# Blind Listening Test (Tenor): La fanciulla del west's love theme



## OffPitchNeb (Jun 6, 2016)

Inspired by the Azol's Liu contest, I created a blind listening game for 8 tenors singing the brief but gorgeous melody "quello che tacete" from La fanciulla del west. Please use this link and click on the play button for each:









Contest


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Which tenor is your favorite? Also, can you guess who is who?


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## zeanifan (Feb 26, 2021)

I voted for #2 and #8.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I only voted for my favorite: #7 is Corelli
2nd favorite: #4-not sure but maybe del Monaco?
3rd favorite: #8-Giordani??
#4 4th favorite: Tucker
#1-Domingo for sure

Guesses:
#2 Martinelli
#3 McCormack
#4 Lauri-Volpe
#5 Caruso??
If I go back and listen yet again maybe I will distinguish the voices of the ones I am not sure of. Isn't Caruso among them?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

1 is Domingo, 6 is Tucker, 7 is Corelli. I'm pretty sure 2 is Del Monaco and 4 is Kaufmann. 3, 5 and 8 I can't guess.

My favorite is 2, Del Monaco, but I also liked 1, 6 and 7. 3 is rather poor. Domingo and Del Monaco at the top make for an interesting contrast in tempo and in the sense of weight their voices impart. The tune is heard instrumentally elsewhere, as a little waltz, and a faster tempo keeps the dance-like feeling, while a slower, weightier rendition gives it more pathos. Ultimately Del Monaco meets the drama of the moment.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

Numbers 4 and 8 seemed to me the best. Number 6 sounds elderly, 5 is overacting, 3 has goat-like timbre. 1, 2, 7 were good enough. I wouldn't dare to guess who is who.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I'm not so good with tenors and I had to listen more than once. The only one I was absolutely sure about was Domingo, who was no 1. So much for being generic and lacking in individuality. He was also one of my favourites.
I also liked 4, whom I assume is Kaufmann and 7 who is undoubtedly Corelli.

The rest I'm not so sure about, but those above would be my favourites. The interesting thing about Kaufmann is that he sounded like a baritone, but then these top notes come out and you wonder where he gets them from. It's hardly a conventional tenor sound, and a million miles away from Corelli (did anyone else note that he struggled a bit with the lower lying phrases?) but I like them both.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> I only voted for my favorite: #7 is Corelli
> 2nd favorite: #4-not sure but maybe del Monaco?
> 3rd favorite: #8-Giordani??
> #4 4th favorite: Tucker
> ...


My 4th favorite was #6 Tucker (I listed it accidentally as #4-whom I do not know and simply guessed)


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

#2 is del Monaco, and #7 is Corelli. I prefer del Monaco.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

OffPitchNeb said:


> Inspired by the Azol's Liu contest, I created a blind listening game for 8 tenors singing the brief but gorgeous melody "quello che tacete" from La fanciulla del west. Please use this link and click on the play button for each:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Who are 3/5/8?


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## OffPitchNeb (Jun 6, 2016)

nina foresti said:


> Who are 3/5/8?


I will wait a bit more to see if anyone can guess them


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Did Lloyd Webber lift some of this music for *Phantom Of The Opera? *


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

MAS said:


> Did Lloyd Webber lift some of this music for *Phantom Of The Opera? *


It sounds like it, and I seem to recall some legal trouble with Puccini's estate.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

MAS said:


> Did Lloyd Webber lift some of this music for *Phantom Of The Opera? *


There is similar piece.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> ...Corelli (did anyone else note that he struggled a bit with the lower lying phrases?)...


I was surprised at the way he seemed to fade out at the bottom. It's only a c# , at least on my piano, which I know is in tune. Luckily, most tenor roles don't ask for much voice down there.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

ColdGenius said:


> There is similar piece.


"The Music of the Night."


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> It sounds like it, and I seem to recall some legal trouble with Puccini's estate.


According toWikipedia,



> Noting similarities between Lloyd Webber's "The Music of the Night" and a recurring melody in Giacomo Puccini's 1910 opera, _La fanciulla del West_ (_The Girl of the Golden West_), in 1987 the Puccini estate filed a lawsuit against Lloyd Webber, accusing him of plagiarism. The case was settled out of court, but details were not released to the public.


It was something of a _cause célèbre_ here in the UK.


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## OffPitchNeb (Jun 6, 2016)

Here are the IDs of 8 tenors (with information about the soprano, baritone, and the conductor-- the years may not be accurate). While La fanciulla doesn't have many studio recordings, I think it is still a very lucky opera with great live performances.

1. *Domingo *(with Zampieri - Pons - Maazel, live 1991)
2. *Del Monaco *(with Steber- Guelfi- Mitropoulos, live 1954)
3. *Limarilli *(with Stella - Colzani - de Fabritiis, live 1963)
4. *Kaufmann *(with Stemme - Konieczny - Welser-Möst , live 2013)
5. *Giacomini *(? -? - Maazel, live 1991)
6. *Tucker *(with Kirsten- Colzani - Cleva, live 1962)
7. *Corelli (*with Frazzoli- Gobbi- Votto, live 1956)
8. *Barioni (*with Tebaldi - Guelfi - Basile, broadcast 1961)


I would put Del Monaco/Barioni/Corelli in the first tier; Giacomini, Domingo, and Kaufmann (surprise!) in the next tier; then comes Tucker (he sounded tired) and Limarilli (he was very good elsewhere, but not here). As Woodduck pointed out, not only did Del Monaco have the weight for the part, but also the slower tempo served the music just right. I think Mitropoulos was the only conductor who did justice to the score, which Toscanini called Puccini's great "symphonic poem". Barioni is my second favorite, and I am happy he did well in the poll. Corelli was also very exciting in the live performances (looks like there are several, I only have the one above).

Tebaldi, Steber, Frazzoli, Stella, and Kirsten are great Minnie's, as well as Guelfi, Gobbi, and Colzani as Jack Rance's.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> According toWikipedia,
> 
> 
> 
> It was something of a _cause célèbre_ here in the UK.


I find it rather silly that the "Puccini estate" should be touchy about a fleeting musical reminiscence. It's not as if someone is stealing a patent and depriving an inventor of just compensation for his idea. Composers did this sort of thing before the 20th century and nobody seemed to care. I like what Handel is supposed to have said when someone pointed out that he had used another composer's tune: roughly, "It was too good for him." Not that A. L. Webber could have said that about Puccini, of course.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> I find it rather silly that the "Puccini estate" should be touchy about a fleeting musical reminiscence. It's not as if someone is stealing a patent and depriving an inventor of just compensation for his idea. Composers did this sort of thing before the 20th century and nobody seemed to care. I like what Handel is supposed to have said when someone pointed out that he had used another composer's tune: roughly, "It was too good for him." Not that A. L. Webber could have said that about Puccini, of course.


Well, yes, but people often played "Where have I heard that before?" with Lloyd Webber. Here's one of the many spoofs that were once doing the rounds. 






On the other hand Lloyd Webber was quite touchy about his music being used in comedy. I did the West End version of a show that's been running on Broadway for years, called _Forbidden Broadway (in the West End_). Basically it sends up musicals of the past and present, re-writing the lyrics to some famous tunes. Most of the composers have no problem with their music being used, and in fact Jerry Herman once said in an interview that he'd have beem offended if they didn't use his music. It's all a bit of harmless fun after all but Lloyd Webber would not allow his music to be used in the show, so they had to resort to pastiche to get their message across.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

Rossini widely reused his own music. All the same did composers in XVIII century including Mozart. They also used music pieces of the others if they thought it would be relevant. "Sposa, son disprezzata" by Jommelli - Vivaldi is among the most famous. Mozart quotes some music in Don Giovanni, but it is mentioned in libretto.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

My favourite was number 8 Barioni (was quite surprised by that). However, even more surprising was how similar I found Del Monaco to be to Carreras (not something I have noticed before. I recognised Domingo, Kaufmann and Corelli, of course. I wasn't sure about the others, but guessed Limarilli and would have guessed Di Stefano for Tucker.

This was a very interesting exercise and in the end I voted for 6, 7 and 8.

N.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

ColdGenius said:


> Rossini widely reused his own music.


I don't think it would have been viewed so negatively had Lloyd Webber reused his _own _music!

N.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I voted for only 1 winner -- Corelli.
In the final analysis I recognized Domingo, Tucker and Corelli. I liked Kaufmann but didn't know it was he. I also liked #8 who I thought might have been Giordani but then I should have known he is not among some of the fine tenors rarely discussed on this forum.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Well, yes, but people often played "Where have I heard that before?" with Lloyd Webber. Here's one of the many spoofs that were once doing the rounds.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Well now, isn't he the little hypocrite! I revise my view: pity Puccini and Mendelssohn, at least, aren't around to take him to court.


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