# Round Three:Donna non vidi mai: Pavarotti, Pertile and Domingo



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Puccini: Manon Lescaut - "Donna non vidi mai" · Luciano Pavarotti · National Philharmonic Orchestra · Oliviero de Fabritiis 




Aureliano Pertile canta Manon Lescaut: "Donna non vidi mai" y "Ah! Non v' avvicinate" . 1932.





Puccini: Manon Lescaut / Act I - "Donna non vidi mai" · Plácido Domingo · Philharmonia Orchestra · Giuseppe Sinopoli


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Pavarotti is good but boring. Pertile is more involving but although not short of voice, maybe not suited to this aria. Domingo has neither interest nor the voice. I’ll go with Pertile but nothing will be able to beat Gigli.


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## PaulFranz (May 7, 2019)

Domingo is my guilty pleasure. Pavarotti too shouty and thin, and I hate Pertile.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Well, I know I'm going to enjoy the Pavarotti. I find his voice glorious and the diction is perfect. I could take more expression though.

I was quite surprised with the Pertile as I wasn't expecting the sound to be so poor after the orchestral introduction. I like his use of dynamics, but I don't find his voice attractive (and that's probably due to the poor sound of the recording). I also feel it's too slow.

Domingo could win this as he is often expressive. I feel he talks more of the text than Pav (and I know I suggested him!)

I think this is quite a difficult one, but I'm going with Pavarotti.

N.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

My man Pertile runs away with it, especially that last bit leading up to the high note and holding it securly forever. 
But then again, he DOES that. It's what he's all about.
Pav was a formidable second and also did some very fine work.
Domingo was out of his league. He was just "singing" -- beautifully, but just singing. Give him some Otello. (Of course Pertile's Otello is spectacular)


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Luciano has the prettiest voice, but doesn’t do much with it. I’m tired of Domingo, and he doesn’t do much of anything with the aria, anyway. Pertile by default.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

The Conte said:


> I was quite surprised with the Pertile as I wasn't expecting the sound to be so poor after the orchestral introduction. I like his use of dynamics, but I don't find his voice attractive (and that's probably due to the poor sound of the recording). I also feel it's too slow.
> N.


Try this version - It's better, but to me, still not good enough for him to edge past Pavarotti - You know what they say - "As goes Shaughnessy, so goes The Conte" -  - Domingo, quite frankly, is an acquired taste that I have yet to acquire - He always seemed to be the guy that you would get when Pav wasn't available - Kind of like the perpetual understudy - Good enough to offer up a workmanlike performance but when the announcement would be made to the audience about the switch, you could hear the groans of disappointment across the street and two blocks over...


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Shaughnessy said:


> Try this version - It's better, but to me, still not good enough for him to edge past Pavarotti - You know what they say - "As goes Shaughnessy, so goes The Conte" -  - Domingo, quite frankly, is an acquired taste that I have yet to acquire - He always seemed to be the guy that you would get when Pav wasn't available - Kind of like the perpetual understudy - Good enough to offer up a workmanlike performance but when the announcement would be made to the audience about the switch, you could hear the groans of disappointment across the street and two blocks over...


Domingo always makes me think of someone performing operatic arias as entertainment on a cruise ship.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Op.123 said:


> *Domingo always makes me think of someone performing operatic arias as entertainment on a cruise ship*.


I can picture him saying - "Thank you very much - You were a wonderful audience - Give yourselves a round of applause... We're going to end on one I'm sure you all know - (signals to the band) - Hit it, boys -

"Love, exciting and new
Come aboard. we're expecting you.
Love, life's sweetest reward.
Let it flow, it floats back to you.
The love boat soon will be making another run
The love boat promises something for everyone"

Everyone join in - You know the words -

"Set a course for adventure,
Your mind on a new romance.
Love won't hurt anymore
It's an open smile on a friendly shore.

The love boat soon will be making another run
The love boat promises something for everyone"


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## ewilkros (8 mo ago)

PaulFranz said:


> Domingo is my guilty pleasure. Pavarotti too shouty and thin, and I hate Pertile.


You may be the only person ever to have found Pavarotti "too thin".


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

I am beginning to be struck by how little the various renditions of this aria differ from each other. It's big flowing line seems to allow for little bold artistic statement and on the other side of the coin, gives potential offenders little time to stray from the straight and narrow. The renditions I've enjoyed the most are the people I find to have the greatest voices. I tend to put Pavarotti's natural gifts in the same category as Gigli and Bjoerling but he makes less impact here. But for me he takes this group because Domingo just sounds too far away and Pertile's tech is not also the cleanest, so his usual ardor counts for less than it normally does.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

ScottK said:


> I am beginning to be struck by how little the various renditions of this aria differ from each other. It's big flowing line seems to allow for little bold artistic statement and on the other side of the coin, gives potential offenders little time to stray from the straight and narrow. The renditions I've enjoyed the most are the people I find to have the greatest voices. I tend to put Pavarotti's natural gifts in the same category as Gigli and Bjoerling but he makes less impact here. But for me he takes this group because Domingo just sounds too far away and Pertile's tech is not also the cleanest, so his usual ardor counts for less than it normally does.


I would be happy if Jesus sent me a little ardor for Xmas 😜 As always, great perceptions from you.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

The Conte said:


> Well, I know I'm going to enjoy the Pavarotti. I find his voice glorious and the diction is perfect. I could take more expression though.
> 
> I was quite surprised with the Pertile as I wasn't expecting the sound to be so poor after the orchestral introduction. I like his use of dynamics, but I don't find his voice attractive (and that's probably due to the poor sound of the recording). I also feel it's too slow.
> 
> ...


Pertile doesn't have a "beautiful" sound. He tends to sing in the mask, but his artistry in creating special sounds (like Callas does) with the music is an attraction, not only to audiences but even with the singers he is matched with. His talent is respected and appreciated.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Oh dear. Poor Domingo. Everyone seems to be down on him these days. He may have stayed around too long and I'd have preferred it if he hadn't decided to become a baritone, but he had a considerable career and on the occasions I saw him at Covent Garden he never disappointed. When the Sinopoli recording came out, I was working in a record shop in London and it was hardly ever off the turntable (LPs back then). 

Anyway that's my way of saying I actually preferred his version here to those of Pavarotti and Pertile. Pertile certainly held my interest, but I'm nor sure he was a natural Des Grieux. I thought Pavarotti seemed less engaged, possibly because this was for a recital record and not part of a complete performance.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Oh dear. Poor Domingo. Everyone seems to be down on him these days. He may have stayed around too long and I'd have preferred it if he hadn't decided to become a baritone, but he had a considerable career and on the occasions I saw him at Covent Garden he never disappointed. When the Sinopoli recording came out, I was working in a record shop in London and it was hardly ever off the turntable (LPs back then).
> 
> Anyway that's my way of saying I actually preferred his version here to those of Pavarotti and Pertile. Pertile certainly held my interest, but I'm nor sure he was a natural Des Grieux. I thought Pavarotti seemed less engaged, possibly because this was for a recital record and not part of a complete performance.


I saw Domingo as Siegmund in a dreadful production of Walkure that I paid way too much money for as I left after the second act the production was so awful. BUT, he was extremely fine. Extracurricular straight man activities aside, there were others I liked better, but he always did solid performances and sounded really really good for decades... decades!!! He also gave committed performances and as a conductor he was very musical. I really loved him in the Turandot excerpt I posted with Marton in a recent contest. Handsome and a fine performer


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Puccini: Manon Lescaut - "Donna non vidi mai" · Luciano Pavarotti · National Philharmonic Orchestra · Oliviero de Fabritiis
> 
> 
> 
> ...


They were all pretty good, almost even, but I have a winner. 

Pavarotti
1. was on my vinyl and lives in my head
2. I love that shiny voice.

If I wanted perfection, I would create a hybrid and use Pertille for the first sentence. But Pavarotti wins anyway.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

BBSVK said:


> They were all pretty good, almost even, but I have a winner.
> 
> Pavarotti
> 1. was on my vinyl and lives in my head
> ...


He has such a beautiful voice to me. It was best when he was young of course, but he sounded really good for a very long time. Bonynge said he had a really wonderful natural placement to the voice and his throat was connected to his mouth in such a way that the sound produced by his vocal cords flowed in a big open space into his mouth ( or something close to those words). That very thick short wrestler's neck you know. Bonynge said he didn't have a complicated technique but a natural instinct about how to sing to his greatest advantage. His father had a naturally beautiful voice as well.


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