# Top Ten Tenors (okay maybe five)



## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

Who are your favourite tenors of all time?

In no particular order I'd say

Sergei Lemeshev
Lauritz Melchior
Jussi Bjorling
Placido Domingo
Max Lorenz


Hopefully this thread isn't a little superfluous but I'm curious to discover more tenors I actually like.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Enrico Caruso.
Fernando de Lucia
Giovanni Martinelli.
John McCormack.
Richard Tauber.
Beniamino Gigli.
Lauritz Melchior.
Helge Roswaenge.
George Thill.
Aksel Schiotz.
Peter Anders
Joseph Schmidt.
Ivan Kozlovsky.
Jan Peerce.

I'm bound to have missed many , these are in no special order.,


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Five years ago, the BBC ran a survey with their reviewers and collaborators, and this is the list of top 20 tenors they produced:

20. Sergei Lemeshev 
19. Wolfgang Windgassen 
18. Alfredo Kraus 
17. Anthony Rolfe Johnson 
16. John McCormack 
15. Franco Corelli 
14. Peter Schreier 
13. Juan Diego Florez 
12. Carlo Bergonzi 
11. Tito Schipa 
10. Peter Pears 
9. Nicolai Gedda 
8. Jon Vickers 
7. Beniamino Gigli 
6. Lauritz Melchior 
5. Jussi Björling 
4. Fritz Wunderlich 
3. Luciano Pavarotti 
2. Enrico Caruso 
1. Placido Domingo


My list of ten favorites, as of July, 2013, no specific order intended:


Sergei Lemeshev 
Alfredo Kraus 
Helge Rosvaenge 
Carlo Bergonzi 
Tito Schipa 
Beniamino Gigli 
Lauritz Melchior 
Jussi Björling 
Luciano Pavarotti 
Enrico Caruso


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Bit of a waste of time really to produce that list.
Windgassen,Anthony Rolfe Johnson ???,Peter Pears !!! Peter Schreier, Domingo before Caruso--Ha!

Here are some more that you should hear.
Richard Tucker.
Leopold Simoneau.
Giacomo Lauri-Volpi.
Mario del Monaco.
Richard Crooks.
Ferrucio Tagliavini 
Rudolf Schock.
Auerelliano Pertile
Carlo Bergonzi.
Jussi Bjorling.

I'm not listing my favourites but tenors who should be listened to.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Since we were asked about "favorite" tenors, here are mine:

- Jonas Kaufmann (of course!)
- Fritz Wunderlich
- Siegfried Jerusalem
- José Carreras
- Placido Domingo
- Werner Krenn
- Giacomo Aragall
- Lawrence Brownlee
- Francisco Araiza
- Reiner Goldberg


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

I don't have a big list.

I like Luciano Pavarotti's voice so I usually will find Opera's featuring him. I like James King as well. If I can't find one of them I will look for Placido Domingo. Overall though, I look for certain Bass-Baritone singers and don't worry as much about the Tenors.


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## Radames (Feb 27, 2013)

Comparing a lyric tenor to a heldentenor is like comparing apples and oranges. 

Heldentenors:

Ben Heppner
Siegfried Jerusalem
Jon Vickers
Wolfgang Windgassen

Lyric tenor:

Jussi Björling
Luciano Pavarotti
Giuseppe Di Stefano

Then there are the spinto tenors:

Carlo Bergonzi
Franco Corelli
Plácido Domingo
Beniamino Gigli


Oops - that's 11. Well, if Spinal Tap's amps can go to 11 then my top 10 tenor list can go to 11. And I left out Caruso. Oh well - 12 then. But his recordings are so old - I guess when we have a time machine and I can go hear him live I could put him in my top 10.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Radames said:


> Comparing a lyric tenor to a heldentenor is like comparing apples and oranges.
> 
> Heldentenors:
> 
> ...


You can hear Caruso and how he was better than anything that followed easily enough.


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## Zabirilog (Mar 10, 2013)

Plácido Domingo
Siegfried Jerusalem
Jonas Kaufmann (yeah)
Wolfgang Windgassen
Topi Lehtipuu

at least. But I know that I forgot someone really good......


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

I could never make a list with tenors, as I only like a few, and they can't be compared. My favorite is Franco Corelli. I also like Pavarotti, Gigli, Di Stefano, Domingo, Florez. They belong to different types of voices, so I just listed them in no particular order. I am sure I have forgotten a few others that don't come now into my mind. Of course, my list is also restricted by my limited knowledge.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Corelli #1
Bjorling
Pavarotti
Caruso
Svanholm
Melchoir
Kaufmann
Laurence Brownlee
Di Stephano
Tucker
de la Florez


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

This was the list produced by a panel of Spanish and Italian experts, back in 2009:

1 Beniamino Gigli (1890-1957) 
2 Alfredo Kraus (1927-1999) 
3 Enrico Caruso (1873-1921) 
4 Tito Schipa (1888-1965) 
5 Aureliano Pertile (1885-1952) 
6 Miguel Fleta (1930-1966) 
7 Franco Corelli (1921-2003) 
8 Jussi Björling (1911-1960) 
9 Carlo Bergonzi (born in 1924) 
10 Nicolai Gedda (born in 1925) 
11 Giacomo Lauri-Volpi (1892-1979) 
12 Mario del Monaco (1915-1982) 
13 Fritz Wunderlich (1930-1966) 
14 Lauritz Melchior (1890-1973) 
15 Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007) 
16 Giuseppe Di Stefano (1921-2008) 
17 Plácido Domingo (born in 1941) 
18 Helge Rosvaenge (1897-1972) 
19 Richard Tucker (1913-1975) 
20 Richard Tauber (1891-1948)


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Better than some but you can't have Caruso in third or the tiny voiced Schipa as high as he is.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

realdealblues said:


> I don't have a big list.
> 
> I like Luciano Pavarotti's voice so I usually will find Opera's featuring him. I like James King as well. If I can't find one of them I will look for Placido Domingo. Overall though, I look for certain Bass-Baritone singers *and don't worry as much about the Tenors*.


Nor me! As long as they can sing the right notes and in the right order (Mr Preview) that's all I'm worried about. Much more interested in who's singing the bass or baritone role.

Do like Joseph Calleja though.


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## ShaunRoche (Jun 14, 2013)

Hmm...for me it depends on the type of role, so one may look at my selection below and find them quite odd bed fellows.
Certainly in no particular order...

Frederic Kalt
Mario del Monaco 
Luciano Pavarotti 
Peter Schreier
Anthony Rolfe Johnson.

I grew up listening to lots of Mozart DG recordings and will always think of Schreier in Die Entfurung and the Requiem etc.

Pavarotti for the Puccini roles, chiefly the Sutherland/Mehta Turandot (t h e finest ever recording!)

Del Monaco for the obvious Andrea Chenier.

Fredieric Kalt I first heard as Calaf with WNO and thought him sublime.

As for ARJ...I thnk he was one of the finest English Tenors ever and was certainly the voice I tried to copy when I was first starting out as a singer....Mellifluous just doesn't come close!

My all time favourite, possibly because I grew up with him so to speak more than ony other one, is Pavarotti.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Of course, such lists irremediably leave out many wonderful singers.

One of them is Francesco Merli, a great dramatic tenor active from 1914 to 1948. A coveted performer of Verdi and verismo, first and foremost, though no stranger to Bel Canto operas.

This duet with Claudia Muzio from Verdi's _Otello_ never fails to impress me:


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I make no claim that these are"top tenors", as I tend to listen only to singers active since the 1980s when I began attending performances. So these are my current favourites:

Jonas Kaufmann
Siegfried Jerusalem
Jaume Aragall
Placido Domingo
José Carreras
Ian Bostridge
Mark Padmore
Topi Lehtipuu
Lawrence Brownlee
Joseph Calleja


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

I found it impossible to make any sort of ordered list, so I'm just going to throw out some names of tenors I particularly like:
Raul Gimenez, Bruce Ford, Ramon Vargas, Pavarotti, Domingo, Jonas Kaufmann, Lawrence Brownlee, Juan Diego Florez, Rolando Villazon, Carlo Bergonzi, Jerry Hadley, Richard Tucker, Neil Schicoff, Andrew Kennedy, Ian Bostridge


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

Glad to see Brownlee is moving up in the charts. But really folks, what has Kaufmann done good? I saw his Lohengrin and I was impressed with how easy for him the high tessitura was - but I didn't think his voice particularly noticeable. Sure, he's easy to look at - but if you're not watching but just listening, what of his do you enjoy the most, or particularly? (Assuming you've tried that!) I saw him a few years ago at Carnegie Hall, in a staged Adriana Lecouvreur, and his voice was sensitive but not particularly memorable. On the other hand, there are singers it's taken me a while to figure out too, just as some operas have taken a while. (Sorry, I know the post is a bit muddled!)


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

I can only speak for myself, of course, but I find Jonas Kaufmann's voice rich, colorful, and exciting. It does have something of a "trapped in the throat" quality, and some people say that his voice is, actually, trapped in his throat -- that there's something wrong with his vocal production. But the more I listen to him, the more I'm convinced that's not the case and that the "throaty" sound is simply a part of his voice-character.

He's an uncommonly good actor, it's true (I saw him in the live HD broadcast of the Met's FAUST and in a DVD of TOSCA from Covent Garden). But believe me, I wouldn't feel much attraction for him if he did not also have an exceptional voice, which he does.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

He is simply the best Florestan I have ever heard. And I loved his recent outing as Siegmund in the Mariinsky Walküre. And all his recital disks (Sehnsucht is amazing) 

On DVD/YT I cherish his roles Werther, Lohengrin, Tosca, Adriana Lecouvreur, Königskinder, Carmen, Faust, la Clemenza di Tito, Don Carlo, La Traviata... Really I've never seen a dud from him.

As for his looks, well when I first saw him I was not all that taken. It's his voice that got me, and now I think he's gorgeous. And he acts.:tiphat:


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

:lol: well, I asked ...


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## Lucrezia (Nov 21, 2013)

Good tenors are not that common today, partly due to the fact that this type of voice is really fragile. That is why Kaufmann is really of the best now. And he is a brilliant actor indeed when it comes to manly masculine roles (i.e. Cavaradossi, not Don Carlos)
As for best-ever-tenors I have no new names on my list: Franco Corelli, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Mine (in chronological of birth) are:


Enrico Caruso 
Tito Schipa 
Jussi Bjoerling 
Giuseppe di Stefano 
Nicolai Gedda 
Jon Vickers 
Alfredo Kraus 
Fritz Wunderlich 
Placido Domingo 
Jose Carreras


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## talx (Nov 22, 2013)

Not so much of top 5 of all time but my top 5 favs:
(in no particular order)
Luciano Pavarotti
Roberto Alagna
Placido Domingo
Enrico Carruso
Giuseppe Di Stefano


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## Yashin (Jul 22, 2011)

10 is easy:

Bergonzi
Pavarotti
Schipa
Bjorling
Di Stefani
Del Monaco
Corelli
Aragall
Heppner
Domingo


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## emmjhon (Dec 1, 2013)

thank you very much!!!!


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Glad it's not just me who enjoys making these sort of daft lists- usually at 3 a.m. when I can't get back to sleep! In no very fixed order:

Tamagno
Affre
Marconi
Viñas
De Lucia
McCormack
Scaramberg
Escalaïs
Franz
Ershov


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

10) Lauritz Melchior
9) Jussi Bjorling
8) Nicolai Gedda
7) Alfredo Kraus
6) Luciano Pavarotti
5) Giuseppe Giacomini 
4) Jonas Kaufmann
3) Ramon Vinay
2) Franco Corelli
1) Anatolii Solovyanenko


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Bellinilover said:


> I can only speak for myself, of course, but I find Jonas Kaufmann's voice rich, colorful, and exciting. It does have something of a "trapped in the throat" quality, and *some people say that his voice is, actually, trapped in his throat -- that there's something wrong with his vocal production*. But the more I listen to him, the more I'm convinced that's not the case and that the "throaty" sound is simply a part of his voice-character.
> 
> He's an uncommonly good actor, it's true (I saw him in the live HD broadcast of the Met's FAUST and in a DVD of TOSCA from Covent Garden). But believe me, I wouldn't feel much attraction for him if he did not also have an exceptional voice, which he does.


because most people want tenors to be these thin, whiny little voices with zero color or swag. I think Jonas Kaufmann is wonderful because he has a lower register like a baritone but the easy, free top of a lirico spinto tenor.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> because most people want tenors to be these thin, whiny little voices with zero color or swag. I think Jonas Kaufmann is wonderful because he has a lower register like a baritone but the easy, free top of a lirico spinto tenor.


High tenors don't have to be thin and whiny, and heroic tenors don't have to be baritones in disguise. High, pure heroic tenors used to exist. Here are some of my choices:

Francesco Tamagno





Leon Escalaïs





Agustarello Affre





Ivan Ershov





Francisco Viñas 





Those are just the dramatic tenors who made my top ten. There are plenty more!


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Figleaf said:


> High tenors don't have to be thin and whiny, and heroic tenors don't have to be baritones in disguise. High, pure heroic tenors used to exist. Here are some of my choices:
> Francesco Tamagno
> 
> 
> ...


never said high tenors couldn't be powerful or heroic (Gedda and Kraus were both on my list for example). my point was that the trend among contemporary tenors is "thin, whiny little voices with zero color or swag", so when people hear a manly tenor, they often think "he's a mistyped baritone!"


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> never said high tenors couldn't be powerful or heroic (Gedda and Kraus were both on my list for example). my point was that the trend among contemporary tenors is "thin, whiny little voices with zero color or swag", so when people hear a manly tenor, they often think "he's a mistyped baritone!"


I can't really comment on Kraus, because I've hardly heard any of his recordings. Gedda I like a lot, and he's certainly a proper high tenor, but I have to stop you at 'heroic'! I've just been listening to him in Guillaume Tell and he's mostly very good, but he does not sound like an Arnold to me. I suppose he was cast because his top notes are so good and he makes less of a mess of the coloratura than most of his contemporaries probably would have done- but he doesn't have the raw power and the heroic ring that the part needs. (Plus, in Ah Mathilde, the traditional test of an Arnold, his attack is imprecise and some of the florid bits are very blurry.) Now, if you could combine Gedda's sweet toned high tenor and musicianship with the power and excitement of your other favourite, Corelli, you would have the makings of an Arnold, although the new improved Geddorelli would have to do something about his coloratura- and no Corelli style aspirates allowed!


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

#1: Lanza!!
Caruso
Pertile
Shicoff
Tucker
Corelli
Bergonzi
Bjorling
Calleja
Beczala
Also Rans: Martinelli/Gigli/Kaufmann/Vickers/Carreras


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> #1: Lanza!!
> Caruso
> Pertile
> Shicoff
> ...


LOL at how you put the star of 'The Great Caruso' above the actual Great Caruso!  I didn't think of including 'also rans' to expand the stingy number of tenors allowed, so kudos for that as well! :tiphat:


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I have a trinity:

Caruso, Schipa, Bjorling.

Caruso remains the vocal miracle: heroic and lyric, bel canto and verismo, tenor and baritone, the tone all pure, rich, vibrant core - and the hugest, most generous spirit that ever emitted sound.

Schipa is the poet, the gentle artistic soul with a modest, plaintive, unmistakable timbre, subtle style, a mezza voce like the fragrance of a flower, and diction so exquisitely clear on his lips that to hear him is like reading from a book. He also looks exactly like me (over there, to the left).

Bjorling is the natural, a voice of such ease and purity it seems to have, or need, no technique at all, plaintive beauty like "unshed tears" ( I don't know who said that), rising from pure lyricism to ringing heroism. And the greatest recording ever made, or ever to be made, of "O Holy Night (O Helga Natt)," obligatory at Christmas. 

Then there are Sirota (I'd put him in my trinity but there are no more seats), Gigli, Melchior, Piccaver, Schiotz, Simoneau, Valetti, Vickers, and a bunch of other people.

Alas, of tenors currently active, the only one who gets me excited is Kaufmann, the guy whose tongue and hyoid bone are said to be having an intimate relationship. I can only wish them happiness together.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> I have a trinity:
> 
> Caruso, Schipa, Bjorling.
> 
> ...


Sirota really belongs in my top 10 as well, except that I made myself abide by a totally arbitrary rule that only tenors who actually appeared in opera were eligible! For sheer voice and virtuosity he cannot be beaten. Of the tenors I chose, there are maybe two or three whose voices I slightly prefer to his, but none whose voices I could say with certainty are better. I've attached a couple of sound files of his operatic recordings in case anyone is interested. The Celeste Aïda in particular ranks with the best.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

In no particular order:

Jussi Bjorling-He's the tenor in a lot of Verdi/Puccini recordings I admire. Love his Calaf in Turandot particularly
Ramon Vinay-I always think Kaufmann has a similar dark voice to Vinay.
Franco Corelli-Diction could be an issue, but what an exciting singer.
Nicolai Gedda-A wonderfully versatile singer.
Jonas Kaufmann-I do think he's the real deal. He's been incredibly sensible in his career path so far but I do pray he will sing Siegmund or Lohengrin at ROH, some time soon.
Sandor Konya- A wonderful Lohengrin. However most of all I love his von Stolzing in the Kubelik Meistersinger as its great singing!
Placido Domingo-What can you say! All the roles he has covered and along with Vinay the finest Otello IMHO.
Fritz Wunderlich-Great Mozart singer and also love his recording of Das Lied von der Erde with Klemperer. Such a tragedy he wasn't allowed to develop.
Carlo Bergonzi-A wonder singer of Verdi's music. The Aida recording with Von Karajan stands out.
Wolfgang Windgassen- A great heldentenor and my favourite Ring and Tristan recordings feature him.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Nicolai Gedda
Zurab Sotkilava


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## MimiPinson (Jan 2, 2015)

My top 10: 

1. Nicolai Gedda
2. Carlo Bergonzi
3. Topi Lehtipuu
4. Fritz Wunderlich
5. Giuseppe di Stefano
6. Mario Lanza
7. Alfredo Kraus
8. Jose Carreras
9. Placido Domingo
10. Mario del Monaco


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

MimiPinson said:


> My top 10:
> 
> 1. Nicolai Gedda
> 2. Carlo Bergonzi
> ...


Great list!.................


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

No specific order

Jons Vickers
Fritz Wunderlich
Nicolai Gedda
Enrico Caruso
Tito Schipa
Giuseppe di Stefano
Beniamino Gigli
Carlo Bergonzi
Jussi Bjorling
Roberto Alagna (Yes, the young Algana is almost unsurpassed in Romeo and Werther !)


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

Franco Corelli was love at first sight...so easy my number 1

After that, in no particular order, apples and oranges (sorry):

Pavarotti
Gigli
Kaufmann
Di Stefano
Juan Diego Florez
Bergonzi

My list should be longer, but my memory plays tricks with me


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## Phu Nguyen (Jan 3, 2015)

Radames said:


> Comparing a lyric tenor to a heldentenor is like comparing apples and oranges. .


Can't agree with you more.


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## OperaMaven (May 5, 2014)

You said it. I had the interesting experience, once, of hearing recordings of the same aria by John McCormack (_the_ quintessential "Irish Tenor") and Lauritz Melchior (_the_ quintessential Heldentenor). Same notes, same words, but as different as day and night - and both of them superb in their way. (I think it was the "Prize Song" from _Die Meistersinger_, because it's about the only thing I can think of that they would both have been likely to try. They were _that_ different.)


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

OperaMaven said:


> You said it. I had the interesting experience, once, of hearing recordings of the same aria by John McCormack (_the_ quintessential "Irish Tenor") and Lauritz Melchior (_the_ quintessential Heldentenor). Same notes, same words, but as different as day and night - and both of them superb in their way. (I think it was the "Prize Song" from _Die Meistersinger_, because it's about the only thing I can think of that they would both have been likely to try. They were _that_ different.)


I personally cringed at McCormack's Prize Song, though I'm usually a massive fan of his. I read somewhere that he was fixated with Jean de Reszke (also not the possessor of a huge voice, I believe) and the recording was in a sense a tribute to him. I suppose that is one potential answer to the question of 'why the #%[email protected] did John record something so obviously unsuitable for his voice?'

I would personally choose Francisco Viñas' early, piano accompanied, Italian language recording of that aria to take to my desert island. Very nineteenth century Italianate phrasing and beautiful silvery timbre, lyric and dramatic all rolled into one!


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## messadivoce (Apr 18, 2014)

Figleaf said:


> Glad it's not just me who enjoys making these sort of daft lists- usually at 3 a.m. when I can't get back to sleep! In no very fixed order:
> 
> Tamagno
> Affre
> ...


I like this list. I like this older generation of singers.


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## messadivoce (Apr 18, 2014)

Figleaf said:


> High tenors don't have to be thin and whiny, and heroic tenors don't have to be baritones in disguise. High, pure heroic tenors used to exist. Here are some of my choices:
> 
> Francesco Tamagno
> 
> ...


Leon Escalaïs is so good. I like this recording of this






and I like this recording of Augustarello Affré


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## messadivoce (Apr 18, 2014)

5 is so hard. I can try 10 but there's the dramatic and lyric and spinto differences that can't really be compared. I like hearing what I feel are perfect vocal techniques. I like hearing squillo in any voice (dramatic or lyric), good diction with pure vowel sounds, a good piano and mezza voce, even timbre throughout their range, and also the ability to put emotion into their singing.

Alfredo Kraus
Dino Borgioli (not his early recordings. anywhere in the late 20's and beyond)
Carlo Dani
Léon Escalaïs
Tito Schipa
Beniamino Gigli
Alessandro Bonci
John McCormack
Enrico Caruso
Fernando de Lucia

Here's the honorable mention list. Most of these I love the timbre alone or the dynamics and musicianship. Some are missing good subtlies with dynamics and phrasing. Some have interesting vowel sounds. Some round out the vowels intentionally for aesthetic reasons like Pertile but others do it out of a conceived notion of necessity to cover at and above passagio. Some sing in different styles from different periods and standards too. I love all of these tenors too. Some I just forgot about and didn't make my initial list because of that.

Aureliano Pertile
Jan Peerce
Giacomo Lauri-Volpi
Jussi Bjorling
Sergei Lemeshev
Ivan Kozlovsky
Kurt Baum
Lauritz Melchior
Roberto d'Alessio
Franco Corelli
Guiseppe di Stefano
Leopold Simoneau
Carlo Bergonzi
Richard Tucker
Nicolai Gedda
Albert Da Costa
Fritz Wunderlich
Luciano Pavarotti
Francesco Tamango
Edmont Clement
Guiseppe Anselmi
William Matteuzzi
Juan Diego Florez
Arthur Espiritu

I'm sure I missed a bunch like everyone else did and my opinions will change.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

messadivoce said:


> Leon Escalaïs is so good. I like this recording of this
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Those are amazing records! I love the complete Romeo et Juliette that 'Ah, leve-toi soleil' comes from. Of course Affre was no longer sounding so youthful by 1911, but I would take him in just about any vocal state over just about any other tenor, especially as Romeo. It's wonderful that we have one of the most important French tenors of the late 19th century in a complete role, and (unlike Don Jose) a signature role of his. I've rediscovered him just over the last year or so, and quickly become obsessed! Nobody has a more beautiful voice,so totally pure and vibrant, even if it wasn't always well captured by the early recording process, and nobody (other than Tamagno) projects such heroic grandeur. Once you become used to his phrasing, which tends to strike admirers of Italian singing as somewhat severe, his way seems the right and inevitable way, and most other tenors, even the acknowledged 'greats', seem small and uninteresting in comparison. Here's one of his best records, sung in a more lyrical style than he often used:






And here's his inimitably bombastic way with a love song, which sounds like it could have been written for his voice and is in unusually good sound quality. I would give practically anything to have heard him live!






And now,in a stunning performance of 'Ah, parais'. It's interesting to compare him with Escalais in this aria. The latter sings it much more quietly and reflectively- to be fair, Affre probably doesn't need to be quite as stentorian as he is here- but he phrases with more grace than Escalais, so wins by a narrow margin.  They are both stupendously good performances. Escalais' is in better sound quality by far, as is usually the case, though the record doesn't seem to have arrived on Youtube. Clement sang it beautifully too, but his voice doesn't compare with those of his heroic counterparts! Escalais was a true vocal miracle- perhaps THE vocal miracle- but it's hard to get the measure of him as an artist from such a small recorded legacy. I wish there had been more!


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

This thread makes me realise how rarely I've been truly thrilled by a tenor at a live opera, and here thinking of a great performance rather than than just seeing a famous singer (i.e. three-tenors).


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

A tenor New Years Resolution: listen to more Pertile , and maybe also Bergonzi, del Monaco (aargh!) and Corelli. I heartily detest all of them, but they get so much love from the tenor fanciers on this thread that I should make the effort to appreciate their singing. At any rate it's interesting to hear what other people are into.


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## messadivoce (Apr 18, 2014)

Figleaf said:


> A tenor New Years Resolution: listen to more Pertile , and maybe also Bergonzi, del Monaco (aargh!) and Corelli. I heartily detest all of them, but they get so much love from the tenor fanciers on this thread that I should make the effort to appreciate their singing. At any rate it's interesting to hear what other people are into.


I need to listen to more popular tenors that most people rave about too, like Corelli.

What baritones do you like? Tenors are hard to choose but baritones might be a harder question for me.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

messadivoce said:


> I need to listen to more popular tenors that most people rave about too, like Corelli.
> 
> What baritones do you like? Tenors are hard to choose but baritones might be a harder question for me.


Yes, I feel so left out of the conversations about singers other people like- so it's very nice to meet somebody else who appreciates early recorded singers, especially the French school. I did a 'top 10 baritones' thread here:
http://www.talkclassical.com/35029-top-10-baritones.html

And as you can see, I had great trouble confining myself to just 10!


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## messadivoce (Apr 18, 2014)

Figleaf said:


> Yes, I feel so left out of the conversations about singers other people like- so it's very nice to meet somebody else who appreciates early recorded singers, especially the French school. I did a 'top 10 baritones' thread here:
> http://www.talkclassical.com/35029-top-10-baritones.html
> 
> And as you can see, I had great trouble confining myself to just 10!


Yes I've noticed you like the old french school. I've heard almost all of the singers you have mentioned with the exception of a few. Spotify used to have a better collection of those older ones too but for some reason they took them down 

I fell the era from the golden age of opera had a greater sense of sensitivity towards dynamics. They have lovely mezza voce's. And Their wider faster vibratos add extra emotion. Their vowels tend to be more pure and sometimes even a white sound. It is definitely different than all the rounded belted sounds you hear later with heavier stuff that came later. The bel canto era is my favorite.

Now on to the baritone question. This is a hard one. I can name 1 but 10 is where it gets hard. My favorite singer is Riccardo Stracciari. I feel like I made a list a while ago for baritones either on here or OperaLively but it won't hurt to make another list


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Certainly Pavarotti and Domingo have to be there.
Bergonzi was magnificent as was Di Stefano before he blew his voice.
I love the sound Corelli makes but subtlety was not his watchword!

for Wagnerian tenors Vickers reigned supreme in his generation though, of course, Melchior had the greatest voice of any.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Figleaf said:


> And now,in a stunning performance of 'Ah, parais'. It's interesting to compare him with Escalais in this aria. The latter sings it much more quietly and reflectively- to be fair, Affre probably doesn't need to be quite as stentorian as he is here- but he phrases with more grace than Escalais, so wins by a narrow margin.  They are both stupendously good performances. *Escalais' is in better sound quality by far, as is usually the case, though the record doesn't seem to have arrived on Youtube. Clement sang it beautifully too, but his voice doesn't compare with those of his heroic counterparts! * Escalais was a true vocal miracle- perhaps THE vocal miracle- but it's hard to get the measure of him as an artist from such a small recorded legacy. I wish there had been more!


Fixed it! This is an absolutely ravishing performance.






And this is well sung if you can get past the voice:


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## messadivoce (Apr 18, 2014)

messadivoce said:


> 5 is so hard. I can try 10 but there's the dramatic and lyric and spinto differences that can't really be compared. I like hearing what I feel are perfect vocal techniques. I like hearing squillo in any voice (dramatic or lyric), good diction with pure vowel sounds, a good piano and mezza voce, even timbre throughout their range, and also the ability to put emotion into their singing.
> 
> Alfredo Kraus
> Dino Borgioli (not his early recordings. anywhere in the late 20's and beyond)
> ...


Pardon me for missing Jussi Björling


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