# Duet. Parigi o Cara: Galli Curci and Schipa, McCormack and Bori, Caniglia Gilgi



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)




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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Don't just vote for your favorite singer but for the best pair.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Okay. Because I must vote for the pair, sadly that knocks that gorgeous rendering by Schipa out the window because Gigli's was close to perfection as well and even MacCormack's was fine but the first 2 sopranos were left behind (particularly Bori who sounded like a little child) in favor of Caniglia whose voice not only trumped (oops sorry!) the other two but also sang in unison with Gigli more smoothly together.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

The Gigli/Caniglia is live and in pretty poor sound. Here's a studio, for reference:





Lots of good singers here, so I will take my time to listen to them all carefully.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

vivalagentenuova said:


> The Gigli/Caniglia is live and in pretty poor sound. Here's a studio, for reference:
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Since only Nina had voted and voted for them anyway, I substituted the studio version, which I was not aware of.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

No clear winner for me with surprising omissions.

Schipa, singing Parigi O Cara, sounds like engrave the trophy right now. But it seemed to take him awhile to get going. The opening had a note to note approach that seemed uninvolved. He loosened into it as he went along. By comparison Galli-Curci sounded loose as could be and the different styles may have been connected to character but it just seemed unusual to me. Both sounded fantastic.

Then McCormack...has he ever heard the aria? I know that he's not the first to place syllables in unusual places but he did it alot, omitted singing a verse in duet (must be an explanation for that)and had some very un-italian sounding pronunciations. I've never been able to get anything close to the lyric beauty he was supposed to possess from his records so I was not inspired. Bori seemed to have that same loose musicality as Galli-Curci, but she also sounded great.

If Gigli's was a modern recording I would have said they had the reverb turned up, he sounded so resonant and full. Technology could not be the answer because Caniglia sounded downright strangled at her first entrance. Okay, Gigli...Caniglia...vocally we are not on the same plain but the difference was striking. Unfortunately Gigli,for me, often gets diminishing returns when he "gets into" a piece and he was getting into it here. So often he gets maudlin. It wasn't extreme but it subtracted for me.

I thought they'd whisk away the prize but Schipa and Galli-Curci simply picked it up.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

McCormack, with his weird phrasing (he must’ve learned the part in English), spoiled it, despite his lovely voice; he is heard best in his English recordings. Bori was no compensation. 

The two Italian pairs were different from each other, Schipa, ever the stylist, does wonderful things with everything he touches; Galli-Curci’s pointy voice does him no favors. But where is the passion in this piece? They sing beautifully but…

The passion is found with Gigli and Caniglia. Take it away, you two!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

The Schipa/Galli-Curci and McCormack/Bori teams turn in similar interpretations, both elegantly sung. Awkwardly, I prefer Schipa to McCormack and Bori to Galli-Curci (did the Irishman have a different edition of the score?). Gigli/Caniglia is something else again, with a more emotional atmosphere provided by Gigli's all-purpose lachrymosity and the hint of verismo hysteria inherent in Caniglia's vocal equipment. Something is added thereby, but I'm not sure it's something I want added. In the end I think the impeccable Schipa is the main factor that must determine my vote. I always feel that he and Galli-Curci love singing together.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I am always pleased when the voting is a toss up. Next time is very different with more recent artists in video and closing it out with Callas. Caniglia can be wonderful when she doesn't have to sing many high notes. Sempre Libera might be something altogether different with her singing it.


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

As others have stated, the McCormack/Bori, although finely sung, isn't really in the competition here. Gigli puts in an intensely passionate performance (one would expect nothing less), and Caniglia matches. The two, especially at the end, are impressively in sync. The Galli Curci/Schipa is in rather harsh sound (I would guess Galli Curci suffers in particular for this); Schipa is often described in terms of vocal poetry and he doesn't disappoint here. The vocalism is sensitive, nuanced, with a brilliant balance between heartbreak and passion.

Given the dramatic context of the aria and the words, words that both lovers must know deep in their hearts' is a gentle fantasy, is unrestrained passion entirely appropriate? No one has died, they have long been in love, and the initial greeting is over. The balance, hint of melancholy rather than a bout of lachrymosa, quieter poetry that must pervade such a moment, as well as respect for the brief happiness of the felicous fantasy makes the Galli Curci/Schipa the winner in my books.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I am always pleased when the voting is a toss up. Next time is very different with more recent artists in video and closing it out with Callas. Caniglia can be wonderful when she doesn't have to sing many high notes. Sempre Libera might be something altogether different with her singing it.


Different indeed. A real duck-and-cover experience.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

BachIsBest said:


> Given the dramatic context of the aria and the words, words that both lovers must know deep in their hearts' is a gentle fantasy, is unrestrained passion entirely appropriate? No one has died, they have long been in love, and the initial greeting is over. The balance, hint of melancholy rather than a bout of lachrymosa, quieter poetry that must pervade such a moment, as well as respect for the brief happiness of the felicous fantasy makes the Galli Curci/Schipa the winner in my books.


I agree. The duet is a sweet fantasy, a respite from the tragedy that surrounds it. Nothing in the music says otherwise.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

This duet should be a wistful dream of what will never be, a brief moment of happiness before the inevitable tragedy that will follow. Alfredo and Violetta sing about their future together, knowing that they don't have one, even if Alfredo at least tries to believe it.

Of the three couples here, Gigli and Caniglia give me the least idea of that. I know I go on about this a lot, but I get no context at all. If you didn't know the opera, you might find it OK, but I do and it moved me not one bit. Incidentally, Gigli slightly aspirates his opening phrases, so we get "ca-ha-ha-ra", something that Schipa and McCormack avoid entirely. 

I find it harder to decide on the other pair. McCormack is the only non Italian here, which may account for his slightly weird phrasing. It doesn't however affect his legato and it bothers me less than it bothers others here. Schipa starts out uncharacteristically stiff but warms into his task and sings with his usual style. (It might have been interesting to compare him to his pupil Valletti, who sings the role with Callas in Covent Garden, but I believe SOF has gone for the Lisbon/Kraus recording.) 

I like both Galli-Curci and Bori and find it hard to choose between them, but, as a pair, I think I must vote for Schipa and Galli-Curci for giving the more idiomatic performance.


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