Great memories sharing chorus stage with Mr Milnes Mr Pavarotti in Verdi Un ballo Greater Miami Opera 1988 Flagler Auditorium william Buckley conducting. Luciano and Sherrill in their prime.

It’s always lovely to hear that the players in the orchestra enjoy what the players on the stage are doing ☺️

Very nice man, but pushed too much early on, causing a ruptured cord in the 70's. He never sounded the same.

Ransom Coates I agree! Iago, Don Carlo Di Vargas, Simon B, and Carlo Gerard weren’t for his voice, Tonio too. He just had a nice A flat!

Barone Vitellio Scarpia agreed

Barone Vitellio Scarpia precisely! The Aria is perfect, but the rest of the role is too low and heavy.

Barone Vitellio Scarpia I still think it’s too low (tesitura wise), but I agree with the roles you chose!

He is a very considerate and intelligent Artist. Very real and extremely Gifted. Spoke with him in Columbus, Ohio 1980.

lol

And he has a birthday today! 🎂

Please define "the full distance."

@@liedersanger1 I guess that would require him to have died in his prime. Or retired earlier.

@@jefolson6989 Oh, geesh. Who goes the full distance? Some die young (Auger, Troyanos, Leonard Warren), some lose their top notes before they're 50 (de los Angeles, Tebaldi, Callas, Moffo), some give up for their own personal reasons (Farrell, Ponselle), some make bad personal choices (Callas again)... and yet all those listed so far are great singers. You can count on one hand the sopranos who went the full distance: Nilsson, Sutherland, L. Price. And one could find other faults with them too! Milnes probably STAYED too long--that's another matter. One can only speculate about what happened to his voice. The cost of those many G-sharps and As? Maybe Levine kept hoping he'd repair that waver. But that doesn't really matter, does it? because, at his best, Milnes was the best of his time.

@@liedersanger1 ok.

Yes, he was a bit of a Warren imitator, especially when it came to high note itiis, and there were some idiosyncrasies in his singing-but all singers have them. I have no idea what not ":going the full distance" is supposed to mean. You may prefer other baritones, but he was as big as you get, and went the "full distance." Your comment about vocal size is just wrong. I never heard Warren live, but heard all the others many times, and Milnes had a very big voice, and made a great impact in person.

You never even mentioned Zancanaro who had one of the most satisfying baritone voices and greater technique than most anyone.

@@sw5114 Oh yeah. Zancanaro had a great voice and made some good recordings. Funny story though that Riccardo Muti once told in an interview of him trying to get Giorgio to hold back his volume and do more vocal shading. Giorgio wouldn't do it. He'd just keep doing it the same way every time. Which probably sounded great but wasn't what Muti wanted for that line.

Yes. I concur. He got in the way of the star interviewee.

Don't condemn all scarved opera people for the actions of ONE! Lol. Scarves aren't the problem!

I entirely agree. My sentiments exactly.

Thats the Fred style. But he gets interesting people. I think. Who knows ? They never get to speak!

No kidding. He gets great guests on the podcasts but they barely can get a word in. Frustrating.

Che vero! Giammai saprò chi ha pensato nel anni passati che Plotkin può fare questi intervisti con successo

@@matthewbrown17 Nessuno.

Perfect point!

Always the case with PLOTKIN. I listen because he had great guests. Once in a while, they get a word in when Fred has to take a breath. We want to hear THEIR stories. This is actually one where Fred takes a back seat! ( for him, anyway)

It pinnacle of Milnes career for me was the Cabaletta in Luisa Miller. On the telecast, you can see Milnes take a beat, and fill up with Supreme confidence. Words like " nailed it" don't convey it adequately. That night, that moment, everything perfectly in order. Thrilling!

@@jefolson6989 I agree. There are two versions of ‘Ah fu giusto’ on KZfaq. They are both absolutely splendid singing, but of the two I think the one that is audio only is better, the ending in particular. Rather than sing the written note and then attack the A flat, he goes right up the scale. MacNeil used to do that in the ‘Ernani’ aria, and the effect is always hair-raising.

@@ransomcoates546 haven't heard the audio version but will right now. Thanks!