The greatest tenors of the century
Tom Kaufman
Paolo, this subject came up. The posting below incorporates many suggestions by
the esteemed Don, for which I am grateful:
Dear friends:
As the century draws to a close, I thought it might be fun to discuss the
greatest tenors of the century, arranging them by decade. I will try to list
them according to my perception of the popular taste, and will try to keep my
own preferences out of it as much as possible (difficult, but hopefully, not
impossible). I had originally hoped to limit this list to one tenor per decade,
but in the 20s and 30s and again durng the 50s and 60s we had a plethora of
riches.
Still, I do want to make a few stipulations:
1. I plan to limit it to specalists in Italian opera
2. I will give preference to singers with international careers over those who
either sang primarily at the Met, or virtually never at the Met.
3. I will also give preference to tenors who dominated in their own time,
rather than those whose fame seemed to come more at the end of their careers.
4. For some decades, the choice is an easy one. For others, there are quite a
few. I have tried to limit it to three or four tenors per decade.
1900s: Caruso
1910s: Caruso
1920s: Gigli and Lauri-Volpi
1930s: Gigli and Lauri-Volpi
I would have included Pertile, Martinelli and Lazaro--but the first and third
sang very little at the Met, while Martinelli seemed to sing there most of the
time. But there were many others: Fleta, Cortis, Piccaluga, Schipa. Had they
sung at almost any other time, they would have made the cut, except that some
of them either never sang at the Met, or sang there very little..
1940s Bjoerling, Gigli, Lauri-Volpi and Masini
1950s Bjoerling, Del Monaco, Di Stefano, Tucker
1960s: Del Monaco, Corelli, Tucker
1970s: Pavarotti, Carreras and Corelli
1980s: Pavarotti and Domingo
1990s: Pavarotti and Domingo
Again, I tried to bend over backwards to keep my own preferences from
interfering.
Cheers
Don Tommaso
Tom Kaufman
URL of web site:
<A href="www.geocities.com/Vienna/8917/index.html">Tom Kaufman's site</A>
Steve Silverman
news:20001112073937...@ng-ck1.aol.com...
> During a friendly discussion over the phone with fellow "consiglio
member", Don
> Paolo, this subject came up. The posting below incorporates many
suggestions by
> the esteemed Don, for which I am grateful:
Tom, although it's hard to find fault with your list, I'm a little surprised
that Bergonzi doesn't get a look in.
--
Steve Silverman (st...@operaworld.fsnet.co.uk)
Essex
England
Tom Kaufman
>that Bergonzi doesn't get a look in.
Od Dear!! How could I forget him??
But then, I omitted such super tenors as Vignas, Palet, O'Sullivan, Vezzani,
Thill, Jadlowker.
And I even included "him".
Cheers
Hyde
GRNDPADAVE
Nice list, especially when the exclusion of Bergonzi is rectified.
Also (unaccountably) excluded was Nicolai Gedda, the outstanding Russian,
French, German lyric, Mozart, Rossini, etc., tenor from around 1953 to the
1970s.
Placido Domingo? Did Don Paolo actually agree to have that name appear on your
honor roll?
Libera me, Domine.
==G/P Dave
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>From: tomk...@aol.com (Tom Kaufman)
>Date: 11/12/2000 8:30 AM Central Standard Time
>Message-id: <20001112093051...@ng-cm1.aol.com>
>
>>Tom, although it's hard to find fault with your list, I'm a little surprised
>>that Bergonzi doesn't get a look in.
>
>Od Dear!! How could I forget him??
>
>But then, I omitted such super tenors as Vignas, Palet, O'Sullivan, Vezzani,
>Thill, Jadlowker.
>
>And I even included "him".
>
>Cheers
>
>Hyde
>Tom Kaufman
>URL of web site:
>Tom Kaufman's site
Sandra Schwartz
that's a shame because he does deserve to be included on a list of the great
tenors of the century.
--Sandra Schwartz
Steve Silverman wrote in message <8um8in$uqn$1...@newsg4.svr.pol.co.uk>...
>"Tom Kaufman" <tomk...@aol.com> wrote in message
>news:20001112073937...@ng-ck1.aol.com...
>> During a friendly discussion over the phone with fellow "consiglio
>member", Don
>> Paolo, this subject came up. The posting below incorporates many
>suggestions by
>> the esteemed Don, for which I am grateful:
>
>Tom, although it's hard to find fault with your list, I'm a little
surprised
>that Bergonzi doesn't get a look in.
>
Tom Kaufman
>French, German lyric, Mozart, Rossini, etc., tenor from around 1953 to the
>1970s.
Gedda was far from being a specialisty in Italian opera. Hence his omission
makes sense, especially when we remember that Italian opera was his weak suit.
As for Domingo's inclusion, I was quite specific--I tried to leave my taste out
of it, hence Domingo is eligible.
I will post my favorites separatly---and you can be sure Domingo won't make
it--neither will Bergonzi. In his case, my view that his importance was largely
in retrospect.
Cheers
Hyde
Tom Kaufman
URL of web site:
dtritter
number of exponents of other than italian opera? thill? i'm sure others
here will be heard from on the subject. some of the short career tenors,
for example, such as schmidt and wunderlich...
and some of the kaufman secondary list may qualify for active
dislike...no names, please.
dft
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R. van der Worm
R.
"Tom Kaufman" <tomk...@aol.com> schreef in bericht
news:20001112073937...@ng-ck1.aol.com...
> During a friendly discussion over the phone with fellow "consiglio
member", Don
> Paolo, this subject came up. The posting below incorporates many
suggestions by
> the esteemed Don, for which I am grateful:
>
Corellifan
1900's: Corelli wasn't born, so who cares?
1910's: Ditto
1920's: Corelli was a kid, but I'm sure he could wail with the best of them,
and I'm sure it was open-throated.
1930's: Ditto
1940's: Corelli was beginning to learn how to sing. This qualifies him as the
greatest singer of the decade.
1950's: Corelli
1960's: Corelli
1970's: Corelli
1980's: Corelli (Only concerts/recitals, but in his case, that' all he needs)
1990's: Corelli (I know he wasn't singin', but since he's still breathin',
he's in!)
>I tried to bend over backwards to keep my own preferences from
>interfering.
This is obviously Tom's statement, not mine!! I openly admit that I allow my
preference for Corelli to interfere!!
Oxydols,
John
Tom Kaufman
>does the name lauritz melchior ring a bell? or, for that matter, any
>number of exponents of other than italian opera? thill? i'm sure others
>here will be heard from on the subject. some of the short career tenors,
>for example, such as schmidt and wunderlich...
>
He evidently missed part of my posting, where I said:
1. I plan to limit it to specialists in Italian opera.
Neither Thill nor Melchior qualify. Much as love Thill, and he did sing some
Italian opera, he really did not fulfill the requirements. Melchior hardly sang
any, singing mostly Wagner.
Cheers
Tenormaniac
Tom Kaufman
Tom Kaufman
>
That's a matter of opinion, not fact.
And, as Sandra said, he was always taken for granted--and was never given the
recognition during his heyday that would have made me include him.
Cheers
Tom
Tom Kaufman
Dave Pickering
news:3A0EC41D...@bway.net...
> does the name lauritz melchior ring a bell? or, for that matter, any
> number of exponents of other than italian opera? thill? i'm sure others
> here will be heard from on the subject. some of the short career tenors,
> for example, such as schmidt and wunderlich...
>
From Tom Kaufman's original post in this thread
"Tom Kaufman" <tomk...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20001112073937...@ng-ck1.aol.com...
>
> Still, I do want to make a few stipulations:
>
> 1. I plan to limit it to specalists in Italian opera
>
> 2. I will give preference to singers with international careers over those
who
> either sang primarily at the Met, or virtually never at the Met.
>
> 3. I will also give preference to tenors who dominated in their own time,
> rather than those whose fame seemed to come more at the end of their
careers.
>
Despite #1 on the list, I agree that some special exception should have been
made in the case of Melchior (btw, from the brief snippets I've heard, he
could have been one of the greatest Otellos of the century if he'd been able
to perform the role more).
If there is ever a list devoted to tragically short-lived tenors who should
have had phenominal careers, Schmidt and Wunderlich would be at the top of
the list.
--
Dave Pickering
dav...@earthlink.net
"If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you."
donpaolo
GRNDPADAVE <grndp...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20001112095936...@ng-cb1.aol.com...
> Hi Tom:
> Placido Domingo? Did Don Paolo actually agree to have that name appear on
your
> honor roll?
>
> Libera me, Domine.
>
> ==G/P Dave
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was late; I had finished nearly 3 glasses of champagne; Tom stipulated &
underscored the "public acclaim" groundrule, not reflecting the actual
merits/demerits of the particular tenors; his Rottweiler/Pit Bull pet had me
gently by the throat; he (Tom) charmed me into agreeing to the omission of
Vickers, Gedda, Bergonzi; etc., etc.
I guess I owe a "mea maxima culpa" to all the "di quattro e piu" members.
Verdi, Puccini, Giordano, mi perdonate.
DonPaolo
donpaolo
DonP.
Corellifan <corel...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20001112132340...@ng-cb1.aol.com...
Ed Rosen
granted, but so was Tucker, at least at the Met. The big record companies
obviously never took Bergonzi for granted though. He was constantly sought after
to record leading roles for London/Decca, RCA, EMI, Phillips, DGG, and others.
His recordings alone should allow his inclusion on the greatest tenors list. And
I don't think he ever made a bad recording. Some are exemplary- many, in fact. I
still don't think that any tenor since at least Gigli has recorded the Boheme
aria as beautifully as Bergonzi in the Serafin set with Tebaldi. It is more
melting and gorgeous than words can describe. If you want a young tenor to hear
how Che gelida manina should be sung, you could do no better than playing the
Bergonzi version.
I know Tom was making his list without his own tastes being taken into account,
as witness the inclusion of Mr. Domingo. I feel about the same as Tom about
Domingo, but would never put him as the greatest tenors of the 90's. His
performances in the 90's, were, IMO, with few exceptions, awful. Full of
hoarseness and cracks, and unpleasant, squeezed sound. For that matter his
performances in the 80's were similar, but not nearly as bad.
Also, Pavarotti in the 90's, except for the first year or two of the decade,
sang poorly. I don't honestly know who to name for the 90's. If Met performances
are a chief criteria, then I guess Pav and Placido must rule. But if quality of
performance counts, they must be ruled out.
Best,
Ed
Custo...@earthlink.net for free catalog of CDs, Video & Audio Cassettes
Wilson Nichols
Wilson Nichols
"donpaolo" <donp...@erols.com> wrote in message
news:8ump31$nc4$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...
Paul Montesanti
Paul M
Wilson Nichols wrote in message
<8unmgr$b0kc$1...@newssvr06-en0.news.prodigy.com>...
Lars Henriksson
1910's Jussi Björling and Gigli start singing. Björling was only a kid, but
that's enough.
1920's, Jussi, both as a boy and a grownup. Gigli
1930's Björling and Gigli
1940's Björling (Gigli now too old)
1950's Björling, DiStefano, DelMonaco
1960's Björling (8 months is enough), Domingo (fine live Hoffman pirate with
Sills, NY City Opera 1965), Pavarotti
1970's Domingo, Pavarotti
1980's Ditto
1990's Ditto
--
Lars Henriksson, Sweden
opera singer, pianist
la...@hotmail.com
Corellifan <corel...@aol.com> skrev i
diskussionsgruppsmeddelandet:20001112132340...@ng-cb1.aol.com...
Corellifan
>
>1910's Jussi Björling and Gigli start singing. Björling was only a kid, but
>that's enough.
>
>1920's, Jussi, both as a boy and a grownup. Gigli
>
>1930's Björling and Gigli
>
>1940's Björling (Gigli now too old)
>
>1950's Björling, DiStefano, DelMonaco
>
>1960's Björling (8 months is enough), Domingo (fine live Hoffman pirate with
>Sills, NY City Opera 1965), Pavarotti
>
>1970's Domingo, Pavarotti
>
>1980's Ditto
>
>1990's Ditto
>
>>
What, no Corelli??!! You've obviously allowed your personal preferences to
interfere!!
Eduardo Baez
aware that you are not personally inclined towards either Bjoerling or
Domingo!! Yet, as a good, objective historian, you included them in the
list. Here is my take:
1900s: Caruso
1910s: Caruso and McCormack (the latter from 1910 until 1917 or so, when he
stopped singing in opera performances).
1920s: Gigli and Martinelli
1930s: Gigli and Bjoerling
1940s: Bjoerling, Di Stefano (1946-49), and Gigli.
1950s: Bjoerling, Di Stefano, Del Monaco, Tucker
1960s Corelli, Tucker, Bergonzi. But ffrom here on we're in perfect
agreement:
1970s: Pavarotti, Carreras and Corelli
1980s: Pavarotti and Domingo
1990s: Pavarotti and Domingo
"Tom Kaufman" <tomk...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20001112073937...@ng-ck1.aol.com...
> During a friendly discussion over the phone with fellow "consiglio
member", Don
> Paolo, this subject came up. The posting below incorporates many
suggestions by
> the esteemed Don, for which I am grateful:
>
> Dear friends:
>
> As the century draws to a close, I thought it might be fun to discuss the
> greatest tenors of the century, arranging them by decade. I will try to
list
> them according to my perception of the popular taste, and will try to keep
my
> own preferences out of it as much as possible (difficult, but hopefully,
not
> impossible). I had originally hoped to limit this list to one tenor per
decade,
> but in the 20s and 30s and again durng the 50s and 60s we had a plethora
of
> riches.
>
> Still, I do want to make a few stipulations:
>
> 1. I plan to limit it to specalists in Italian opera
>
> 2. I will give preference to singers with international careers over those
who
> either sang primarily at the Met, or virtually never at the Met.
>
> 3. I will also give preference to tenors who dominated in their own time,
> rather than those whose fame seemed to come more at the end of their
careers.
>
> 4. For some decades, the choice is an easy one. For others, there are
quite a
> few. I have tried to limit it to three or four tenors per decade.
>
> 1900s: Caruso
>
> 1910s: Caruso
>
> 1920s: Gigli and Lauri-Volpi
>
> 1930s: Gigli and Lauri-Volpi
>
> I would have included Pertile, Martinelli and Lazaro--but the first and
third
> sang very little at the Met, while Martinelli seemed to sing there most of
the
> time. But there were many others: Fleta, Cortis, Piccaluga, Schipa. Had
they
> sung at almost any other time, they would have made the cut, except that
some
> of them either never sang at the Met, or sang there very little..
>
> 1940s Bjoerling, Gigli, Lauri-Volpi and Masini
>
> 1950s Bjoerling, Del Monaco, Di Stefano, Tucker
>
> 1960s: Del Monaco, Corelli, Tucker
>
> 1970s: Pavarotti, Carreras and Corelli
>
> 1980s: Pavarotti and Domingo
>
> 1990s: Pavarotti and Domingo
>
> Again, I tried to bend over backwards to keep my own preferences from
> interfering.
>
Tom Hamilton
>>1900's: Enrico Caruso, also1910's...
>>1910's 20's and 30's Martinelli + Tauber,+
"The Great Dane" and Schmidt
40/50 George Thill, + many others.
To limit your choices to Gigli and Bjoerling and eliminate Corelli. Vickers
???
Lars Henriksson <la...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:KUVP5.1523$Sl4....@nntpserver.swip.net...
> 1900's: Uninteresting because of the poor recording quality
>
> 1910's Jussi Björling and Gigli start singing. Björling was only a kid,
but
> that's enough.
>
> 1920's, Jussi, both as a boy and a grownup. Gigli
>
> 1930's Björling and Gigli
>
> 1940's Björling (Gigli now too old)
>
> 1950's Björling, DiStefano, DelMonaco
>
> 1960's Björling (8 months is enough), Domingo (fine live Hoffman pirate
with
> Sills, NY City Opera 1965), Pavarotti
>
> 1970's Domingo, Pavarotti
>
> 1980's Ditto
>
> 1990's Ditto
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Lars Henriksson, Sweden
> opera singer, pianist
> la...@hotmail.com
>
>
>
> Corellifan <corel...@aol.com> skrev i
>
diskussionsgruppsmeddelandet:20001112132340...@ng-cb1.aol.com...
> > Here's my list:
> >
> > 1900's: Corelli wasn't born, so who cares?
> >
> > 1910's: Ditto
> >
> > 1920's: Corelli was a kid, but I'm sure he could wail with the best of
> them,
> > and I'm sure it was open-throated.
> >
> > 1930's: Ditto
> >
> > 1940's: Corelli was beginning to learn how to sing. This qualifies him
> as the
> > greatest singer of the decade.
> >
> > 1950's: Corelli
> >
> > 1960's: Corelli
> >
> > 1970's: Corelli
> >
> > 1980's: Corelli (Only concerts/recitals, but in his case, that' all he
> needs)
> >
> > 1990's: Corelli (I know he wasn't singin', but since he's still
> breathin',
> > he's in!)
> >
> > >I tried to bend over backwards to keep my own preferences from
> > >interfering.
> >
Ed Rosen
He died in 1975- the same year Corelli stopped singing. And Tucker was in much
better vocal estate than Corelli during the 70's, though he was ten years older.
Best,
Ed
Custo...@Earthlink.net for free catalog of CDs, Video & Audio Cassettes
Eduardo Baez wrote:
> > them according to my perception of the popular taste, and will try to keep
> my
> > Again, I tried to bend over backwards to keep my own preferences from
> > interfering.
> >
A T
> > Placido Domingo? Did Don Paolo actually agree to have that name appear on
> your> > honor roll?
DON PAOLISSIMO: SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!
":-))))))))
BEST REGARDS
AT
Joel P. Klein
I wonder why no mention of Jan Peerce for the 40s and 50s? Certainly
a memorable style and career!
Lars Henriksson
> What, no Corelli??!! You've obviously allowed your personal preferences
to
> interfere!!
>
YES! I thought I would limit myself to three (3) names each decade, and I
could not leave out any of my other choices during the 50's and 60's.
But OK, Corelli could be the 4th name during the 60's ( I do think he's
better than Bergonzi)
And another name must be mentioned during the 90's.... The singer is...
LARS HENRIKSSON, usually a bass-baritone - based SOLELY on his
interpretation of SPOLETTA last year at the northernmost musical festival in
the world.
And this time I've surely let my personal preferences to interfere.
;-)
All the best,
Lars Henriksson
GRNDPADAVE
It should have been titled: "My favorite Italianate tenors of the last 100
years".
But, no, it uses a more daunting title and challenges one to a
"my-****-is-bigger than your-***".
Left out are some of my favorites:
Alain Vanzo
Cesare Valletti
Alfredo Kraus
Jan Peerce
Ivan Kozlovsky
Peter Anders
Fritz Wunderlich
Nicola Monti
Josef Schmidt
Richard Tauber
Nicolai Gedda
Richard Lewis
Wolfgang Windgassen
Helge Roswaenge
Rudolf Schock
Sandor Konya
Peter Dvorsky
Stuart Burrows
These are among my favorites and whether they are the "greatest" or not is
irrelevant, immaterial and unprovable.
==G/P Dave
Eduardo Baez
Pavarotti and Domingo in the seventies. Oops! That would be more than the
number of tenors per decade allowed in the groundrules that Don Tomas set
down. But let us be lenient, if just for the sake of that last great decade
for tenors.
"Ed Rosen" <custo...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:3A108246...@earthlink.net...
G Riggs
Tucker.
> He died in 1975- the same year Corelli stopped singing. And Tucker was in
much
> better vocal estate than Corelli during the 70's, though he was ten years
older.
>
> Best,
> Ed
Alas, yes, even though I freely admit I'm one of those who find the
occasionally percussive accents of Tucker post-1953 regrettable.
Nevertheless, an A/B of Corelli/Tucker during the '70s shows Tucker in much
more secure form. Generally speaking, I still prefer Corelli overall to
Tucker because of a wider dynamic range and a warmer, more caressing vocal
line, IMO. But Tucker was simply the more assured musician and his greater
assurance in his final years proved it. BTW, ----------->
Tom Kaufman wrote:
> > > 2. I will give preference to singers with international careers over
those
> > who
> > > either sang primarily at the Met, or virtually never at the Met.
I wonder how many imponderables are opened up by this stipulation.
After all, during the teens, Caruso sang more often at the Met than anywhere
else to a staggering degree. Even when he sang abroad, it was frequently
with the entire Met Opera on tour. Might this disqualify him, despite his
continued international fame as a recording artist, from being the leading
international tenor? McCormack might be the stronger contender here, in
fact, with Caruso restricted to the '00s.
That brings us right back to Tucker and Corelli. No question, they were the
leading Italian-rep dramatic tenors of their time for the "Anglo circuit",
so to speak. But Corelli, while Tucker was securely ensconced by Bing at
the Met, maintained an international presence far more than Tucker did.
I write this not to try and remove either Caruso (for the teens) or Tucker
(for the latter Bing era) from the "mainstream" historic time-line, but to
question how rigorous one can realistically be in adopting our redoubtable
Mr. Kaufman's Stipulation #2. Respectfully, might Mr. Kaufman be interested
in further clarifying the parameters of this one, especially in defining
more rigorously his terms "primarily" and "virtually"?
Sincere thanks,
Geoffrey Riggs
--
==============================================
The Collector's Guide to Opera Recordings and Videos
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The Collector's Guide to Books on Opera
http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/7023/reading.htm
==============================================
Lars Henriksson
Indeed, yes. On a more serious note, if one is to follow the heading, people
like Windgassen (why is he almost forgotten by others than Wagner-fanatics?)
and surely Gedda.
Also Kozlovskij.
--
Lars Henriksson, Sweden
opera singer, pianist
la...@hotmail.com
GRNDPADAVE <grndp...@aol.com> skrev i
diskussionsgruppsmeddelandet:20001114173854...@ng-ca1.aol.com...
Ian Graham
<tomk...@aol.com> writes
>1950s Bjoerling, Del Monaco, Di Stefano, Tucker
>
>1960s: Del Monaco, Corelli, Tucker
>
>1970s: Pavarotti, Carreras and Corelli
>
>1980s: Pavarotti and Domingo
Bergonzi????
IG
--
Ian Graham