# BARITONE TOURNAMENT (Round 1, Match #3): Ruffo v Milnes



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Titta Ruffo, Italy, 1877-1953






Sherrill Milnes, USA, 1935-






Who's singing did you prefer and why?


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Two of my favourite baritones! I haven't listened yet, but I think Ruffo will be superb (technically perfect and polished), whereas Milnes will give a more nuanced delivery of the text with less vocal elegance.

How to pick a winner!

I will listen later and see if my expectations are right.

N.


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

I love Ruffo but think he took liberties that did not help and left out some notes that I think are written, such as the little scale from A back to F on "suo bel viso." It sounded a bit like he was improvising as the spirit moved him, and that was probably a more-acceptable vocal tradition during the period in which he flourished.

Milnes. Used to love him (in the 1970s) when I was a younger baritone. As I have developed more discriminating ears and he aged vocally and developed a vocal wobble and flatting problems on his high notes, I liked him less and less, and listening now to (to me) problem-free singing such as presented here is still a joy. But I can't help but feel a presentiment of things to come in his technique. Nonetheless: glorious high notes, huge free voice, excellent musicianship, all win over Ruffo to me.


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## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

I liked both, but I am voting for Ruffo. Milnes is good, but I personally would like some more intensity and raging passion and less dreaminess and gentleness. A good case could be made for either, and it probably largely comes done to personal preference here. That's my take.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Milnes for me. Even with all his quirks (vowels' articulation especially!) and problems developed later in his career, I can't help but love his voice and emotional singing. Here he delivers a perfect rendition, with heart and intelligence.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Oh dear me! I found that there was no contest between the two. Ruffo's expressions and embellishments were far superior and his passion came right through the recording, whereas Milnes gave a crystal clear and straight rendition of the aria but with a lack of emotional attachment.
For me? Ruffo all the way!


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

It's not even close. Ruffo is superior in every way. Superior line, superior interpretation, superior tone production. Milnes does not sing well. Take 2:11-17. That's the sort of effect that he will get praised for by critics because it's "sensitive", but it is not proper piano singing. He's choking the sound, not shifting towards head voice (or if that's what he's trying to do it isn't working). Also compare Milnes at 2:23 to Ruffo at 0:53. "Ah l'amor" sounds like "Uh l'uhmuhr" from Milnes, which is representative of his distorted vowels throughout, and it is an effortful phrase. Ruffo's vowels are pure and ringing, and it sounds natural and easy. Such comparisons can be made phrase by phrase for the entire aria. I don't think Milnes deserves praise for attempting to "follow the score sensitively" while being unable to do so in a legitimate way. Milnes doesn't sound "in love" because some parts are quieter than other parts; he sounds like he's in pain the whole time because his voice just can't do what it needs to sing the aria freely and naturally. Ruffo sounds ardent, assured, and conveys the proper veneer of nobility. It's a great rendition, certainly the best we've had in the tournament so far.


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

Ruffo for me.

"Le favelli in mio favor!" kind of encapsulates it for me
Ruffo 1:08- 1:26
Milnes 2:38- 2:59

Ruffo's singing there is more intense, the phrasing is tightly knit and the voice is particularly beautiful. The embellishments later sound like they are improvised because the rest of the aria is scrupulous.

Milnes' singing is exciting and with every phrase, every note, he is always _doing_ something. It is a bit too busy a performance for my taste: it becomes a bit too effortful and fragmentary.

PS. Thanks for sharing the interesting comparison, Bonetan: I'm enjoying these threads.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I voted for Ruffo, but Milnes is very fine too, and I'd just like to say that I prefer both of these versions to any of the ones we've heard so far. In a competition with Hvorostovsky, Merrill, Kelsey and Bastianini, Milnes would win hands down for me, but Ruffo's voice is just that bit more beautiful, his phrasing just that bit more elastic. Milnes doesn't really suffer in the comparison, though.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I agree that these two are better than those we have heard before, but neither quite does it for me in this aria. Ruffo has the more masculine voice and better technique, but he doesn't sing what Verdi wrote and fluffs the fioriture as if he is sight reading. Milnes is constricted at times and doesn't have anywhere as beautiful a vocal instrument, but he has more passion and I find him more musical. Milnes gets my vote in this one.

(I have an inkling Panerai or Tagliabue will be my top choice.)

N.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

The Conte said:


> I agree that these two are better than those we have heard before, but neither quite does it for me in this aria. Ruffo has the more masculine voice and better technique, but he doesn't sing what Verdi wrote and fluffs the fioriture as if he is sight reading. Milnes is constricted at times and doesn't have anywhere as beautiful a vocal instrument, but he has more passion and I find him more musical. Milnes gets my vote in this one.
> 
> (I have an inkling Panerai or Tagliabue will be my top choice.)
> 
> N.


It's always Panerai's voice I hear in my mind's ear when I hear this aria, but that could have something to do with having been brought up on the Karajan recording.


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Like Viva I don't consider Milnes a good singer (relative) for reasons others have stated. His Il balen doesn't bother me the way most of his recordings do, but I'm biased against Milnes due to past listening experiences. I've never hated a singers vowels more. I consider Bastiannini, Merrill, and Ruffo to be far superior vocally.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

Bonetan said:


> I've never hated a singers vowels more.


He doesn't quite reach the depths of Maria Guleghina singing "fruh lee teeneebree" in Suicidio, but there are some very strange sounds, even in this recording.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Milnes makes this sound like weight-lifting. Ruffo handles it with ease, so he wins it for me despite the inferior cadenza he sticks onto the end. That said, despite Ruffo's awesome instrument, he's never been a singer to touch my heart, and this instance is not different. With Milnes I generally feel that he's trying to be expressive but has to resort to vocal distortions (besides simple failings) to do it. Here any feeling he may be trying to convey is simply strangled by increasing vocal desperation.


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