u/Guelfi-Granforte-Fan

Since I began listening to Giovanni Inghilleri I have been captivated by his sound, and in the process have discovered that not only was he the first to record excerpts from Il Tabarro but was also present as Amonasro (possibly Verdi's most dramatic baritone role) on the first electric recording of Aida in 1928 (coincidentally the same year as his Tabarro recordings).

The cast is as follows-

Conductor- Carlo Sabajno
Orchestra & chorus- Teatro alla Scala
Aida- Dusolina Giannini
Radames- Aureliano Pertile
Amneris- Irene Minghini-Cattaneo
Amonasro- Giovanni Inghilleri
Ramfis- Luigi Manfrini
Il Re di Egitto- Guglielmo Masini
Un Messaggero- Giuseppe Nessi

Here is the full opera-

https://youtu.be/azgsUDQ60_s?si=xVH8kqO-zEuD6IJ8

And here is the incredible "Ciel! Mio Padre!" duet from Act III (Amonasro's big moment!)-

https://youtu.be/k2T31cTDQYQ?si=FKcx_JnU8dUDXiDB

For those interested, below is a contemporary review of the recording by Herman Klein (a leading English singing teacher who advocated for Manuel Garcia Jr's teachings and journalist)-

"This present month of May sees both the leading companies ready with remarkably fine examples in electric recording of as difficult an opera as there is in the modern Italian repertory. Puccini with his Turandot may impose a heavier strain on the Voice, but he demands neither the finesse of technique nor the pure line of cantilena that Verdi does in Aida. In the whole part of the imperious Chinese Princes,there is not a page calling for real bel canto in the same degree as do passages like I sacri nomi, O patria mia, and Si schiude il ciel respectively in the first, third, and fourth acts of this exacting work.

Dusolina Giannini, who fills the title-role in the H.M.V, Cast, has all the requisite delicacy and finish for the task, while her tone has the right ring of pathos and sweetness in addition to a power that is never forced. And these, after all, are the good qualities that were perceived in her Aida when she sang the part at Covent Garden, just as robust strength and easy control of a splendid organ distinguished Pertile’s Radamés on the same occasion—his début here. But I had better give the whole cast, viz.: The King, Masini; Radamés, Pertile; Amonasro, Inghilleri; Ramphis, Manfrini; Messenger, Nessi; Ammneris, Cattaneo; Aida, D. Giannini; conductor, Carlo Sabajno; with the chorus and orchestra of La Scala. The opera is contained in 19 double-sided 12-in. records, D 1595-1613.

It would serve no useful purpose to enter into minute or detailed comparisons between the H.M.V. performance and that of Columbia, which I shall deal with directly. Truth to tell, both are so far superior to anything gramophone recording could have furnished even a year ago that I find myself less inclined to criticise than to express my gratitude that such things can be. The listener, indeed, has less and less difficulty in imagining himself sitting at the back of a box at the Opera with eyes closed and enjoying every instant of a faultless musical representation. Finer voices, better singing, a more perfect ensemble and balance, added to a mechanical reproduction attaining the maximum of excellence, it would be unreasonable and absurd to expect. I will not choose between artists in this H.M.V. collection beyond saying that I think Dusolina Giannini, Pertile ond Inghilleri "head and shoulders" ​above their companions, even as I consider the third act distinctly the most completely satisfying of the four. This is not to say a word in disparagement of the other three; only that in the Nile scene, which many deem the finest in the opera—the most original, the richest in melody, tragic beauty, and intensity of poignant feeling—we do indeed get the greatest moments, the highest level of vocal achievement. Alike in the O cieli azzurri and the sublime passages of the duet with Amonasro, Dusolina Giannini stands out as a soprano of exceptional merit endowed with a voice of haunting charm. The orchestral playing, no less than the work of the chorus, is consistently good."

Giovanni Inghillieri, a baritone trained by E. Herbert Caesari whose career straddled both sides of world war two, is one of my current favourite baritones and an excellent 'dramatic' baritone with an incredible range of repertoire, and I recently discovered he was the first baritone to record anything from Puccini's "Il Tabarro", another favourite of mine.

In these recordings from 1928 Inghilleri is sublime. Michele is a complex but ultimately sympathetic character, and in these extracts Inghilleri channels both the character's despair and sadness at losing his wife's love and his rage and fury at her infidelity. He is the first baritone I have heard who REALLY brings the emotion into the Michele-Giorgetta duet- usually the emotional weight of the scene is carried by Puccini's music alone, but here Inghilleri brings such raw emotion as to be overwhelming. Also, note Inghilleri's roaring open E-flats in the duets and total ease in the upper register.

Duet- "Perche non m'ami piu"

https://youtu.be/TzHNVRc-GZw?si=oezgTBJ9-l60EwlB

Aria- "Nulla! Silenzio"

https://youtu.be/7juOjtgrM6g?si=yWHaKRWX5o1dFZQY

https://youtu.be/WShV5QDHTwQ?si=3CjKuaam22xPwLix

Partly inspired by the other French opera recordings posted recently, I thought I'd hop on the bandwagon!

In this 1906 acoustic recording of the French version of "La Mia Letizia Infondere" from Verdi's I Lombardi (re-written as Jérusalem), we can see why Escalaïs was nicknamed "the French Tamagno"! His approach to the top register is very "Italian" in that he keeps the ringing squillo of the chest engaged, as high as an interpolated C-sharp (or two!) that he flicks off with ease in this recording.

https://youtu.be/w8rBo9pzZIc?si=A8pJ9oErnxCXcXSZ

I feel as if he'd probably work fine with most of Chopin, but Liszt and Rachamanioff, it would be a messy one.

https://youtu.be/63JXFd2s98g?si=AA_20JipIEIw2BfC

One of the U.S.S.R.'s best tenors, who demonstrates perhaps the most nuanced rendition of this aria ever. F-naturals taken at all dynamics, diminuendi and pianissimi on high B-flats, smooth legato- what more could you want from this aria (except for it to be performed in the original French of course, as Kozlovsky sings in Russian).

N.B. The recording is pitched above A=440 but not more than a quarter-tone at most.

https://youtu.be/rkTLoAsOS7c?si=SE0zVqPMTvIwN4xy

This clip is one of the most historically significant pieces of operatic material in existence.

Firstly, for the simple fact of an Italian singer performing in a lead role in the U.S.S.R., in the Soviet Union's main theatre, during the Cold War.

Secondly, this clip is unique in that, like the Pagliacci Del Monaco also performed there in the same year, Del Monaco sings in Italian. while Arkhipova and the other Russian singers sing in Russian- capturing a moment of genuine inter-cultural detente between West and East.

Thirdly, this performance is notable for both the leads' performances- Arkhipova is an excellent Carmen, haughty and proud and unwilling to give in to Don Jose's desperate pleas. Del Monaco is similarly incredible- you see in the clip his relatively short stature and somewhat histrionic acting, yet he overcomes any limitations to give a truly terrifying and (in my opinion) perfect portrayal of Don Jose.

Del Monaco's Don Jose is desperate and dangerous- from the outset of the scene the intensity of his acting and singing conveys how deadly he has become in his obsession with Carmen. His singing voice has reached its apogee in terms of both expression and pure sound, and his dramatic tenor suits the rather low-lying tessitura of Don Jose to perfection, with his ringing high notes punctuating Don Jose's increasing fragility and near-madness. There is a total emotional committment to the character that I have never seen equalled.

It is little wonder that for this performance and the aforementioned Pagliacci Del Monaco recieved the Order of Lenin and set a precedent for what I like to think of as "operatic diplomacy"- where La Scala would send great artists of the time to the U.S.S.R. to perform to take advantage of periods of thaw between East-West relations in the Cold War (which would be repeated notably in 1964, with performances of Turandot, Lucia di Lammermoor and numerous concerts and recitals featuring the likes of Nilsson, Simionatto, the young Pavarotti, Tucci and many other greats).

https://youtu.be/RsMwVQl7yEo?si=f1KfrhQKUnMSEa-0

Besides some appearance lip-syncing on German TV and singing a fragment of "Il mio nome non sai" for Birgitt Nilsson, this was Corelli's final performance that we have on record.

https://youtu.be/i037ozBJzX0?si=22k3vKrpgssn2v_F

Recorded 1941.

https://youtu.be/3fXdjze3NFM?si=58rBta7GVUQfsyGm

From the description-

"The wobble, like the tremolo, is the result of constrictive tensions of the vocal function and the throat. Aurally, the wobble occurs when the vibrato fluctuation is too wide and the pulse is too slow.
There is a distinct sound to the wobble clearly demonstrated in this video. Two singers are used in this demonstration, Mariana Pentcheva, and Vladimir galouzine. Earlier and later recorded examples are presented to demonstrate the degrees a wobble can occur, and how it can develop."

From the youtube channel GeneralRadames

For more information about the voice, see Manuel Garcia Jr's texts "Hints on Singing", "Complete Treatise on the Art of Singing", Mathilde Marchesi's "Complete Bel Canto Method", Richard Miller's "On the Art of Singing" and Cornelius Reid's "The Free Voice".

https://youtu.be/At6H1Y_3HXk?si=xnn7d-CYm6Iw5uh-

A staple of Brazil's theatro municipial from the 40's to his retirement in 1975, Assis Pacheco could reasonably claim to be the most underrated tenor ever. A beautiful, ringing tenor voice, reminiscent of Gastone Limarilli in timbre with a soaring upper register and great capacity for nuance.

A link to a short biography of his-

https://www.historicaltenors.net/spanish/pacheco.html

https://youtu.be/YV9c3mbkBMU?si=YYMzsaShGr7vaIOG

Baturin (1904-1983) is THE bass-baritone in my book. Rich, deep and powerful voice with the ringing top of a baritone.

For a short biography of Baturin see below-

https://mus-col.com/en/events/35840/

Looking for a Dandini sung by an actual baritone, and an exquisitely squillante one at that? Look no further than Saturno Meletti, one of Mellocchi's lesser-known students who was largely limited to comprimario and secondary roles on the international stage yet possessed a voice the size of his namesake planet. The best Dandini after his contemporary Afro Poli.

This excerpt is from a complete recording of La Cerentola with Giulietta Simionatto and Cesare Valletti from 1949.

https://youtu.be/NvUhaQlsQzo?si=rKxAtII0WPALTm6x

https://youtu.be/u3cD0W7KmcY?si=V3em6kyhhcaCQPr8

(not to be confused with Ivan Petrov, the Russian bass)

Ivan Petroff, an incredible Bulgarian baritone trained at least in part by Fernando De Lucia, with an incredibly beautiful and ringing voice, is all but forgotten nowadays- yet should be a reference for baritones in my book. The beauty of tone, the squillo, and the lack of artifical thickness all too common in baritone voices- all of these hallmarks of a great artist.