For the first “Singer Appreciation” post, I thought I’d start with one of the prototypical leading men of the 20th century. These posts are not going to be focused on biography, but instead will focus on the singing specifically. Biographical links are provided at the end.
John Raitt (1917-2005) had one of his greatest triumphs with Billy Bigelow in Carousel (on Broadway, Gordon MacRae played him in the movie). In this clip we see Mr. Raitt as Billy in a televised performance of “Soliloquy”, which is the sprawling song that reveals Billy’s excitement and fear of Julie giving birth to a boy or girl respectively.
By the way, all ye gentlemen who want to sing Billy, this is the guy to watch since:
“The seven-minute-long “Soliloquy” was written specifically for Mr. Raitt, after he auditioned by singing some operatic arias.” – New York Times Obituary
Personally, what I love about Mr. Raitt’s voice is the mixture of strength with sweetness. In the “My little girl” section, he moves through the line just beautifully and with a tenderness that is surprising after his snarly boasting during the “My boy Bill” portion. But just as soon as he’s dreamed of his daughter, he moves back to pure strength for the final phrases. He ends on a high Bb, which is hardly the normal way of ending this piece. But it’s terrifically exciting.
As for his acting, his beats, transitions, and sheer physical vitality are inspired and inspiring. He also manages to make Billy, who is morally dubious, into a character that we can care about.
What do you hear and see? Some thoughts to consider:
- Is he a tenor or baritone?
- Is he primarily classical (operatic) or musical theater? Why?
- What can modern classical singers learn from him?
- What can modern musical theater singers learn from him?
Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Online Biographies |
| John Raitt (on Wikipedia) |
| New York Times Obituary |
| PBS’ Broadway: The American Musical: John Raitt |
Is he a tenor or baritone? – he's one of those voices I'm not positive of where to classify on that, given my lack of experience in classifying voices… tone more of a baritone, but range of a tenor… Michael Maguire is a good example of a modern musical theatre star with the same kind of voice…
Is he primarily classical (operatic) or musical theater? Why? I would say its a blend of the two… which is actually my preferred sound personally – I don't care for too musically-theatre-y voices (or too pop), but I'm not a huge fan of an operatic sound either – a nice blend like this – seen in a lot of older musicals, and also seen in things like Jane Eyre, Les Miserables and the Phantom of the Opera (when they're casted well) is just my prefered “ideal” of singing…
A Great Performance (I think it was) with his daughter Bonnie was an interesting examination of two disparate singers. I love Bonnie Raitt but when he came out, and he was quite elderly, it was still with that presence and physical vitality you mentioned. He was old but he was not weak and he commanded the stage.
Good observations! I've enjoyed Michael Maguire as Enjolras in Les Miserables, and I agree that he has a sound that defies easy categorization.
I'm sure many would agree with you about your preference for a mix. I find that Mr. Raitt lies slightly closer to classical singing than, say, most singers in Les Miserables or current productions of Oklahoma! and Carousel (though that may be splitting hairs), but it's certainly not a full on operatic sound at every moment. He's too interested in the clarity of his words.
You might enjoy this performance of John Raitt singing “Lonely Town”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4OV4gj_ldc
The man sang beautifully through his whole life.
Thus my comment about that only being true when the casting is good =D (in my opinion at least, lol!)
Which opera masterpiece do you recommend to start enjoying opera?