# Round Two: DUET Gia nella notte densa. Del Monaco and VDLA, Merli and Muzio



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I think both will be nice.




Otello: "Gia nella notte densa" (Live in New York City, Recorded June 12, 1957) · Mario Del Monaco · Leonard Warren · Victoria De Los Angeles · Choir of the New York Metropolitan Theatre · Giuseppe Verdi · Fausto Cleva · Orchestra of the New York Metropolitan Theatre 




Gia nella notte densa (Otello) · Francesco Merli · Claudia Muzio Lebendige Vergangenheit - Francesco Merli (Vol. 2)


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

Never heard Merli before.took some getting used to but I just liked him more and more as the duet went on. I thought Mario was in great form as well and found them very close but I think I preferred Merli. This isn't what I thought Muzio was known for. She was involved but in a restrained way but I thought her vocalism was gorgeous. Isn't she the verismo stage animal? The standout to me, no surprise, was Victoria. All the engagement in her feelings for Otello that Caballe lacked, while singing beautifully. She should have a higher place among the all time greats than I think she gets. She's the reason I'm going with MDM and VDLA!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Merli sang dramatic roles such as Otello, Calaf and Chenier, and his distinctive vibrato could lend excitement to them. I'm not particularly fond of the vibrato, or of the pathetic quality that I think sounds a little out of character in some of the heroic music he sang. He does get a bit more expressiveness into Otello's tender moments than Del Monaco does, but the latter has more toughness and metal in his voice, which I think suits Otello better. As my mother liked to say, six o' one, half a dozen o' the other.

I'm a little torn about the ladies too, but in this role I think I prefer Muzio's darker, fuller, more intense tone to VDLA's slenderer, lighter, acid-sweet one. The idea of anyone calling Vicky a strumpet and throwing her to the floor, much less murdering her, is just too much to bear. 

I'll go with Merli and Muzio, whose vibrant, thoroughly Italian voices make a fine duo.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I don’t care for either of the choices, Merli rough and quirky, Del Monaco somehow sounding weirdly underpowered. Of the ladies I like Muzio over de Los Angeles. Since I can’t choose, I can’t do better than follow Woodduck.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Both are wonderful. I love Merli, a really fantastic dramatic tenor, an exceptional Calaf and Manrico as well an Otello, sadly I don't think we have a complete recording of him in the role. Of the ladies I will go with Muzio for that extra lustre.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Has there ever been a duet contest in which we didn't want to pair one vocalist with the partner of the competing vocalist?


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Exactly Shaughnessy. My feelings too.
It isn't about Merli or del Monaco for me. It's a conundrum between Muzio and VDLA who both showed a brilliant light of beauty with their voices, thereby making it almost impossible to choose. VDLA exhibited a bit more emotion in her voice which I found appealing while Muzio's voice (an admitted favorite of my top 5) simply sounded beautiful and elegant. So how do I vote?
I am not normally a del Monaco fan and never have been but I admit his heroic sounding Otello suits him more than does Merli's, who showed more quiet passion. I would love a trade-up with del Monaco/Muzio to make me more comfortable but I can't have it so I shall go with Merli/Muzio -- mostly because of Muzio -- but this one was tough.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> Exactly Shaughnessy. My feelings too.
> It isn't about Merli or del Monaco for me. It's a conundrum between Muzio and VDLA who both showed a brilliant light of beauty with their voices, thereby making it almost impossible to choose. VDLA exhibited a bit more emotion in her voice which I found appealing while Muzio's voice (an admitted favorite of my top 5) simply sounded beautiful and elegant. So how do I vote?
> I am not normally a del Monaco fan and never have been but I admit his heroic sounding Otello suits him more than does Merli's, who showed more quiet passion. I would love a trade-up with del Monaco/Muzio to make me more comfortable but I can't have it so I shall go with Merli/Muzio -- mostly because of Muzio -- but this one was tough.


Don't take this in an antagonistic way, but I love it when you have a challenge with a contest I post


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## PaulFranz (May 7, 2019)

Merli sings like a madman in general, but he's one of my very favorite Italian tenors because he sings a very covered sound, relying more on overtone ring than on fundamental penetration. This style, redolent of Björling's, is passing rare among Italians. It also gives him the best top of all their dramatics.

I vote for him.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that I absolutely hate Victoria, possibly because I didn't recognize the initialism in the title. I don't get her voice AT ALL. It sounds breathy, weak, and uninvolved in everything she sings. She ruins all those recordings with Jussi.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I think both will be nice.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It is pretty even. 
Francesco Merli sounds like a psycho guy that Othello is, the jealous man with an inferiority complex. Mario del Monaco is more like the man I would want. Victoria de Los Angeles sounds very unpleasant at the top notes, but I suspect it is the problem of the recording. Muzio sounds better. When it is written like this, I should probably vote for Merli and Muzio - an Otello-like Otello and a more pleasant soprano. But I will not  . I am choosing the charming Mario del Monaco  .


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Of all the might-have-beens, I wish Corelli had sung Otello. Perhaps he was wise in not attempting it during his heyday, but he left a few tantalizing excerpts made during his decline: the first Act duet with Teresa Zylis-Gara at the Bing Gala and in the course of a tour of Japan with Tebaldi in 1973; both in audible decline, but what voices! ❤

There is also a TV appearance in a skit where he encounters himself as Otello and lip synchs the “_Esultate!” _to a pre-recorded track.

From 1981 there’s a amateur recording from a concert in New Jersey in which he sings the moving death-scene (“_Niun mi tema”). _


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

MAS said:


> Of all the might-have-beens, I wish Corelli had sung Otello. Perhaps he was wise in not attempting it during his heyday, but he left a few tantalizing excerpts made during his decline: the first Act duet with Teresa Zilis-Gara at the Bing Gala and in the course of a tour of Japan with Tebaldi in 1973; both in audible decline, but what voices! ❤
> 
> There is also a TV appearance in a skit where he encounters himself as Otello and lip synchs the “_Esultate!” _to a pre-recorded track.
> 
> From 1981 there’s a amateur recording from a concert in New Jersey in which he sings the moving death-scene (“_Niun mi tema”). _


You're breaking my heart


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

PaulFranz said:


> I absolutely hate Victoria, possibly because I didn't recognize the initialism in the title. I don't get her voice AT ALL. It sounds *breathy, weak, and uninvolved* in everything she sings. She ruins all those recordings with Jussi.


Although VDLA isn't generally one of my favorite singers (I enjoy her Mimi and Cio Cio San, and in song rep she can be delightful, especially Spanish song), I find your descriptive terms baffling. I don't hear any of that. Amazing how differently people hear things .


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

It seems I'm going against the prevailing tide in this. I'm not generally a fan of Del Monaco, but he is on quite good behaviour here and his voice and manner seems better suited to me to the character of Otello. Merli sounds a little lacrymose, almost as if he's going to burst into tears at any moment, which isn't right for the character at this point. So, in this duet, I find I prefer Del Monaco.

The two ladies are more difficult to seprate as both are among my favourite sopranos, but I do like Vicky's Desdemona and wish that she had got to record the role complete. (If only she'd been on the Serafin recording instead of Rysanek!) As it is, I think she is absolutely lovely here and the embodiment of the pure, trusting Desdemona.

Of course Muzio is wonderful too and I like her just about as much as De Los Angeles, but, as my preference from the two tenors is for Del Monaco, I'm going to give the prize to them.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Two classic versions (and I've never listened to them back to back).

I really like De los Angeles and she gets across Desdemona's innocence quite well here. However, it's when she sings out the main melody at "Quando narravi" that we hear the bloom and the gorgeous sheen of her voice. Wonderful! Del Monaco oversings at times, but I do think this live performance captures a better Otello performance from him than his studio versions of the opera. Very enjoyable and dramatically convincing this version.

I expect Merli to trump Del Monaco, but I'm interested to hear what I think of Muzio when up against Vicky. There's a directness to Merli's delivery that speaks to the heart and his diction is exemplary. He tends to nasality when singing high at times, but this is great singing. He is just as dramatic as Del Monaco, but technically better as well. I also like Muzio, but she isn't quite in the class of De los Angeles as she doesn't inhibit the character as well and she just isn't as intense.

I'm going with Del Monaco/De los Angeles as the whole thing as more life to it.

N.


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