I watched this YouTube and some others yesterday and Hadley really did have a ringing voice.
I have his lengthy CDs of Show Boat, with an all star cast, and he was terrific on that, especially in You Are Love.
However, I cannot forget the time, Hadley, who sang and the Met 122 times, was Alfredo in a Saturday worldwide broascast of La Traviata. It was December 8, 1990, and Violetta was Soviero. Hadley was singing the Act II aira, which he did very well, and then he attempted the cabaletta. He tried the optional high ending note.
My wife and I was listening in the car waiting for the end before we went into a shopping center. Poor Jerry not only cracked on the note but it sounded like someone was strangling him. It was shocking.
I turned to my wife and said, “that will be the end of his career.”
Of course, it was not. Hadley continued to sing at Met until 2002.
[There is a post on YouTube, however, of Hadley singing a few months ago to a master class, and it is not good at all.]
Well, I can see how that would devastate a man. I sing myself, and it’s hard to describe what a good voice means to a singer emotionally. It’s not exactly pride, but it’s a glorious part of the self, and brings such joy.
To lose that can tear a hole in the spirit.