greats – Mrs. Farrell

I love deep melodic voices. Operatic voices. A beefy baritone sends me. A thunderous bass? I am gone.

René Pape is my dream bass. He sings. I dissolve into a puddle. Pape can sing anything, but his repertoire consists mainly of Verdi (my numero uno) with a huge helping of Wagner.

Pape by the way is pronounced Pah-peh. I had to learn that the hard way, per usual. No one can butcher the pronunciation of a name quite like I can and Opera offers me continuous opportunities.

I know a lot of people stay away from Opera because of things like that, all the different languages and seemingly unpronounceable names. They are all pronounceable. You just have to learn how. Like anything else in life.

So forget about that. You will learn as you go. Enjoy the journey. The snobs — I haven’t met that many actually — they had to begin just like anyone else. Who the hell cares anyway? It hasn’t held me back!

Let’s take a look at René Pape in action. Then most importantly of all — listen!

Images

Embed from Getty Images
German operatic bass Rene Pape performs at a concert marking the 90th birth anniversary of famed soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, at the Bolshoi Theatre. Artyom Korotayev/TASS (Photo by Artyom Korotayev\TASS via Getty Images)

Embed from Getty Images
Pape as Filippo performs during the general rehearsal of the opera ‘Don Carlo’ at the State Opera in Vienna on June 12, 2012. The first performance of ‘Don Carlo’ at the State Opera was held on June 16, 2012. AFP PHOTO / DIETER NAGL (Photo credit should read DIETER NAGL/AFP/GettyImages)

Embed from Getty Images
Pape (as ‘King Marke’) performs during the final dress rehearsal prior to the premiere of the Metropolitan Opera/Mariusz Trelinski production of ‘Tristan und Isolde’ (by Richard Wagner) at Lincoln Center’s Metropolitan Opera House, New York, New York, September 22, 2016. The performance was a co-production of the Metropolitan Opera, Teatr Wielki-Polish National Opera, Festival Hall Baden-Baden, and China National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA). (Photo by Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images)

Embed from Getty Images
Pape as Mephistopheles with artists of the company in the Royal Ballet’s production of Charles-Francois Gounod’s ‘Faust’ directed by David McVicar and conducted by Evelino Pido at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London. (Photo by robbie jack/Corbis via Getty Images)

Video

René Pape, Don Carlo, Giuseppe Verdi

Spanish King Philip II (Pape) has fallen in love with his son Don Carlo’s intended bride Elizabeth, the product of a typical politically motivated match, and marries her himself estranging himself forever from his son who had also fallen deeply in love with her. Elizabeth, who fell deeply in love too, is desolate and never forgets her true love.

Fast forward to the last Act. The King is old and lonely, and as he ponders all he has done he realizes that the innocent bride he robbed his son of has never cared for him, has never loved him.

Ella giammai m’amò (she never loved me).

Sorrowfully he seeks the counsel of the Grand Inquisitor (Eric Halfvarson). Yes. You guessed it. The Grand Inquisitor’s response will be a deadly one.