The great Italian tenor Carlo Bergonzi gives us a benchmark performance of the famous aria from Puccini's La Boheme, "Che gelida manina." Bergonzi sings this aria in key, with a magnificent high C to cap it off, and the most gorgeous of legatos and phrasing and dynamics. Truly one of the greatest tenors ever.

This and all podcasts can also be found at www.premiereopera.com

 

Ed

Here are five selections from a recently discovered operatic concert that the great tenor, Richard Tucker, sang with the Winnipeg Symphony in March of 1972. Tucker greatness was ageless, and the voice is still in it's warm golden form. He was about 60 years old here, and sounds like a tenor about half that age. He sings arias here from Ballo, Tosca, Manon Lescaut, Pagliacci, and Leoncavallo's Mattinata. Also sung, but not on the recording, were arias from L'Africana, Cavalleria Rusticana, and L'Elisir. The singing is truly awesome!!

 

Enjoy!!

 

Best wishes,

Ed

A few wonderful excerpts from Stephen's great performance of Romeo last night!!! Enjoy!!

Tucker came late to Samson, performing it for the first time in Phila. in 1970, and then doing a run at the Met in 1971-2 with Bumbry. I found him thrilling in this role, and dramatically, it was one of his finest. Here the Jewish leader rallies his troops, in French, but as a great Cantor just the same!!

Here is an early (1949) recording of Richard Tucker, singing the gorgeous "Thine Alone" from the operetta "Eileen" by Victor Herbert. This is one of my 3 or 4 favorite Tucker recordings. He sings with such beauty and clarity, and makes the high tessitura sound easy, and, just for good measure, he transposes the second verse up a half tone, to make the high tessitura virtually impossible, but, again, Tucker makes it sound easy.

For me, this is as gorgeous as it gets!!

 

Ed

In my opinion these selections from Verdi's Ernani, as sung by the great Cornell MacNeil, defies description. Words cannot do it justice. Just listen and be amazed!! And no, we don't have any baritones who sing like this anymore. We only had big Mac!!

Here is every note that the great tenor, Giuseppe Di Stefano recorded in the studio of Boito's Mefistofele in the summer of 1959, along with Renata Tebaldi and Cesare Siepi, with Tullio Serafin conducting. Only the scene with Elena is not recorded, thereby preventing commercial release.

Amazing singing by both Petrella and Di Stefano. This is good, old "giving" Italian singing at its best. I just received this fine sounding copy, and wanted to share it with you, to further remember the great Pippo!!

Jose Carreras sang his first ever American recital in Carmel, California on October 14, 1975. I was there and he was wonderful. Here he sings a beautiful aria from Rossini's Pietra del Paragone, Tosti's Ideale, and Puccini's Nessun Dorma! Bravo, Jose!!