Your Top Five !

[jora...@comcast.net]

This should certainly cause a lot of debate and controversy.....I am
such a devil....name your favorite ( 5 only) all-time tenors. I
will go with Lanza, Caruso, Di Stephano, Wunderlich and Alvarez.
( Well, I am sure we will all agree on one of my choices...lol)

[Lover of Grand Voices]

Yours are interesting choices and voices are certainly in the ear of
the beholder. Mine would be Lanza, Caruso, Pavarotti, Corelli and
Gigli, probably in that order. It may have been Caruso in the
beginning when I was just starting to appreciate great tenors but then
I found that each was different and special but now I can distinguish
between quality tenors and those who are average, at least I think
so. In my case, Lanza and my other choices have raised my standards
to such an extent that I have become, perhaps to selective and to
critical. I now compare tenors to Lanza, in particular, and found
most not up to the same level of brilliance. I wonder if our friends
have the same experience.

On Dec 2, 5:55 am, "jorain...@comcast.net" <jorain...@comcast.net>
wrote:

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Joe: It'd be easier to tell you who I don't like! (Del Monaco, for
instance.)

The first four choices are easy: Lanza, Carreras, Wunderlich, Di
Stefano. After that, it gets a bit tricky. Caruso would be my fifth
choice, I suppose, but I like so many other tenors as well (singing
certain things) that it seems unfair to omit them :-(

> > ( Well, I am sure we will all agree on one of my choices...lol)- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Lover of Grand Voices]

Derek, this is an interesting exercise but I am fascinated as to why
you make no mention of Pavarotti?

All the best

Emilio

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Emilio: There's no doubt in my mind that Pavarotti had a great
voice, but as an interpreter he never comes close to moving me in the
way in which, say, Lanza, Carreras, Wunderlich and Di Stefano do. In
fact, I feel that Di Stefano summed it up best when he wrote that,
"Luciano sings notes; I sing words." I also find Pavarotti's voice a
bit monochromatic. (The same goes for Bjorling, though I find his
melancholic, silvery timbre more appealing.) Of course, Pav never had
a true mezza voce either, so maybe that was part of the problem for
me.

I'd certainly put Pavarotti in any top 10 list of tenors, but he would
never make my top five.

> > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[Derek McGovern]

Just following on from my earlier comments about Pavarotti, here's a
lyric tenor who does move me: Oreste Kirkop (1923-1998):

http://www.4shared.com/file/31061763/84e2fc5e/Cielo_e_Mar_-_Oreste_Ki...


Kirkop was the Maltese tenor from Covent Garden who starred in the
1956 film version of The Vagabond King. He may not have had
Pavarotti's vocal gift, but this is an artist whose singing truly
abounded with personality. He wasn't around very long: I understand
that heath problems, among other things, led to his retirement from
the opera stage at the age of 37. But he did manage to leave behind a
handful of very enjoyable recordings. His Cielo e Mar in the above
link, with our old friend Peter Herman Adler of The Great Caruso fame
conducting, is reminiscent of Lanza (whom he greatly admired) in its
exciting ending.

[Armando]

That's a tall order Joe! It's also too restrictive, so I'll give you a
few more than five!
Lanza, Di Stefano, Pertile, Schipa, Domingo, Carreras, Caruso, Tauber,
Bjorling, Wunderlich, very early sob less Gigli, and the seldom heard
of Oreste Kirkop, mentioned by Derek. Bautiful lyric voice and one
hell of a singer! Listen to his fantastic diminuendo in This Same
Heart !

Of the current tenors, I like Alvarez and Vargas.


On Dec 2, 4:55 pm, "jorain...@comcast.net" <jorain...@comcast.net>
wrote:

[Armando]

P.S. Add Aragall to the middle of my list and Pavarotti at the end of
it.:-)

[Derek McGovern]

Interesting choices, Armando! As you know, Domingo's not one of my
favourite singers, but there's no denying the man's incredible vocal
longevity. He's just sung his 125th role! And at 66, he's still making
a good sound. Now *that*'s some kind of technique.

I regard him as vocally inferior to Pavarotti, but by far the superior
interpreter (not to mention actor!). I admire him in certain things:
La Fanciulla del West, for example. I usually don't like him at all
singing in English, where his somewhat nasal upper register can become
especially intrusive, but in his native language - Spanish - he's
often very appealing in songs. Back in the 1980s, he recorded an
appealing album of popular numbers by Ernesto Lecuona (of Siboney
fame). There's also an excellent 1987 concert of him at Wembley
Stadium, where he sings some memorable versions of beautiful zarzuela
songs/arias (No Puede Ser, for example) and a romantic On the Street
Where You Live in Spanish.

One curious thing about Domingo is that, now and again, in his middle
register he reminds me of Lanza!

[Armando]

No argument from me Derek! Domingo's voice, like Schipa and Tauber,
and to a certain extent Pertile, cannot compete with the quality of
Pavarotti, let alone with that of his other contemporaries, Carreras
and Aragall. However he makes up in vocal limitations with what I
consider to be his considerable gifts as a singing actor with a
tremendous amount of musicianship and musicality.

Much as I do with the artistry of Schipa and Tauber, and the often
exceptional singing of Pertile, such is the impact of Domingo's
interpretations that I can overlook the nasality and the short,
forced, upper register. I don't like him singing in English, but then
I don't like any of the others either.

And yes, there occasionally is a hint of Lanza in Domingo's middle
register.

On Dec 4, 1:38 pm, "Derek McGovern" <derek.mcgov...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Interesting choices, Armando! As you know, Domingo's not one of my
> favourite singers, but there's no denying the man's incredible vocal
> longevity. He's just sung his 125th role! And at 66, he's still making
> a good sound. Now *that*'s some kind of technique.
>
> I regard him as vocally inferior to Pavarotti, but by far the superior
> interpreter (not to mention actor!). I admire him in certain things:
> La Fanciulla del West, for example. I usually don't like him at all
> singing in English, where his somewhat nasal upper register can become
> especially intrusive, but in his native language - Spanish - he's
> often very appealing in songs. Back in the 1980s, he recorded an
> appealing album of popular numbers by Ernesto Lecuona (of Siboney
> fame). There's also an excellent 1987 concert of him at Wembley
> Stadium, where he sings some memorable versions of beautiful zarzuela
> songs/arias (No Puede Ser, for example) and a romantic On the Street
> Where You Live in Spanish.
>
> One curious thing about Domingo is that, now and again, in his middle
> register he reminds me of Lanza!
>

[Derek McGovern]

A year ago Armando wrote that his favourite tenors were:

>Lanza, Di Stefano, Pertile, Schipa, Domingo, Carreras, Caruso, Tauber,
>Bjorling, Wunderlich, very early sob less Gigli, and the seldom heard

>of Oreste Kirkop, mentioned by Derek. Beautiful lyric voice and one

>hell of a singer! Listen to his fantastic diminuendo in This Same
>Heart !

I've just found the aforementioned Oreste's video clip of This Same
Heart on youtube, and was suddenly reminded of this old thread. Do
check it out if you're unfamiliar with this wonderful lyric tenor. A
great admirer of Lanza, he also had much of Mario's passion and
energy, as this clip from the film version of The Vagabond King
thrillingly reveals:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg1mMg3K-Kk

[Mike McAdam]

Going by the thrill-me or move-me-to-tears or lift-my-spirits or make-
me-feel-like-pouring-forth-in-accompaniment scales or...all of the
aforementioned, my top Five tenors would be:

1. Lanza.
2. Verreau
3. Carreras
4. Bjoerling
5. Gedda

Two non-operatic tenors (for the most part) with beautiful lyric song
voices I always enjoyed were the seldom or never mentioned Irishman
John McCormack and Scotland's Kenneth McKellar.
M.

mentioned in one packagey top five

[gary from N.S.]

Well you know Joe I have listed top 5 and top 10 etc. many differant
times,and they are not always static,and tend to change about a
bit,with two exceptions.. Lanza, and Di Stefano,always remain in
that order,. these two in my mind, have the most beautiful of
voices,and their interpretations are so wonderful. Then I go to
Gigli,Corelli,Wunderlich,Bjorling,and they all hover about on the same
plane.
Then I have Domingo,Aragall,young Carreras,Pav. Alvarez.
DelMonaco,Gedda in no special order...and oh Caruso..well he doesn't
get a star from me..

I have not been "into" opera as long as many in this forum,although a
steadfast fan of Mario, for over fifty years. I trust my ears,and my
heart,and the above tenors have all crossed my personal threshold of
being list toppers..there are others as well,but this is my list for
today.

Emillio, I too use Lanza as my gold standard,and none have thusfar
surpassed his level.

Cheers
Gary

[Jan Hodges]

Hi Mike,     I was so pleased to see you mention Kenneth McKellar. He is one of my favourites. I have an LP of him singing mainly operatic arias,including  Il Mio Tesoro[Don Giovanni], Vainement Mon bien- aimee[Le roi D'ys] Faery song[The Immortal Hour] and Com'E Gentil [Don Pasquale] and some other seldom heard songs. I had the great pleasure, many years ago of hearing him in person, he was past his prime but still gave a very moving performance of The Ballad of Glencoe. Which singers appeal is a very personal choice so here are my top favourite tenors 1 Lanza 2 Di Stefano 3 Bjoerling 4  McKellar 5 Young Carreras Although he doesn't make my top five I would like to put in a "plug" for Richard Crooks who I feel is a bit under rated Jan

[Thelma]

Here are my top five operatic singers: Lanza, Wunderllich, Franchi,
diStefano, Verreau, Domingo. Sergio Franchi rates very high with me
and I listen to him often, probably more often to place him no. 3. I
also listen to Bjoerling very often. I have never gotten "Pavorotti"
at all, but I understand many have.

>  faint_grain.jpg
> 1KViewDownload

[Mike McAdam]

Nice to see the velvet-voiced Verreau in another member's top 5 list.
Some time ago i transcribed the best of my four Richard Verreau LP's
to my hard drive but had to render them as MP3's to fit them on a 700
MB CD. I never had the software then to remove groove noise, clicks
and pops as I do now. The CD artwork and liner notes I produced for
the effort were pretty good, I'm told :-) but I must re-master that CD
and re-produce it to show young Richard at his best (bear in mind, the
Montreal LP production was not anywhere up to the same standard as the
plant in Camden, NJ. I found the groove noise was always intrusive
from any Canadian RCA Victor pressing . I mentioned that to
them...semi-diplomatically :-)...when I toured that facility in
Montréal many years ago.

For those who have had no opportunity to purchase or even listen to
anything by Richard Verreau but are interested in same, I'll keep you
all posted on my efforts on this. I plan to do it during this long
Canadian winter along with my on-again, off-again 'Student Prince'
project (this will allay my incurring the wrath of a certain debonair
author/singer residing in Melbourne :-))
M.

> > 1KViewDownload- Hide quoted text -

[Armando]

Last year when I listed my top 14, as it turned out, I had not heard
anything of Richard Verreau. That has since been remedied thanks to
our resident technical wiz and wit, the estimable Mike Mc Adam. You
will no doubt be pleased to know, Mike, that having now heard
Verreau’s beautiful voice and singing I have no hesitation whatsoever
in adding him to my extended list of favourite tenors.

And while I’m at it I will also add another tenor that somehow seems
to be often overlooked and that is, John Mc Cormack. His was a light
lyric voice along the lines of Schipa, so don’t look for a sensuous,
luscious sound, but the line and delivery were exemplary and he
excelled in arias from such operas as Don Giovanni (his is the
definitive Il Mio Tesoro) Lucia, and Mefistofele, just to name a few.
Another plus is that as a result of having studied and lived in Milan
for a while, his Italian is faultless.

[Tonytenor]

My oh my, what a fascinating and diverse selection of artists everyone
has listed here. Well, here goes. My Top Five Tenors (in order)
1. Mario Lanza
2. Sergio Franchi
3. Jon Vickers
4. Placido Domingo
5. Cesare Valletti

Honorable Mention (in no particular order): Carreras, Pavarotti, Di
Stefano, Del Monaco, Ben Hepner, Nicola Martinucci, Gedda, Bjoerling,
Peerce, Tucker, Enzo Stuarti, Giusseppe Giacomini, Caruso, Lauri-
Volpi, Martinelli, Josef Schmidt, Corelli, Gigli, Frank Little, Mark
Caulkins, Luigi Alva, Bergonzi

Ciao,

Tony

> > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[Andrew Bain]

Hi there I have not entered into this top tenors chat yet so here goes:

 

TOP 5

 

Mario - needs no explanation on here.

Placido Domingo - not always the best natural tone but his use of it is phenomenal. He unfortunately has a weak top b and c as well so to get into most of our top 5s shows what an artist he is.

Franco Corelli - I know a lot of people have mentioned his lack of flexibility esp in song but his Di quella pira is absolutely thrilling for pure animal sound he gets there for me.

Jussi Bjorling - An amazing voice stylish and burnished with gold

Fritz Wunderlich - Just imagine if both Mario and Fritz had lived full lives the 3 tenors would have had different personnel!! His rendition of Dies Bildnis from Magic Flute is the most elegant effortless beautiful sound. Mozart tenor roles can be dull but not when he sang them. He was just getting going when he fell down the stairs so tragically.

 

I would put others up there but not quite: Pavarotti (in 1970s in Donnizeti and La Boheme beautiful and technically awsesome in the passagio)

Carreras in his early days was beautiful his La Fleur on youtube is worth a look.

Del Monaco - similar really in criticisms and praise as for Corelli

Bergonzi  - i have a lovely album of him singing italian song

Caruso - I think it is hard to really compare Caruso as the recordings just cannot really do him justice

Gedda was a clever singer

Alfredo Kraus sang Massenet beautifully

[Derek McGovern]

Interesting comments, Andrew.

As far as evaluating Caruso goes, I actually feel that his recordings
do give us a fair idea of how he would have sounded. Some of Lanza's
private recordings are even more primitively recorded
than Caruso's, and yet you can still appreciate the basic colour of
the voice on them. It's also been pointed out that in the example of,
say, Gigli, who recorded both before and after the arrival of
electrical
recordings in 1925 (four years after Caruso's death), a development
that substantially improved the technology of the day, that he doesn't
sound markedly different between the two formats (acoustic
and electric).

My problem with Caruso is that I don't find his timbre particularly
beautiful, and his style is sometimes sloppy. He's also a bit careless
with the words at times. I'd never regard him as a romantic singer.
His great strength, to my ears, is the sheer stentorian power and rock-
solid nature of his voice, basically up to the high B-flat. In that
sense, he was a true phenomenon.

Yes, I agree that Corelli would have been exciting in person in
something like Il Trovatore -- for "pure animal sound", as you say. (I
don't like his basic timbre, though.) The well-known opera authority
Jan Neckers has written that in the
experience of an opera-going friend of his who heard Lanza in Oostende
in 1958, "only Corelli surpassed the American tenor in sheer volume".
(He also mentioned that the Dutch critic Leo Riemens,
of the Kutsch-Riemens Sgerlexicon, "an absolute Lanza-basher who hated
every record the tenor made", was surprised, on hearing Lanza in
recital in 1958, to encounter a "very pleasing" timbre and
"a voice almost double the size of Bjorling's".)

Interestingly, Lanza preferred Corelli to Del Monaco, whom, according
to Mario's Rome agent Sam Steinman, he didn't like at all (Del Monaco
was "all 'mwah mwah mwah' " in Lanza's opinion,
Steinman told Armando). But the contemporary tenor whom he adored
above all was Di Stefano, and it's easy to understand why. In terms of
what they did with the words, they were kindred spirits.

The most beautiful tenor voice I've heard in person is that of
Carreras, whom I feel had an even greater instrument than that of Di
Stefano. He may have copied Pippo's mannerisms far too much (as well
as making the same mistakes that Di Stefano made!), but
in the 1970s he had it all.

I share your love of Fritz Wunderlich! In a separate thread earlier
this year, we were discussing the DVD of the 2006 documentary Fritz
Wunderlich: Life and Legend (Leben und Legende). If you
haven't already seen this, I'd highly recommend it. The bonus
materials feature some wonderful live performances, including a
fantastic rendition of Lenski's aria from Eugene Onegin.

> > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[Andrew Bain]

Thanks for that Derek

I take your comments about Caruso. I have never much cared for aspects of his voice either but perhaps wrongly have always put it down to being of a different age. Certainly some of the liberties he takes with an aria like Una furtiva lagrima would be tantamount to career suicide in todays age. I guess I have always felt he is held in such esteem I should like him!

 

Glad you love Wunderlich I am listening to his Kuda Kuda as I type although he sings it in german shame he recorded so little out of his native tongue.

 

I can't believe I didn't mention Di Stefano in my posting I agree in his pomp it was such a natural gorgeous sound, have you  all heard his "Salut demeure chaste pure" with the most incredible top C diminuendo - how ON EARTH did he do that! If anyone hasn't I will try to find it on my old computer. I believe Bing said it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard in an opera house, this is probably old news to people on here apologies if it is. I agree with your comment on his painting of the lyrics and always find this hard to compute with the other fact I read that he never really understood what he was singing, I suppose some people are just naturals.

[Jana]

Hi,

Now, when this thread has been revived, I think I am able to do my
bit.

1.Lanza
2.Domingo
3.DiStefano
4.Bjoerling
5.Beno Blachut.

Now, I'm not sure about the last one. He was a Czech tenor in
1913-1985. I really like him, but I'm not sure if he had as great
qualities as the others. One thing is for sure, I've never heard a
better Dvořák's Dimitrij.

Here is a video of Blachut's pictures, with him singing E lucevan in
Czech:
http://www.4shared.com/file/75950753/7d9c909/blachut_tosca.html
And here's an audio of Dimitrij's aria from the Dvorak opera:
http://www.4shared.com/file/75953930/d0a1bdd1/03_Stopa_3.html

Surely not as great as Mario, but not bad, was he?

[ShawDAMAN]

My top 5 tenors: (really hard)

1. Lanza
2. Wunderlich
3. Corelli
4. young Di Stefano
5. Caruso

Lanza needs no explanation. :D

Yes, Andrew, Di Stefano's "Salut demeure" is one of the most amazing
operatic recordings I have ever heard!! I can't tell you how many
times I've listened to that C5 diminuendo and each time I shake my
head in disbelief. Also a very warm beautiful voice before it got
shot.

Wunderlich is one of my all time favorites. One of the most beautiful,
sweet, and unique tenor voices ever, but unlike Di Stefano or Carreras
he had rock-solid technique.

Corelli is my pick for pure excitement. I like Del Monaco too but
Corelli had a naturally more exciting heroic voice, plus that cool
diminuendo of his. :D

Now, Caruso: Overrated? Perhaps. And I agree his interpretations cannd
a bit dated today. But on certain arias, Una furtiva which you
mentioned is a prime example, I think his improvisations are very
tasteful and enjoyable. And he had a singularly unique explosive
quality to his phrasing that no other tenor has reproduced in my
opinion, described as "vigorous dramatic outbursts" by one
encyclopedia. His voice was not as beautiful as Lanza, Wunderlich etc;
but for a tenor with dramatic style and power it was one of the most
beautiful in my opinion.

There are many many more, but then I'd be getting into top 15 instead
of five.
:D

On Dec 12, 9:35 pm, "Andrew Bain" <andrew.d.b...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks for that Derek
> I take your comments about Caruso. I have never much cared for aspects of
> his voice either but perhaps wrongly have always put it down to being of a
> different age. Certainly some of the liberties he takes with an aria like
> Una furtiva lagrima would be tantamount to career suicide in todays age. I
> guess I have always felt he is held in such esteem I should like him!
>
> Glad you love Wunderlich I am listening to his Kuda Kuda as I type although
> he sings it in german shame he recorded so little out of his native tongue.
>
> I can't believe I didn't mention Di Stefano in my posting I agree in his
> pomp it was such a natural gorgeous sound, have you  all heard his "Salut
> demeure chaste pure" with the most incredible top C diminuendo - how ON
> EARTH did he do that! If anyone hasn't I will try to find it on my old
> computer. I believe Bing said it was the most beautiful thing he had ever
> heard in an opera house, this is probably old news to people on here
> apologies if it is. I agree with your comment on his painting of the lyrics
> and always find this hard to compute with the other fact I read that he
> never really understood what he was singing, I suppose some people are just
> naturals.
>

> ...
>
> read more »- Hide quoted text -

[Ann-Mai]

Hi.
Jana, thank you for posting those two files of Beno Blachut. I enjoyed
very much listening to it. He sounds like a good and solid tenor to
me, and it was fun hearing "E lucevan" in Czech. The Dvorak piece was
beautiful. I don’t think I knew that one.

Like Gary, my favourite tenors also change a little from time to time,
but at the moment my top five favourites would be:

1. Lanza
2. Domingo
3. di Stefano
4. Corelli
5. Villazón

Oh! Villazón was in Copenhagen this august giving a recital in the
concert hall of our Tivoli Gardens, and I was there. Whoopee!!! He was
fantastic. Back to his old self, giving his all – no trace of any kind
of voice problems whatsoever.
He even addressed the audience in Danish, saying "Mine damer og
herrer, jeg er meget glad for at vaere her – igen" which is "Ladies
and gentlemen, I am very happy to be here – again" (he was scheduled
to sing last year, but had to cancel) - and the audience went
completely wild.
When he had finish his three encores some women from the audience ran
up to the stage with flowers for him, and one of them even had a heart
shaped box of chocolate for him. He got three or four standing
ovations, and people were whistling and stamping their feet like
crazy, they just wouldn’t let him go. It was a great experience.

> ...
>
> læs mere »- Skjul tekst i anførselstegn -
>
> - Vis tekst i anførselstegn -

[gary from N.S.]

Hello Ann-Mai,

I am so pleased with your account of seeing a healthy Villazon,in
Denmark this past summer. He is one of my favourites,along with
Alvrarez, as far as the current tenors are concerned. Villazon has a
wonderful and natural rapport with the fans.He seems a genuine
"likeable" chap. I love seeing him with Netrebko,they are dynamite
together.
Cheers

> ...
>
> read more »

[ShawDAMAN]

By the way, my top 5 was in no particular order, except for Lanza
being number one. The rest of the numbers you can disregard. :)

[Derek McGovern]

Some of our newer members may have missed this earlier link of mine to
a magnificent Carreras rendition of Core 'ngrato:

http://www.4shared.com/account/file/47132704/34c00163/Core_ngrato.html

It's a live performance from 1980, and, for those who only know the
sound of the later Carreras, this performance should come as a
revelation. *This* is the combination of voice and delivery that I
fell in love with in the late 1970s, and it's a shame that so much of
his early brilliance (and I do feel that he was the most gifted tenor
of his generation) has been overlooked.

[ShawDAMAN]

Very good! Thanks. :) Again, wonderful instrument as you say, just a
shame that his prime was so short-lived.