Manon Lescaut (1893)
In quelle trine morbide, with soprano Mirella Freni: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEnNn21wC78
Donna non vidi mai, with tenor Giacomo Aragall: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgAzJYDOn1M
Tu, tu, amore, tu (Love duet), with tenor Placido Domingo and soprano Kiri te Kanawa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD0Ic5Kiv0s
No, no, pazzo son, with tenor Jussi Bjorling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12lwwyWkq-A
La Boheme (1896)
Che gelida manina, with tenor Rolando Villazon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpPRgzQsaic
Si, mi chiamano Mimi, with soprano Renata Tebaldi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMz1mwqU0qg
O soave fanciulla (Love duet), with Placido Domingo and soprano Montserrat Caballe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwq1f8qvBUg (nothing can match how Caballe sings at the end)
Quando m'en vo (Musetta's waltz song), with soprano Anna Netrebko: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0Igo5q8h-8
O Mimi tu piu non torni, with tenor Jose Carreras and baritone Invar Wixell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtNlg8KzhJ0
Tosca (1900)
Recondita armonia, with tenor Carlo Bergonzi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB_4ByFo8TI
Mario, Mario, Mario! (Love duet), with tenor Jonas Kaufmann and soprano Karita Mattila: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK_W56qMk8U (listen out for how Jonas sings through the key change at 8.22: I think it's the most wonderful thing. He sings the phrase 8.15-8.28 in one breath (nothing too unusual there) but diminuendos (gets quieter) on the high note and then crescendos (gets louder) after the key change. And he still has enough breath to sing the next phrase at the same tempo (speed) and diminuendo at the end of that one too.)
Tre sbirri, una carozza... va, Tosca (Te Deum), with bass-baritone Samuel Ramey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnzSRdY8zx8
Vissi d'arte, with soprano Maria Callas (the names Tosca and Maria Callas are almost synonymous): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLR3lSrqlww
E lucevan le stelle, with tenor Giuseppe di Stefano (who often sang opposite Callas): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y468Lvp27CA
Madam Butterfly (1904)
Ancora un passo or via, with soprano Renata Scotto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imbu_F_2VrE
Vogliatemi bene (Love duet), with Angela Gheorghiu and tenor Roberto Alagna: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAZOETtWiqQ
Un bel di, wtih soprano Victoria de los Angeles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1Q3OeOlmNg
Humming Chorus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mIrDN8XmdA
Addio fiorito asil, with Jonas Kaufmann and baritone Fabio Capitanucci: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyNM9Se5HU0
Tu, tu, piccolo iddio, with Mirella Freni: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od1AahEXLm4
La Fanciulla del West/ The Girl of the Golden West (1910)
Ch'ella mi creda, with Placido Domingo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM9dF4WodDY
La Rondine /The Swallow (1917)
Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso, with Jonas Kaufmann, soprano Renee Fleming, tenor Paolo Cautoruccio and soprano Barbara Vignudelli: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf7uYOgYoTw
Chi il bel sogno di Doretta, with soprano Leontyne Price: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzRe5FQAT_E
Il Trittico/The Triptych (1918)
Il Trittico: Suor Angelica/ Sister Angelica
Senza mamma, with Maria Callas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RSHveJpBUE
Il Trittico: Gianni Schicchi
O mio babbino caro, with soprano Montserrat Caballe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrKTAYRdvb0 (with the most amazing breath control and soft, quiet high notes)
Turandot (1924)
Signore ascolta, with Renata Tebaldi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnmv5eF_Do8
Non, piangere Liu... Ah, per l'ultima volta, with tenor Luciano Pavarotti: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiTFXTNzOI0
In questa reggia, with soprano Birgit Nilsson and tenor Franco Corelli: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWle3od3BCc (try and look past the 70s production and poor Franco's tights)
Nessun dorma, with Luciano Pavarotti (who became synonymous with this aria): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HklMg6R3Uc
Tu che di gel sei cinta, with Maria Callas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbz9KMfWjGE
You can watch the entire playlist here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD9CFD675B3564870
There are several Puccini recitals and compilations on the market. You could try the recital discs of Maria Callas Callas Puccini Arias, Angela Gheorghiu EMI: My Puccini, Montserrat Caballe Caballe Puccini Arias or Leontyne Price Puccini Heroines. For a compilation, try 100 Best Puccini , Decca Essential Puccini or Decca Essential Puccini Alternative
E Lucevan le stelle from Tosca..it's so emotional (but I prefer the JK version)
ReplyDeleteand the Humming Chorus from Madama Butterfly..cos it's just so beautiful ( as is the whole opera)
But did you like di Stefano's voice?
ReplyDeleteOne singer who often crops up in JK discussions, and a singer from the past he is often compared to, is Franco Corelli. It took me a while to get used to Corelli's voice: it's very masculine and powerful but sounds rather nasal to me (he did have a lisp) as though he has a cold. JK has said in interviews that he often listens to recordings (they are, I suppose, part of a performing tradition) and for his studies as Cavaradossi, listened to Corelli's live recording from Covent Garden in 1957 (his Covent Garden debut). Here it is (although the sound is quite harsh):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz7NpMHPUS4
You'll notice how Corelli diminuendos (goes quieter) in certain phrases. The words are:
O dolci baci, o languide carezze ( O soft kisses, o tender caresses)
Mentr'io fremente (while I, trembling)
Le belle forme disciogliea dai veli (would unveil and reveal her beauty)
The first diminuendo comes at 4.26, as if dreaming at the tender caresses; the second as he unveils her at 4.45, and his voice fades and floats, almost without colour. And what breath control!
Now, does he do this in character? Or is he showing off an effect? Does it draw you into the character or out of the character and onto the singer? Harder to judge without seeing him, but it's an interesting question.
Here is another performance, 10 years later, of the same aria where he does the same thing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgrQKCgcNhM
You can hear the frisson in the audience around 2.14/2.15. And, of course, the Italian reaction is completely different to the British one!
His voice though powerful, doesn't sound as soft as JK's ( but maybe,as you say , that is the recording)
ReplyDeleteCan you post JK's version as a comparasion?
I just love the sound of that..oboe?
OK ..blonde comment, listening to that, you almost forget that they have to breathe...
ReplyDeleteLol the Italians practically stop the opera around 3.15 ..and for good cause too, that note he produces and holds is fantastic.. Bravo..Bis (Is that what they are shouting?)
ReplyDeleteKath,
ReplyDeleteYes, I think you can hear calls of Bis. And there's no "practically" about it!: you can hear the orchestra start up again around 5.44 but they are drowned out by new applause.
Here is a Jonas version (for a fairer comparison, don't watch, just listen):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiWmSCrjPT0
(It's a clarinet.)
Some kind soul has also uploaded onto youtube a complete concert from 1975 of Montserrat Caballe singing Puccini. It's in black and white, and the sound is a bit crumbly (presumably because of the age of the tape) but some of the singing is extraordinarily beautiful:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3dUMZVgu1g
Oh God I just love that music... It's very hard to compare their voices because the quality of recordings are so different.
ReplyDeleteMonserrat is truly wonderful ( have only heard her singing with Freddie before) How she sings those notes without screeching is amazing and shows the power of her voice. Thank you x
I think Puccini may be my favourite composer so far ( Or is it Verdi? ) I say so far cos am still very new to this and still have so much to discover :-)
I will return to the concert when have more time to dedicate to it ( and there are many things on this blog I have thought that about..damn you!:-))