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In Reply to: RE: Jon Vickers RIP posted by Tadlo on July 13, 2015 at 09:40:51
One of his greatest recordings is his Peter Grimes - that should get a mention! LOL, I'm usually the one bringing up the Wagner recordings!!
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. . . on Google Groups (rec.music.classical.recordings) to the effect that Britten and Pears did not like Vickers' assumption of the role. For one thing, Vickers' interpretation was 180 degrees opposite that of Pears, and for another, Vickers made changes to the vocal line, the rhythm, and the text. There are some accounts that Britten even walked out of Vickers' performances, not once, but twice! (Doesn't make any difference to me however, since I don't care for Britten's music anyway.)
Don't see what Britten would dislike about this performance. Think he captures the craziness of Grimes very well.
Not a Britten fan either.
That scene is from the end of the opera, when Grimes has clearly gone completely mad. Vickers, though, played Grimes as mad from the beginning of the opera. 2 1/2 hours of sheer brutishness may be powerful, but it makes it hard to fathom why the rest of the Borough (especially Ellen and Balstrode) didn't give up on Grimes long ago.
Pears' Grimes starts with an element of sensitivity and subtlety, making him a somewhat more sympathetic character.
We all know that Britten and Pears had one vision of him, based not too little of their own life's experiences and Vickers quite another, based on his.
In either case, Grimes is certainly not the guy you would want to apprentice for. =:-0
What Vickers did, IMNSHO, is take the Grimes character on a differing track and a step beyond what Britten and Pears could have imagined. Sheer genius on Vickers part, again IMNSHO.
Not surprising, I guess, since it's hard to imagine two less similar tenors than Pears and Vickers. As someone else mentioned, Vickers' Otello is the role that I remember him most for.
I am sorry that I only heard him sing Grimes once.
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