up with John Tomlinson as the Wotan.
I do find him a rather bland singer; though his behaviour in terms of fulfilling contractual obligations is commendable; it is a pity his colleague Bryn Terfel cannot take a leaf from his book.
Mike
Quote from: knight on January 01, 2008, 02:22:04 PM
I do find him a rather bland singer; though his behaviour in terms of fulfilling contractual obligations is commendable; it is a pity his colleague Bryn Terfel cannot take a leaf from his book.
Mike
I kind of like Terfel although I think his voice is not quite a bass-baritone but he has a really beautiful voice. Now what did he do as far as contracts go? Another one I like is Robert Hale although at times he sounds a little dry.
Quote from: Wendell_E on January 01, 2008, 02:14:22 PM
BTW, that 1988-1992 Bayreuth Ring would be the Barenboim/Kupfer one, which ended up with John Tomlinson as the Wotan.
Oh, I guess they did okay then with Tomlinson. Not the most beautiful of voices but certainly a voice of immense authority.
Have you seen the Tomlinson/Bayreuth production? From your post I gather you have not. This is the best traditional Ring available on video. By traditional I mean a production prior to concept creations. Tomlinson's Farewell is heart-breaking!
Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on December 31, 2007, 10:54:29 AM
Correct me if I am wrong but I don't think James Morris has sung at Bayreuth? Has he been invited to sing at Bayreuth and declined? Isn't it strange that one of the towering Wotan's of our generation has yet to step foot on the biggest Wagner stage in the world?
Well, he seems fairly tall, if that's what you mean; let's not, however, consign him to the ages. John Tomlinson's performances of Wotan (for Barenboim), Hagen (for Haitink, one of the few saving graces of that set), and Titurel (for Barenboim, again) are enough to put him first in the class of modern Wagnerian basses. Things get muddier in the generations immediately preceding the 'current' one, but I would say of the 1990s crew, Tomlinson is first. Listen to the Levine
Ring and tell me that, especially in
Rheingold, when Wotan should be an arrogant young god, Morris isn't a little dusty. I could forgive the
Ring, but his bland - almost genial -
Holländer (also for Levine) set me against him in a big way. Listen to Hermann Uhde or Simon Estes and then Morris. It's enough to drive a man to madness.
Morris' loss, Bayreuth's gain, or something like that.
Quote from: uffeviking on January 01, 2008, 06:54:17 PM
Have you seen the Tomlinson/Bayreuth production? From your post I gather you have not. This is the best traditional Ring available on video. By traditional I mean a production prior to concept creations. Tomlinson's Farewell is heart-breaking!
Yeah, I have to get that one...The DVD that came with the CD set is pretty tempting.
Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on January 01, 2008, 06:12:08 PM
I kind of like Terfel although I think his voice is not quite a bass-baritone but he has a really beautiful voice. Now what did he do as far as contracts go? Another one I like is Robert Hale although at times he sounds a little dry.
He has cancelled quite a few performances over the last five years.
When already into the run of rehearsals for Covent Garden's Ring, he withdrew. Family reasons were given; but it seems to revolve around his son having an operation on a finger and his wife basically wanting him at home. Withdrawing much earlier would have been a different matter, but at such a late stage, from productions that had been set up largely around him and causing masses of rescheduling as existing rehearsals had to be rerun with his replacement; basically unprofessional behaviour. It is unlikely Covent Garden will be re-engaging him any time soon.
Mike
The only Morris performances I am aware of are those he did for the MET with James Levine. I do not think it was wise of him to turn down singing in Bayreuth though, that should be every Wagnerian singer's dream! I believe that in order to be recognized internationally as a Wagnerian singer one should sing at Bayreuth.
marvin
Quote from: marvinbrown on January 02, 2008, 09:49:36 PM
The only Morris performances I am aware of are those he did for the MET with James Levine. I do not think it was wise of him to turn down singing in Bayreuth though, that should be every Wagnerian singer's dream! I believe that in order to be recognized internationally as a Wagnerian singer one should sing at Bayreuth.
I disagree. Given some of the recent productions at Bayreuth (Schlingensief's abominable
Parsifal, Katharina Wagner's indescribable
Meistersinger, and Tankred Dorst's befuddled
Ring), you might be recognized as a Wagnerian after singing at Bayreuth, but you might not be taken seriously as someone with much artistic sense. Indeed, if you are a Wagnerian singer, as opposed to a singer of Wagner, then you might want to steer clear of some roles on the Green Hill until these productions return to sanity.
Also, there are plenty of Bayreuth performers (both on stage and at the stick) who wouldn't immediately come to mind when you think Wagnerian. The conductor Peter Schneider and the bass-baritone Simon Estes are two right off the top of my minutia-obsessed mind.
Quote from: PSmith08 on January 02, 2008, 11:58:34 PM
I disagree. Given some of the recent productions at Bayreuth (Schlingensief's abominable Parsifal, Katharina Wagner's indescribable Meistersinger, and Tankred Dorst's befuddled Ring), you might be recognized as a Wagnerian after singing at Bayreuth, but you might not be taken seriously as someone with much artistic sense. Indeed, if you are a Wagnerian singer, as opposed to a singer of Wagner, then you might want to steer clear of some roles on the Green Hill until these productions return to sanity.
Also, there are plenty of Bayreuth performers (both on stage and at the stick) who wouldn't immediately come to mind when you think Wagnerian. The conductor Peter Schneider and the bass-baritone Simon Estes are two right off the top of my minutia-obsessed mind.
Sorry PSmith08 I have been out of the loop for a while. I only have two DVD Wagner opera productions from Bayreuth: The Flying Dutchman and Tristan und Isolde. Both are very impressive IMHO. I just assumed that was the standard you would expect from Bayreuth :-\. Plus, the way tickets at Bayreuth have been selling out like hot cakes I just assumed every production was more or less GREAT. I guess I was wrong.
marvin
Tickets always sell out. A lot of the tickets go on sale by ballot. So people apply year after year and some I know of went nine years before getting any tickets. There are Wagner Societies in various countries and some of these are allocated a number of tickets, again balloted and you often have a better chance joining such a society and trying for tickets.
All this goes on more or less irrespective of what operas are to be performed or what the productions are like. For Wagnerites it is akin to a pilgrimage; to be there is almost enough in itself.
Along with all the marvelous performances and productions there have been, the theatre goes through times when the productions seem to work against the opera. I have a friend who went to Parsifal I think two years ago. He was faced with a large backscreen throughout one act showing film of a dead rabbit decomposing. He thought the piece was wonderfully served by the musicians and eviscerated by the director. He is by no means conservative. The Flying Dutchman was given a very innovative production which he felt worked well.
But for some time I have felt that Bayreuth has lost its reputation for providing the opera goer with the best of the best.
Mike
Quote from: knight on January 03, 2008, 11:49:34 AM
Along with all the marvelous performances and productions there have been, the theatre goes through times when the productions seem to work against the opera. I have a friend who went to Parsifal I think two years ago. He was faced with a large backscreen throughout one act showing film of a dead rabbit decomposing.
Mike
:o :o WOW talk about a daring take on Parsifal, though I am still unclear what a dead rabbit decomposing has anything to do with Parsifal but then again I have always had trouble understanding the more "esoteric" adaptations of operas. Perhaps this is what put James Morris off of performing at Bayreuth??
marvin
Quote from: marvinbrown on January 03, 2008, 12:14:45 PM
:o :o WOW talk about a daring take on Parsifal, though I am still unclear what a dead rabbit decomposing has anything to do with Parsifal but then again I have always had trouble understanding the more "esoteric" adaptations of operas. Perhaps this is what put James Morris off of performing at Bayreuth??
marvin
Well the Schlingensief production came along in, I think, 2004. If Morris had been put off by a production, it would have been Harry Kupfer's, which followed Peter Hall's flop. That might be the reason, since Kupfer's was very abstract, but it wasn't as weird as later productions have been. The Chéreau production would have caused more trouble for a singer serious about Wagner than Kupfer.
James Morris certainly sang in Europe earlier in his career.
He sang Banquo in Verdi's Macbeth at Glyndebourne and elsewhere and also sang Mozart at Salzburg - He was Gugliemo in Muti's live recording of Cosi fan tutte.
I think he has also sung a few performances of Wotan as well as other roles at Covent Garden, but nothing over here in England in recent years
I don't recall him singing at Bayreuth.
I suspect that he had the great misfortune to take on Wotan around the same time as John Tomlinson and Robert Hale. Tomlinson was Bayreuth's and Covent Garden's Wotan of choice at that time; Hale sang in Munich and elsewhere. Morris became Levine's favoured Wotan for the Met.
As Ring Cycle's are very expensive to put on, new productions do not come around all that often, so by the time the larger European companies were planning new Ring cycles, time had moved on and Morris may have been considered too old to start a new production.
John Tomlinson scored a huge success with the latest Ring at Covent Garden, but the production was originally intended for Terfel and it is unlikely that Tomlinson will be able to appear again when the production is revived in 2012. Tomlinson himself has said that he is unlikely to sing Wotan again because, although he could sing performances now, he couldn't commit to any future revivals at his age. Morris may well be in the same situation (i.e. able to sing performances in a revival he knows well, but unwilling or unable to make a commitment to the work involved in putting on a completely new cycle).
Jon
Jon, Nice to see you back, welcome.
Mike
Quote from: marvinbrown on January 02, 2008, 09:49:36 PM
The only Morris performances I am aware of are those he did for the MET with James Levine. I do not think it was wise of him to turn down singing in Bayreuth though, that should be every Wagnerian singer's dream! I believe that in order to be recognized internationally as a Wagnerian singer one should sing at Bayreuth.
marvin
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?
Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on February 12, 2008, 11:07:34 AM
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
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.
Quote from: Haffner on February 18, 2008, 03:02:51 AM
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.
Quote from: PSmith08 on February 18, 2008, 09:54:57 AM
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. ::)
Quote from: Wendell_E on February 18, 2008, 10:42:46 AM
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.
Quote from: PSmith08 on February 18, 2008, 11:28:12 AM
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.
Quote from: Wendell_E on February 18, 2008, 11:45:12 AM
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.
Well, I guess I'm in the minority. I love Morris' Wotan and look forward to checking out his Meistersinger.
Quote from: Haffner on February 18, 2008, 12:56:41 PM
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.
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
Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on February 18, 2008, 02:38:33 PM
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.
Quote from: knight on February 18, 2008, 02:41:37 PM
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.
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
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!
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!
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.
Jon, Thanks for that and for including those quotes.
Mike
Quote from: knight on February 21, 2008, 01:55:36 PM
Jon, Thanks for that and for including those quotes.
Mike
Yes, very cool, thanks!
Quote from: Lobby on February 21, 2008, 01:49:28 PM
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! ;D 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
Quote from: bhodges on February 21, 2008, 02:02:08 PM
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.
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. :'(
Quote from: bhodges on February 21, 2008, 02:02:08 PM
and his Bartók Bluebeard's Castle (with Anne Sofie) is my favorite recording of the piece.
--Bruce
And may I point out that Bruce has 10 versions to choose from.
Mike
;D
Anway, sorry to wander off, Jon--truly, a very nice and heartfelt post. We could use more of that kind of thing around here.
--Bruce