# Many many things



## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

In the morning I had no thread ideas. Absolutely none. For a while I thought that, that was it. I have only been on the forum for one month and allready I have run out of ideas. Then I went for a walk and listened some Jonas Kaufmann. And then inspiration. In fact I got so many ideas, that I just couldn't make a thread on every one of them. So now I'm putting all of them into one. Maybe one of them is of interest to you.

First E la solita storia. A fantastic and moving aria from an opera that most people haven't heard or seen. I haven't listened the whole opera. I'm a little bit ashamed since I like the aria so much. And if it's so good, then the rest of the opera must bee too. E la solita storia is very popular and almost all (íf not all) tenors have recorded it and some perform it on recitals. It's popular also because it doesn't have difficult notes. But I think it is very hard to sing properly. The mood is so easily broken by singing it wrong. Restrained singing is absolutely necessary and you have to be able to transmit the sadness and longing. My favorite interpreter is Di Stefano and Kraus is second. I was most surprised when I heard Del Monaco's version, which was very tastefully sung and really portrayed the mood of the piece. At the end is and optional high note. Some sing it and some don't. I think that the ending is better without it, but some like Kraus really make it work and make it so that it doesn't break the mood. Who is your favorite?

Here is Di Stefano






At the end of La fleur from Carmen there is a high note. And as I understand it it says in the score that it should be sung half voice. Am I right? Some singers sing it that way and some sing it full voice. Then there are some who sometimes sing it half voice and sometimes full voice. Which way you prefer? I myself think the half voice suites the mood better.

What do you think of James McCracken? Personally I like his style of singing and his voice. His pronunciation of Italian is not perfect  but I like him. He has a very individual sound. A huge man with a huge voice.

Here is McCracken singing Di quella pira.






Then two general managers from La Scala and the Met. Antonio Ghiringhelli and Sir Rudolf Bing. What do you think of the gentlemen? Some say that Bings managerial style was close to Attila the hun. There is also the opinion that he didn't know anything about opera. To me it is enough that he fired Di Stefano, with good reason, but still  and he didn't use Callas properly. So I have no great affection for the man. And he didn't use American singers too much, because he thought that the public wanted to hear Italian singers. Of course he is partly right, but I think it is a shame not to use your country's own singers. And Ghiringhelli is not one of my favorites either. What do you think Callas could have achieved and sung if both the managers have treated her better?

When you meet new people there always at some point comes the question "What music do you like?". What is the usual response for you? Usually people seem interested, but not enough to talk about it. A most amazing thing happened at work. A had worked there for some time and a co-worker who sat next to me one day asked me the question. So I said opera and I was astonished to hear that she liked opera too. Then she asked who was my favorite singer. I said Callas and was even more amazed when she said, that Callas is a very good singer. A very unusual occurrence at least for me.

And last but not least Mr. Walter Legge. Why didn't he pick better singers for Callas's recordings? Why was he so afraid of stereo? He and Callas made together many fantastic recordings, but then there are so many things that could have been done better. Why didn't they pick Corelli for Callas's Turandot recording? Corelli had performed together with Callas before that on live performances. There are many questions that I'd like to ask Legge.

So hopefully there is something for every one. This writing sure is hard work


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Diminuendo said:


> In the morning I had no thread ideas. Absolutely none. For a while I thought that, that was it. I have only been on the forum for one month and allready I have run out of ideas.


Hoped one or two others would have encountered something similar. Nothing personal.


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## Cesare Impalatore (Apr 16, 2015)

About _E la solita storia_: I listened to this endlessly by all sorts of tenors during my lovesick late teen years, making it my own _lamento_, that's why I kind of avoid it nowadays but it still is something special. Objectively speaking a most exquisit piece by Cilea that requires a lot of sensibility from the singer as you said. I also like MDM's version, unlike Gigli he even avoids the unnecessary high note added for spectacle, something very surprising for those who have a false idea of del Monaco, that he puts himself before the composer and so on. I think that MDM was inspired by the great Galliano Masini there, another dramatic tenor who successfully made the _Lamento_ his - 



.

My favourite interpretations:

1. Schipa: 



2. Di Stefano: 



3. Gigli - yes, I criticized the high note but he's still too damn good: 



4. Kraus: 



5. Tagliavini:


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Cesare Impalatore said:


> About _E la solita storia_: I listened to this endlessly by all sorts of tenors during my lovesick late teen years, making it my own _lamento_, that's why I kind of avoid it nowadays but it still is something special. Objectively speaking a most exquisite piece by Cilea that requires a lot of sensibility from the singer as you said.
> 
> 1. Schipa:


Yes, Schipa and this music were made for each other. That film is one of my favorite performances of anything by anyone. I can't hear more than a few notes without tears coming.

Sing it again, Tito:


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## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

Gigli is just something else. He can get away with things that are just incredible. You just have to love the man. Another example for me is Pavarotti. I like him, but I don't listen to him that much anymore. But when I see him on video with his handkerchief, beard and that smile I just can't help myself. He just looks so lovable. Some singers just have this. I mean Di Stefano cancelled performances and didn't practice. But his fans just didn't care. And when he started to sing neither did other singers.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I share your love of Federico's Lament by almost anyone, I love it that much, but Carreras stands out as a particular favorite to me along with Mario Lanza. Then there is Villazon. And then....

As for my response as to who my favorite opera singer is, I guess if I had to bring it down to just one it would be Magda Olivero in a heartbeat. Her dedicated approach and depth to everything she did was so infectious and fulfilling. Hers, like Callas', was far from the most beautiful sound, but she had more, much more than just a beautiful voice. She had "soul".


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> I share your love of Federico's Lament by almost anyone, I love it that much, but Carreras stands out as a particular favorite to me along with Mario Lanza. Then there is Villazon. And then....
> 
> As for my response as to who my favorite opera singer is, I guess if I had to bring it down to just one it would be Magda Olivero in a heartbeat. Her dedicated approach and depth to everything she did was so infectious and fulfilling. Hers, like Callas', was far from the most beautiful sound, but she had more, much more than just a beautiful voice. She had "soul".


Amen to every word of that. Olivero should have been better documented on recordings and films over the course of her career. Our image of her as the last great verismo soprano is not incorrect but it is incomplete. How many have seen and heard this? 




A messa di voce like that almost defies belief - as does the total package of elegant beauty and passionate eloquence. If Garbo had been a singer...

And let's go to Act 3: 




Anyone who thinks that the singers of the verismo era were less than great technically, or did nothing but bellow and sob, needs to listen to Olivero. You cannot sing great verismo if you are not a great singer technically; the voice would not hold up, as Olivero's did for over half a century of intensely emotional singing. She was an artist who defied categorization, and an embodiment of everything opera should be.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Diminuendo said:


> And last but not least Mr. Walter Legge. Why didn't he pick better singers for Callas's recordings? Why was he so afraid of stereo? He and Callas made together many fantastic recordings, but then there are so many things that could have been done better. Why didn't they pick Corelli for Callas's Turandot recording? Corelli had performed together with Callas before that on live performances. There are many questions that I'd like to ask Legge.


I'd like to ask Legge quite a few questions too. Why not Corelli in *Turandot* may be one, but also why *Turandot* at all, when Callas had long since given up singing it? In fact why record her in so much Puccini, when, aside from *Tosca*, she sang so little of his music?

Why on earth did he not record *Macbeth* with Callas and Gobbi? And Di Stefano as Macduff of course? Karajan would have made a great conductor for such an enterprise and we might have had the *Macbeth* for all time. Admittedly he was very conservative in his choices. He refused point blank to record her in *Anna Bolena*, *Il Pirata* and *Armida*, and it was only be exercising a get out clause in her contract that she managed to record *Medea*, a role with which she will always be indelibly associated.

Why did he not wait a couple of years for Callas to be free to record Violetta again? As it is, the recording with Stella didn't sell, and faded into oblivion. If he'd waited for Callas to sing it, it would no doubt have been a huge seller.

Aside from Corelli not getting to record with Callas till their 1960 *Norma*, there are quite a few other dubious casting choices. Tagliabie in *Forza*. The well past it Tagliavini in the second *Lucia*. Ladysz in the same recording. Ferraro in *La Gioconda*. And Cappuccilli may have shown promise, but he wasn't ready to record big roles like Barnaba and Enrico yet, especially with a personality as forceful as Callas's.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Olivero was indeed such a great singer!.

Please listen to her when she was only 28 years old:






This is my favorite performance, from Catalani's _Loreley_:






About Violetta, Olivero was preparing the role with Maestro Gerussi, when Maestro Serafin called her, and explained that she was in an ideal position to give the difficult romanza that closes Act 1, its proper due. The coloratura is not an end in itself, is just a way to show Violetta's astonishment, being trapped by love for the first time in her life. "Am I crazy?, Am I crazy?"... Olivero fully understood Serafin's indications and with a voice not conventionally beautiful, with her 'vibrato stretto' trademark, but also with a sure technique, a superb phrasing and a wonderful feeling she provides a true picture of Violetta.

In her first Violettas, Olivero inserted also very difficult high note (a D-flat 5, attacked in pianissimo) at the end of first romanza, not written by Verdi, that was very celebrated. However, vocal histrionics apart, perhaps her best achievements in the role are in her later years, when as a veteran soprano she was no longer able to reach that note, but her understanding of Violetta was much deeper, and she completed some memorable act 2 and act 3 performances.

Rodolfo Celletti always said that in the 20th century there were three singers that were as great actresses, as singers: Maria Callas, Claudia Muzio and Magda Olivero. I tend to agree with him.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Hard to beat this one live.
I am lucky to be one of few who own this very rare and special classic video.
Madga Olivero at her finest. (Newark NJ)


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Diminuendo said:


> At the end of La fleur from Carmen there is a high note. And as I understand it it says in the score that it should be sung half voice. Am I right? Some singers sing it that way and some sing it full voice. Then there are some who sometimes sing it half voice and sometimes full voice. Which way you prefer? I myself think the half voice suites the mood better.


Yes, I think this passage should be preferably sung in a romantic, poetic vein, and not heroic. Don José is supposed to be whispering to Carmen, not shouting to her. 

That's said, it's not that easy to do this perfect. And there are some succesful performances that are not so "intimate".

José Luccioni sang the role hundreds of times in the theater:


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Diminuendo said:


> When you meet new people there always at some point comes the question "What music do you like?". What is the usual response for you? Usually people seem interested, but not enough to talk about it. A most amazing thing happened at work. A had worked there for some time and a co-worker who sat next to me one day asked me the question. So I said opera and I was astonished to hear that she liked opera too. Then she asked who was my favorite singer. I said Callas and was even more amazed when she said, that Callas is a very good singer. A very unusual occurrence at least for me.


I must be meeting the wrong people because nobody ever asks me what kind of music I like. I am fortunate though to have a couple of people at work who are into music: A woman who sings in various productions and had attended music school, but is working as an economist, and a man who is a huge fan of non-classical and turned me on to several of my now-favorite non-classical artists, but has no desire to listen to classical. We had a couple others who retired, one whose son was a pianist and composer, and another pianist who was a huge fan of Russian composers and has a big grand piano occupying much of his living room. Oh and a guy who listens to classical on the radio but has no idea what he is listening to and turns the dial if any vocals come on--conversation with him on classical music is futile.


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## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

schigolch said:


> Yes, I think this passage should be preferably sung in a romantic, poetic vein, and not heroic. Don José is supposed to be whispering to Carmen, not shouting to her.
> 
> That's said, it's not that easy to do this perfect. And there are some succesful performances that are not so "intimate".
> 
> José Luccioni sang the role hundreds of times in the theater:


Di Stefano sang it nicely on Montreal in 1974. He sang it allaround more softly. Including the ending, which he sang half voice. A great performance from him concidering his vocal state. I couldn't find it on YouTube, but to those that are interested, it can be found on Spotify by searching Callas Montreal. He of course sang it very well in the 50', when his vocal deterioration hadn't started. The 1974 is just an interesting interpretation and fits the mood perhaps even better than the earlier ones.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

GregMitchell said:


> I'd like to ask Legge quite a few questions too. Why not Corelli in *Turandot* may be one, but also why *Turandot* at all, when Callas had long since given up singing it? In fact why record her in so much Puccini, when, aside from *Tosca*, she sang so little of his music?
> 
> Why on earth did he not record *Macbeth* with Callas and Gobbi? And Di Stefano as Macduff of course? *Karajan would have made a great conductor for such an enterprise* and we might have had the *Macbeth* for all time. Admittedly he was very conservative in his choices. He refused point blank to record her in *Anna Bolena*, *Il Pirata* and *Armida*, and it was only be exercising a get out clause in her contract that she managed to record *Medea*, a role with which she will always be indelibly associated.
> 
> ...


Karajan did not conduct Macbeth apart from the overture. Of course, he could maybe have learned it for the recording but it wasn't in his repertoire as far as I know.


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