I first heard Bergonzi in about 1967 when the Price/ Bergonzi/ Merrill Ballo in Maschera came out.I was confused at first as I was most familiar with Del Monaco. I thought that such loud and assertive singing was a superior mark. Bergonzi seemed fussy and intellectual, which to my teen ears was barely worth a listen. But as time went on, Bergonzi was the one who made the 19th century masterpieces see, alive and relevant as he was so able to enliven text through that fantastic ability to shade, color and musically shape the line of text. His phrasing and molding of the text and music was what I heard in my head when the music came to mind. What an incredible artist he was. I don't ,ean to diminish other tenors of the era as each major one had qualities which were and continue to be treasurable. But like Pavrotti may have said, he's the, "boss ".
I heard Bergonzi live, and Pav-he was never in his shade, why people have to extol their favorite at the expense of other greats..... Bergonzi live could be magnificent and then inconsistent-and his top was the same way, and the truth be told sometimes it never made it, at least on pitch. Never Pavs problem. Bergonzi really a spinto, Pav a large lyric. Neither could embody most characters on stage-Berngonzi could't act period. Pav in the right role had an expressive face, and at least when younger could move. Both were great in different ways.
@@lemuelcuento8548 - You are absolutely correct, I was thinking about that when I wrote above and my head went woozy. It just makes his acievement so much more remarkable.
Can I add a few more to the list, please? Arroyo (who sang Aida at the opening of the Pretoria State Theatre way back in 1981), Nilsson and Rysanek. He was such a prolific recording artist and is sorely missed.
Was ich bei Bergonzi schätze, stimmtechnisch betrachtet, ist das er sich nie hinreißen ließ seine Stimme zu extrapolieren in dem er auch in emotionale n Situationen nach dem altbewährten Grundsatz der guten italienischen gesangsschule seine Stimme immer in der entsprechenden Deckung hatte.
