Miscast 2016

[+ sync]

Peerce? He always seems to be channeling Georgie Jessel by way of Al Jolson with a little screechy cantor thrown in. Absolutely one of the ugliest voices ever heard on an opera stage next to Kurt Baum.

 

How unfortunate that none of the following "less-knowledgeable" individuals never had the benefit of your sage counsel.

 

 

JAN PEERCE DIES AT AGE OF 80; TENOR SANG AT MET 27 YEARS

 

By HAROLD C. SCHONBERG

 

Published: December 17, 1984

 

For more than 60 of those 80 years, Mr. Peerce was before the public. He had been a violinist before concentrating on singing. He started his vocal career in 1932 at the new Radio City Music Hall, made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1941, remained there for 27 years until 1968, made world tours and appearances in European opera houses during that time - but still refused to call it quits.

 

''I will miss Jan Peerce,'' said Anthony Bliss, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera. ''Certainly he was one of the great artists of his time, a stalwart of the company. He was important to us in so many ways. He was always reliable, dependable, wonderful to work with. A beautiful artist.''

 

Samuel Chotzinoff of NBC, impressed by the young singer, recommended him to Toscanini, who needed a tenor for a forthcoming broadcast of the Beethoven Ninth Symphony with the NBC Symphony. Toscanini had him sing the aria, ''Una furtiva lagrima,'' from Donizetti's ''L'Elisir d'Amore,'' and engaged him on the spot.

 

''He was one of the most sensitive artists I have ever sung with,'' said Roberta Peters. ''Such beautiful phrasing. He was always striving for a lovely tone. Singing was his whole life. He was my guide, my mentor, my friend.''

 

''He never went out of his repertory,'' Mr. Merrill said. ''The Met offered him many roles that he refused to accept because he thought they were too heavy for him. Jan stuck to what he knew he could do. He produced a beautiful sound and had a perfect legato. He also had high notes, and who can forget the C he used to take at the end of the first act of 'Boh eme'? Everybody at the Met loved Jan. He had temperament, sure, but never a bothersome ego.''

 

James Levine, who first heard Mr. Peerce in Cincinnati many years ago and later worked with him professionally, described Mr. Peerce as ''one of the most extraordinary singers and human beings I have ever known.''

[bostonman]

Mr. Miniver seems, to me, to be like some of the posters on sites like Opera-L and Parterre Box (or maybe he IS one of those posters) who claims a love for opera but somehow seems to hate everything about it. Like the pompous opera-goer who attends just to be seen in their tux or furs, but spends the performance glowering, shaking their head and disapproving at every single note. I don't understand why anyone wants to be that way - but hey, to each his own...

 

I was force-fed Peerce's cantorial recordings as a youngster (my paternal grandmother used to play them in an attempt to show just how Jewish she was lol), but later I did come to appreciate his artistry.

[body2body]

I had season tickets to the Los Angeles Opera for about 20 years. I went with a friend who was a successful art director, and set designer. At almost every performance we would run into a friend of his, who would regale us with his loathing of the production we were seeing. He either hated the singers, or the production, or the composer, or the conductor, or all of the above. One night, I asked my friend why this man continued to go to the opera if he hated it so much. My friend explained that he was the assistant of one of the most powerful studio execs in Hollywood. As a result he got free tickets to everything. He said " it's easy to hate everything you see when you never have to pay for a ticket".

[+ WilliamM]

As a result he got free tickets to everything. He said " it's easy to hate everything you see when you never have to pay for a ticket"

 

With MrMiniver, his dislikes extend far beyond free tickets. Soon after Nancy Reagan died, Miniver was very angry that people in the political forum were not being as respectful as he believed they should be.

 

He then blasted Ron, Jr. "for staying in the closet," without apparently realizing that some members of this site lead just as complicated lives as Ron, Jr.

 

Sensitivity to other people's feelings is not one of MrMiniver's best qualities.