Neil Shicoff
In RA format
The Juive performance that you have is excellent for Shicoff's standard. I heard him twice, and on both evenings, he wasn't half as good,
and not either in the (third) performance broadcast by the Austrian radio. In the two performances I heard, he always cracked the
final top note in "Rachel"; on one of the two evenings, he thought he had it and repeated it twice, thus trying that note three
consecutive times – he always cracked.
(However, to do Shicoff justice, it must be said that he was above all a singing actor, or more precisely: first an actor,
then a singer. And he is actually one of the most impressive and most intelligent actors I've ever seen; had he chosen a
film career, he'd have won lots of Oscars no doubt. Whenever his singing wasn't as bad as disturbing his acting performance,
I enjoyed seeing him tremendously; which was the case in Peter Grimes – Shicoff alone was the reason to attend this performance, of an
opera I don't absolutely care for –, in Tosca, in Madama Butterfly, quite surprisingly, in Evgenij Onegin, in Don Carlo and
in Roméo et Juliette, a role he didn't just act but also sing really well.)
Robert Schlesinger
In RA format
I wish to thank Imogen Norcroft for the recording (Turandot).
I would like to thank Thomas Silverbörg for the recordings (Juive, Ernani) and picture.
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