# Round One:"Ch'ella mi creda libero e lontano" Piccaver, Domingo, Bjorling



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I am trying my hand at a tenor contest. I hope I do okay. The excerpts are of varied lengths. Sorry. Too my ears the music sounds Oriental not Far Western. I'm not a big fan of Fanciulla, but I do like this music a lot.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Oh boy was this ever a tough one. I went back and forth until the last few Bjorling notes after the high note, which evoked the slightest of a sob in it and won me over.
But they were all superb in their way.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> Oh boy was this ever a tough one. I went back and forth until the last few Bjorling notes after the high note, which evoked the slightest of a sob in it and won me over.
> But they were all superb in their way.


I had you in mind.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Good choices, John. With three fine performances leaving nothing much to criticize, this one will have to be decided purely on my taste in voices. On that basis it'll have to be Bjorling, whose voice opens out so thrillingly at the top.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I’ll go along with the above. Björling it is.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Thanks. Next round has some good ones I think also.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Good choices, John. With three fine performances leaving nothing much to criticize, this one will have to be decided purely on my taste in voices. On that basis it'll have to be Bjorling, whose voice opens out so thrillingly at the top.


Thanks!!!!! Is the tenor part in Fanciulla one that needs a really big voice like Minnie? I am just wondering if Bjorling, who sounds so wonderful here, was up to the part onstage. Same for Pavarotti.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

It's Jussi without much competition. La Fanciulla is one of my favorite operas and Bjorling is just in glorious voice. Funny how he launches the aria with generous _rubato_... A pity he hasn't recorded the whole affair (at least I am unaware if such recording exists). There are of course complete performances with Del Monaco, Corelli etc etc...


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Bjorling may not have had a powerful voice but the way he utilized it was so superb that it sounded bigger than it was.
I am sorry to hear, John, that you do not favor "Fanciulla" as I think it is one of the finest of Puccini's operas. The Poker Scene can stand alone as a tribute to just music with no singing -- it is THAT exciting.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

Really hard to choose! I don't find this to be an aria which offers lots of opportunities to make an individual artistic impression. Piccaver sounds less fastidious about note values and tempo than the other two and sounds like he makes up a few words.But Bjoerling and Domingo are pretty much always on the money musically. All three have great sounds and sound right for the music. But for me, the thing that can often work against Bjoerling in italian opera, can from time to time work for him. His classical, comparatively austere, note to note musicality, can be part of what often makes him sound less involved. But when nobility is called for, for me he is very convincing. And however beautiful the other two voices, few voices have his richness. Bjoerling!


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> Bjorling may not have had a powerful voice but the way he utilized it was so superb that it sounded bigger than it was.
> I am sorry to hear, John, that you do not favor "Fanciulla" as I think it is one of the finest of Puccini's operas. The Poker Scene can stand alone as a tribute to just music with no singing -- it is THAT exciting.


That makes sense. I know many that I admire like you are fans of the opera. I just couldn't get into it when I saw it live. I can understand the big fuss that is made over it from an intellectual point of view. I would have loved to have heard Bjorling live to hear the effect it produced in a house. He was built like the perfect singing machine, similar to Pavarotti, but much slimmer. He was a strange one in photographs. Often he looked lie Shrek but at times he looked quite handsome.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Often he looked lie Shrek but at times he looked quite handsome.


At times he resembled a young John Lithgow (more than Shrek, at any rate).


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> At times he resembled a young John Lithgow (more than Shrek, at any rate).


I can see that.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

All three tenors give excellent performances but Bjoerling's is the one that thrills me most, so he gets my vote.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Well, I feel as it I'm listening to something different from everyone else. This is an easy one. Bjorling is head and shoulders above the other two because he doesn't have their nasal twang.

I agree that the aria has an oriental mood to the opening phrases and there isn't really anything American about the opera other than the setting.

I'm afraid I don't like Piccaver due to his imprecise diction and nasal twang. There is no sound equivalent to the schwa sound in Italian and his voice is too light for the aria. Domingo is better, but again the vowels aren't open and stick in the nose on the high notes. The only criticism I could give Bjorling is that his voice is a touch too light for the role, but this works very well as a concert aria for him. His glorious technique sees him through.

N.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Bjorling may get a run for the money next round from all of the next contestants. I look forward to your reactions. Thank you fine folk for playing.


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