Tosca: “E lucevan le stelle”

Vittorio Grigolo sings Cavaradossi’s Act III aria in the final dress rehearsal. Production: Sir David McVicar. Conductor: Emmanuel Villaume. 2017–18 season.

[elli]

I really adore this staging. The costume, the stage design and the cast for Cavaradossi is breathtaking when seen in combination. I can not countdown all the times I've watched this Video with tears in my eyes. Brava <3

[luci.diiorio]

tremendously powerful—excellent!!! High quality

[sunghong]

The translation was done beautifully on this video. I think it captures the emotion, not just through words.

[amigofriend]

Real, that's is real. Thank you sir.

[richarddesroche]

I will take this interpretation any day of the week!

[Lisasmona]

Dear Met Opera, how dare you cutting the clarinet solo?! 🥺

[manricaajo]

Voce insignificamte, vibrato eccessivo che crea cantilena, recitazione eccessiva, nevrotica. Questo è un momento di ricordo disperato che non ha bisogno di tanta agitazione. Decisamente il Met non ha artisti.

[sunghong]

-Literal translation

And the stars were shining,
And the earth was scented.
The gate of the garden creaked
And a footstep grazed the sand...
Fragrant, she entered
And fell into my arms.

Oh, sweet kisses and linguorous caresses,
While trembling I stripped the beautiful form of its veils!
Forever, my dream of love has vanished.
That moment has fled, and I die in desperation.
And I die in desperation!
And I never before loved life so much,
Loved life so much!

[thegigi]

I've been looking around for what I consider to be the definitive 'e lucevan le stelle' -- and this, along with one by Jonathan Tetelman, is among my top 5. If the acting chops are on point (and OMG, his chops are soul-searing), I am willing to accept vocal qualities that might not measure up to those who care only for the voice. Opera is more than just voice, though -- which is why I don't listen to it. I watch it -- and Grigolo is eminently watchable! Magnificent!

[FREE]

Grigolo sings with his entire being...voice, body, heart, mind, soul... as did Caruso. Marvelous!

[sunghong]

When the stars were brightly shining ...
And faint perfumes the air pervaded,
Creaked the gate of the garden ...
And footstep its precincts invaded ...
'Twas hers, the fragrant creature.
In her soft arms she clasped me...

With sweetest kisses, tenderest caresses,
A thing of beauty, of matchless symmetry in form and feature!
My dream of love is now dispelled forever.
I lived uncaring and now I die despairing!
Alas I die despairing!
And never was life so dear to me, no never,
So dear, no never!

[AG-zwce]

Piccolissima voce - grande carriera bravo!

[elishuford]

1:25 forte piano forte and then piano again? To me it feels like he’s just trying to show off and not really to sing with emotion, to sing like the character from the opera would sing, it doesn’t have to be perfect just a little bit more soul and not just showing your skills..

[rvasquez]

Outstanding operatic voice. A possible torchbearer to one of the greatest tenors, Placido Domingo...

[DimitrisRebelYell]

I love this! Full of emotion. He interprets the part. This is Verismo, not Haydn, and this is how it should sound like, you fools, stop instructing an Italian tenor on how to sing Italian Opera!
PS: This is from the Dress Rehersal, he wasn't pushing himself, he was fantastic in the actual performance!

[Mariekeinlondon]

Saw this last night at a cinema live-stream of The Met. Goosebumps throughout the entire third act, such passionate singing AND acting! Had to sneak a little tear at this scene.
Bravo!

[maryvallettakeith]

Those pianissimi! <3 And for those of you criticizing his 'hammy' acting--I wonder--if you had an hour left to live what would your breakdown look like? You'd be pissing your pants, I daresay.

[kaya]

I had the great pleasure of seeing him perform at the Richard Tucker Gala, he was truly amazing. His voice had so much power and beauty it seemed unearthly. It’s obvious his singing is mimicking the emotion of the character. Opera is so much more than beautiful singing, he’s telling a story truthfully.

[jjh]

I listen to Pavoratti and Kauffman sing this and I’m spoiled. Vittorio sings this so heavy and it is not meant to be sung that way. The melody is all that is needed here.

[JamesAHollandMusic]

Oh dear....where do I start? Well, for one his voice has darkened a lot in the past few years which surprised me seeing how I always felt (and still do) that his tenor is too light for these spinto parts he’s now singing. I can’t say I hated this but his vibrato was extremely wobbly and there were some pretty interesting pitch and tempo issues throughout. I like Vittorio but I feel that, like so many lyric tenors before him, singing these heavy roles for which his voice isn’t designed, is ruining his instrument. As for his acting, it’s Opera! Does he go over the top? Yes. But that’s his Italian tenor birthright. For better or worse, he is one of the top tenors on stage today and my only fear is that, as he continues to perform roles that aren’t for his super light voice, he won’t be at the top for very long.