René Pape Likes His Fashion Old School

(Photo: Michael Robinson Chavez/Los Angeles Times)

Despite enjoying the performance of bass René Pape during his recital on Sunday, critic Mark Swed added odd bits of information on the singer's personal appearance: "There is something old school about Pape. He has the large build, square head and the slicked-back hair that white ties and tails were designed for. The concert dress costume deserved mothballs decades ago, but it perfectly
suits, so to speak, Pape, who looks as though he might have stepped out of an elegant nightclub in 1920s Berlin. Pape's stage manner is old school as well. He stands and sings. Yet he is a riveting presence, internalizing the expression of each song. He may represent the past -– so much so as to be an unapologetic chain smoker offstage –- but what he conveys is that same unforced intensity of expression heard on old recordings of the great singers of the past." [Source]