- 4
- 72
The Unknown Tenor
เข้าร่วมเมื่อ 22 ส.ค. 2023
This channel is dedicated to all the unknown opera singers who toiled away in anonymity, some for a short time before finding success, others for their entire careers. We took on gigs for peanuts or sometimes even paid for the "privilege" of performing. But we stuck to our art for as long as we could.
The Unknown Tenor spent over ten years of his life dedicated to the art of opera. After many twists and dead-end turns, at the age of 26 he finally found a teacher who helped him put it together, and then moved to New York full of hope and energy. After some early success, including a paying contract at a regional opera company far from home, a medical crisis forced him to stop singing before he turned 30, and he never sang another note since.
Luckily, he managed to record a few things, both in studio and in concert, which preserve his voice as it once was. And just maybe one wonders what might have been.
The Unknown Tenor spent over ten years of his life dedicated to the art of opera. After many twists and dead-end turns, at the age of 26 he finally found a teacher who helped him put it together, and then moved to New York full of hope and energy. After some early success, including a paying contract at a regional opera company far from home, a medical crisis forced him to stop singing before he turned 30, and he never sang another note since.
Luckily, he managed to record a few things, both in studio and in concert, which preserve his voice as it once was. And just maybe one wonders what might have been.
Vaughan Williams's Songs of Travel, a musical and visual arts journey
Music performed by The Unknown Tenor, Boston, 1995 (accompanist unknown).
I dedicate this video to my Uncle Vincent (1933-2024), may his voice sing out in eternity.
This video features 70 works of visual art by 46 artists, 22 of which were created by Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen. The discovery of his evocative illustrations led me to the invaluable website www.lookandlearn.com, where I found all but six of the high resolution artworks used in this video (the rest from other public domain sources). My thanks to this wonderful resource are immeasurable.
Each artist in order of appearance within each song:
The Vagabond
9 illustrations, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
Let Beauty Awake
painting, Charles Davidson
painting, William Turner
painting, Myles Burket Foster
2 illustrations, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
The Roadside Fire
painting, Alexander Fraser Jr.
illustration, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
painting, Albert Edelfelt
painting, Eugen von Blaas
painting, Jean-Charles Cazin
painting, Elijah Walton
Youth and Love
painting, Peter DeWint
painting, Edward Moran
illustration, Edward Calvert
3 illustrations, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
illustration, Joel Ballin
In Dreams
3 illustrations, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
2 paintings, Edvard Munch
The Infinite Shining Heavens
painting, Jean-François Millet
painting, Elijah Walton
painting, Edvard Munch
painting, Witold Pruszkowski
Whither must I wander?
2 illustrations, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
painting, Feliks Brzozowski
illustration, James McNeill Whistler
illustration, Jacob Kuyper
painting, Francis William Edmonds
illustration, Otto Goetze
painting, Eastman Johnson
illustration, Adriaen van Ostade
painting, Henry Ossawa Tanner
painting, Johan Zoffany
painting, Joseph-Paul Meslé
painting, Peter Christian Thamsen Skovgaard
painting, Niels Skovgaard
painting, Karl Emanuel Jansson
illustration, Cornelis Borsteegh
painting, Archibald Thorburn
painting, Jean-Charles Cazin
painting, Józef Chełmoński
painting, John Glover
illustration, Henri Verstijnen
illustration, Roelant Roghman
Bright is the ring of words
portrait, Henry Wolf
photograph, unknown
illustration, Claire Mackail
2 illustrations, Caspar David Friedrich
painting, Carlo Dalgas
illustration, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
I have trod the upward and the downward slope
painting, Alfred W Cooper
illustration, Giovanni Cattini/Giovanni Battista Piazetta
illustration, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
Chapter timings:
Title intro: 00:00
1. The Vagabond 00:06
2. Let Beauty Awake 03:05
3. The Roadside Fire 05:04
4. Youth and Love 07:28
5. In Dreams 10:57
6. The Infinite Shining Heavens 13:20
7. Whither must I wander? 15:28
8. Bright is the ring of words 19:02
9. I have trod the upward and the downward slope 21:01
I dedicate this video to my Uncle Vincent (1933-2024), may his voice sing out in eternity.
This video features 70 works of visual art by 46 artists, 22 of which were created by Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen. The discovery of his evocative illustrations led me to the invaluable website www.lookandlearn.com, where I found all but six of the high resolution artworks used in this video (the rest from other public domain sources). My thanks to this wonderful resource are immeasurable.
Each artist in order of appearance within each song:
The Vagabond
9 illustrations, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
Let Beauty Awake
painting, Charles Davidson
painting, William Turner
painting, Myles Burket Foster
2 illustrations, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
The Roadside Fire
painting, Alexander Fraser Jr.
illustration, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
painting, Albert Edelfelt
painting, Eugen von Blaas
painting, Jean-Charles Cazin
painting, Elijah Walton
Youth and Love
painting, Peter DeWint
painting, Edward Moran
illustration, Edward Calvert
3 illustrations, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
illustration, Joel Ballin
In Dreams
3 illustrations, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
2 paintings, Edvard Munch
The Infinite Shining Heavens
painting, Jean-François Millet
painting, Elijah Walton
painting, Edvard Munch
painting, Witold Pruszkowski
Whither must I wander?
2 illustrations, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
painting, Feliks Brzozowski
illustration, James McNeill Whistler
illustration, Jacob Kuyper
painting, Francis William Edmonds
illustration, Otto Goetze
painting, Eastman Johnson
illustration, Adriaen van Ostade
painting, Henry Ossawa Tanner
painting, Johan Zoffany
painting, Joseph-Paul Meslé
painting, Peter Christian Thamsen Skovgaard
painting, Niels Skovgaard
painting, Karl Emanuel Jansson
illustration, Cornelis Borsteegh
painting, Archibald Thorburn
painting, Jean-Charles Cazin
painting, Józef Chełmoński
painting, John Glover
illustration, Henri Verstijnen
illustration, Roelant Roghman
Bright is the ring of words
portrait, Henry Wolf
photograph, unknown
illustration, Claire Mackail
2 illustrations, Caspar David Friedrich
painting, Carlo Dalgas
illustration, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
I have trod the upward and the downward slope
painting, Alfred W Cooper
illustration, Giovanni Cattini/Giovanni Battista Piazetta
illustration, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
Chapter timings:
Title intro: 00:00
1. The Vagabond 00:06
2. Let Beauty Awake 03:05
3. The Roadside Fire 05:04
4. Youth and Love 07:28
5. In Dreams 10:57
6. The Infinite Shining Heavens 13:20
7. Whither must I wander? 15:28
8. Bright is the ring of words 19:02
9. I have trod the upward and the downward slope 21:01
มุมมอง: 37
วีดีโอ
The Unknown Tenor's First Operatic Performance! Scene: "Et je sais votre nom" Massenet: Manon (1995)
มุมมอง 11ปีที่แล้ว
All artwork courtesy of lookandlearn.com, an invaluable resource for public domain images. The artists of the illustrations in order of appearance: Painting: Maurice Leloir Illustration: Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen Illustration: Jules Gaildrau
The Unknown Tenor's First Operatic Performance! Scene: "Je crois entendre" Thomas: Mignon (1995)
มุมมอง 8ปีที่แล้ว
All artwork courtesy of lookandlearn.com, an invaluable resource for public domain images. The artists of the illustrations in order of appearance: Illustration: Castelot (surname) Chromolithograph trade card from Liebig Company: artist unknown Illustration: Wilhelm von Kaulbach
The Unknown Tenor's First Studio Recording! Gounod: Faust - “Ah, lève-toi soleil!” 1996
มุมมอง 17ปีที่แล้ว
All artwork used in this video are taken from public domain resources. A special thanks go to the invaluable website lookandlearn.com in particular for the illustrations by Robert Dudley and John Masey Wright. The artists of the illustrations in order of first appearance: Illustration, Robert Dudley 2 paintings, John Masey Wright Painting, Frank Dicksee Opera poster illustration, Prudent-Louis ...
While in graduate school, our young Unknown Tenor joined the famed Crittenden Opera Studio and performed two French opera scenes during the spring of 1995. These were his first public operatic performances (at least as a tenor). In this scene, the young Chevalier des Grieux first encounters Manon Lescaut, a girl destined for a convent, and instantly falls in love with her. The two make plans for a life together in Paris and run off. Unfortunately, no notes accompanied the cassette tape from which this live track was digitized, and so the names of the soprano and the accompanist are unknown.
While in graduate school, our young Unknown Tenor joined the famed Crittenden Opera Studio and performed two French opera scenes during the spring of 1995. These were his first public operatic performances (at least as a tenor). In this scene, the somewhat foolish Wilhelm Meister becomes intoxicated by the charms of the actress Philine, while his servant/adopted daughter Mignon grumbles to herself in disgust. Unfortunately, no notes accompanied the cassette tape from which this live track was digitized, and so the names of the other singers as well as the accompanist are unknown.
We begin our archival journey of the young Unknown Tenor’s recordings in the early spring of 1996, when he recorded his first audition tape in a tiny recording studio in New York City. He recorded two complete back-to-back takes of “Ah, lève-toi soleil!” from Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette (that’s six high B-flats!) and this was the better of the two. The accompanist was for hire, identity unknown.