# Your 5 favorite tenors of all time are........................



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

List your 5 favorites from most favorite through 5.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Those are mine:

Enrico Caruso - 




Sergei Lemeshev - 




Jussi Björling - 




Beniamino Gigli - 




Luciano Pavarotti -


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Caruso
Bjorling 
Di Stefano
Corelli
Bergonzi


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

Caruso
Melchior
Bjorling
Lemeshev
del Monaco


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Jonas Kaufmann
Fritz Wunderlich
Siegfried Jerusalem
José Carreras
Plácido Domingo


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## HumphreyAppleby (Apr 11, 2013)

Nicolai Gedda
Giuseppe di Stefano
Luciano Pavarotti
Daniele Barioni - a very underrated singer
Georges Thill - my favorite old-time singer


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

- Pavarotii (sp?)
- Andrea Bocelli
- Paul Potts
- Josh Groban
- David Miller


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## Volve (Apr 14, 2013)

Kaufmann
Jerusalem
Windgassen
Domingo
Corelli


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Couchie said:


> - Pavarotii (sp?)
> - Andrea Bocelli
> - Paul Potts
> - Josh Groban
> - David Miller


Bad green monster!!!!!!!!25 characters


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Jonas Kaufmann
Plácido Domingo
Topi Lehtipuu
Ian Bostridge
Klaus Florian Vogt


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Bad green monster!!!!!!!!25 characters


 Am missing something here. What does '25 characters' mean? :lol:


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Couchie said:


> - Pavarotii (sp?)
> - Andrea Bocelli
> - Paul Potts
> - Josh Groban
> - David Miller


Very funny,my sides are bursting.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

We had something like this from Jobis,but you are mean allowing only five.

No special order.

Beniamino Gigli.
Fernando de Lucia.
John McCormack.
Richard Tauber.
Jan Peerce.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

sospiro said:


> Am missing something here. What does '25 characters' mean? :lol:


The software only lets you post if you have a minimum of 25 characters - there are various ways of filling the space......


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## JCarmel (Feb 3, 2013)

These 3 for me....
Placido Domingo
Nicolai Gedda
Fritz Wunderlich
Someone else can have my other two....


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## Celloissimo (Mar 29, 2013)

Melchior
Caruso
Pavorotti
Suthhaus
Kaufmann


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> The software only lets you post if you have a minimum of 25 characters - there are various ways of filling the space......


D'oh. For some reason I thought the minimum was eleven!


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

sospiro said:


> D'oh. For some reason I thought the minimum was eleven!


It was but for some reason it's changed. Go figure.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

It really depends what they are singing. Obviously you wouldn't have Wunderlich singing Siegfried. But that is such a loveless role I cannot imagine it being anyone's favourite.
Looking at Mozart, maybe Wunderlich.
For leider, Schreier?
As an Italian tenor, Pavarotti was really special in the not too heavy roles.
For Wagner we must go to the remarkable Melchior, but with an extra vote for Vickers in Wagner, Verdi and also Beethoven's Fidelio.
Most versatile? In opera it would have to be Domingo.


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## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

My favorites are always changing, but here they are for the moment.

Jose Carreras
Placido Domingo
Alfredo Kraus
Giuseppe di Stefano
Luciano Pavarotti


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

Caruso
Melchior
Bjorling
Pavarotti
Gigli

Honerable Mention: John McCormack


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

1. Lauritz Melchior
2. Wolfgang Windgassen
3. Jon Vickers
4. Placido Domingo
5. (hard to say- Pavarotti, I guess)


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## Yashin (Jul 22, 2011)

Bjorling
Schipa
Aragall
Corelli
Bergonzi


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

My 5 favorite tenors. Well, I probably have more than 5, because they're all favorites for different reasons!

- di Stefano for the carefree way he tossed off the role of Riccardo in Ballo in Maschera. Incomparable.

- Domingo because he just works so damn hard.

- Gedda for his ethereal rendition of Je crois entendre encore.

- Calleja for the way he takes over the stage and makes the whole production better.

- Carreras for his amazing interpretation of Don Carlo.

- Kraus because everything he did he was the best at.

- Kraus is actually at the TOP of this list: you only THINK I only just thought of him.

- Marc Laho for the evil wit he brought to his interpretation of Comte Ory. Or Barry Banks for his loopy grin as Almaviva in the prequel. (Tie vote, there.)

- Jon Vickers because he just has an amazing voice.

- Neil Shicoff for his unforgettable Lensky and Hoffmann.

- Vasile Moldoveanu for his wonderful Adorno.

- is that 5? I think that's 5...


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## Hesoos (Jun 9, 2012)

Alfredo Kraus: best bel canto singer
Pavarotti: bel canto singer number 2
Carreras: best Verdi tenor. Very nice voice
Rene Kollo: best Wagner tenor
Siegfried Jerusalem: Wagner tenor number 2
(Domingo: not my favourite, but perhaps the best tenor of all times, he can sing almost everything, Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, Verismo...,and is a very good actor, I like more watch him on dvd than listen him on cd


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## SalieriIsInnocent (Feb 28, 2008)

Beniamino Gigli 
Luciano Pavarotti 
Mario Del Monaco
Rene Kollo
Bill Kenny (who fronted The Ink Spots during their golden years)


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

guythegreg said:


> - Neil Shicoff for his unforgettable Lensky and Hoffmann.


Don't forget Eléazar in La juive. I now couldn't imagine anyone else in the role.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Incidentally, Eléazar was the last role incorporated into Enrico Caruso's repertory. Her partner as Rachel, Rosa Ponselle, said "this was the greatest performance I have ever watched, or will watch".


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

tenors aren't exactly my thing but these made an impression:

Bruce Ford (Mr. Mitridate himself)
Alfredo Kraus (lovely voice)
Richard Croft (great Orphee)
Ramon Vargas (made me sit through La Boheme)
Charles Castronovo (love his vocal colour)


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

mamascarlatti said:


> Don't forget Eléazar in La juive. I now couldn't imagine anyone else in the role.


thanks for the recommendation - have to look that one up!


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## operashoppejim (Aug 20, 2013)

Caruso
Bergonzi
Corelli
Escalais
Aragall


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## TrevBus (Jun 6, 2013)

Not a big Tenor fan but here are 6 that have enjoyed over the years. Thank the Gods I have all of them on a recording or 2. In no order.

Jussi Bjorling Oh the beauty of that voice.
Placido Domingo Power and grace. Love him esp. in "Dark" Tenor roles. Maybe the best "Actor" of the bunch.
James McCracken Best Otello I have heard and my favorite dramatic tenor.
Nicolai Gedda Simply reliable w/some great performances and recordings thrown in.
Alfredo Kraus 'Werther' Enough said. French opera, WOW ! ! ! Sorry there was one more.
Jon Vickers Also a great Otello and not shabby at Wagner as well. Saw him in a production of 'Carmen'. Outstanding.


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## MarieTregubovich (May 13, 2013)

Plácido Domingo is one of the most amazing singers ever.


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

Jussi Bjorling
Enrico Caruso
Beniamino Gigli
Giuseppe di Stefano
Luciano Pavarotti


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## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

1) Nicolai Gedda - A true poet in song - absolute precision and control

2) Placido Domingo (yes, I'm talking about his tenor roles, don't worry) - probably the most meaningful actor I've ever watched on DVD or listened to

3) Jonas Kaufmann - One of the great interpreters of verismo

4) Richard Tucker - The emotion in his voice is enough to shake the Heavens

5) Joseph Calleja - a lyric tenor of our times with the same poetic quality and vocal flexibility as Nicolai Gedda


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## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

Good taste for Placido Domingo, must say that!

In my view Nicolai Gedda was "a perfect tenor" if there ever was or is going to be one.


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## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

Good taste for Placido Domingo, must say that!

In my view Nicolai Gedda was "a perfect tenor" if there ever was


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## mchriste (Aug 16, 2013)

Giuseppe Di Stefano
Nicolai Gedda
Luciano Pavarotti
Jonas Kaufmann

... hmmm all the other singers I was going to list are baritones! 

oh wait, Carlo Bergonzi takes the last spot. Somehow I don't really care for Domingo and Carreras...


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## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

Who are those other two - I'll have them depending on who they are, even though I've already listed my top five. Look on the last page, and you'll see that I gave reasons for my selection. Nicolai Gedda is there, but I'm never really been a Wunderlich fan. Maybe it's just me. Perhaps I should find something on the computer to listen to him in.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

LouisMasterMusic said:


> Good taste for Placido Domingo, must say that!
> 
> In my view Nicolai Gedda was "a perfect tenor" if there ever was or is going to be one.


In my view he was reasonably good.


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## rborganist (Jan 29, 2013)

Jussi Bjoerling--gorgeous timbre, very under-rated
Georges Thill--not well-known over here, but hard to beat in the French repertoire
Enrico Caruso--great voice, unfortunately cut down in his prime before recordings were very good
Luciano Pavarroti--great voice, though he made some unfortunate choices of repertoire
Nicolai Gedda--a singer of great elegance, and fluent (for singing at least) in at least four languages (French, German, Italian, and English--he was in the first--and possibly only--recording of Samuel Barber's Vanessa)


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## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

You obviously concur with my view on Nicolai Gedda.


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

rborganist said:


> Jussi Bjoerling--gorgeous timbre, very under-rated
> Georges Thill--not well-known over here, but hard to beat in the French repertoire
> Enrico Caruso--great voice, unfortunately cut down in his prime before recordings were very good
> Luciano Pavarroti--great voice, though he made some unfortunate choices of repertoire
> Nicolai Gedda--a singer of great elegance, and fluent (for singing at least) in at least four languages (French, German, Italian, and English--he was in the first--and possibly only--recording of Samuel Barber's Vanessa)


Good list. But Bjorling underrated? In which planet? Almost universally admired and frequently selected as the top lyric tenor of the 20th Century. I guess the world must have changed since I last looked that up...


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## RuggiràIntornoATe! (5 mo ago)

Fritz Wunderlich
Beniamino Gigli 
Lauritz Melchior
Enrico Caruso
Mario Del Monaco


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

1. Mario Lanza
2. Neil Shicoff
3. Enrico Caruso
4. Jussi Bjorling
5. Giuseppe di Stefano


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## Montarsolo (5 mo ago)

In random order

Carlo Bergonzi
Giuseppe di Stefano
Jon Vickers
Peter Schreier
Beniamino Gigli

About Gedda: I kind of grew up with this tenor. You can hardly miss him when you see how much he has recorded. Good voice, could sing anything, (musical) intelligent etc. He should be a favorite but he isn't (almost, he would be in my top 10). Difficult to put into words. Too serious maybe, anything at level 8 and no 10s maybe. Maybe too little involved in the role. A very even personality. You can hear that in the recordings. In the Da Capo interview on Youtube he is also so serious. Compare it with the interviews with Ridderbusch and Berry.

By the way, everyone who chose Caruso must have this recording. You hear Caruso but with stereo orchestra. Haven't listened to Caruso in years. Came across this recording on Spotify. I was stunned at his singing. He opens his mouth and there comes the sound. It seems much more natural than contemporary singing.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

It looks as if I never contributed to this thread for some reason, so here goes. I know I was enjoined to put them in the order, but they are all so different that I'm making them all equal 1st,

Jon Vickers
Fritz Wunderlich
Jussi Bjoerling
Tito Schipa
Enrico Caruso


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

In no particular order
Bjørling
Schipa
Lanza
Gigli
Melchior

Tomorrow I’ll have a different list!🤓


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Bjorling
Caruso
Corelli
Melchior
Vickers


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Caruso
Schipa
Bjorling
Melchior
Vickers


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

These are the tenors I listen to most 
Corelli
Wunderlich
Alagna
Others I listen to because the recordings I own include them in the cast.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Gigli, Del Monaco, Melchior, Martinelli, Merli.

Honourable mentions: Di Stefano, Rosvaenge, Caruso, Schipa, Tucker, Svanholm, Lorenz, Vinay, Prandelli, Tagliavini, Penno.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Leonid Sobinov
Lauritz Melchior
Richard Tauber
Alain Vanzo
Paul Franz


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

including or excluding the most overhyped ones?


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Bjorling
> Caruso
> Corelli
> Melchior
> Vickers


This is very close to mine. I would swap Pavarotti for Bjorling though.

N.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

The Conte said:


> This is very close to mine. I would swap Pavarotti for Bjorling though.
> 
> N.


What Pavarotti had that I think Bjorling lacked was real star quality. His voice lasted a long time but early on it was incredibly beautiful. He was also gorgeous when young in his wrestler tights but those days fled quite soon LOL.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> What Pavarotti had that I think Bjorling lacked was real star quality. His voice lasted a long time but early on it was incredibly beautiful. He was also gorgeous when young in his wrestler tights but those days fled quite soon LOL.


Interesting. Pavarotti was certainly hyped as a star, and I suppose his voice deserved hyping, at least early in his career. But I never felt "star quality" - whatever that is - radiating from him. How do you think it manifested?


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## Concertantek364 (Mar 13, 2021)

Enrico Caruso
Tito Schipa
Jussi Björling
Giuseppe di Stefano
Fritz Wunderlich


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

in no particular order 

Melchior
Corelli
Solovyanenko
King
Giacomini


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Interesting. Pavarotti was certainly hyped as a star, and I suppose his voice deserved hyping, at least early in his career. But I never felt "star quality" - whatever that is - radiating from him. How do you think it manifested?


He made gillions from the Three Tenors and was the favorite of all of them. He would have never have done his collaborations with all those big name pop stars without having the "It" factor. I'm including his Panis Angelicus with Sting which is really beautiful and very successful. I never saw him in an opera, but on TV he was an improbable 300 pound, sweaty, handkerchief holding media darling even bigger than Netrebko with people from all musical spectrums. He was worth half a billion dollars after profligate spending when he died. No other opera star came close to that type of fame. You just can't do that without star quality. In opera I thought his early stuff was exquisitely gorgeous. He read no music and was an instinctive singer according to Bonynge but it worked somehow. I think Bjorling was a much better singer but I would rather watch Pavarotti on video sing the same aria because he is more interesting to watch. Say what you will, but even way up in his sixties, he always sounded like Pavarotti and no one else sounded like him. He had a signature sound. The other interesting thing about his pop collaborations, he never tried to sing like a pop star. He always sang in his pure operatic sound. I do think that being able to sing with a mic allowed him never to have to push his voice in his senior years which added to his long term vocal health. Few other opera stars had that luxury.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> He made gillions from the Three Tenors and was the favorite of all of them. He would have never have done his collaborations with all those big name pop stars without having the "It" factor. I'm including his Panis Angelicus with Sting which is really beautiful and very successful. I never saw him in an opera, but on TV he was an improbable 300 pound, sweaty, handkerchief holding media darling even bigger than Netrebko with people from all musical spectrums. He was worth half a billion dollars after profligate spending when he died. No other opera star came close to that type of fame. You just can't do that without star quality. In opera I thought his early stuff was exquisitely gorgeous. He read no music and was an instinctive singer according to Bonynge but it worked somehow. I think Bjorling was a much better singer but I would rather watch Pavarotti on video sing the same aria because he is more interesting to watch. Say what you will, but even way up in his sixties, he always sounded like Pavarotti and no one else sounded like him. He had a signature sound. The other interesting thing about his pop collaborations, he never tried to sing like a pop star. He always sang in his pure operatic sound. I do think that being able to sing with a mic allowed him never to have to push his voice in his senior years which added to his long term vocal health. Few other opera stars had that luxury.


Evidently star quality is something bestowed by others. I've seen videos of Pavarotti, and saw him once in person, standing there sweating and waving his hanky, looking as if singing is hard work. If that's what people want to call star quality, they're welcome to it.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Evidently star quality is something bestowed by others. I've seen videos of Pavarotti, and saw him once in person, standing there sweating and waving his hanky, looking as if singing is hard work. If that's what people want to call star quality, they're welcome to it.


You crack me up. He is certainly below others on my list but I don't think an opera star could be richer than Streisand and not be able to captivate people. I never watched The Three Tenors but where I saw star quality in him was in an intermission feature video on How to Sing Bel Canto with Bonynge, Sutherland and Horne. He had much magnetism and command of the room in a room with artists who were no wall flowers themselves. None of you would have watched it as it was past 1960 for Sutherland LOL.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Evidently star quality is something bestowed by others. I've seen videos of Pavarotti, and saw him once in person, standing there sweating and waving his hanky, looking as if singing is hard work. If that's what people want to call star quality, they're welcome to it.


Callas had star quality, so did Tebaldi and Del Monaco, but Pavarotti not so much. His early singing is good, but he's not my favourite tenor by a long way. His fame doesn't say much for me, Domingo also enjoyed a certain amount of fame, but great singer?? Maybe today, but compared to those of the generation prior to his? Pavarotti's fame was the result of a great deal of media exposure, most who heard him wouldn't know that his "spirto gentil" is infinitely preferable to his "nessun dorma" and wouldn't know that even in that Gigli and Di Stefano were supreme. If any singers from that generation had to become household names I wish it had been Verrett or Bumbry, Pavarotti is good but rarely does much for me.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Op.123 said:


> Callas had star quality, so did Tebaldi and Del Monaco, but Pavarotti not so much. His early singing is good, but he's not my favourite tenor by a long way. His fame doesn't say much for me, Domingo also enjoyed a certain amount of fame, but great singer?? Maybe today, but compared to those of the generation prior to his? Pavarotti's fame was the result of a great deal of media exposure, most who heard him wouldn't know that his "spirto gentil" is infinitely preferable to his "nessun dorma" and wouldn't know that even in that Gigli and Di Stefano were supreme. If any singers from that generation had to become household names I wish it had been Verrett or Bumbry, Pavarotti is good but rarely does much for me.


I don't think singing is what this "star quality" thing is all about, just as in the movie world it isn't necessarily about acting. It's an intangible something that makes people go ape**** over you, make ridiculously exaggerated claims about your accomplishments and your value to society, and give you more money than anyone is actually worth. Nice work if you can get it.


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## sworley (6 mo ago)

Thill, Bjoerling, Simoneau, DiStefano (pre1960), Wunderlich, Vanzo


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## sworley (6 mo ago)

Op.123 said:


> Callas had star quality, so did Tebaldi and Del Monaco, but Pavarotti not so much. His early singing is good, but he's not my favourite tenor by a long way. His fame doesn't say much for me, Domingo also enjoyed a certain amount of fame, but great singer?? Maybe today, but compared to those of the generation prior to his? Pavarotti's fame was the result of a great deal of media exposure, most who heard him wouldn't know that his "spirto gentil" is infinitely preferable to his "nessun dorma" and wouldn't know that even in that Gigli and Di Stefano were supreme. If any singers from that generation had to become household names I wish it had been Verrett or Bumbry, Pavarotti is good but rarely does much for me.


He was blessed with a good instrument which, to his credit, he trained well early on; whether that enviably easy passagio was the result of birth or training I do not know. But he wasn't a terribly interesting musician and there are only a handful of operas where I would seek him out.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

I have a few different Bohemes, Butterflys and Toscas (scratch that - Turandots) but the ones I tend to return to are the ones with Pavarotti. I wouldn’t be without my Björlings, di Stefanos et al but I love Pav in those particular rôles. So sue me!🥸


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Barbebleu said:


> I have a few different Bohemes, Butterflys and Toscas but the ones I tend to return to are the ones with Pavarotti. I wouldn’t be without my Björlings, di Stefanos et al but I love Pav in those particular rôles. So sue me!🥸


Really? Tosca? The only recording I know is the one conducted by Rescigno, with Freni as Tosca. I listened to it not so long ago when doing a comparison of five Decca recordings (Solti, Maazel, Molinari-Pradelli and Karajan) and these were my impressions.



> Rescigno was a favourite of Callas’s, recording many of her recital albums and delivering at least one great performance in the live 1958 Covent Garden *Traviata* but his conducting here is just plain dull. Like Te Kanawa, Freni is completely out of her depth, the voice just too light even at this stage of her career. I expected Milnes to be more interesting, especially when you think of his Jack Rance, but for some reason his Scarpia just isn’t nasty enough. Which leaves Pavarotti, who sounds out of sorts vocally. The velvet has gone from his voice and he often sounds plain whiney. Not surprisingly his Vittoria! is very small scale when set beside Corelli’s. And small scale is what personifies the whole performance, but that’s not what *Tosca* needs.


I agree his Rodolfo and Pinkerton on the Karajan recordings are excellent.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Really? Tosca? The only recording I know is the one conducted by Rescigno, with Freni as Tosca. I listened to it not so long ago when doing a comparison of five Decca recordings (Solti, Maazel, Molinari-Pradelli and Karajan) and these were my impressions.
> 
> 
> 
> I agree his Rodolfo and Pinkerton on the Karajan recordings are excellent.


You are quite right and I am duly chastised and contrite. Brain fog when I typed Tosca and not Turandot!😂

btw I have a fabulous live Boheme with Pav on sparkling form from Rome 1969 with Schippers at the helm. If you haven’t heard it I would highly recommend it for your attention.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I also like Pavarotti and Freni in Manon Lescaut. One of their later recordings and thus not much liked, but I think it's superb.

N.


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## sworley (6 mo ago)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Really? Tosca? The only recording I know is the one conducted by Rescigno, with Freni as Tosca. I listened to it not so long ago when doing a comparison of five Decca recordings (Solti, Maazel, Molinari-Pradelli and Karajan) and these were my impressions.
> 
> 
> 
> I agree his Rodolfo and Pinkerton on the Karajan recordings are excellent.


In Rescigno's defense, he was a late substitute for Karajan who was scheduled to add this Tosca to his other two Puccini recordings with Pavarotti and Freni.


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