# Round One. Don Giovanni:Dalla Sua Pace. Alva and Hadley



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I have in my opinion a wide array of really wonderful performances of this beautiful aria with 6 artists. I am including the video version of Hadley as it has a translation.




Jerry Hadley sings "Dalla Sua Pace" from Don Giovanni by W. A. Mozart; Conductor: James Levine; MET 5.4.1990 




Don Giovanni (1987 Remastered Version) , Act I: Dalla sua pace (Don Ottavio) · Luigi Alva/Philharmonia Orchestra/Carlo Maria Giulini


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

My other contestants, some new to the contests, are Wunderlich, Tauber, Burrows and Gigli. They are all wonderful!


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> My other contestants, some new to the contests, are Wunderlich, Tauber, Burrows and Gigli. They are all wonderful!


With this list, I'm pretty sure I know whom I'll be going for. When it comes to Wunderlich, I'm a bit like MAS with Corelli. I find it hard to be objective!


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> With this list, I'm pretty sure I know whom I'll be going for. When it comes to Wunderlich, I'm a bit like MAS with Corelli. I find it hard to be objective!


I put him in there for you, but these others to my limited taste are all really wonderful. We'll see what the others think.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I put him in there for you, but these others to my limited taste are all really wonderful. We'll see what the others think.


I'm sure they are (although it's not the sort of repertoire I'd expect Gigli to shine in), but, when it comes to Wunderlich, I find it impossible to be objectve. The mere sound of his voice destroys me!


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Dramatically there is very little to do in this aria. What is most required is the ability to spin out a pure line, and it seems to me that Alva's more slender voice is better suited to the aria. He also sings with feeling and his phrasing is most musical. I got to know this music through the Giulini recording and there is also the possibility that my familiarity with Alva's singing swayed my vote. Neverthless I thought Hadley sounded effortful by comparison. Alva wins for me.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I'm sure they are (although it's not the sort of repertoire I'd expect Gigli to shine in), but, when it comes to Wunderlich, I find it impossible to be objectve. The mere sound of his voice destroys me!


Ok then, but you will be more understanding of me when I get swept away with the just the beauty of a singer's voice 😜


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Dramatically there is very little to do in this aria. What is most required is the ability to spin out a pure line, and it seems to me that Alva's more slender voice is better suited to the aria. He also sings with feeling and his phrasing is most musical. I got to know this music through the Giulini recording and there is also the possibility that my familiarity with Alva's singing swayed my vote. Neverthless I thought Hadley sounded effortful by comparison. Alva wins for me.


I'm not going to vote as it is close for me but I agree with what you say. But, don't hate me for this...I find Hadley's singing to be very beautiful I sort of discovered him late but I developed a kind of soft spot for him because most big name tenors other than Tucker are international but he was a home grown American with a gorgeous set of pipes and he looked nice onstage.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

This one is easy. Alva. I like the edge to his voice. And Jeemy tends to make it too slow in Hadley's case.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Alva was in my first recording of this opera, so I have a soft spot for him. I like Jerry Hadley, though he is not as elegant as Alva. Hadley’s voice suits the more forceful passages.


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## PaulFranz (May 7, 2019)

Alva is thin and reedy. Easy vote for Jerry.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Both are getting votes so I chose ok.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Alva is not a favourite of mine. Hadley is good here, if needing a little more refinement, but the voice is more agreeable.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

I would have split my vote if given the chance - Listened the first time, couldn't find much to criticize in either but found both to be quite agreeable - Didn't read the reviews - Listened a second time - Still found myself sitting on the fence - Which, FYI, is not exactly the most comfortable position to be in - How did that ever become a idiom? - Who would actually sit on a fence when trying to make a decision? - Anyway, decided to read the reviews, read @Tsaraslondon 's comment about "What is most required is the ability to spin out a pure line" and thought that Alva had the edge on that one. Unlike some, I didn't think the pacing of the Hadley version was too slow and that he acquitted himself honorably.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Shaughnessy said:


> I would have split my vote if given the chance - Listened the first time, couldn't find much to criticize in either but found both to be quite agreeable - Didn't read the reviews - Listened a second time - Still found myself sitting on the fence - Which, FYI, is not exactly the most comfortable position to be in - How did that ever become a idiom? - Who would actually sit on a fence when trying to make a decision? - Anyway, decided to read the reviews, read @Tsaraslondon 's comment about "What is most required is the ability to spin out a pure line" and thought that Alva had the edge on that one. Unlike some, I didn't think the pacing of the Hadley version was too slow and that he acquitted himself honorably.


In the South we just gossiped by the fence.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Both are good, but Alva sings with just a bit more ease and elegance.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

I'd rate these as two very good renditions of the aria. I didn't really hear anything extremely distinctive from either. I knew Hadley's voice before he became famous and preferred the earlier sound which was pure lyric and seamless. The core he added later, undoubtedly helped his career it just made the sound less attractive to me. Alva probably gets a few more points for Mozartian style but he didn't blow me away. However, I'm glad he stayed full toned....always thought he could get a little falsetto-ish up top but that may be based on too little evidence. But I'll go for Alva.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Ok then, but you will be more understanding of me when I get swept away with the just the beauty of a singer's voice 😜


I can’t explain why I always succumb to Wunderlich’s beautiful voice, but it helps that his vocal endowments are backed up by an innate musicality. He may not delve as deep as some in his Lieder interpretations, but his singing is always unfailingly musical.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I can’t explain why I always succumb to Wunderlich’s beautiful voice, but it helps that his vocal endowments are backed up by an innate musicality. He may not delve as deep as some in his Lieder interpretations, but his singing is always unfailingly musical.


My sister is very very picky about singers and praises very few but she loves him.


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