The great Verdi/Puccini tenor, Richard Tucker, sings florid Handel as remarkably well as he sings anything else. The incredible Tucker ring is here for all to hear on this magnificent live concert from The Hollywood Bowl in 1951. He then sings two arias: O Paradiso and Addio allla Madre. Awesome!!!

The great baritone voice of John Charles Thomas is heard here in his very prime, in songs recorded between 1931 & 1941. Thomas surely had one of the most magnificent voices ever. His opening song, My Hero, is one of the great baritone recordings I have ever heard. Enjoy this podcast. Here is the program:

1.  My Hero

2.  The Open Road

3.  The Lord's Prayer

4.  I Love Life

5. Ol' Man River

6. Home on the Range

 

If any singer had a more beautiful and natural voice than Robert Merrill, I have yet to here him or her. Merrill's way with these songs is simply magnificent, from the operatic type songs, such as The Lord's Prayer, and the more lyrical songs such as C'est magnifique. Merrill was and is the greatest.

 

This performance was given at the Robin Hood Dell in Philadelphia during the summer of 1973. Tucker was 60, and still singing this difficult role with thrilling ease. We present his part complete, with Elinor Ross as Santuzza, and Matteo Manuguerra as Alfio, and a surprise appearance by Frederica von Stade-Lola. The conductor is Lamberto Gardelli. This is thrilling singing!!

From Act 4 of Puccini's Manon Lescaut, Renata Tebaldi and Richard Tucker show us what great singing is all about. I have never heard two singers "give" as much as Tebaldi and Tucker do here, with the most thrilling high C imaginable in their great scene.