# BARITONE TOURNAMENT (By Request): Gobbi vs Keenlyside



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Tito Gobbi, Italy, 1913-1984






Simon Keenlyside, UK, 1959-

From 4:45





Who's singing did you prefer and why?

Great suggestion Tsaraslondon! Thank you


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Now we're talking!

(I haven't listened yet!)

N.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Wow! That's really, really tough. I like both and I had no idea that Keenlyside would be so superb in the role. However, Gobbi has the edge here due to using a wider range of vocal colour without resorting to verismo style hystrionics (which Keenlyside does in places). Very close though.

N.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Gobbi is riveting, and sounds in prime vocal estate. Keenlyside sounds old. Is this a recent recording? I have to disagree with Conte. I don't think this is close at all.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I'm stumped. They both did extremely well. It's a tough pick. I will finally cast my vote for Gobbi but frankly there is some guilt behind it.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Sorry guys, no contest. Gobbi hands down, for the myriad colors he finds, despite Keenlyside's handsomer voice. I need an _Italian_ voice in this role.


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## Handelian (Nov 18, 2020)

I never see why a choice has to be made. I go for both.


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## Aerobat (Dec 31, 2018)

I would love to have seen Gobbi perform live, as I am quite sure there are no recordings that truly capture his abilities. This is close, very close. Keenlyside edges it for me, by a whisker.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Handelian said:


> I never see why a choice has to be made. I go for both.


That's the point in these threads - choose one!


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Handelian said:


> I never see why a choice has to be made. I go for both.


Do you like all the recordings in all these threads equally?

N.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

The Conte said:


> Do you like all the recordings in all these threads equally?
> 
> N.


Perhaps he likes everything in the world equally. I mean, why do we have to choose?


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Woodduck said:


> Perhaps he likes everything in the world equally. I mean, why do we have to choose?


I'm with David on this one. I've been telling the women in my life this for years. I don't see why I should have to choose!

*to all the ladies of TC, that was 100% a joke and I'm soooo not like that :lol:


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I chose this pairing because both Gobbi and Keenlyside are known for their histrionic abilities and because this piece, a mixture of recitative and arioso, would showcase their merits better than a straightforward aria.

I expected it to be harder than it turned out to be. Gobbi wins easily. His voice is in prime condition and the immagination and range of colour he employs is staggering. Mind you, he'd have been 37 to Keenlyside's 59 when these two recordings were made, so perhaps the comparison is unkind. 

I would just add that I did see Keenlyside as Rigoletto a few years ago and he was superb, a performance in which voice and acting were so closely intertwined as to become inseparable. Very much school of Gobbi, I suppose, but, in this comparison Gobbi is an easy winner.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Gobbi's a very nuanced performance, just check all these crescendi and diminuendi!
Keenlyside... his vibrato puts me off. He sure is exciting and theatrical here, too, but this unstable slow vibrato and the "plum in a throat" kind of sound he employs for louder passages makes me think about difficulties the singer experiences, not Rigoletto.


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

Gobbi, for me. The voice is better focused, more beautiful, used with greater imagination...


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## SanyiKocka (May 6, 2020)

Gobbi for sure. It is Gobbi and the aria is from Rigoletto.


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