Di Rigori Armato

[Derek McGovern]

I've always regarded Mario's recording of "Di Rigori Armato" -- the Italian Tenor's Aria from Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier -- as one of his best operatic recordings. It's a shame it had its ending lopped off in Serenade, but at least we have the complete rendition on record.

What I hadn't realized, though, is just how well it stacks up alongside the renditions of other famous tenors (both past and present). In fact, after listening to about a dozen renditions on YouTube just now -- ranging from the very good to the painful -- I can happily say it's the best version I've heard so far.  The smoothness and musicality of Lanza's delivery here, the beauty of his voice (and vocal production)...the relative effortlessness of his singing of what is a hellishly difficult aria (for all its brevity): all of these qualities make it a true standout. And ironically, Mario's climactic note (a high C Flat, or B if you prefer), which I'd always felt "thinned out" slightly by his standards, has more oomph and "ring" to it than virtually any of the other tenors' versions that I heard -- including Pavarotti's.

In fact, the only negatives for me about Lanza's rendition is that I think he mispronounces "puoco" as "fuoco", and there's an obvious edit right before "Ahi! che resiste...". He also doesn't hold the last note nearly as long as the others -- though for obvious reasons (i.e., there's no orchestra to accompany him on his version). But these are very minor quibbles.

Check out some of the YouTube renditions if you have a few moments, and then listen to Lanza's with fresh ears. You may be surprised by how much you've taken Mario for granted here :) I know I'm cheating a little by including mostly live versions, but what the heck!

A sampling from YouTube:

Pavarotti (in his prime) sleepwalking through his performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEG8gzTsO8U

The wonderful Fritz Wunderlich in what has to be his worst piece of operatic singing (was he deliberately singing this so badly??):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd0DzMb7W4E&feature=related

A terribly strained Marcelo Alvarez:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taKXJdabdk0&feature=related

Jonas Kaufmann -- very musical, and singing a lovely final note, but also sounding hoarse throughout and years older than his age:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2Uu86uB2YU&feature=fvsr

And a fine performance from Ben Heppner (high notes notwithstanding):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfvqBLtbfCk


Here's a link to Lanza's version:

http://www.4shared.com/audio/WOsownfo/Di_Rigori_Armato.html

Di rigori armato il seno
Contro amor mi ribellai
ma fui vinto in un baleno
in mirar due vaghi rai.
Ma fui vinto in un baleno
in mirar due vaghi rai.
Ahi! che resiste puoco a stral di fuoco
cor di gelo di fuoco a stral.

With severity my breast was armed
and I rebelled against love
when with one stroke I was slain
on seeing two lovely eyes.
With one stroke I was slain
on seeing two lovely eyes.
Ah, how feebly
an icy heart resists such fiery arrows.

[leeann]

Dear Derek,

I would have to agree you saved the best for the last. It is good to know that Lanza made this recording in 1958, that it is one of his later exemplary pieces. So many examples contradict the idea that it was all downhill after 1952 or so!  There is such a beautiful weight to his voice, and yet it soars. The seemingly effortless in un baleno, for example.

Listening to these versions one after the other (and with repetitions) certainly gives a deeper appreciation of how much vocal control this short piece must require. However, as odd as Jonas Kaufmann's voice did sound, his expressiveness shone through--more than one could say for Pavarotti. (snore....).

May I throw in a couple more here for comment?   Nicolai Gedda
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG0epQEq-p8&NR=1

and di Stefano
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r59UdURyks

Best, Lee Ann

[Armando]

Apart from Wunderlich’s unbelievably bad singing there are no surprises here.

I always thought that this is one of Lanza’s outstanding operatic recordings and hearing it again only confirms what the man could do when he worked with sound musicians such as Spadoni and Jacob Gimpel who provides the piano accompaniment. A beautifully felt, though controlled, piece of singing with ringing high B flats and B natural. 

Pavarotti is his usual self –musically correct and dull. Alvarez is pushing like hell and Kaufmann has good intentions along with ringing top notes but the voice production is simply too throaty. Other than on the high notes Heppner is very, very, good. I don’t like Gedda constricted sound (I never have) and, in this, his Italian  is faulty- EG: rigorri, rrai,  bahaleno.  Di Stefano is good, but even in 1949 his top notes lacked ring.  

[Derek McGovern]

Thanks for the links to Di Stefano's and Gedda's versions, Lee Ann, and for your comments, Armando.

I didn't enjoy Gedda's version at all -- I found him very laboured, apart from when he sang the B natural, which rang out splendidly. (Curiously, though, the B-flat that followed on "gelo" wasn't nearly as successful.) Di Stefano was definitely better, but his strained high notes spoiled his performance for me. Mind you, I wasn't particularly impressed with Pavarotti's much-vaunted upper register either -- listen to his "cor di gelo" at the end, and then compare it with Lanza's! And was Pav actually singing live here? He looks as though he's lip-synching. Whatever the truth, his performance is completely charisma-free here.

Listening to Fritz Wunderlich again, I'm convinced that he was either performing a parody of a bad Italian tenor, or that this was indeed his "Lanza on Broadway" moment. You'd never know that it wasn't a good performance from the YouTube comments, though! (And I thought some Lanza fans were incapable of being objective about their idol :)) The same with Pavarotti's performance, which is variously described on YouTube as "superhuman", "beautiful beyond compare", etc. Someone should upload Lanza's performance to YouTube!!

Isn't it interesting that none of the tenors we've discussed so far have managed to get everything right here (beauty of voice; ease of vocal production; sensitive, heartfelt delivery; ringing high notes) -- except Lanza. Of the other singers, I liked Heppner's performance best -- and then Kaufmann's sensitive version (though I don't like his basic sound at all here, ringing high notes excepted). Unlike, say, Pavarotti, Heppner radiates sheer delight in singing, and he's wonderful to watch. Here's a singer who truly feels his words and lives what he's singing. He's an engaging fellow too, and I've just been enjoying this interview with him from 2000:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGruXGcr508&feature=related

Getting back to Lanza, it suddenly occurred to me when reading Armando's post above that I knew absolutely nothing about Jacob Gimpel, who of course accompanied Mario on quite a few of his Serenade recordings. I've just looked him up on Wikipedia (where I see his first name is spelled Jakob), and it seems that he had quite a distinguished career. There's also a link to an interesting biographical essay on him by his son Peter:

http://www.gimpelmusicarchives.com/jakobgimpel.htm

Cheers
Derek

[Shawn]

The Pavarotti clip is actually a studio recording which Glenmed (Barry) combined with a video of Pav performing the role. ;) He does quite a few of those, I guess to provide visual accompaniment to 'perfect' audio of the performers.

I agree that Lanza's is the best I've heard. Don't really like Kaufmann much, had high hopes for him a few years back but that aforementioned throatiness is bothersome. I actually quite like Gedda, I personally didn't hear 'laboring' and I've always liked his attack and brilliance on the high notes- but it doesn't have the smoothness or warmth of the others, Lanza in particular. Wunderlich I can't explain... I rather doubt it was intentional but it certainly wasn't his finest hour! Di Stefano, I also thought the top would be better considering the year.

I'm reminded of how much I like Heppner... I wish he was still in his prime. The high notes do thin out but at least he reaches them cleanly.. it's not too bad a sound.

[Andrew]

Hi, I've

 not posted in a while, sorry about that. This is an interesting thread. It's a very difficult aria and I think it's true only Mario pulls it off from those selections.

Alvarez was really not on form and not helped by recording it in what sounded like my bathroom.

Kaufmann I really like, but agree his thick sound did sound a little too thick on this one.

Di Stefano has lost the ring in his upper register by then.

Wunderlich sounded unusually stodgy, but as a comment poster says below it - listen the real Wunderlich:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px0H0rD2L2E      - sublime!

Ben Heppner sounded fantastic for the first bit but the top b was very tight and after that the placement was lost. I saw him recently at a prom in a concert section singing Tristan and he cracked on a number of occasions and was not singing with that rich but ringing middle.

Pavarotti does 'phone-in' his performance and looks bored . He must have been delighted to do a role where, in the drama, you can actually read the music so there's no need to learn it! However he makes it sound pretty easy, which is no mean feat. 

I do think Pavarotti gets a bit of a bad press in this group. I agree he doesn't sing with huge emotional warmth. As Lanza fan's we are obviously drawn to huge emotional, visceral connection, and this was definitely not Pavarotti's forte. But, for me, there can be no better lesson for a tenor in how to negotiate the passaggio of the voice than this Pavarotti recording:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hJskgp-VlY

I think the beauty of his sound in this aria is astonishing. The aria is not an emotional piece, but his unbelievable precision gives the aria the perfect degree of swagger and nonchalance, in my opinion.

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Andrew: Don't worry -- you don't need to sell me on the glories of Fritz Wunderlich! He's one of my favourite singers, and also one of the most consistent performers I've heard. That's why I was so surprised by how badly he sings the Di Rigori.

Yes, Pavarotti does get a tough time from some of us (especially me!). I find him pretty dull interpretively on almost anything that requires dramatic intensity and true feeling for the words. He seldom moves me. [Here's a major exception, though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJQIxubqbyY] The compensation, of course, is his technical expertise -- but I long for more from a great singer than an even line, easy production, and well-knitted vocal registers (very important though those aspects are).

It was interesting comparing his 1971 Questa o Quella with Lanza's 1950 version. Although Mario completely ignores Verdi's printed instruction to sing it "con eleganza" (with elegance), and the tempo is ridiculously fast, I don't find either the beauty of his voice or his handling of the passaggio here inferior to Pavarotti's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQRRopSru8E

And while many have chided Lanza for taking liberties with the score here (which he does :)), he actually follows it more closely in certain places than Pavarotti! For instance, Lanza doesn't insert an unwritten rest between "altra" and "forse" on "doman lo sara, un'altra, forse un'altra" as Pavarotti does (thereby breaking the line), nor does he cling to the second syllable of "altra" in the manner of Pav (it's only meant to be a quaver), but instead holds the first syllable for longer, as Verdi instructs. You can follow the vocal score here:

http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/scores/bhr8278/large/index.html

And here's a live Carreras version from 1971 to compare with Pavarotti's rendition:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57uQR_bc8J0

Cheers
Derek

[oscar.bearherrera]

Hi, Dereck

I have made a mistake.

Here is going again: Wunderlich

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGSsSwnZasY

It is otherwise.

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Oscar: Thanks for that second Wunderlich version of Di Rigori Armato. Fritz sounds a little more like his old self than on the rendition I posted earlier, but he's still far from his best here. Listen to those gasps for breath at the end of many of the phrases and the way he keeps breaking the line. Even his celebrated high notes aren't as good as usual here.

Whoever uploaded it and included the sheet music -- no doubt a Wunderlich admirer -- probably didn't realize that by including the score, Fritz's liberties (unwritten rests, etc) would become all the more obvious!

Cheers
Derek

[Michael McAdam]

Haven't had a chance until now to respond to this interesting post. Just a quick comment or two here:

Until recently I had only heard Pavarotti's couple of versions (in addition to Mario's). I always thought Pav sang it very 'correctly'; technically and vocally that is but.....a bit boring (as Armando and others have stated). Mario always has that exciting edge to his voice even when singing incorrectly.

In this piece from Serenade Lanza does sing it very correctly and beautifully altho' I would have like him to hang onto that final "...stral" a bit longer (the gradual increase in volume on this last, held note is an important part of this aria, to me). Yes, it is likely difficult to do this without an orchestra as your reference.

 

Of the other versions I keyed in on I think one of my perennial favourites, Nicolai Gedda, missed the mark here. No roundness, fullness to the voice in this outing. Not a patch on his Onegin work and many of his excellent Italian opera recordings.

 

I liked Jonas Kaufmann's version. I have high hopes for this fellow as he seems to be 'husbanding' his voice well and, as yet, I've never heard him go over the top in any of his performances. Usually quite the contrary as he seems too restrained and mezza voce at times?

 

I too like Ben Heppner's rendition very much and, it's nice to see him doing it in concert where he is obviously enjoying himself. I did like his high notes but what was that almost sheep-like :) "...un bah-ah-ah-ah-leno" in the 3rd line all about?

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Mike: Kaufmann's an interesting case. He started out in the 1990s with a very different vocal production from what he uses now. Listen to him in his late 20s singing Deep in My Heart, Dear:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDZofkzG8uk

I prefer his sound here, actually. But if various YouTube posters are to be believed, he changed his vocal production because his old way of singing was exhausting him. He now favours the lowered larynx technique. This enables him to produce a darker, more focused sound when singing full voice, but (like Corelli) when he's not singing full out, his timbre is not particularly attractive (at least, not to my ears). Listen to him in this recent performance of Lamento di Federico. He doesn't sound as throaty as he does on his Di Rigori Armato, but whenever he tries to sing softly (e.g. "Come l'invidio"), his voice becomes unfocused and "breathy."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s00G8QvErTE

Actually, judging from his powerful performance here, he must have been playing Lanza's Albert Hall Lamento for inspiration beforehand! Like Mario, he even sings the unwritten high B at the end. But I don't think I could listen to too much of him in this mode. His voice does take on a certain harshness when he's singing loudly.

As for Ben Heppner's "bah-ah-ah"-ing, I think he was simply using that as a hoist to get up to that tricky B-flat on "baleno"!

Cheers
Derek

[Armando]

And I thought Lanza was making too big a sound in his 1955 and 1958 recordings!  Kaufmann is blasting away in what is a totally fabricated sound and has turned Federico into Radames - quite awful!

Back to school, I suggest, or back to the way he used to sing!

[Tony Partington]

Really very interesting about Jonas Kaufmann and his choice to use the lowered larynx (or Melocchi method).  I actually recall discussing this with Wayne Conner, a voice teacher I had in Philly years ago, and he told me it was really a rather dangerous technique.  It can cut the life span of a voice short.  One thing that I particularly don't like about Kaufmann's voice is the sameness I hear in it.  I don't hear any vocal dynamics - other than loud - and Derek as you pointed out, when he tries to tame things down and get soft his voice gets blurred or breathy. 

 

Now here's a rather odd example of the Melocchi school of vocal production and yet, curiously, I've always enjoyed this tenor's singing.  This may not be the perfect repertoire for him but with as big a voice as he has, and it is plenty big, I still hear more color and dynamics in his reading of "Lamento di Federico" that in Jonas Kaufmann's.  Here is a link to Giuseppe Giacomini and his recording of "E la solita storia..."  I'll be anxious to hear what everyon thinks.

Incidentally, I heard a recording recently of Giacomini singing, in performance, at the age of 70 and he sounded amazing.  Go figure!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bktOX0hVPtM

[Andrew Bain]

Hi I agree there is something quite extraordinary about Giacomini's singing. I have 2 albums. I think he makes an incredible sound but, to me, it is not musical. He is, however, fascinating to listen to and some notes have amazing 'wow' factor, this recording of him singing the Boheme aria is interesting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEFf4Fn8XKs

His tone sounds quite manufactured but the top C is quite astonishing especially as you are thinking, 'how on earth is he going to get there'. However, as music, as a whole it is not satisfying to me.

I am told that he often cracked when singing live and that is not surprising to me. 

--
Andrew Bain
www.andrew-bain.com

[leeann]

What a beautiful tribute to his father, and yet, how sad that Jacob Gimpel's son felt in the position to reconstruct his father's public image that he felt inaccurately and inadequately set out in the press.  I'll guess that this attached article comparing Gimpel to Jose Iturbi would not be among the family's most cherished memories, while perhaps the other citing his earlier work with the Palestine Symphony before World War II would.Best, Lee Ann

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Tony: I much prefer Kaufmann to Giacomini. My problem with Giacomini, apart from his manufactured sound, is that he simply can't caress a phrase. On both the example you gave and the Che Gelida Manina that Andrew linked to, it's almost as if he's disconnected from what he's singing about. At least Kaufmann is much more musical.

That Melocchi lowered larynx technique has a lot to answer for! It tends to produce singers who all sound the same.

Cheers
Derek

[Derek McGovern]

I just spent the last hour creating another entry for our Whose Version Do You Prefer? thread only to realize that we already had a thread comparing Lanza's rendition of this particular aria---'Di rigori armato il seno"---with those of other singers. Oh well! Since I've gone to the effort of making a new page on our main site for this comparison---which pits Mario alongside recordings by Gedda and Pavarotti---I might as well share the link to it:     

http://www.mariolanzatenor.com/di-rigori-armato.html

Do feel free to post your thoughts on which of the three versions you prefer. (Plenty of members didn't comment last time, so here's another chance! :))

Cheers,

Derek

[Michele]

Hi Derek,

Having listened to some of the recording you put up, I was amazed at just how even hardly any sign of taking a breath anyway as was quite evident
with the other versions.  I just wish Mario had recorded with orchestra rather then just piano.  But with the amazing control he had he didn't need the
orchestra to rest on.  I'm going to check my C.D's which I bought from Damon, your mystery Aria sounds familiar to me, I think I've heard it some-
where.  Will let you know what if anything I find, yes you are right his singing is superb.

Michele 

[norma]

Having listened to all three recordings it really struck me again how unique Mario's voice was in warmth and feeling.

[Vincent Di Placido]

The quality of Mario's voice is spot on here. He gets my vote! I've recently become very fond of Der Rosenkavalier through my listening to the archive podcasts of Desert Island Discs during breaks at work & I had to buy the complete Karajan recording & film. So many "castaways" choose the final trio/duet which is sublime.
Derek, these comparisons are fascinating & I have to say Mario holds up extremely well. Now I know as a diehard fan, of course I would say that, but I try to be very objective when comparing & Mario genuinely is edging it for me in most cases, he's tuned in interpretively & the beauty of the actual voice is, as we know, second to none!

[leeann]

I love this "Who's Version do You Prefer?" addition to the website, in part, I suppose, because it's the musical equivalent of "one picture is worth a thousand words:--one aria is worth a thousand essays, maybe? The immediacy of compare-and-contrast seems to refute many of the arguments against Lanza's operatic virtuousity.

In any event, it seems clear that when Mario Lanza's single arias are compared with other classical singers, he does, as Vince says, "hold up extremely well."

To try to offset the fact that Lanza's seems to be the ultimate tenor voice to me, I listened to Pavarotti and Gedda before Lanza's version. Pavarotti sounds better if he goes first, I must say, but  both Gedda's and Lanza's interpretive treatment of "Ma fui vinto in un baleno. Ahi! in mirar due vaghi rai," among other verses, rather leaves him well behind, I think. (Although Armando points to technical errors in Gedda's delivery of that line in an earlier post.)

Yes, Lanza is still the one for me on this one. But Gedda's version resonates greatly, even though, in parts, I wondered if his voice and his technique were a little out of synch.