# Your top 10 tenors EXCLUDING the most hyped ones



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

the soprano thread needed a brother, so here you go! 

as with the soprano thread, the reasons for this thread are as follows:
1) while listening to the greats rarely gets old, talking about them can quite frequently
2) I'm looking to expand my tastes a bit 

the "blacklist" of singers not allowed on your list include
1) Luciano Pavarotti
2) Placido Domingo
3) Jose Carreras
4) Jussi Bjorling
5) Lauritz Melchior
6) Franco Corelli


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

No Carlo Bergonzi.......


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

as I'm not generally big on tenors, this list was easier to narrow down, with the only honorable mention spot going to del Monaco. however, anyone who made it to this list is a superb singer worth exploring if you're unfamiliar.

10) Alfredo Kraus 
9) Jonas Kaufmann
8) Carl Tanner 
7) James King
6) Giuseppe Giacomini
5) Set Svanholm
4) Nicolai Gedda (rest in peace  )
3) Ramon Vinay
2) John Alexander
1) Anatoly Solovyanenko. unlike with my soprano list, he wins by a landslide. 

he is one of the few tenors I've come across to convincingly sound romantic (and is also quite handsome. that helps too.). as mentioned previously, I tend not to be as fond of tenors because they often come off a bit teenager-y, but he sings with mature, _fiery passion_. there is zero little boy left in this man's singing. 
I demand a well supported middle register from all singers I listen to, and he fits the bill better than most. 
that vocal line is just....omg! he does for tenors what Caballe does for sopranos (I've said it once and I'll stay it again: if you want to learn legato, listen to Eastern Europeans, not Italians).


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Pugg said:


> No Carlo Bergonzi.......


nope. I always found him a bit boring *shrugs*


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Okay, no problem.
I will add some names, good enough for me :

Carlo Bergonzi.
Jonas Kaufmann.
Ferruccio Tagliavini.
Joseph Calleja.
Vittorio Grigolo.
Lawrence Brownlee.
Piotr Beczala.

edit: + Richard Tucker ( thanks Nina)


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

1. Neil Shicoff
2. Richard Tucker
3. Rolando Villazon
4. Joseph Calleja
5. Piotr Beczala
6. Aureliano Pertile
7. Carlo Bergonzi
8. Jonas Kaufmann
9. Jon Vickers
10. Mario del Monaco


Aiiii: Trade a del Monaco for a di Stefano (thanks Becca)


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Nicolai Gedda
Giuseppe di Stefano
Jon Vickers
Alberto Remedios
Lawrence Brownlee
Wolfgang Windgassen


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I have not been much on following male singers but recently have a couple tenors who have really impressed me: *Jonas Kaufmann *who already has been mentioned, but I am surprised nobody has mentioned (well there are only a few posts so far) *Juan Dieago Florez*. Those are my two favorites so far.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Nicolai Gedda was as fine as any of the "hyped" ones on the excluded list. I have him doing a magnificent Don José in Carmen.


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> the soprano thread needed a brother, so here you go!
> 
> as with the soprano thread, the reasons for this thread are as follows:
> 1) while listening to the greats rarely gets old, talking about them can quite frequently
> ...


I wonder how Caruso didn't make it to your blacklist.

I can only name 9. In no particular order:
Giuseppe Di Stefano
Mario Del Monaco
Giacomo Lauri-Volpi
Mario Filippeschi
Antonio Salvarezza
Francesco Albanese
Tito Schipa
Alfredo Kraus
And Enrico Caruso (while he's still not on the list :lol: )


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## Lensky (May 8, 2016)

C Bergonzi
G Di Stefano
F Wunderlich
N Gedda
A Vanzo
L Simoneau
G Martinelli
F Tagliavini
G Winbergh
J Vickers

+R Tucker
+I Bostridge

and others ;-)


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Fritz Wunderlich
Philip Langridge
Jon Vickers
Peter Pears
Gerhard Stolze
Nicolai Gedda
Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Stuart Burrows
Robert Tear
Heddle Nash


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## ma7730 (Jun 8, 2015)

Rolando Villazon (such a shame his career was cut so short -- he had such a rich timbre)
Mario del Monaco
Jon Vickers
Jonas Kaufmann
Wolfgang Windgassen
Siegfried Jerusalem
Robert Alagna before he thought he could do stuff like Otello
Juan Diego Florez
Ramon Vinay
René Kollo


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Tuoksu said:


> I wonder how Caruso didn't make it to your blacklist.


agh! I thought I put him


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tito Schipa
Jacques Urlus
Enrico Caruso
Jussi Bjorling
Lauritz Melchior
Leopold Simoneau
Sergei Lemeshev
Cesare Valletti
Jon Vickers

I don't think I have ten favorite unhyped tenors. Melchior and Bjorling are no more hyped than Caruso, and I wouldn't call him hyped anyway. I mean, is God hyped?


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

Strange list. I think if you asked people for top tenors all time, most lists would include Caruso, Gigli, Lauri-Volpi, Bergonzi and Del Monaco, seems odd to be including lesser singers on your blacklist and leaving these off.

Here's some singers that I think are underhyped, that is, underpublicized or underappreciated relative to their abilities. I won't include like Vickers or Vinay or Gedda or Wunderlich or Kaufmann, who I think have the reputation they deserve, even though they are also not on your blacklist.

Max Lorenz
Wolfgang Windgassen
Sandor Konya
Jess Thomas
James King
Siegfried Jerusalem


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

^ Ah yes, Siegfried Jerusalem is very good!


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

1) Jonas Kaufmann (can't believe he wasn't on the "overhyped" list. But I'm ok with that!!)
2) Carlo Bergonzi
3) Lawrence Brownlee
3) Fritz Wunderlich
4) Nicholai Gedda
5) Juan Diego Florez
6) Siegfried Jerusalem

Not been listening long enough to select any more at this point.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Sonata said:


> 1) Jonas Kaufmann (can't believe he wasn't on the "overhyped" list. But I'm ok with that!!)
> 2) Carlo Bergonzi
> 3) Lawrence Brownlee
> 3) Fritz Wunderlich
> ...


Wonderful voice, died way to young.


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

Not a tenor person, but I have some personal favorite:

Henri Legay
Sandor Konya
Tito Schipa
Francesco Merli
Jons Vickers
Leonid Sobinov
Giacomo Lauri-Volpi
Sergei Lemeshev
Francisco Viñas
Ian Bostridge


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Sonata said:


> 1) Jonas Kaufmann (can't believe he wasn't on the "overhyped" list. But I'm ok with that!!)


he's not in the overhyped list because he's more controversial. not everyone treats him like a sacred cow they way they do Pavarotti for example.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Ramon Vargas
John McCormack
Raul Gimenez
Jerry Hadley
Neil Schicoff
Jonas Kaufmann
Bruce Ford
Lawrence Brownlee
Juan Diego Florez
Vittorio Grigolo (a wonderful, subtle singer -- I heard him at the Met)


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## ma7730 (Jun 8, 2015)

Bellinilover said:


> Ramon Vargas
> John McCormack
> Raul Gimenez
> Jerry Hadley
> ...


I've seen Vittorio twice now (same role, same production, different theatres-not my doing...) and I enjoyed him both times. However, I then tried listening to one of his aria-compilation albums, and I thought his voice sounded far worse than I remember...
Perhaps something doesn't come across in the recording?


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

ma7730 said:


> I've seen Vittorio twice now (same role, same production, different theatres-not my doing...) and I enjoyed him both times. However, I then tried listening to one of his aria-compilation albums, and I thought his voice sounded far worse than I remember...
> Perhaps something doesn't come across in the recording?


I have the same feeling with other recital discs to, not only Grigolo, others I can spin four times a week, just something about the programme I guess.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

ma7730 said:


> I've seen Vittorio twice now (same role, same production, different theatres-not my doing...) and I enjoyed him both times. However, I then tried listening to one of his aria-compilation albums, and I thought his voice sounded far worse than I remember...
> Perhaps something doesn't come across in the recording?


I haven't heard any of Grigolo's recordings so I can't really answer; until the Met's L'ELISIR D'AMORE last March he was just a name to me. But I will just mention that any singer's voice naturally sounds more "dimensional" (for lack of a better word) when heard in person as opposed to on a CD. I don't know if this is what you're getting at or not -- that he sounds more shallow or less impressive on recordings? Personally, I found his voice at the Met to be very rich and nuanced.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Bellinilover said:


> I haven't heard any of Grigolo's recordings so I can't really answer; until the Met's L'ELISIR D'AMORE last March he was just a name to me. But I will just mention that any singer's voice naturally sounds more "dimensional" (for lack of a better word) when heard in person as opposed to on a CD. I don't know if this is what you're getting at or not -- that he sounds more shallow or less impressive on recordings? Personally, I found his voice at the Met to be very rich and nuanced.


Did you missed Gounod : Romeo and Juliette?


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Pugg said:


> Did you missed Gounod : Romeo and Juliette?


I guess I did! I didn't know there was a recording with Grigolo.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I don't think the R & J is out yet but the production and his chemistry with Damrau was nothing short of sensational. Just you wait. You're in for a Grigolo treat. Give him a little more time.
I remember the brickbats thrown at Netrebko and Radvanovsky for a few years and now they are the hottest thing since French toast.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Bellinilover said:


> I guess I did! I didn't know there was a recording with Grigolo.


I mean the Met production like Nina says, I love to see the DVD


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> as with the soprano thread, the reasons for this thread are as follows:
> 1) while listening to the greats rarely gets old, talking about them can quite frequently
> 2) I'm looking to expand my tastes a bit
> 
> ...


Carlo Bergonzi
Enrico Caruso
Fernando de Lucia
Beniamino Gigli
Alfredo Kraus
Sergei Lemeshev
Max Lorentz
Helge Rosvaenge
Tito Schipa
Franz Völker


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## ma7730 (Jun 8, 2015)

Bellinilover said:


> I haven't heard any of Grigolo's recordings so I can't really answer; until the Met's L'ELISIR D'AMORE last March he was just a name to me. But I will just mention that any singer's voice naturally sounds more "dimensional" (for lack of a better word) when heard in person as opposed to on a CD. I don't know if this is what you're getting at or not -- that he sounds more shallow or less impressive on recordings? Personally, I found his voice at the Met to be very rich and nuanced.


I guess that's probably right. I can enjoy many other singers' CDs almost as much as in person. For some reason, Grigolo's voice sounded different in the recording than when I saw him live. Maybe the fault is mine, not his!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

ma7730 said:


> I guess that's probably right. I can enjoy many other singers' CDs almost as much as in person. For some reason, Grigolo's voice sounded different in the recording than when I saw him live. Maybe the fault is mine, not his!


Recordings don't always flatter bright voices, or voices with a lot of edge or without much depth of tone. I heard Birgit Nilsson live a couple of times, and her tone sounded less bright and more rounded in the house. Not that she isn't impressive in recordings, of course.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

schigolch said:


> Carlo Bergonzi
> Enrico Caruso
> Fernando de Lucia
> Beniamino Gigli
> ...


Another one on my list.


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## itarbrt (Feb 9, 2017)

Del Monaco+Pertile+Lauri Volpi+Bergonzi+ Villanzon+Gedda+Kraus+Aragall+Winbergh+Tagliavini in front line ....


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

itarbrt said:


> Del Monaco+Pertile+Lauri Volpi+Bergonzi+ Villanzon+Gedda+Kraus+Aragall+Winbergh+*Tagliavini* in front line ....


forgot about him. he deserves a place on my list somewhere


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> forgot about him. he deserves a place on my list somewhere


You need a bit of


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Pugg said:


> You need a bit of


oh? aren't we kinky


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## doctorjohn (Mar 5, 2017)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> the soprano thread needed a brother, so here you go!
> 
> as with the soprano thread, the reasons for this thread are as follows:
> 1) while listening to the greats rarely gets old, talking about them can quite frequently
> ...


What no Benjamino GIGLI ?


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Tuoksu said:


> I wonder how Caruso didn't make it to your blacklist.
> 
> I can only name 9. In no particular order:
> Giuseppe Di Stefano
> ...


I should add: Aureliano Pertile, Beniamino Gigli


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Tuoksu said:


> I should add: Aureliano Pertile, Beniamino Gigli







Stunning Otello!


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Pugg said:


> Stunning Otello!







Stunning Canio too. 
Bonus: Francesco Merli


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

First of all, these names should be in the "most hyped ones" list, so I won't include those in mine, you may consider it as cheating to turn Top 10 into a Top 14 

*Nicolai Gedda
Giuseppe di Stefano
Mario Del Monaco
Carlo Bergonzi*

So my Top 10 "non-hyped ones" at the moment (in no specific order):

Bruno Prevedi
Francisco Araiza
Dano Raffanti
Mario Filippeschi
Giacomo Aragall
Franco Bonisolli
Peter Hoffman
Peter Dvorský
Ramón Vinay
very honorable mention - Piero de Palma!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Not just unhyped, but almost forgotten, *ALFRED PICCAVER* could give lessons in technique and style to (insert favorite present-day tenor).


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Pugg said:


> Okay, no problem.
> I will add some names, good enough for me :
> 
> Carlo Bergonzi.
> ...


I'm happy to see his name mentioned, I really like Lawrence Brownlee


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Florestan said:


> I have not been much on following male singers but recently have a couple tenors who have really impressed me: *Jonas Kaufmann *who already has been mentioned, but I am surprised nobody has mentioned (well there are only a few posts so far) *Juan Dieago Florez*. Those are my two favorites so far.


Have to add Siegfried Jerusalem and Rüdiger Wohlers. Both of them are on this recording (Wohlers as Jaquino and Jerusalem as Florestan), and as much as I want to love this recording, I just don't care for Altmeyer as Leonore.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Florestan said:


> I have not been much on following male singers but recently have a couple tenors who have really impressed me: *Jonas Kaufmann *who already has been mentioned, but I am surprised nobody has mentioned (well there are only a few posts so far) *Juan Diego Florez*


I confess that I've grown a bit tired of Florez's singing. The florid work is pretty amazing, but everything kind of sounds the same. In the same repertoire, I much prefer Javier Camarena:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Sonata said:


> I'm happy to see his name mentioned, I really like Lawrence Brownlee


Rossini's Armida, must be his best recording ever with Renée in the leading role. :angel:


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

and at 92


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

My latest tenor crush..


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## VitellioScarpia (Aug 27, 2017)

In alphabetical order: 

1) Joseph Calleja 
2) Beniamino Gigli
3) Flaviano Labó 
4) Veriano Luchetti 
5) Mario del Monaco
6) Lauritz Melchior
7) Francesco Merli
8) Aureliano Pertile
9) Giuseppe di Stefano
10) Georges Thill


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Tuoksu said:


> My latest tenor crush..


Do you thinks he's play backing or is it real live, so to speak?


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Pugg said:


> Do you thinks he's play backing or is it real live, so to speak?


He's lip syncing because it looks like a movie or something. Here it's hilarious:


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

My own feeling is that this is a self-contradicting question. A 'top' tenor (especially in opera) will be hyped because they are such a rare bird. Why as Harold Schoenberg says, tenors are able to get away with behaviour that would get most people kicked out.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tuoksu said:


> He's lip syncing because it looks like a movie or something. Here it's hilarious:


Don't know about hilarious, but that's the sloppiest cadenza any tenor ever sang.


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> Don't know about hilarious, but that's the sloppiest cadenza any tenor ever sang.


Yes the cadenza was sloppy :lol: but the rest was gorgeous.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tuoksu said:


> Yes the cadenza was sloppy :lol: but the rest was gorgeous.


I put up with that aria for the cadenza. If that isn't terrific (a la Caruso), I've wasted my time with the rest. "Questa o quella" is a better tune. "La Donna e mobile" is basically an earworm.


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> I put up with that aria for the cadenza. If that isn't terrific (a la Caruso), I've wasted my time with the rest. "Questa o quella" is a better tune. "La Donna e mobile" is basically an earworm.


Best earworm ever if you ask me :lol:


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Giuseppe Sabbatini:


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

updated list 
10) Jon Vickers 
9) Joseph Calleja
8) Jonas Kaufmann
7) Nicolai Gedda
6) James King
5) Set Svanholm
4) Giuseppe Giacomini
3) Ramon Vinay
2) John Alexander
1) Anatoly Solovyanenko.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> updated list
> 10) Jon Vickers
> 9) Joseph Calleja
> 8) Jonas Kaufmann
> ...


EXCLUDING the most hyped ones


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Pugg said:


> EXCLUDING the most hyped ones


Joseph Calleja is relatively new on the scene and Jonas Kaufmann is controversial (ie, not as universally loved as, say, Corelli, Pavarotti or Caruso)


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

DavidA said:


> My own feeling is that this is a self-contradicting question. A 'top' tenor (especially in opera) will be hyped because they are such a rare bird.


Not always. There have been plenty of terrific tenors over the past few decades that most people have never heard of. I'm thinking of people like Sabbatini, Wieslaw Ochman, Virgilius Noreika, and John Alexander, not to mention tenors stuck behind the Iron Curtain. If you doubt that these are "top tenors", go listen to a few of their recordings.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

Carreras is on your blacklist but Caruso is not?


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

My top ten list has always been:

10 - Giacomini
9 - Tucker, (Domingo)
8 - (Bjoerling), DelMonaco
7 - (Melchior)
6 - (Corelli), Crooks
5 - Martinelli
4 - (Pavarotti), (Caruso) I think you said in here that you just forgot Caruso
3 - Gigli
2 - Vickers
1 - Bergonzi

To be completely honest - and I really don't like doing that - I lose track of some of my ties and re-make them up. Went through a DiStefano period and he was here, but I'm in a DelMonaco period so now he's here. (Don't ask me why he jumped Tucker, Domingo and Giacomini...he just did.) But most never leave the list. Gigli, my first love, was always number two after I became a Bergonzisti. But my definition of beauty is not as sweet as it used to be. However that early flame was too great for him to ever fall below three. I'm pretty sure I believe Vickers to be the greatest 20th century tenor after Caruso. If a modern gets on there it will almost certainly be Calleja.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

I haven't heard Grigolo on record but I'm definitely familiar with the phenomena you're referring to. In the house Kollo, Atlantov and Aragall all sounded like a million bucks! On record I found Kollo and Atlantov's voices nowhere near as beautiful and Aragall usually sounds flat. And...for the record ... I agree, Grigolo sounds gorgeous in the house!


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

ScottK said:


> I haven't heard Grigolo on record but I'm definitely familiar with the phenomena you're referring to. In the house Kollo, Atlantov and Aragall all sounded like a million bucks! On record I found Kollo and Atlantov's voices nowhere near as beautiful and Aragall usually sounds flat. And...for the record ... I agree, Grigolo sounds gorgeous in the house!


Seattle was one of Grigolo's first US cities to perform in and I saw him quite a long time ago. Wonderful singer.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Seattle was one of Grigolo's first US cities to perform in and I saw him quite a long time ago. Wonderful singer.


Did you ever see the movie he made with Domingo as Rigoletto?


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## battistini (Jan 22, 2021)

I've lost track of the black list, it seemed incomplete if I understood what you were driving at. Plus I am not sure how some singers people on the internet have forgotten, are under-hyped, when they werre great stars when they sang (ie Thill Gigli Lauri-Volpi Pertile Martinelli and Caruso's only real rival at the Met Leo Slezak for example). Also some people's reputation may have enlarged due to the growth of communication with the proliferation of sound recordings, in other words local or regional stars like Paul Franz' being newly appreciated. It's all kind of muddy. Overhyped when they sang? Their recordings over-hyped? Their recollection over-hyped?


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

I don't know much about singing or singers, but my favourite tenors are, in order:

1. Gigli
2. Bjorling
3. Caruso
4. Pavaroti
5. Di Stefano

I've not included any heldentenors/wagner specialists


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Some love here for Fritz Wunderlich, Georges Thilo, Ernst Kozub, Giacomo Aragall and, most of all Franco Corelli (no longer as hyped).


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

MAS said:


> Some love here for Fritz Wunderlich, Georges Thilo, Ernst Kozub, Giacomo Aragall and, most of all Franco Corelli (no longer as hyped).


Lotsa love for 4 out of 5!!! Going to have to go looking for Kozub.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Of the black list tenors the following would be in my top ten:

Pavarotti
Corelli
Caruso

My top ten putting those aside is as follows:

Martinelli
Schipa
Di Stefano
Valletti
Vickers
Kozlovsky
Cura
Jerusalem
Florez
Calleja

N.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

ScottK said:


> Lotsa love for 4 out of 5!!! Going to have to go looking for Kozub.


Try his Siegmund - it floored me!


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

Looking forward to Mr. Kozub!


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

MAS said:


> Try his Siegmund - it floored me!


WOOOOOOHHHHH!!!!!..........5 out of 5!!!!!!!!.........BIG TIME LOVE for your Mr. Kozub!!! Who is this guy?? I simply have to assume that he didn't keep on singing like this. It's a genuinely beautiful heldentenor, how often can we say that? And I never heard Jones sound like that, that healthy...again beautiful !! Great recording . I'll go googling but you know him. How come I've never even heard the name? Did he have a serious career?


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

ScottK said:


> WOOOOOOHHHHH!!!!!..........5 out of 5!!!!!!!!.........BIG TIME LOVE for your Mr. Kozub!!! Who is this guy?? I simply have to assume that he didn't keep on singing like this. It's a genuinely beautiful heldentenor, how often can we say that? And I never heard Jones sound like that, that healthy...again beautiful !! Great recording . I'll go googling but you know him. How come I've never even heard the name? Did he have a serious career?


Mr. Kozub was earmarked for the role of Siegfried in the legendary Solti *Der Ring des Nibelungen* - he and Culshaw (the producer for Decca) thought Kozub was the dream voice for their recording. However, Kozub was totally unprepared when the recording sessions started and, while they were willing to work with him, he was not up to it. So they sadly had to let him go. He was already an established artist and wanted to accept all of the offers he received. As you can hear, the voice was perfect for the Wagner _heldentenor _roles. He died young, and sang mostly in Europe. (see Ring Resounding, Culshaw's book about the recording - they just called him "our Siegfried" in the book).


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

MAS said:


> Mr. Kozub was earmarked for the role of Siegfried in the legendary Solti *Der Ring des Nibelungen* - he and Culshaw (the producer for Decca) thought Kozub was the dream voice for their recording. However, Kozub was totally unprepared when the recording sessions started and, while they were willing to work with him, he was not up to it. So they sadly had to let him go. He was already an established artist and wanted to accept all of the offers he received. As you can hear, the voice was perfect for the Wagner _heldentenor _roles. He died young, and sang mostly in Europe. (see Ring Resounding, Culshaw's book about the recording - they just called him "our Siegfried" in the book).
> 
> View attachment 162498
> 
> ...


I've seen the book for years, Ill have to read at least that part of it. So bizarre...you assume that, however prodigious the natural gifts were, there still had to be so much work for him to get to that point. And then, when he had the offer that could have done for him what it did for Solti, he simply doesn't prepare. Maybe more to it than that, Ill have to read. Great share, thank you! Felt like the fates were guiding me as I went to listen. Looking for him I just took a shot and landed smack in the middle of the Act II scene with Brunnhilde - voice Had so much color that my first guess was that I might be listening to Wotan. I move back and my first stab was at the beginning of the act I monologue. Great rest of act I with Jones! I'll be looking for other cuts of his.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

MAS said:


> Mr. Kozub was earmarked for the role of Siegfried in the legendary Solti *Der Ring des Nibelungen* - he and Culshaw (the producer for Decca) thought Kozub was the dream voice for their recording. However, Kozub was totally unprepared when the recording sessions started and, while they were willing to work with him, he was not up to it. So they sadly had to let him go.


There was more to it than that...

_"...but his ailing health (kept as a secret by him at that time), which prevented him mastering the role within the short period of time given him by Decca led to his unfortunate replacement..."_


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet (Aug 31, 2011)

I can't even name the the most hyped tenors or ten tenors ... lol ... I'll see myself out.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

ScottK said:


> I've seen the book for years, Ill have to read at least that part of it. So bizarre...you assume that, however prodigious the natural gifts were, there still had to be so much work for him to get to that point. And then, when he had the offer that could have done for him what it did for Solti, he simply doesn't prepare. Maybe more to it than that, Ill have to read. Great share, thank you! Felt like the fates were guiding me as I went to listen. Looking for him I just took a shot and landed smack in the middle of the Act II scene with Brunnhilde - voice Had so much color that my first guess was that I might be listening to Wotan. I move back and my first stab was at the beginning of the act I monologue. Great rest of act I with Jones! I'll be looking for other cuts of his.


That Brunhilde/Siegfried duet (_Todesverkundigung_) is my favorite in *Die Walküre*.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

MAS said:


> That Brunhilde/Siegfried duet (_Todesverkundigung_) is my favorite in *Die Walküre*.


Pretty much the same here!


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

MAS said:


> That Brunhilde/Siegfried duet (_Todesverkundigung_) is my favorite in *Die Walküre*.


Siegmund methinks!


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Barbebleu said:


> Siegmund methinks!


Oops, sorry, brain fog. It's the other SIEG. Of course I meant Siegmund! Can't blame auto-correct for this one . :lol:


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## toasino (Jan 3, 2022)

Carlo Bergonzi
Flaviiano Labo
Nicoli Gedda
Cesare Valletti
Juan Diego Florez
Jon Vickers
Richard Tucker
Giuseppe di Stefano


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

Excluding: Caruso, Melchior, Del Monaco, Gigli

Andre D'Arkor
Antonio Cortis
Renato Zanelli
Alfred Piccaver
Julius Patzak
Franz Volker
Ferruccio Tagliavini
Giovanni Malipiero
Carl Martin Oehmann
Francesco Merli


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