Sergei Lemeshev (1902 - 1977)
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Great male singers of the past
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schigolch
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This is perfect but I'm suspicious regarding the transfer speed.
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I am sure that you are aware of the circumstances within these operas at the point of the extracts chosen.
I cannot understand how the singer could be too intense therefore, unless of course it makes him break his line or interferes with his actual singing.This then would end up with the sort of bluster so often produced by DFD for instance.
In the case of Tibbett this is not likely to happen and what you have here is an example of the baritone that Francis Robinson described as :"One of the greatest singing actors that America has produced". I think that we may safely extend that description beyond America.Incidentally "Eri Tu" was one of the audition pieces that got him a contract at the Met. I have hundreds of examples of this aria and you can't get much better.
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A fine actor too. One of my first recorded operas was the original mono (1955?) Cluytens recording of Faust. Some deprecated his French pronounciation and what they perceived as his over the top characterization. But those people 1. were just trying to show that they know French and that they're precious and, 2. didn't take into consideration that playing a devil from hell may justify a bit of perfervid thespianism. If you haven't already, catch his video clip of the death of Boris from a 1950s TV show. Still the best Boris, along with Mark Reizen, imo.
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might well be. The interpretation is lovely.
Giuseppe Campanari (1855-1927) was born in Venice, and as a child he was a cello performer prodigy, being a member of the La Scala orchestra as a seventeen years old teenager. However, his real love was singing and he debuted in 1880, in the Verdian "Ballo". He kept both jobs during some time, until he finally decided to be a full time singer. His debut at the MET was in 1894, singing Il Conte di Luna, with Tamagno's Manrico. He sang more than 200 performances in New York, until his retirement, in 1912.
Before this retirement, he recorded some arias for Victor, of which we can hear a rather inward-looking performance of "Eri tu":
Or this rather more energetic rendition of Faust's "Dio Possente":
Mario Ancona (1860-1931) was born in Livorno. He debuted relatively late, at 29 years old, singing Massenet's Le Roi de Lahore. However, his was a very swift and complete success. Three years later, in 1892, he was singing at the premiere of Pagliacci, as Silvio, under the baton of Arturo Toscanini. He was also a favourite of the Covent Garden, and the MET. He retired in 1916.
His main repertory was Verdi and Puccini, with the typical Belcanto baritone roles (Riccardo, Enrico), some Mozart (Figaro, Don Giovanni) and even some Wagner (Telramund, Hans Sachs,... sung in Italian), with the occasional French opera, mostly sung in Italian too.
Ancona's voice was magnificent. Very masculine and beautiful, with velvety overtones, uniform in all the range, fluid singing, very secure top notes until A3,... On the weak side, he was not the most imaginative of singers.
Let's hear Ancona in this exciting performance of "O de' verd' anni miei"
Arguably his most famous recording, singing with Enrico Caruso:
Giuseppe Bellantoni's (1880 - 1946) first big success took place at Teatro Carlo Felice, in Genoa, singing Amonasro in 1907. From there he went to La Scala and other important theaters outside Italy, like Madrid or Buenos Aires. He retired in 1925, and his last years were rather sad, having being ruined in the Great Depression.
His was a very powerful voice, a true dramatic baritone, even a bass-baritone. A darker voice also than other baritones on this small series. He was an expressive singer, but always using a true Belcanto technique, and able to restrain such an enormous instrument, which is not always an easy task.
This is an impacting performance of La Favorita's "A tanto amor":
And we have also this "Vision Fugitiva", from Massenet's Herodiade, sung with passion, and very nice dynamics:
Mario Sammarco (1868 - 1930) was born in Palermo, Sicily. He debuted there while still very young, at twenty years old, and he was much appreciated also outside of his native Italy, especially in the Covent Garden, where he sang 26 different roles until his retirement in 1919, while collecting a lot of praise for his acting skils.
He was a very versatile singer: Ernani, di Luna, Rigoletto, Iago, Enrico Ashton, Belcore, Figaro, Don Giovanni, Hamlet, Monteverdi's Orfeo,... but he also tackled the main roles of verismo. He was the first Gérard in Andrea Chenier (1896), and the firt Cascart in Leoncavallo's Zazà (1900).
A great voice, though perhaps with an excessive inclination towards finding the easy way out.
This was the opinion on Sammarco of the Italian critic and voice expert Rodolfo Celletti (in Italian):
Baritono "tenoreggiante", secondo la tradizione verdiana, aveva voce morbidissima e di timbro insinuante, ma anche vibrazioni energiche e ragguardevole volume. Le sue attitudini al belcantismo trovarono compiuta estrinsecazione nella Favorita, nell'Ernani, nella Traviata, in cui Sammarco sfoggiava fiati, legature, mezzevoci che lo ponevano nell'immediata scia di Battistini, insieme al contemporaneo Ancona e ai più giovani De Luca e Stracciari; ma anche in queste opere, come nel Ballo in Maschera, nell'Aida, nella Gioconda e, soprattutto, nel Rigoletto, spiccavano la declamazione serrata, la sillabazione mordente, l'espressione intensa e l'azione scenica varia, dinamica, approfondita che fecero di lui uno dei primi grandi interpreti veristi, tanto nel genere brillante (Marcello della Bohème, oltre alla citata Zazà) quanto nei personaggi biechi e brutali (nel suo Scarpia, alla viscida untuosità e all'affettata eleganza si alternavano l'irrompente sensualità e lo spirito d'autorità violento e intollerante), quanto infine nelle parti a sfondo umanitario ed epicchegiante come Gérard dello Chénier o Worms della Germania
This was his Gérard, in a slightly disappointing performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c6AEgqN6Cg
A much better Cascart:
And singing Verdi:
Antonio Scotti (1866-1936) was born in Naples, and his breakthrough role was, surprisingly, Hans Sachs at La Scala, when he was already 32 years old. In 1899 he debuted in the MET, and he just kept singing there until his retirement, in 1933.
An elegant and restrained baritone, with a good voice, but in my view not playing in the same league that the best singers of the fach.
In Don Pasquale:
Singing with Enrico Caruso:
Mattia Battistini (1856 - 1928) was born in Rome. He was trained by the best available teachers at the Santa Cecilia Academy. His debut was at 22 years old, in La Favorita, singing with the soprano Isabella Galletti, and collecting a thunderous applause. Very soon, Battistini was singing everywhere: London, Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Vienna,... he also travelled to America, but it was in Russia where he was considered as the best singer in the world. He would sing in Russia from 1888 to 1914, and was celebrated as "The Baritone of Kings, and the King of Baritones". Indeed, he sang until a few months before his death.
Battistini was the consumate professional, taking care of his voice, preparing the roles from a stage point of view, and documenting on each opera, and each composer. He was blessed with a very beautiful voice, and a superb middle register, with secure top notes. His low notes were missing, however, a little bit of weight. A very flexible instrument, absolutely no problems to manage coloratura, and a perfect legato. Elegant phrasing. He was one of the last baritones that were fully trained in the Belcanto tradition, rather than the verismo school.
He sang on stage more than 80 roles. Some of the operas he was part of: La forza del destino, Il trovatore, Rigoletto, Dinorah, L'Africana, I Puritani, Lucia di Lammermoor, Aïda, Ernani, Don Carlo, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Un Ballo in Maschera, La Favorita, Hamlet, La Traviata, Don Pasquale, Otello,....Massenet wrote for him his Werther's baritone version, and the role of Athanaël.
There are many recordings in youtube, just a couple of examples:
"Era la notte" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=q_rNq7yrE6I
"Ah per sempre io ti perdei" -
Domenico Viglione-Borghese (1877-1957) debuted at 22 years old, as the King's Herald, in Lohengrin. Later, he went to South America, and after that he was able to sing at La Scala, in 1910. Then he basically stayed in Italy for the rest of his career.
His repertoire was mainly Verdi and verismo. The voice was really good, with a sickly sweet timbre, but also powerful and imperious, as needed. A true dramatic baritone. However, his technique was not really as refined as Battistini's or some other baritones we have already discussed. More like the verismo school. Instead of singing the aria, sometimes he just battled it to submission.
Singing Otello:
Singing La forza del destino:
Apollo Granforte (1886-1975) was born in Legnano, but he moved to Argentina with his parents as a child, where he attended singing classes and debuted at Teatro El Círculo, in Rosario, the year 1913. Only four years later he was singing in Rome, and debuted at La Scala in 1922. He was a regular of the Italian opera houses until his retirement in 1943.
A very powerful voice, that always stirred a response from the audience. His phrasing and singing style were not the most refined ever, but he was one of the leading baritones of his generation.
Taurino Parvis (1879-1957) was born in Turin, and after obtaining a college degree in Law, he decided to drop everything for singing, and debuted in Rio de Janeiro, in Mascagni's Iris. His debut scaligero was in 1908, and until his retirement in 1929 he was a regular of the major Italian theaters, as well as singing abroad in Spain, Russia, the US,.. (as an anecdote, he was singing Carmen in San Francisco, in 1906, the day of the famous earthquake).
His was a good, though not superb, voice, with powerful top notes. Not star material, perhaps, but a very good singer. He sang a lot of verismo, and was the baritone at the world premiere of operas like I Cavalieri de Ekebú or Il Piccolo Marat.
Ernesto Badini (1876-1937) was born in Milan, and his speciality were buffo roles. His voice, light and flexible, and his acting talents, were just about ideal for this type of characters. He sang at La Scala for 21 consecutive years. He also did some singing outside Italy, and his Gianni Schichi at Covent Garden was especially celebrated. He was considered one of the best ever Fígaro, Dulcamara or Don Pasquale.
Thank you. IMO, the greatest bass ever. His Don Basilio and King Philip are treasures.Nicolai Ghiaurov (1929 - 2004)
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Better than Ezio Pinza and Tancredi Pasero,I don't really think so in any way whatever.
Cesare Formichi (1883-1949) was born in Rome, and after his debut in Bologne, in 1907, he was singing for several years in Italy, before moving to the international operatic scene ((Mariinsky, Viena, Liceu, Teatro Real, Teatro Colón, Berlin...) and especially Chicago, where he was a regular from 1922 to 1933. After his retirement in 1935, he decided to work as an opera house manager.
His was a powerful, important, voice, though perhaps his singing was not the most refined. He was the recipient of the famous sentence of English's critic Ernest Newman: "Italy is no longer the country of Belcanto, but of mal'aria". But he was a darling of the public in many theaters.
Emilio Ghirardini (1885-1965) was born in Ferrara, and debuted singing Rigoletto in Argentina. After that, he sang mainly in Italy where he was a regular of all opera houses, including La Scala, where he sang his first role (David, from L'Amico Fritz) back in 1930, until his retirement in 1949.
He was especially appreciated by Mascagni, that considered him one of the best baritones of the world. In fact, while his voice is not really top class, he was able to use it well.
Yes. You have your OPINION and I have mine. Disagreements are always fun are they not? I think so too.
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