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Dan and Ploy's Website |
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For me the human voice is the instrument that gives me the most pleasure and excitement and I have spent most of my life collecting unusual and exceptional voices from around the world. I am no expert, I cannot read music or play any musical instrument (or sing in tune for that matter); I just listen and enjoy. Giovanni Martinelli
is for me the greatest tenor of the recorded era: what I wouldn’t
give to have heard live his performances of Otello or Il Travatore.
Luckily he was quite well recorded, albeit not always in the best
quality (his best recordings were made between about 1915 and 1941
so that is not so surprising), but they do none-the-less capture
the excitement and quality of the voice. A short biography of Martinelli
can be found here, Biography,
whilst reviews and opinions about him can be found here, Reviews. If
you have patience or broadband (the file size is 5.7Mbyte), listen
to a heart-rending performance of Rachel, quand du Seigneur from
La Juive, Act IV, Scene 1, recorded in 1927 If you are interested in how I recorded the audio clips then have a look here, Recording in the rest of this section I would like to share with you some heart stopping moments from other singers, not just operatic but from a variety of genres: I have tried to include a few audio clips where possible. I hope you will find the selections suitably eclectic, controversial and interesting. This page was last updated on 19th September 2007.
The other opera I have of Mascagni is Iris with the tenor role sung by Placido Domingo; he is not my favourite tenor but, firstly, I admire him for taking on this little performed role, and secondly, he sings it very well. This is typical of the sort of reviews Iris receives: The scene of the mousmés in the first act with iris’s song to the flowers of her garden, "In pure stille"; the vague, yet unmistakable hum of Japanese melody in the opening of Act II; and her narrative in the scene with Osaka in the same act, "Un di al tempio" (One day at the temple) -- these, with the hymn to the sun, are about the only passages that require mention. I must admit I don't agree with this, there are some wonderful moments in the opera; the famous tenor aria, Apri la tua finestra, (famous in that most of the older tenors always included the aria in their repertory), and the final Hymn, Inno al Sole, is majestic in my opinion. There are also lots of other touches, I remember the spoken words against the music and the Japanese influence which Puccini adopted for Madame Butterfly, (Puccini was present at the Milan premiere of Iris).
The tenor Miguel
Fleta is most probably most famous today for having premiered the role
of Calaf in Turandot (albeit only because of all sorts of political
shennaighans which prevent Lauri-Volpi or Martinelli doing so). His
lyric tenor voice could probably not do justice to such a role, but
non-the-less he is capable of some breathtaking moments, as you can
hear here in this brief extract from E Lucevan le stelle.
I have to mention Giacomo Lauri
Volpi, a unique voice that harks back to the old bel-canto school of
the 19th century. Lauri Volpi possessed a remarkable top extension
to his voice and took on some of the most difficult roles in the reportoire.
He sang until his eighties and recordings exist of some of his last
live concert performances, when, despite his age of 70+ he continued
to sing arias such as Nessun Dorma and A te, o cara from I Puritani.
He has a fanatical following akin to that of Martinelli, but he had
an abrasive personality that alienated a lot of people: but not me,
I can forgive him murder with a voice like that. Try this CD (Bongiovanni
GB1107-2), for some of his most interesting performances across his
career, mostly live, including a live Nessun Dorma when he was aged
80, and try this sampler from 1933 Although I tend to prefer individual
singers to groups or choirs I did have a brief flirt with Gregorian chant
and was reminded of the beauty of that singing when I found this CD,
from BBC Music magazine, of Rachmaninoff's Vespers (All Night Vigil).
Voice is the only instrument used: try this small exert as the tenor
gives way to a hushed bass descent to a low B flat.
Other tenors have attempted this aria, most notably Alfredo Kraus, but for me none has the total freedom and élan of Pavarotti. He returned to this role towards the end of the career at the New York Met but I understand that a cold meant that he did not hit the notes and hit B flats instead, no mean achievement for a man of 60-odd, but obviously comparisons were inevitable and the critics had their pencils out, sharpened. Incidentally on that same CD Pavarotti also hits a high D, on the track Deserto in Terra, an otherwise un-notable aria from Don Sebastiano. The CD is from Decca, No. 417 638-2. Pavarotti also took on Bellini’s I Puritani at this time that includes a written high F, usually ignored by tenors: however Pavarotti hits it on a complete recording, using a different falsetto voice, (a lot of the high notes that used to be performed were not written by the composer and were embellishments or grace notes added by the singers to add dramatic effect and more usually to show off: why not if you have it?).
If you want more of William Matteuzzi, this live performance of La Scala di Seta also includes a top F and much else besides.
Away from opera now: whatever
happened to Solomon King? His 1968 hit, which reached no.6 on 3rd
February 1968 in the UK top ten, She Wears my Ring, is a favourite
on the BBC’s Radio 2 playlist and shows off one of those free
voices with a brilliant top (listen to the last note). My favourite opera is Il Travatore, that Caruso once said of ‘to stage Il Travatore just take the four best singers in the world’. There are many notable arias in this opera but one which certainly can make the hairs stand on end is Di Quella Pira at the end of Act III. There are many fabulous versions of this aria, ending in a long held top C, including those by Jussi Bjorling (my favourite version), Lauri-Volpi, Pertile and Pavarotti. I should also quote here from the sleeve notes of Giovanni Martinelli on the appropriateness of hitting this high C (unwritten by Verdi), which I hope lays to rest some counter arguments on its unmusicality by critics and singers: ‘The two high Cs in the Di Quella Pira! are another story. Let me tell it to you. The tenor Enrico Tamberlik was the first in the early 1860's to insert the Cs in the score. Tamberlik had much success with the high Cs in the smaller opera houses of Italy and Spain, but finally the day arrived when he had to sing Travatore at La Scala. This was a horse of a different colour, so the tenor sat down, pen in hand, and wrote to Verdi explaining the accidental enthusiasm which had inspired the Cs and said that the public had loved the innovation. Tamberlik then requested permission to use the Cs in a La Scala performance. Verdi drily replied that he never argued with the public and it would be alright for Tamberlik to use the Cs. 'But', warned the composer, 'when the Cs are no longer good ones, go back to the way I wrote the aria.' And so, all tenors since, including myself, took that liberty.' (quoted from the sleeve notes of the triple LP, Giovanni Martinelli, In Memoria, Private Record Edition).
Unfortunately Bonisolli died in 2003: you can find a short obituary of him here:Obituary.This reprise was not without precedence so I was to later find with a rather poorly recorded (live) version by Franco Filippeschi in 1957 (Bongiovanni GAO101/2, CD2 Track 9 and the reprise Track 10). If you can hear through the ‘bravas’ though I think you might agree it would have been a night to remember.
Whilst we are on the subject of Mario del Monaco, he and Franco Corelli, for me vie for the position of greatest performer of the finale of Andrea Chenier. As I first heard Corelli in this role, with Renata Tebaldi, I guess he just shades it. You can make your own mind up by listening to this live concert performance. Verismo opera at its very best.
Let us return briefly to Franco Bonisolli for this flamboyant performance of La Donna Mobile. This is a real showman.
Whilst of the subject of Somewhere, this 1994 performance of Barbra Streisand certainly makes the hairs stand on the back of your neck.
Try Track 16 of this CD (Bongiovanni
GB 1077-2). On it you will find an extracts of a live performance of
Turandot and in particular on this track, Non piangere Liu and also
the final scene of Act I. The scene culminates with Calaf, here sung
by Daniele Barioni, holding a top C while proceeding to pick up a hammer
to sound the gong and start to riddle sequence of Act II. Most (all)
tenors usually sound the top C and then ring the gong. Barioni holds
the note whilst apparently walking across the stage and throughout
the ringing of the gong, not only an heart stopping note, but held
unfalteringly for what seems like an eternity, and live. Enjoy that
note here,
After the show ended it was difficult to find anything about him apart from a couple of imported LPs. However later he started to be played again on BBC Radio 2, and through requests the BBC released a couple of CDs. I am told he can span 4.5 octaves, but in this section it is his low notes that I will highlight and in particular the furniture shaking low note of Im Tiefen Keller on the BBC CD CD 778. His name is Ivan Rebroff. Rebroff is a bass with a falsetto high that is a high a soprano. You can find more about him here Ivan Rebroff and here Ivan Rebroff Biography and also look at his non-stop concert schedule (even though he is now over 70 years of age). Ivan Rebroff's track, The Legend
of Twelve Robbers could be highlighted for its high and low notes,
but I highlight here for the remarkable long note that he holds towards
the end of the song, and almost without a pause, straight into another.
The performance is live in Paris (Elisar CD IC 8793). Click here My next singers are all 'crooners',
but such is the ease of their voices they all can produce exceptional
moments. Andy Williams is a singer I have long admired: his voice is
easy but is beautiful and with a fantastic range and greath breath
control. I don't know if this LP (shown Another 'crooner' who could amaze is Gene Pitney who unfortunately died recently. My mother's favourite song of his was I'm Gonna be Strong. I can vouch for the fantastic last note as I have seen him perform it live.
Mandy Patinkin is a hugely successful broadway star and I would like to highlight here for singing that wonderful song from South Pacific, You've got to be carefully taught. What fantastic lyrics that song has and credit Patinkin gives them, a fantastic impassioned performance. You can find it on this CD, Nonesuch, LC 0268. You've got
to be taught You've got to be taught to
be afraid
I once saw Patinkin sing on Terry
Wogan's chat show (in the UK). A singing guest was invariably asked
to sing with the resident band, but when invited, he just asked for
a single note to tune to and then proceeded to give a fabulous unaccompanied
performance of the Al Jolson classic, Sonny Boy, which Woger's was
I think astonished by. You can find a studio performance of that on
the CD pictured above, and whilst at it I would also listen to Brother,
Can you spare a dime, another impassioned performance. Here that last
impassioned plea here. I would now like to choose the extraordinary French soprano, Emma Calve. She is probably most renowned now for her portrayal of Carmen, but on the Pearl CD of all her known recordings (GEMM CDS 9482), it is a song that I want to draw your attention to, Ma Lisette, recorded sometime between 1907 and 1916 (Track 13).
My next choice may seem a little
unusual because I have chosen a tenor, Chris Merritt, to illustrate
a low note; perhaps all the more remarkable because he is more known
for his extreme high notes in Rossini and Donizetti. Have listen here:
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