# BASS TOURNAMENT (Round 1, Match 7): Ghiaurov vs Arie



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Nicolai Ghiaurov, Bulgaria, 1929-2004






Raffaele Arie, Bulgaria, 1920-1988






Who's singing did you prefer and why?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

These voices strike me as similar, and there's no great stylistic difference either. I've never heard of Arie, and although he sings well I get just a little more variety of expression, more a feeling of storytelling, from Ghiaurov. I'll give him my vote on that basis.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Ghiaurov is one of my favorite basses ever, he is much more in character than Arie, who sounds quite generic. Ghiaurov best conveys brave, unforgiving, cruel nature of the Varangians/Varyags (essentially Vikings).


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I'm going to go for Arie too, though there's not really much in it.

Arie was the Raimondo in Callas's first recording of *Lucia di Lammermoor* but I've never come across him elsewhere, though I see from Wikipedia that he continued to sing at La Scala until 1973. He was the original Truelove in the premiere of Stravinsky's *The Rake's Progress*.

PS After reading the Wikipedia piece, I discovered I also have him singing Giorgio Talbot in a live recording of *Maria Stuarda* from La Scala with Caballé and Verrett.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I'm a Ghiaurov gal. They were both fine in their way but that deep bass of Ghiaurov cannot be ignored.


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