Birgit Nilsson and Franco Corelli (Turandot 1966) 

Возможно не самый первый, но один из самых самых первых двадцатого века!

Когда его слушаешь, перехватывает дыхание.

This is right, but... I'm sure, Franco Corelli will always be beyond any numbers, and lists, and something like that. He is the one and only.

Sono compatriota del Grande Birgit, de Skåne

Her stage presence filled the opera house with electricity, and then came that voice. Unequalled.

So fortunate!!! What I wouldn’t give!!!

I really envy you!

I am SO JEALOUS!

Yup! She always peeled me back in my seat !! A true phenomenon of nature.....

Hélas il y avait un monde avant et un autre aujourd'hui

@@guycondroyer864 Très vrai. Il est impossible aujourd'hui d´écouter quelque chose de semblable. Les rôles semblent êtres composés pour eux.

every opera piece on youtube has a commentary like this :))

you put too much boundaries to yourself

no argument

@@stephenlord9 Thank you for your comment.

But then there was Eva Turner. Too bad we don't have comparable recordings, but what a vocally wealthy duo to choose from.

@@LYBASHA Thank you for your invaluable insight.

@@LYBASHA I like both,and I've also heard Callas's Turandot(which has really nice Italian pronounciation as always and much spirit) buuuut... Nilson's Turandot is always so recognisible in its strenght,clarity and grandness. Sharp notes that hit those heights so effortlessly and without ,,leaning" on lower notes. I love it so much! But respect to Eva,Maria and others who did well as well 😀

It's a remarkable high c, but it breaks the chinese melody Calaf is singing. This is where he finishes Mo li hua, but with that additional ending the story is ruined.

Where it was performed?

@@konradottingen7187 The Met

ADS.....................Bro , I would call that an Epic Night !!!!!!!

Incredibly!

CORELLI NEVER CLAIMED THAT “HIII”IS THE GREATEST, so STFU!!!

@@coveryourfarts He was considered the top tenor for a while in the sixties but his career was short He lacked the force to endure stressful moments in operatic life

His career wasn’t that short. Keep in mind, he started late, not even studying voice until his mid-20s. I think he retired in 1975, when he was 54. I saw him that year in his joint farewell tour with Renata Tebaldi, and he still sounded great. Corelli had a lot of pride, and did not want to hang on when he couldn’t meet his own high standards. But his life-long stage fright probably made the decision to retire easier.

Bjorling is the greatest tenor of all time. But Corelli is a close second.

@@SymphonyBrahms Have you people heard Pertile?

It was impudence on Netrebko's part to sing Turandot and Lady Macbeth, but thank God it is over, though the damage to the art of opera remains.

@@user-qu1ue5vn7l It´s not over. Netrebko is still singing. And there are others who have "names" and who aren´t any better.

What a cheap comment

Well said.

Vvb JB NV oh jjhhhhhhhhhhgçvggggvvvvvv big gh hah

💖🌹🌹💖

THE BEST PART

Il Calaf preferito di Birgit Nilsson era Giuseppe Di Stefano, lo disse lei alla radio in una intervista. Anche se gli stava un po stretta la parte trovo anche io Di Stefano il piu' bel Calaf, poetico e sognante. Corelli subito dopo.

@@fabriziomariagarzi5534 Di Stefano aveva una voce stupenda per alcuni ruoli ma non per Calaf . B. Nilson può dire quello che vuole ma solo Corelli poteva competere con lei.

​​@@lz43p15 ognuno ha le sue opinioni. Lei li ha visti in teatro? Le posso dire che Di Stefano aveva piu'volume di voce di Corelli e di Del Monaco, cosa che non e' mai stata messa in rilievo.

Eva Marton?

@@francescobertoli8580 not even 2nd

@@francescobertoli8580 you're kidding, right?

Hyperbole regarding Nilsson--but justified!!

Absolutely right! I was on stage with her once and another time in the audience...there are no recordings that come close to the phenomenon of that voice filling a huge hall with no visible effort!

Peaks

well she was a Wagnerian-but having heard this many time, but not recently,I did say to myself-that he really was the only tenor in the same league-but there was so much more to his singing

True Opera and dancing belong to great female performers

In this recording, his voice does not overpower hers. I don’t think his voice was necessarily bigger or more powerful than hers. However, in those days higher female voices(especially gigantic ones) didn’t record as well as male voices, which are lower. They had to place the mic quite far from them, otherwise the quality would’ve been horrendous on the higher notes. In fact, it’s well-known that recordings didn’t do Birgit’s voice justice and that it sounded even fuller and rounder live. All who I know who heard her live have attested to this as well.

@@bonotoon5273 The mic at the Old Met was about 50 feet front of the curtain line and about 35-40 feet up from the orchestra seats. It was far from the performers. Also in this production, Nilsson started "In questa reggia" 3/4s the way up the staircase. During the aria she came down the stairs. Also as I know from experience, a small crowd of opera lovers would gather by the 7th Avenue scenery door (which was 3 stories high) to hear Nilsson's high Cs during her song of protest after the question scene. We were never disappointed. She had a gigantic voice! But that said, she knew how to duet. There is a broadcast performance from the 1961 season under the direction of Stokowski- - very great and very interesting.

​@@tobiolopainto

Extended 7 or 8 I’d say! I think this a MET broadcast from their inaugural season at Lincoln Ctr.

Giuseppe di Stefano and even more beautiful....

Fleta.

​@@johnpickford4222

There's no Miguel Fleta recordings about Calaf...... I wish !!!!!

It is the other way around. Given Corelli's " voice and looks, Birgit wetted her pants a lot.

Maybe another Calaf, not Corelli.

@@PragueImport it's called "a joke". No one is diminishing Corelli.

@@user-qu1ue5vn7l why does no one have a sense of humor?

@@danafripp4120 Corelli was not funny. He was a very serious artist - for his own detriment. It is not easy to make jokes about him.

I KNOW, right??? Absolutely gorgeous! True grand opera couture! ❤❤❤❤❤

I was there...incredible atmosphere in the House. Mirella Freni was a radiant Liu, and the great Bonaldo Giaiotti was Timur. The vocal impact Nilsson and Corelli made in the House was incredible.

💜

I AGREE WITH YOUR COMMENT, A MOST OVERRATED CONDUCTOR. I HEARD THE MET TROVATORE HE CONDUCTED IN BOSTON IN 1968 0R 69. HE CONDUCTED WITH ONE HAND IN HIS POCKET FOR MOST OF THE PERFORMANCE AND LOOKED BORED! MCCRACKEN AND ARROYA PUT HIM TO SHAME. REGARDS FROM OLD CANTOR IN FLORIDA

Puccini died before completing his crowning masterpiece. He wrote his last note shortly after Lui’s heart wrenching final aria in the final act. It was left to several of Puccini’s young protégés to complete the opera. When the production debuted at La Scala, Arturo Toscanini ( a personal friend of Puccini) was the conductor. When he reached Puccini’s final note, he abruptly silenced the orchestra, turned to the audience and said, “This the moment that artistry died.” (I would give anything to be transported back in a time machine to witness that immortal moment.)

They are The God & The Goddess….höchstpersönlich!

At the premiere Toscanini stopped the performance where Puccini had written the last notes and said, "This is the moment that the maestro laid down his pen".

EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, let's say that the scene belongs more to Turandot than to Calaf; doesn't it?

Певица внешне заметно проигрывала Корелли... Может, в этом причина? ))

@@user-ix6ry3cu7i Не думаю, что Корелли беспокоила ее или своя внешность, тем более соревновательный аспект в данном контексте)) Они часто работали вместе и очень дружили, приглашая друг друга в различные телепроекты.

@@georgioverini2299 Согласна. )) Просто я - большая поклонница Франко Корелли. Мне нравится не только его великий голос, но и очень привлекательная внешность. ))

Puccini himself was stumped as to how to end it. I personally think it's best if the opera ends as Liu dies.

@@absdyna BINGO. Good call! I've taken to leaving at that point. Sort of like The Art of Fugue when Bach dies before the end.

Il più grande Calaf che sia mai esistito !!!!!!

@@francogimelli8150 Si! Assolutamente si!

I think Puccini always had a problem with the conclusions of his opera. The end of both Tosca and Boheme both lose their dramatic edge. It takes Tosca too long to figure out that Cavardossi is dead and most performances of Boheme leave me laughing at the end as Rudolfo is the only one in the room who doesn't knows what is going on. Usually the Rodolfo is wandering around the stage at the end of the opera trying to figure out what has happened. Compare that with how Verdi concludes Traviata (which BTW is a fair depiction of death from lung disease - as the body dies, it still tries to push oxygen to the brain and there is a degree of euphoria because the body is not feeling pain and the last part of it to die is the brain hence the temporary euphoria, well captured by Verdi, not by Puccini). Maybe Fancuilla should have ended as follows - Mr. Johnson sings Ch'ella mi Creda, gets shot, Mini rides in on horse back and they sing a farewell duet as he dies. Oh, BTW, it is hard to ride off from San Francisco into the sunset going East and there are not too many deserts in Louisiana.

Buonasera Carmela, ho avuto modo di apprezzarti quando ero nel Coro del San Carlo dalla prima metà degli anni 80 in poi? Non ricordo Grazie Cordiali saluti

@@massimocassano2545 Grazie per le tue parole ❤

Perdonami, se insisto, appunto, non ricordo le produzioni in cui sei stata impegnata 36 anni nel Coro..... Non è facile, nho visto e sentito tanti artisti

@@massimocassano2545 in nessuna produzione . Avrai sentito il Concorso Callas nell'88 Semifinale e Finale .

@@carmelaapollonio8041 ah ecco, ricordavo qualcosa del genere C era forse anche la Antonacci e la ex collega Esposito Tanti e tante brave Bel concorso il Callas Mi ricordo c erano non so se in giuria Cappuccilli, Kraus e presentava Corrado Augias, ma ho vaghi ricordi

metropolitan, according to the living stage booklet

Just to possess the vocal ability to sing high C's is not enough. The complete voice is a special gift that comes from God, though it must (as you say) be realised at an early age. The talent can then be fulfilled to it utmost. I have sung and studied music professionally for 55 years and I have heard them all - and yes, there may be that undiscovered God-given voice somewhere, but odds are, we have heard 99% of the best voices from Caruso to this present day. Some to me are special and others to me are ordinary, but other music lovers will obviously disagree. However, a voice such as Franco Corelli's will never be heard again. This man comes as close to perfection to any voice I have ever heard. His counter-part is Maria Callas - also unique. Makes me sad that Corelli's voice is not appreciated by more.

@@sdi1111 so no more great voices then opera will die.

@@notnek202 Opera will not die if we take the time to educate our children. My 15 son was into Heavy Metal until he heard Franco Corelli. Now his passion for classical and Opera is greater than mine.

@@sdi1111 it warms my heart seeing that. I'm 17 years old and Corelli's voice might be the greatest that I've heard. I started listening to opera a few months ago and even if I'm still into rock/metal (you can love several genres at a time) I certainly grew a passion for opera and classical music generally. I just hope you didn't force him ;-; but if I may ask: is he going to start taking singing lessons? It would be so great to grow a new generation of singers based on the great tenors of the 20th century!

@@user-cy6xl3vd3f Hi Arashi. My son loves to sing, but unfortunately he does not have the dedication or is prepared to sacrifice what is needed in order to become an outstanding artist. Hopefully one day - before it's not too late - he will see the light!

Hello Harry! This performance is available on Orfeo CD (2014).

Try the Met 1961's with Corelli directed by Stokowski. IS REALLY GREAT. I think that is the first Turandot that they sang together.

@@alca4697 I prefer it as well.

The Met released this performance as part of a boxed set featuring performances from the first season at the New Met, 1966-67. The Liu is none other than Mirella Freni. The 22 cd set opens with the first performance ever at the new Met, Barber’s Anthony and Cleopatra starring Leontyne Price. Some of the other operas in the set include the extraordinary performance of Die Frau ohne Schatten conducted by Karl Bohm with Leonie Rysanek, James King, Christa Ludwig and Walter Berry, Lucia di Lammermoor with Richard Tucker and Joan Sutherland, Aida with Leontyne Price and Carlo Bergonzi, Verdi’s Otello with James McCracken, Montserrat Caballe and Tito Gobbi. Check out the set on the Met Opera website.

@@alca4697 no they sang Turandot alla Scala 1958 and 1959

Eine Wüste der Erbärmlichkeit ist wahr. Ich habe Netrebko gehört und sie ist eine Turanditinissima. Beschämend.

MET

Electra!

Don't tempt fate like that - she is a cruel mistress.

Queen of the night? Erda?

Rude - ignorant - Not Clever .....no matter how much I'd pleased you. .....totally unnecessary. I'm not a fan of Anna either, but that kind of crap shows you to have no artistic sense/sensitivity. Sad man you are. 😎😎😎

No sigue nada, Netrebcow ya acabó con su poca voz y su carrera

The Old Met

@@tobiolopainto Sorry, no. This was apparently December, 1966. The new Met opened in September, 1966.

@@rogerwhite95 My mistake. Sorry.

@@tobiolopainto Long time ago. Perfectly understandable!

@@rogerwhite95 It's history. A good subject. I was/am/will be a fan of the Old Met. It had fine-almost perfect acoustics for a wide variety of music, from solo piano to grand opera a la mode. Its relation to the New Met (I hate giving that building capital letters) is interesting. The Old Met could seat 3600 and stand 350. The New Met seats 3600 and stands about 300. The thing that differentiates between the two is that the Old Met's auditorium had 680,000 cubic feet. The Old Met, grand as it was, had a smaller number of cubic feet than Carnegie Hall which comes in at about 850,000 c.f. The extra cubic feet in that hall show time and again that Carnegie Hall isn't a good place to listen to opera in. - - And I have heard everybody in that hall. The New Met has 1.2 million c.f. People are more comfortable- no one doubts this. But the size of the auditorium which combines the "intimate" design of an Italian opera house with the stadium design (the upper balconies having stadium seating (I remember when Carnegia Hall had wooden bleachers in the top two balconies. When the new "restored" Carnegie was opened there were seats in the top two balconies). This design was popular in England, not so much in France, Italy, Russia and Germany. The hall that the New Met was based on is the Auditorium in Chicago by Louis Sullivan, Dankmar Adler, and Frank Lloyd Wright, who was the head draftsman in Sullivan's studio. (Adler was the acoustical consultant of Carnegie Hall) Study the plans of both theatres and you'll see how similar they are. The seating in Chicago using C19 ideas, could be over 5000. The proscenium arch in the New Met is about the same as that of the Old Met 54x50. And due to that, the ceiling has to be very high over the orchestra and the lower balconies. The ceiling of the New Met angles up so as to accommodate an open space for the denizens of the top balcony to revel in. Up there, the acoustics are okay, the there's a sense of being far away from the stage (and they are). At the Old Met, the stadium part was much less wide than that of the New Met. The acoustics in that part of the theatre were amazing, Loud, immediate, and lush when needed. This is generally true in stadium planned theatres everywhere. (e.g Covent Garden). When a singer starts a note, that note comes out of the mouth in a sphere, not a straight line. The sphere hits the wood of the apron immediately,(at the speed of sound), also the sides of the proscenium, and part of a second later, the ceiling. It is important to have lively broken up surfaces in elements closest to the stage. The Old Met had these characteristics galore! Consequently the sound was reflected very efficiently from the stage. The New Met lacks any kind of reflective surface on the proscenium arch, except for the horrible sculpture above the arch that looks like entangled stegosaurus tails. The reflective qualities of the box-faces is evidentially minimal- - the sound is reflected primarily from the apron and the ceiling. There are 2 seats with Great acoustics at the New Met. They are at each side of the auditorium in the family circle. They are the seats closest to the proscenium. You can't really see the stage, as the angle of displacement is too severe, but the sound is fantastic. If you walk back toward the stadium, you can hear the sound fall off with each step and distance.

Ma evitare certi commenti no eh?

@@matteogritani1635 no

@@michelegiovetti6678 beh. Pensala come vuoi, ma hai sbagliato. Sappilo.

@@matteogritani1635 pensala come vuoi. Ho altro da fare

@@michelegiovetti6678 Ok. Bye bye.

Today's dramatic tenors is even worse than the dramatic sopranos.