Here's something you might be interested in.
In my spin class at the gym, the instructor played some "opera" today.
She called it opera but it was Andrea Bocelli and I think we all know how I feel about that.
It did get me to thinking about the great Italian tenors of the past. It seems as though the Italian tenor has declined from generation to generation.
This week will be all about the tenors.
Caruso is the standard to which all Italian tenors compare themselves, and thus far none have claimed to have surpassed him.
After Caruso came Gigli who was known as "Caruso Secundo" but preferred "Gigli Primo". Gigli sang through the mid '50's but right on his heels were the true Three Tenors.
Franco Corelli, Mario del Monaco, and Giuseppe di Stefano were three amazing but very different singers.
Corelli had what many, including myself, believe to be the greatest high C of all time. There are recordings of his live performances in Turandot, Il Trovatore, Tosca, and Andrea Chenier. The sounds he made rattled the rafters and audiences literally stopped the show to applaud him. In one performance, women threw their jewelry onto the stage in veneration.
Mario del Monaco was THE Canio of all time. There is no debate. None. The role of Otello was also his. Del Monaco did not have the top notes Corelli had but his raw, visceral, portrayals of conflicted heroes was unrivaled.
Giuseppe di Stefano had a more lyric voice. It was his partnership with Maria Callas on the EMI label that sealed his legacy. When he sang Faust at the Metropolitan Opera, the general director Rudolph Bing said di Stefano's pianissimo high C was the most beautiful sound he'd heard a singer make.
These three dominated the 50's, 60's and early part of the 70's.
Other tenors joined them during this period, including Pavarotti in the late 60's.
Carlo Bergonzi is a fantastic tenor from that period who gets overlooked from time to time.
I was talking to Todd Simmons, former chorus master at SDO, and we both agreed that if Bergonzi were singing today, he would be the leading tenor in the world.
In his prime he was overshadowed by the other three. That Bergonzi was almost a second tier singer is a testament to the greatness of that period.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y2pyZ3mRws&feature=related
In my spin class at the gym, the instructor played some "opera" today.
She called it opera but it was Andrea Bocelli and I think we all know how I feel about that.
It did get me to thinking about the great Italian tenors of the past. It seems as though the Italian tenor has declined from generation to generation.
This week will be all about the tenors.
Caruso is the standard to which all Italian tenors compare themselves, and thus far none have claimed to have surpassed him.
After Caruso came Gigli who was known as "Caruso Secundo" but preferred "Gigli Primo". Gigli sang through the mid '50's but right on his heels were the true Three Tenors.
Franco Corelli, Mario del Monaco, and Giuseppe di Stefano were three amazing but very different singers.
Corelli had what many, including myself, believe to be the greatest high C of all time. There are recordings of his live performances in Turandot, Il Trovatore, Tosca, and Andrea Chenier. The sounds he made rattled the rafters and audiences literally stopped the show to applaud him. In one performance, women threw their jewelry onto the stage in veneration.
Mario del Monaco was THE Canio of all time. There is no debate. None. The role of Otello was also his. Del Monaco did not have the top notes Corelli had but his raw, visceral, portrayals of conflicted heroes was unrivaled.
Giuseppe di Stefano had a more lyric voice. It was his partnership with Maria Callas on the EMI label that sealed his legacy. When he sang Faust at the Metropolitan Opera, the general director Rudolph Bing said di Stefano's pianissimo high C was the most beautiful sound he'd heard a singer make.
These three dominated the 50's, 60's and early part of the 70's.
Other tenors joined them during this period, including Pavarotti in the late 60's.
Carlo Bergonzi is a fantastic tenor from that period who gets overlooked from time to time.
I was talking to Todd Simmons, former chorus master at SDO, and we both agreed that if Bergonzi were singing today, he would be the leading tenor in the world.
In his prime he was overshadowed by the other three. That Bergonzi was almost a second tier singer is a testament to the greatness of that period.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y2pyZ3mRws&feature=related