April 9, 2018.Two singers.Franco Corelli’s birthday was yesterday: he was born on April 8th of 1921.One of the greatest tenors of the mid-20th century, he, together with Giuseppe Di Stefano and Mario Del Monaco, brought the level of tenor singing to heights which seem unreachable today.Add to it two supreme sopranos, Maria Callas and Renata Tebaldi, the great baritone Tito Gobbi, the mezzo Giulietta Simionato, the base Cesare Siepi – all of them at the top of their form in the mid-1950s.What a glorious era!Corelli may not have had the most beautiful voice, but the power, clarity, phenomenal breath control and sheer excitement he generated were incomparable. Listen, for example, to this 1955 recording of Cavaradossi’s aria E lucevan le stele from Puccini’s Tosca.One may quibble with the interpretations, with the notes he holds a bit too long – just because he can! – but it’s singing at the very highest level.Or a small sample from the legendary performance of the same opera in the Teatro Regio di Parma on January 21, 1967.Tosca is Virginia Gordoni, Scarpia – Attilio d'Orazi, but it’s Corelli’s 12 seconds of A-sharp in Vittoria, Vittoria at the very end of this two-minute excerpt that brought the theater down.We cut out the ensuing pandemonium (the word “ovation” isn’t strong enough) because it just wouldn’t stop; one couldn’t hear anything anyway, even though the orchestra continued to play (here).Corelli was born in a provincial city of Ancona, his family wasn’t musical, and Franco entered the Pesaro conservatory almost by chance.Even there, he mostly taught himself, following the technique of Mario del Monaco and listening to the old recordings of Caruso, Gigli and Lauri-Volpi.Corelli started singing professionally in 1951; in 1953, in the Rome Opera, he sung Pollione in Bellini's Norma with Maria Callas in the title role.Callas was taken by Corelli’s voice, and in the following years the two sung together on many occasions, especially at La Scala.
Corelli also sung with Renata Tebaldi in the famous production of La forza del destino at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples (YouTube has a large excerpt from it: Mario del Monaco, mentioned in the title, didn’t sing in this particular production).Corelli sung his debut performance at the Metropolitan Opera in 1961 as Manrico in Il Trovatore with Leontine Price.He performed at the Met till 1975, even though in the early 1970s his voice lost some of its luster.In 1976, at the age of 55, Corelli quit.Even though he personally disliked voice teachers, he became one himself, and a very successful one.Franco Corelli died in Milan on October 29th of 2003.
Montserrat Caballé, one of the greatest sopranos of the second half of the 20th century, will turn 85 in three days.Caballé was born on April 12th of 1933 in Barcelona.A real bel canto soprano (unlike most of the sopranos on stage today), she was one of the best Normas ever.She also excelled in Donizetti, especially as Mary Queen of Scots in Maria Stuarda and Elizabeth I in Roberto Devereaux.She also sung in many Verdi operas.Caballé had her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1965 in a not very typical role of Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust.Since then she has performed at the Met dozens of times, singing in several Verdi operas, Puccini's Turandot and operas by Donizetti.Her official debut in La Scala happened only in 1970, when she was already world-famous.She often partnered with the much younger José Carreras (while at the same time Joan Sutherland took under her wing a younger Luciano Pavarotti). There are hundreds of great recording of Caballé’s art;here is an excerpt from Roberto Devereu.The live recording was made in Venice in 1972. Bruno Bartoletti conducts the orchestra of the Teatro la Fenice.
Two singers, 2018
April 9, 2018. Two singers. Franco Corelli’s birthday was yesterday: he was born on April 8th of 1921. One of the greatest tenors of the mid-20th century, he, together with Giuseppe Di Stefano and Mario Del Monaco, brought the level of tenor singing to heights which seem
unreachable today. Add to it two supreme sopranos, Maria Callas and Renata Tebaldi, the great baritone Tito Gobbi, the mezzo Giulietta Simionato, the base Cesare Siepi – all of them at the top of their form in the mid-1950s. What a glorious era! Corelli may not have had the most beautiful voice, but the power, clarity, phenomenal breath control and sheer excitement he generated were incomparable. Listen, for example, to this 1955 recording of Cavaradossi’s aria E lucevan le stele from Puccini’s Tosca. One may quibble with the interpretations, with the notes he holds a bit too long – just because he can! – but it’s singing at the very highest level. Or a small sample from the legendary performance of the same opera in the Teatro Regio di Parma on January 21, 1967. Tosca is Virginia Gordoni, Scarpia – Attilio d'Orazi, but it’s Corelli’s 12 seconds of A-sharp in Vittoria, Vittoria at the very end of this two-minute excerpt that brought the theater down. We cut out the ensuing pandemonium (the word “ovation” isn’t strong enough) because it just wouldn’t stop; one couldn’t hear anything anyway, even though the orchestra continued to play (here). Corelli was born in a provincial city of Ancona, his family wasn’t musical, and Franco entered the Pesaro conservatory almost by chance. Even there, he mostly taught himself, following the technique of Mario del Monaco and listening to the old recordings of Caruso, Gigli and Lauri-Volpi. Corelli started singing professionally in 1951; in 1953, in the Rome Opera, he sung Pollione in Bellini's Norma with Maria Callas in the title role. Callas was taken by Corelli’s voice, and in the following years the two sung together on many occasions, especially at La Scala.
Corelli also sung with Renata Tebaldi in the famous production of La forza del destino at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples (YouTube has a large excerpt from it: Mario del Monaco, mentioned in the title, didn’t sing in this particular production). Corelli sung his debut performance at the Metropolitan Opera in 1961 as Manrico in Il Trovatore with Leontine Price. He performed at the Met till 1975, even though in the early 1970s his voice lost some of its luster. In 1976, at the age of 55, Corelli quit. Even though he personally disliked voice teachers, he became one himself, and a very successful one. Franco Corelli died in Milan on October 29th of 2003.
Montserrat Caballé, one of the greatest sopranos of the second half of the 20th century, will turn 85 in three days. Caballé was born on April 12th of 1933 in Barcelona. A real bel canto soprano (unlike most of the sopranos on stage today), she was one of the best Normas ever. She also excelled in Donizetti, especially as Mary Queen of Scots in Maria Stuarda and Elizabeth I in Roberto Devereaux. She also sung in many Verdi operas. Caballé had her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1965 in a not very typical role of Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust. Since then she has performed at the Met dozens of times, singing in several Verdi operas, Puccini's Turandot and operas by Donizetti. Her official debut in La Scala happened only in 1970, when she was already world-famous. She often partnered with the much younger José Carreras (while at the same time Joan Sutherland took under her wing a younger Luciano Pavarotti). There are hundreds of great recording of Caballé’s art; here is an excerpt from Roberto Devereu. The live recording was made in Venice in 1972. Bruno Bartoletti conducts the orchestra of the Teatro la Fenice.