Neil Shicoff
was born in Brooklyn in 1949, the son of
New York cantor Sidney Shicoff. He was
precocious, and took advantage, from a young age, of the opportunity to take
lessons from his father, and was also both willing and (certainly) able to
take advantage of such opportunities as
presented themselves around New York and elsewhere to sing small parts, even
prior to acquiring conservatory training .
He sang, for example, with Tony Amato’s opera company in New York, and
also in the Santa Fe Opera. Later, he
formalized his training at the Juilliard School. His first opportunity to sing in a major
opera venue came in 1975, when he appeared at the Cincinnati Summer Opera,
singing the title role in Verdi’s Ernani under James Levine. It was clear from this point on that this was
a major talent; an extraordinary, Italianate tenor voice, uncommonly possessed
of an intense squillo and passionate Mediterranean inflexion that was perfectly
suited to the French/Italian repertoire.
The following
year, in 1976, Shicoff made his debut at the Met as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicci, also conducted by
Maestro Levine. The success was
considerable, and this debut performance was followed in rapid succession by Werther, Rosenkavalier, Boheme and Rigoletto. His singing was praised for its stylistic
authenticity and his musicianship for its precision and careful
preparation. The progress of the career
was steady until a tricky period in the 1980’s, when problems not uncommon to
even the most greatly talented of artists caused a detour for several
years. Shicoff decided to leave America
for a while and work abroad, where he sang in all the great opera houses of
Europe and built for himself a significant European reputation, which endures
to this day. He returned to the US in
1997, with a return engagement at the Met of Eugene Onegin, which was very successful.
It is from that
year, 1997, that our first recording comes, one I just recently posted on
Youtube. Here is Neil Shicoff, with
soprano Galina Gorchakova, in “O Dolci Mani,” from Tosca. I believe you will
immediately hear the squillo and Italianate inflexion of which I have
spoken. It is quite rare for an American
tenor:
That certainly
speaks tomes about the extraordinary voice and singing of Neil Schicoff! To say that this is an Italianate voice is
gross understatement! This is a great
opera voice, without doubt. It is of
course not the case that he only sings in Italian. Shicoff’s singing of the French repertoire is
every bit as spectacular, and in fact some roles, such as Werther, are among
his most famous. Here is “Pourquoi Me
Reveiller”: (You might need to overlook
the plastic fish-tackle box on stage, and the questionable acting of the
soprano, who seems from time to time to be slipping into ecstasies of romantic
passion while he reads what is in fact a declaration of suicidal despair.)
I honestly
believe that it is simply impossible to fault this in any way: the voice, the style, the passion, the
inflexions…..simply stunning! This is
great singing!
Finally, one of
the most heart-breakingly authentic, well-acted and well-sung renditions
of Eleazar’s great aria, “Rachel, quand du seigneur,” that you are likely ever
to hear:
What can I
possbly add? This is a great American
tenor, in whom all opera-loving Americans can take pride!
13 comments:
Yes Edmund--- I would agree with you He studied for a short time early on to be a Cantor and follow in his father's foot steps but felt an operatic career was more to his calling. His role as Hoffmann in that opera and in the opera Eugene Onegin as Lensky where two of his greatest, along with Don Jose in Carmen. I attended many performances of Carmen, Boheme and Tosca that he sang, along with him singing Edgardo in Lucia many times in Chicago and and an earlier one in SF Calif. He gave a wonderful Concert with Bryn Terfel at the Hollywood Bowl later in 1998. From his first performance in Boheme back in 1979 in Chicago, I knew he was the next big American tenor super star and it came fast. His top and Middle voice rang with lots of squillo and passion in the house with plenty of volume and his acting was superb in his favorite roles. Very Few tenors in his rep. could act as he did. He was a pure lyric tenor with (especially later) at times a rather dark voice. His diction was excellent and later he was surely a lyric spinto. He sang in Luisa Miller, Queen of Spades,also as Manrico and in Romeo, Faust, Traviata, IL Trittico and Rigoletto, just to name a few. His father was a popular Cantor with a fine tenor voice who was a very well known but sadly died middle aged, in his 40's when Neil was a Teenager. Edmund, Thanks for an excellent Blog here!
There is a Very nice Butterfly duet posted on you tube in March (by newhere66) and it's the act one Great duet Neil sang with Leonie Mitchell back in 1980 when he sang the past in Houstin Texas. His lyric voice was fresh young and ended the duet with a ringing high C. Also many fine posts by Germanopera Singer, Vinyltovideo and EdmundStAustell among others.
And thank you, my friend, for a superbly informative comment. Much appreciated!
Wow! What a voice! You are right, it is almost impossible to believe that this is not an Italian. Perfect Italian opera voice! I'm so impressed that you have dedicated two blogs in a row to great American singers. People are always saying that we don't produce great tenors in this countlry, and that just isn't true. We always have had, and we still have!
Martha
Thank you, Martha! Well said!
I am so glad you devoted this blog post to Shicoff. And, indeed, what more can one say to his "Rachel, quand du seigneur."? This must be an exhausting aria to perform, and also one that invites over-acting from so many tenors. Shicoff's restraint and intensity are amazing. It is sad that for that ten-year of so period, American audiences were deprived of hearing him. I believe that even now much of his time is spent in Europe. It is fortunate there is such an extensive range of recordings available. What you have given us in this particular set of performances is really quite wonderful.Thanks yet again!
His voice is a truly “golden” tenor.One of the best Werthers ever. Thanks for the article on him. He started to sing opera before he got operatic education, does it mean that Cantorial school of singing is so close to operatic one?
n.a.
To JING. Why thank you! What a lovely comment! I really appreciate that, and you are right, American audiences were deprived, during a significant period. But I'm grateful we have what we do; it's quite spectacular!
To Natalie: Thank you, my dear friend. Your comments are always so welcome! And your question is a good one. There other others who post here who will better know to answer that question than I, but my instinct is to say that there is very much in common bewteen cantorial and operatic voice production. Some important differences, certainly, but in general I would say yes, especially when I stop to consider the great tenors who have been cantors. Shicoff himself, Jan Peerce, Richard Tucker Joseph Schmidt, the list is significant.
Edmund, thank you very much for this article on one of the few singers today who's able to stand up to their illustrious predecessors.
Personally, I don't find Shicoff's singing appealing. His voice isn't beautiful but his singing has a great deal of power and conviction though. As the Egyptians would put it, his captivating singing gives each and every role he plays breath in his performances.
I like his Eleazar and his Werther. They're fine performances. Just a few steps away from perfection..I like the recordings made by the great French tenors of old more like Gaston Micheletti etc. but he will do just fine in their absence. His voice might be raw and metallic, not the sweet elegant one these singers had, but he certainly squeezed every ounce of emotion and drama from these arias.
It's a pity I'll never be able to see him in person. By the time I can afford to, he'll have retired..
After all, he's older than my parents who are already approaching retirement age.
Thank you again, Darren, for your incisive and impressive comments, always illuminating!
I cannot agree with Darren about Shicoff not having a beautiful voice as it was very beautiful indeed and had all the technique necessary to be the great American tenor after Richard Tucker. Shicoff was a great Lyric tenor fine singing actor always.
if you heard him and saw him in house in his prime years from the early 80's threw mid 1990's you would know he was a great lyric tenor with heft, lots of Squillo, a warm beautiful tone, fine legato and emotion plus excellent acting abilities.
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