jsg03jd: Yes, that is exactly what I meant. Szot, who is a lyric baritone sings with a lighter and more colored timbre than a darker colored bass-baritone such as Pinza and Szot puts more emphasis on the lyrical qualities of the music and therefore sounds completely different singing in the same key. It is a matter of the intuitiveness of an experienced singer and Szot sings his songs less operatically than Pinza, which is probably more appealing to today’s audiences but is equally disconcerting to many who have seen and heard other productions of South Pacific in the past, especially the 1958 film version in which Giorgio Tozzi, a true Bass sings de Becque with the added advantage of Robert Russell Bennett’s expanded orchestrations played by a 65 piece orchestra.
Personally I don’t like the way Paolo Szot sings de Becque’s songs, although I definitely am in a minority in this respect. His vocals are too pop sounding for my taste and this is based on seeing the show and hearing him again on the cast album. But I grew up listening to the 1958 soundtrack and later hearing the original Mary Martin & Ezio Pinza recording. That goes to show you how we all react in a different way to singers and none of us are wrong or right. It is just a matter of our own admiration and preference for certain singers and their unique communicative abilities.
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