Search - George London, Charles Gounod, Hector Berlioz :: George London: Of Gods and Demons

Terrifying, Thrilling, Gorgeous!

08/28/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"George London is my idol as far as singing goes. I'm a bass-baritone, myself and I've always admired him. I particulary love the Mussorgsky and Wagner selections. The 'Clock Scene' was absolutely terrifying and the two Wagner songs were majestic and powerful.
London could take any song and do amazing things simply because of the sheer vocal quality of his voice. Not to mention his great acting ability."

Well sung and varied repertoire from a legend.

Hasle | Oslo, Norway. | 09/20/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard London as Wotan in a recording of das Rheindgold under Solti. I remember the voice as if resembling molten lava containing vast amounts of energy yet never too quick to release it. The voice was magnificent! When I read that its owner was passed his prime at the time of recording the role, I got quite excited and looked forward to getting to know this voice at the highpoint of its years portraying ( as is it is nicely put) gods and demons.



I value this CD mostly as a historic document of an artist not too well known, because I am missing the emotional build up and thus my own emotional engagement in the music. This is ofcourse often the case with anthologies such as this.



This being said, as I tread my way through more and more complete productions of operas I can see myself coming back to this recording comparing styles, textual insights and ofcourse the vocal techniques used by the different singers in the arias.



It does not sound as if George Londong did anything half heartedly and I believe his renditions are most definately to be reckoned with."