Baritone Reacts to Baritones of the Past (HERLEA, RUFFO, URBANO, BATTISTINI) 

My favourite baritone was always Nicolae Herlea (1927- 2014). A great singer, the Romanians always loved him, he bring us joy in the dark period of communism. A man that had real confidence in his skill as an opera singer. He was so charming😊

There is an anecdote about Ruffo. First of all, Ruffo is one of the "three vocal miracles". His voice was probably the loudest EVER. So he was invited by audio engineers and doctors who measured his physiology and his voice. His lung was huge, he had very thick vocal folds and sang with a low larynx. When he sang a scale up to the high C, the engineers left the room with their faces distorted in pain, because the sound of Ruffo's voice hurt THEIR TEETH(!!) - have you ever experienced sound waves reverberating in your teeth so much that it hurt? Listen to Ruffo's "pari siamo" and that high G at the end ...

Herlea's "si può" is one of the most glorious things I've ever heard

This is the reason I suggested Herlea to you. He is one of those baritones that just blows my mind ... such a powerhouse of a voice. He is not even that well-known in Romania either if you can believe it ... he was one of the leading baritones in the 60s and 70s who sang alongside the likes of Corelli, del Monaco, Bergonzi, Caballe. I am really glad you decided to give him a listen!

Herlea, my favourite baritone ! The most beautiful voice 😍 the best Barbiere I ever heard !!

You wouldn't believe HOW MANY GREAT SINGERS THERE WERE IN THE PAST. It's so good to see a singer who respects the great singers of the past!

Ruffo's voice was Extremely Powerful and he and Caruso carved up the Operatic World Together.

Ruffo, in addition to being a great singer, was also a fine actor who recorded Hamlet's big monologues in Italian translation. They are remarkable for their fervor and excellent diction.

Battistini is miraculous! One of my top favourite baritones - he emotes so realistically and beautifully when he sings.

He was one of the reasons I got interested in opera. (the other was Björling). He was on the first complete opera recording that I got for christmas. I must have been around 12 or so in the early 60ties. It was Rigoletto and the tenor was Ion Buzea (not bad at all). Nicola Herlea was a damn fine artist. I was blown away.

Just seeing this today, but So glad I did. I discovered Herlea in the MET Don Carlo w/ Corelli and was stupified by the voice. Grand, gorgeously colored, wonderfully vibrant, with great tone on high and with a marvelous sense of line and legato. He's able to go toe-to-toe with Corelli too. No one talks about him, which makes it doubly gratifying to hear you showcase him today. One of the greats, for sure.

This is the reason why I suggested Herlea to you! In the '50s, when he was singing at the Bolshoi in Moscow, singers would greet each other by taking their hats off, bowing and uttering "Herlea" instead of "hello". (To have an idea of what Russian baritones thought of his voice at the time, check Leonid Kharitonov's comments on Herlea's recordings here, on youtube. Btw, you can try listening to Kharitonov's voice as well!) And you're right, most of his Electrecord recordings were made in the marble hall of the Press Palace in Bucharest, which provided an acceptable acoustics for operatic recordings at that time. Nicolae Herlea alongside Angela Gheorghiu (both having that velvety softness in their voices!) are the utmost gift Romania has ever given to the world of the opera. My impossible to fulfil wish? To have heard the duet Violetta-Germont performed by Herlea and Gheorghiu... Just imagine kilometres of silk velvet unfolding in the air and filling up your soul, recalibrating the spirit and recharging your aura!

When I listen to this magnificent singing from Herlea. I cry.....my heart bursts. Its filled with awe. Thank you so much Lucas. 🙏🕊😇🎶🎼🌹

Herlea is Amazing!!! Thank you for sharing 🙏🏻

The great miracles of opera: Ruffo, Caruso, and Ponselle. All the best and paradigm of Baritones, Tenors, and Sopranos, respectively.

One of my absolute favourite baritones is Lawrence Tibbett. Such a dramatic voice and amazing acting.

Herlea‘s Voice is pure velvet sound and so sensual, this guys were from another planet, compared with the baritones today…Do you know the duett of Don Carlos with Corelli from the MET?

The glorious sounds of the old school baritones. Love it!! At the same time to see how all these voices are unique!

I love that you're doing these videos sir as a modern opera singer and having this conversation about what people did in the past vs today without it devolving into this sort of online bashing thing only focused on technique etc. I think it's an important subject to discuss respectfully.

In the older days, uniqueness in the voice was prized. This respects the nature of our voices, that no two people should sound alike. When you are hearing “cookie cutter” timbres, someone is abusing the voice.

Giangiacomo Guelfi..... his Scarpia was epic his Amonasero was also huge

Ah, Herlea my favorite bariton! Thx for the video.

Man, I LOVE your enthusiasm for singing! I wish you could have worked with the teachers the taught the singers of the golden ages. I believe today's singers don't know how to use the full potential of their voice - not even close. You'd be shocked what your voice is really capable of.

I enjoyed your video immensely!!! I knew Herlea in person! Figaro was one of his best!

Hi ^-^ In fact amongst Italian Opera connoisseurs Herlea is widely known and appreciated :)

Battistini sang well into his late 70's and 80's. He is a true bel canto singer.

I have a couple Herlea vinyl and the voice is amazing. I’ll have to dig them out and reference them here.

Just came onto your RU-vid channel and it's a blast. As a tenor who, unfortunately, didn't have the 'chops' to sing opera, I can still enjoy all of its aspects. There are several I'd like to comment on, maybe later. But, this video on these golden age baritones made me think of a new guy I'd never heard of (or, of whom I never heard!). He was much more recent than these singers (the 70's and 80's,) I believe. Never heard of him, but he's is/was the real deal. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Brazilian baritone, Fernando Texeira. In my opinion, under appreciated, faboulous singer. Keep up the good works and good luck with your career. (Loved you in the Butterfly screening).

I hope you have a chance to hear Igor Gorin. I believe he taught at USC at one point. He has been in a few movies. The first time I heard him I was blown away by how much he does not look like he would produce such a dark velvety sound.

So great to see golden age baritones being listened to! The first decades of the 20th century had a glut of incredible baritones. If you do another video on earlier baritones I highly recommend taking a look at Gino Bechi (who does an incredible legato Il balen and a version of Posa's death aria from Don Carlo with breath control you won't believe -- almost 20 seconds without a breath through a diminuendo and crescendo), Lawrence Tibbett (his studio Cortigiani, vil razza is one of his best recordings and one of the best baritone recordings I know), Eugenio Giraldoni (the first Scarpia, who recorded Per me giunto in 1902 with a fantastic trill), and Apollo Granforte (what a name, right?) does a fabulous live Largo al factotum with video from 1932 on YT!

Brilliant baritone,bravo👏🏻

Nicolae Herlea is (sadly, was) a Romanian baritone of German extraction (his surname was Herle, Romanised into Herlea). He was recognized as probably the most oustanding Romanian voice during his long career, but somehow never managed to quite enter the big international league, probably due in part to the Iron Curtain which hindered his visibility in the West. A similar fate befel Virginia Zeani, another truly unique Romanian singer, who also never got the international recognition she categorically deserved. There are recording of them singing together (in Traviata, for instance, with Herlea rendering an extraordinary G. Germont)

You should listen "largo al factotum" from Herlea, absolutely fantastic

Thank you Lucas, for these fascinating reaction videos that you have done- really informative for those of us who are the audience. If I may make 3 suggestions- each man from a different tradition: Pavel Lisitzian [from the Caucasus Georgia, I think], Riccardo Stracciari from Italy and Robert Massard - beautiful voice with great diction! best wishes!

Drooling!! Hilarious 😂 love your comments!

I love your commentary at the end of the video. Perhaps the spirit of "being in the moment" that you experience is that these artists couldn't do take-after-take for a final recording because of the costs of making shellac records. The experience documented during the final take was about as live as it gets-one shot.

After all, in my opinion, the Great Herlya was a dramatic tenor at the beginning of his creative career. There are recordings of his Neapolitan songs in his youth, the spitting image of a tenor.Then the voice got stronger and became a real baritone with an excellent school and diamond technique. Yes, the Great Old Italian and Romanian School gave many brilliant singers!And another point is that earlier the directors did not interfere with real singers singing, and the conductor pulled the whole voice out of the singer.And now the directors only interfere and spoil the singers with their madness. Music and voice have become alas a commodity..

❤ this channel

Lucas,urbano was a prolific recorder sold millions of rdcords but he did tend to show off,holding notes far longer than he should,and at times could be coarse,but what a voice,battistini like de luca was a very polished lyric and as for herlea he was my favourite almost bass baritone,he along with likes of stracciari,granforte,and another under looked baritone,carlo tagliabue

So much fun to see that a major working baritone of today knows absolutely nothing about the history of his voice type or the best singers in it. Gives me tons of hope for the future!

Another great baritone Apolo Granforte

Great videos! You should do one of bass baritones (D'arcangelo , Schrott, Pisaroni)

Я очень рад, что открыл для себя этого потрясающего певца - Nikolai Herlea - еще в далёком 1976 году. И до сих пор я считаю его одним из самых великих певцов 20 века.

Great, Lucas! I suggest Hermann Prey

Nicolae Herlea ( romeno: [nikoˈla.e ˈherle̯a] ; 28 de agosto de 1927 - 24 de fevereiro de 2014) foi um barítono de ópera romeno altamente aclamado ,

Елецкого Херлиа спел невероятно,это надо слышать

i like so much the video of lucas,through his video we can know a singer how to learn the advantages of another singer

Really enjoyed this video. You should react to underrated tenors, in particular Lando Bartolini (watch his Dovunque al mondo from '82) and Pier Miranda Ferraro.

Glad you got round to Ruffo, one of the best baritones ever.

Wow Urbano really impressed me.

I think sometimes as singers we get so caught up in the music that we forget that opera is theater. We look back at these older singers, some of whom were personally connected to the likes of Puccini and Verdi themselves, and have to realize that much more weight was given to the emotion of the pieces than just the notes back then. "To sing a wrong note is insignificant, but to sing without passion is unforgivable.” - Ludwig van Beethoven On another note, next time you do a reaction to Tenors you should listen to Francesco Tamagno, the tenor Verdi wrote "Otello" for. It's a vastly different voice that who usually sings this roll in the modern era. It's a very forward and mask heavy voice that was known for being enormous in the house.

Magnificent

Ruffo was a stud... and an amazing singer! Known as the "voice of the lion". Chronologically, he was born a generation after Battistini, but their careers overlapped. He was one of the first stars of what we'd call the "dramatic verismo baritones". Made his Met debut around age 45, singing Barbiere. He burned hot and fast though, and kind of blew himself out early... certainly earlier than his competitors and contemporaries, like De Luca and Maurel.... retiring from singing at age 54 after singing for about 33 years. But before that he sang a ton of roles... and probably slept through more performances of Rigoletto, Germont, Amonasro, Barnaba, Figaro, Iago, Nabucco, Scarpia, Tonio and Amleto than you and I will ever live to see!

17:27 and after. You’re describing “bel canto.” But surely you can hear that it is the most complete technical accomplishment that allows them to be so natural.

Communism, that's why, and the interest was, not to make him go outside the country too much. And every time he was outside, he had somebody watching him all the time... there is no more Divine Voice on Earth than his... he was the best and most complete voice that we have as humans. If he had been an italian, american, etc, he would have been the most famous baritone! Fun fact he introduced Pavarotti at a point... and he never mentioned...also he sang Figaro over 560 times and his most closest role to his heart was Rigoletto... There are a lof of things that we are ignorant about, in a lot of ways and domains. And like all geniuses, they are starting to get recognition after death!... because why should we appreciate someone when he/she is alive?!...

All that's left is to react to operatic basses.

Lmao did you just say "pizzicato in the woodwinds"?? hahahaha

When you are European and interested in opera you know Herlea. Please listen to Josef Metternich's recording of Telramund and your jaw will drop as well.

Thank you so much. I thought about Mark Reizen as I heard Herlea. Mark Reizen is not well known as well and deserved much more recognition too. Poor jewish boy from Ukraine, highly decorated officer WW I (!), engineer and Bolshoi soloist. His last Bolshoi perfomance was as Gremin at his 90-th birtnday in 1985 (you can find it on youtube). There are a lot of his recording available, take listen and take a look - he was a very handsome tall man :)). You can search for Mark Reizen or Mark Reisen or Марк Рейзен. Please forgive his italian pronunciation.

Id love it if you reacted to ferruci furlanetto’s interpretation of ella giammai m’amo

Battistini was called the "king of baritones"! He was a high baritone, almost a tenor probably. A partire dal 1892 fu ospite ed incontrastato mattatore della produzione operistica russa per ben 23 stagioni consecutive (fino al 1916); divenne, infatti, il cantante favorito dello zar e dell'aristocrazia russa, condizione che gli valse il mitico titolo di "Re dei baritoni e baritono dei re".

There’s a fantastic recording of Caruso and Ruffo singing Si per ciel from Otello. A great recording. It’s actually difficult to to tell the voices apart -and it’s not the acoustic of the recording.

Do you know any young lyric baritone arias, that you sang when you were starting out?( I'm currently 18)

Very perceptive comments about these singers and how they just seemed to sing. Sometimes with the singers of today one feels they can't see the woods for the trees. These singers seem to be talking to you its all so natural.

Dear Lucas, very emotional your initiative related to old school Baritones… I grew up with my Father listening Herlea… When he was on radio or on TV… we were just listening and feel his music… Answering to your question… He was Romanian… our beloved Baritone that brought us hope during communism dark times… He was not allowed much to sing outside the communism block… Nevertheless He sung at Milan la Scala and U.S.A… He was considered a national heritage of Romania during Ceausescu communism regime while he was exploited and all the gainings He has made internationally where took by the Government… “for the people benefits…” Another sad story of that period… They were our parents… exceptional in all what they managed to accomplish even during that extremely difficult times… Thank you for your consideration… addressed to all of these magnificent “beyond” voices… 🙏🫡

Stracciari Danise MacNeil Milnes Bechi Guelfi Warren Taddei Bastianini F.Guarrera R.Bonelli R.Merrill Maffeo De Luca Tibbett Lisitsian Baklanov Capecchi Prey Gobbi F.Valentino Bruscantini Panerai Basiola Tagliabue..

Herlea was a great Rigoletto!

How's about some more lyric voices, especially for us younger baritones who may not have / haven't grown into such big and dramatic voices? I am definitely more partial to listening to the more dramatic voices but I think my voice teacher would also appreciate me having some lighter vocal models lol.

I think you'd like Pagliazzi's version of Il balen.

Can you make a reaction to Benvenuto Franci, Carlo Galeffi, Carlo Tagliabue, Giuseppe Valdengo, Apollo Granforte, Rolando Panerai and Gino Bechi please?

Joseph Shore?

Wonderful videos of both tenors and baritones.However,I think that the true hallmark of a great singer is to be able to sing a simple song without overwhelming the simplicity of that song.Listen to my favourite baritone Robert Merrill singing songs of the british isles and songs of Stephen Foster.

the factotum of apollo granforte is great also

Benvenuto Franci, especially Di Luna’s cabaletta

Battistini had a great high range and his low notes were weaker. He routinely avoided extreme low notes whenever possible. I do not believe he ever performed lower than A2 in public.

React to Aldo Protti my favorite Italian Tonio

please make another reaction to the legendary baritones (Gino Bechi, Muslim Magomaev, Tito Gobbi)

Hi, Lucas! One the greatest baritone A sharp note ever was A sharp from the Prologo of Pagliacci performed by Nicalae Herlea, I believe: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cyprLeJb5dQ.html. It's little bit sad that you use another composition instead of that one. By the way, one of the greatest Figaro's aria performing is this: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bfA_NGVJiUI.html 🤗🤗🤗

Did I just hear a rare LM swear!!!

Nicolae Herlea; born in the wrong country at the wrong time; Romania in the 60´s and 70´s was not the best place for opera singers; greatest bariton of all times on the same level as Bastianini. RIP, we´ll never forget the joy you gave us!

You’ve got to do Josef Metternich… amazing singer

1:02 did you say you've not heard this? Not this recording, or not heard of Nicolai Herlea at all?

Antenore Reali the Best barítone forever.

Have you listened to Giuseppe Valdengo before Lucas? Unique beautiful voice check him out

It would be lovely if Lucas could make a longitudinal analysis on some baritone. Because I'm interested in Dmitri Hvorostovsky I'd be overjoyed to hear of his development. A fascinating example could be his "Romance of Demon" from young Hvorostovsky ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HI1Cv6NC-8A.html to mature one ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DSrWcaSHWXE.html Or why not to begin from the beginning: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EFHQNgO3jTA.html

Give it a try to Enrico Molinari! You'd be surprised as well.

Tito Ruffo has some amazing duets with Caruso where can barely tell when the tenor or baritone comes in.

France and the Low Countries: Jean Noté, Armand Crabbé, Maurice Renaud, Charles Cambon, Henri Albers, Ernest Tilkin-Servais, Henri Stamler, Gérard Souzay Spain: Celestino Sarobe, Giuseppe Segura-Talien, Nestore della Torre The Anglosphere: Lawrence Tibbett, Thomas L. Thomas, Nelson Eddy, Robert Weede, Robert Merrill, Arthur Endrèze, Robert McFerrin, Theodor Uppman, Earnest Symmons, Francesco Valentino, John Brownlee, John Barrow German-speaking: Heinrich Schlusnus, Joseph Schwarz, Hans Duhan, Hans-Hermann Nissen Russian-speaking: Mikhail Karakash, Maximilian Maksakov, Vladimir Zakharov Last but not least: Mattia Battistini, Titta Ruffo, Riccardo Stracciari, Giuseppe Bellantoni, Mario Ancona, Giuseppe Pacini, Eugenio Giraldoni, Giovanni Inghilleri, Antonio Magini-Coletti, Giuseppe Danise, Carlo Galeffi, Umberto Urbano, Mario Laurenti, Mario Basiola, Vincenzo Guicciardi, Cesare Formichi, Carmelo Maugeri, Luigi Piazza, Giuseppe de Luca, Pasquale Amato, Apollo Granforte, Giovanni Albinolo, Giovanni Milani, Enrico De Franceschi, Franco Pagliazzi, Franco Bordoni And these are just the best (best intonation, steadiest tone, best range), out of a very, very large number of famous and successful ones.

Herlea is a powerhouse! Please review Carlos Marin from Il Divo. Thanks

It's kinda disappointing that you didn't react to Mr. Battistini's Donizetti :((

Love these videos, but how can you get 3 or 4 videos into reacting to baritones without Zancanaro?! I prefer listening to him over many of the much more famous baritones of the last 50 years.

you looks nesterenko

They are awesome!! But I think you pick the wrong recording for Batitistini. You should definitely go hear him in Donizetti. I bet you already done it, but he is with Renato Bruson the only baryton we can name "Donizetti Baryton". If I can give an advice for a futur reaction video can you go listen to Ernest Blanc. His one the most impressive Baryton of the XX century, he has sing in Bayreuth,... but he seems unknown and I can't understand why.

can you make a reaction video of you?

Herlea was overdarkened, throaty, and a bit nasal. What he isn't is unknown. He had a major career and has been famous ever since.

Maybe a new acquaintance: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8DCitVyj_jg.html

Free-er the voice the.faster the.vibrato. thats.my. theory . You.dont.hear.fast vibratos on tense voices.

😴

Herlea and Urbano have rather small yet dark voices that sound very favorably on recording. Ruffo has 20 times the voice, yet you chose a recording where he sounds rather light because he lightens up the voice in this specific aria. Battistini was a baritone of an older school. He had a great deal to offer besides his voice, great actor, handsome, highly intelligent and musical.

Дальше Николае можно даже не слушать