I was at this performance. Bergonzi also substituted for Luciano Pavarotti (who was ill) in a trio from I Lombardi -- it was amazing seeing this man, a good 10 or 15 years older than Luciano, step in at the last minute and completely dominate the music. I had never heard him before. You could be disappointed that Luciano was not there (as I was) while at the same time feeling lucky that Luciano was not there so that we could here this man show his artistry and command. I saw him sing one more time, I think it was at Corelli's Lincoln Center memorial. This would have been in 2003 or 2004 if so. His hair was white and some of the flexibility of the voice had gone, but you could hear, behind the curtain of age, the great voice he had been. He got a standing ovation. Renata Scotto was at Bergonzi's memorial in New York, and told the audience that Luciano told her that when he wanted to learn a role he would listen to a recording of Bergonzi. She said (half-joking), "Luciano, Luciano, leggi la partita..." ("Luciano, luciano, read the score..."). Joking aside, Luciano and Bergonzi represented a kind of Italian tenor voice that you don't hear now, however great some of the younger singers are.
the thing that makes me sad is that a knowledgeable, respectful opera public like this.. one that recognizes greatness and applauds it accordingly, is dying..
Even at 72 Bergonzi's incredible artistry is completely intact. I love the way that Maestro Levine looks up at him at the conclusion of the aria - with such respect and admiration! A remarkable performance indeed. Thank you so much for posting!
Happy 90th birthday Carlo! Thank you for everything you have contributed to the world of music. You proved that equidistant phrasing and liquid gold tone can be coupled with dramatic power in a way that seems effortless and pure. Greatest Verdian tenor of all time in my opinion. He voice was one of a kind.
I hope you actually don't know the meaning of 'equidistant', because 'equidistant phrasing' is the worst style ever to sing romantic and post-romantic opera (Verdi). Greatest Verdian tenor? (I'll pass over the hyperbole 'of all time' because it's too ridiculous) Not really. He had everything apart from squillo, clarity of diction, and spirit, and all three were very important to Verdi himself. Virtually every time when Verdi wrote about singers he mentioned these issues. The overall timbral ideal during much of the 19th century was substantially brighter than Bergonzi's. And Verdi had little use for academic compliance ALONE to his score, he was more interested in the adherence to the spirit than to the letter of the law. This is what he writes about the spirit in which he wished his operas to be performed: "So called finesse means little to me. I like to have roles sung the way I like them, but I can't provide the voice, the temperament, the 'je ne sais quoi' that one might call the spark. It's what is usually understood by the phrase 'to be possessed by the devil' [...] He should sing guided only by his own feelings. The artist will be [...] himself, or better still, he will be the character he has to represent in the opera." There's very little spark or drama in Bergonzi's singing, and virtually no 'possession by the devil'; there's much adherence to the letter of the law.
He received more applause that evening than all the other artists who sang. Se Ricardo bene , 5 chiamate. An artist who could bond with the public like no other.
One characteristic the great singers have in common is that the middle of their voice remains rock-solid, regardless of age. Bergonzi sounds like his old self throughout this range, which is a tribute to his technique and the care he's taken with his voice.
Sorry but this is not true. Nothing remains 'rock-solid' in their old age. What remains PASSABLE solid is the part of voice corresponding to singer's natural tessitura. Bergonzi started out as a baritone. He didn't have a good top even in his young years, he sounds constricted above the passagio in most of his recordings, be they studio or live. No surprise that what remained passable solid in his old age is the middle.
Grande Artista da applaudire sempre per tutto quello che ha dato e insegnato del Bel Canto. Grazie di cuore per questo è tutti gli altri documenti meravigliosi che ha pubblicato, un regalo enorme per chi, come me, solo ora li può scoprire. Paolo (GE)
Bravooo, maestro Carlo!!! El gran tenor verdiano.....con depurada técnica, canto dulce y varonil...sin necesidad de GRITAR LAS ARIAS, como lo hacen muchos tenores más famosos.... Verdi les decía a los cantantes: "canten, no griten"... Tantas voces potentes han sido sobrevaloradas y ovacionadas por encima de mejores voces y técnica por el impacto que producen y el marketing que tienen. Es el triunfo de la cantidad por sobre la calidad...muy triste para la ópera. Ya a los 72, con su voz algo gastada, daba placer oír al maestro Carlo Bergonzi.. Grazie, Carlo!
Just listen to Aida of 1963 with Price, Bergonzi ,Gorr, Sereni. Perhaps the finest live performance you are ever likely to hear. With the Nile scene just out of this world. Price and Bergonzi hit the heights ,only to be bettered by their final duet as they are entombed. Some of the Met audience must of remembered seeing perhaps the finest Verdi tenor of the 20th century in his prime in the late 50's 60's and early seventies. Even later he still had the same wonderful legato . Even as others have said he gradually flattened out.
En este video Carlo tenia 72años de edad y se puede deleitar uno con su maravillosa voz que ya un poco mermada por el tiempo pero que ya muchos cantantes quisieran llegar a esa edad con esa claridad y potencia en las cuerdas vocales.....Carlo Bergonzi uno de los más grandes tenores de todos los tiempos
What's sad (to me, at least) is that the appreciation of the audience at the actual performance has been truncated wherein Señor Bergonzi was called back a number of times for their accolades for which he expressed SUCH humility... F.
Curious how the Italians here are so vicious about him. Yes, we know he flatted a lot during the second half of his career, but the style, the taste, the great artistic sensitivity -- one is tempted to think that the Italians are vicious because they have lost everything in their great tradition of singing.
Sorry, es ist nicht nur begeisternd mit zu erleben, wie doch auch die Muskulatur der menschlichen Stimme ihre begrenzte Zeit hat. Und doch müssen einst begnadete Sänger dem eines Tages Tribut zollen. Ich erinnere mich an die 1960er Jahre, wo ich als Gesangs Schüler dieser wunderbaren TENOR STIMME lauschte ...SORRY wenn man alleine davon leben muss, so wie " die drei Tenöre " die wohl zu spät besseren Nachfolgerin hätten Platz einräumen können..., bevor diese auch ihre beste Zeit hinter sich lassen müssen...,einfach ALLES ist SORRY...
Bergonzi es uno de mis favoritos tenores de siempre. Su Pinkerton me emociona, su Boheme tambien. En realidad es su gran tecnica y timbre los que lo destacan como diferente y unico de tanto tenor sin personalidad. Bravo Bergonzi¡
certo che penso nussuno abbia mai avuto 50 anni di carriero alle spalle cone BERGONZI e che canta ancora bene...........W l'Italia ......W il Cav. BERGONZI
Leggo molti commenti drastici, indubbiamente c'è del vero in alcune critiche ma occorre riconoscere al Bergonzi anziano un'ottima tenuta di fiati e interpretazione attenta della parola.Lo squillo si sa non l'ha mai avuto quindi inutile criticare la voce un poco 'corta',casomai ammettiamo difetti di intonazione qui abbastanza evidenti.
When asked about his favorite singers, Jussi Bjorling said there was a new young tenor (Carlo Bergonzi) who was "excellent". At the end of his career Luciano Pavarotti called Franco Corelli and Carlo Bergonzi the "most professional" singers of his day. Marilyn Horne asked Bergonzi how he was able to sing at such a high level for so long; he said that he vocalized every day. It was my privilege to hear Maestro Bergonzi, many times, at the Met; fond memories of the warmth of his voice.
In other words, you like Bergonzi and did a little cherry picking in selecting statements supporting your preference. There's no arguing against personal preference, and anyone is entitled to his/hers, but why did you feel the need for an 'appeal to authority' to support your preference? Did you feel the need to give 'weight' to your preference? Even after all the trouble you took with all that quoting (w/o citing sources), it still remains nothing more than personal taste... Why should people care about what Björling liked or did not like in private life, or what Corelli considered to be 'professional' or not? (for all we know he might have meant Bergonzi showed up at rehearsals)
@@richardbowery7423 You an enraged fan? 🤣 Only they get pissed when people with guts expose this lamentable quoting "business" for the poor trading that it is.
@@Saavedra99 Absolutely not an enraged fan! Not pissed off! I sort of agree with the 'no need' for others statements, but the reason I said what I said was, his 'bottom' line was he REALLY liked Bergonzi, why couldn't you let this just 'basically' be a post from a Bergonzi fan? By saying what you said, you took the attention away from his last line, My privilege to see, ( a fans fond memories of a favourite! ) and concentrated on an aspect of his post that obviously annoyed you personally. I'm sure most people's impression of his post would be quite simply, he's a great fan. I posted because, while everyone is of course entitled to an opinion, on anything, and yours is of course valid, you sound, to him, and now me, Angry, rather than conversational. By using the words: pissed, guts, lamentable, business, poor trading! you've elevated your opinion to the point that it completely drowns the persons 'fan' post. I'm never 'enraged'. Once again you use a word that elevates, almost to the point of a rant ! my post. Which I think most people would read as, 'why are you so angry'? At the most I'm perplexed/surprised. That's surely more reasonable?
@@richardbowery7423 Sorry, I must have missed your reply. Yes, it is more reasonable. I thought I made it clear in my first comment what I found so distasteful in Chris' comment. I wrote there's no arguing against personal preference, and I stand to that. He is very welcome to his preference. What I find distasteful is when fans try with all their might to convey the impression theirs is more than just PERSONAL PREFERENCE, that theirs is OBJECTIVE FACT. They know that no one really cares about personal preferences on RU-vid, not about his, yours, or mine, and can't come to terms with this. Not trying to yell with caps, just to emphasize words. If I knew how to emphasize without caps, I'd do it.
Fabrio-Your not "max" indisguise?"Carlo the shit", thats nice!What did you work in I Due Foscari in Busetto and get the sack? Carlo Bergonzi was perhaps the finest Verdi tenor of the 20th century on disc and also earlier in his career as fine a Puccini tenor as one would wish to hear.His live" Che Gelida Manina" which is on You Tube is absolutely masterful and his Pinkerton with Renata Scotto as Butterfly is still the benchmark for which every other performance is judged.
Qué verdiano era! Aunque mayor, y en aquella época tan de malos tenores haciendo carrera millonaria, no cae en técnicas zarrapastrosas domingueras, carrereras o kauffmanianas. La técnica está aprendida, y con una voz evidentemente deslustrada, da lo mejor de sí y consigue una interpretación envidiable de esta dificilísima aria. Técnica, siempre.
Ya quisiera Bergonzi haber sido Carreras alguna vez en su vida... Sobre los otros que menciona, concuerdo con usted en lo de Domingo. Pero meter en el mismo saco a alguien pésimo como Domingo y a un gran tenor como fue Carreras, es injusto. También Kauffmann es mucho mejor que Domingo fue nunca.
Potrà non piacere.Potrà essere come volete,sarà quello che volete.....Siete arrivati dove è arrivato lui? Probabilmente sara mancato di molte cose ma di emozioni avrà saputo darne molte...Nemmeno a me piace...Ma nn mi permetterei mai di essere cosi offensivo e di giudicare con malalingua......Sono anche io un Tenore ...ma con tanta dignità e rispetto per l'ultimo pilastro della storia del vanto.
Pur sbagliando a scrivere hai espresso perfettamente il cantante Bergonzi: pilastro della storia del Vanto. Solo ego e narcisismo, del buon cantante non ha quasi nulla. E la domanda "siete arrivati dove è arrivato lui" è assurda....ci sono cantanti straordinari che non hanno avuto e non hanno tutt'ora il suo successo....il telento e la fama sono due cose separate.
Great voice at that age. Look at Domingo. He turned into a baritone, when his voice declined. Bergonzi sounds still like a young man. I've heard worse...
Agree 100%. Bergonzi had technique and retired with dignity instead of going on rambling like the second you quote. Plus Bergonzi was on the line with Tucker and Corelli (the greatest). Domingo is not even worthy of cleaning Bergonzi's cupboard. Furthermore Domingo did not cover his voice, not even under torture.
@Mr. M. This is not correct .CB did not retire with dignity ,he went on with constriction and wobble for many years , and the worst of all was when he embarrassed himself trying to sing Otello at 75. Wt...? Try to sing a role he never had the voice for , written by a composer he never had the voice and temperament for , at 75? PD did not turn into a baritone . He was a tenor with a barely sufficient top in his prime,then with a short top,then no top . The lack of top does not turn one into a baritone, there's more to a baritone than the range
@@Saavedra99 Placido Domingo no es Baritenor, no tiene color de Baritono. Para alargar su carrera está cantado desde hace ya muchos años papeles de Baritono pq perdió lo pocos agudos que tenía. Sus actuaciones como Baritono son lamentables.
@@jesusmunoz2400 You confuse baritenor with baritone, and you believe the baritenor voice is ALL about color. You are wrong, it is as much about range and comfortable tessitura as it is about color. Someone who is barely able to break through the passagio, with 3 constricted semitones above, is not a true tenor, a true tenor has a SOLID half octave above the passagio. I don't know why you have brought Domingo into the conversation, I didn't say anything about him, and I am not interested in discussing him. I said Bergonzi was a baritenor and he had STARTED as a baritone. You may not like it but this doesn't make it less true. Everybody knows that Bergonzi has started as a baritone, and everyone who has ears can tell how short his top was and how constricted he sounds above the passagio after a couple of years into his career as a baritenor.
@iriisblue Pavarotti was not supposed to sing this that night. Carlo filled in for Pav in the I Lombardis segment. Carlo was supposed to sing this one.
@Cesconegre la critica non ha mai detto che era un cntante calante ? se la sua risposta e' negativa allora direi che la nostra discussione puo terminare qui perche' priva di qualunque possibilita' di sua redenzione...e se mi parla di Don Carlos e osa "consigliarmi "di ascoltarlo meglio allora le dico che basta un Vincenzo Labo' qualunque a superare Bergonzi
@Cesconegre non e' un clichè,bensi' e' la verita'.E sempre stato cosi in tutte le arti,non solo in musica.Ci sono i bravi addetti ai lavori e i geni.Io ascoltoquasi tutto cio che e' stato prodotto in studio e dal vivo fino agli anni 60 e debbo dire che bergonzi non manda mai in estasi e poi fa sempre il furbo,smussando qui e la e calando qui' e la.A questa stregua si potrebbe affermare che egli non fosse perfetto neanche tecnicamente... ma glio voglio lasciare la tecnica, almeno quella poverino
Non stava messo meglio di Di Stefano, il quale s'è sempre preso i rimproveri da tutti per la tecnica e cavolate del genere. Qua' Bergonzi cala tutto tutto ed e' impresentabile. Pippo e' sempre stato alla propria altezza.
@Cesconegre bergonzi e' sempre stato calante....ma su....la smetta...egli non era calante solo all'inizio quando cantava da baritono..che e' quello che doveva restare
@@joansebastiacolomer3163 I have no idea with which part of his comment you agree and with which part you don't ("the rest"), but this is between you and him, not my business. You should address your reply to him.
Tutte le volte che ho ascoltato Bergonzi l'ho trovato grossolano. Pieni di difetti mai corretti (come la esscie e quel "MM" prima di attaccare certe note) e calante. Eppure è definito da tutti "il tenore verdiano". Di tenorile a mio avviso ha ben poco, soprattuto quello che manca per essere un vero tenore vediano: Squillo.. Anche qui per esempio si sente chiaramente "Mquando le sere al placido".
One thing Carlo Bergonzi did not have was a large ego. Yes he was flat quite a bit. But he filled in for Pavarotti. Carlo Bergozi was one of the finest Verdi tenors of the 20th Century . On disc maybe the greatest and that includes Caruso. This was a concert to mark James Levines 25th Anniversary concert at the Met. And you can see from Levine's reaction at the end what he thought of this 72 year old. A certain Leonard Bernstein thought that dear Carlo was perfect for his musical education programme for La Boheme in the late 1950's. Marcus Romedahl before you start talking about big ego's I suggest you know from personel experience you know what you are talking about. For 25 years Carlo Bergonzi was as fine a lyrico spinto tenor as you were ever likely to hear.
@@barrybernstein4459 love your writing, I am not musician, but trust my ear and instincts... his voice to me is way better than 3 T, such unique artistry, deserves much more. Though he was so recognized by Levine and Met audience at that glorious time. Jonas Kauffman is singing better and stronger, but I still cannot find anyone closer to this true master!!!
@@barrybernstein4459 La Boheme is Puccini and Puccini isn't Verdi. Also, 1950's isn't 1990's. He did not fill in for Pav in this aria, just in the Lombardi trio. What Bernstein thought about Bergonzi's La Boheme in 1950's is completely unrelated to Bergonzi's Quando le sere in 1990's, and generally to Bergonzi's Verdi in any period. And I really don't know why should we care what Bernstein or any other public persona thought, this is just an 'appeal to authority' to support your preference. Let people decide for themselves, they have ears.
Yes he had a large ego .He was 75 when he decided he would sing Otello ,a role he had never attempted before,by a composer he had no voice and no temperament for . Embarrassed himself to no end on that occasion. Even not counting the Otello ,he was constricted for almost 30 years and had a wobble for almost 20 years ,and next to no squillo.Only somebody with a big ego would carry on for decades with such vocal deficiencies and call himself a Verdi tenor into the bargain
E' innegabile una tecnica di prim'ordine...tuttavia sembra non corretta la tonalità dell'Aria eseguita!!! Considerando l'età non è male ma tende a calare negli acuti,vizio mai perso!!! saluti
@@bl59957 Si l'aria è in tono. Ma tecnica di prim'ordine proprio no.Bergonzi cantava perché cantava...non aveva idea di quel che stesse facendo. Tanto tanto ego, ma tanto; basta sentire qualsiasi intervista per capirlo. Quando ha perso gli acuti(molto presto)invece di rimboccarsi le maniche e capire cosa c'era da cambiare, è andato dritto come un treno facendo aiutare da pubblicità, claque, amicizie ecc...Io non ne posso più di questi miti con ego smisurati che fanno presa sul popolino senza nerbo. Stesso discorso per del monaco...oh non c'è una registrazione dal vivo dove non sia esente da pesanti problemi o di intonazione o di suonacci urlati tipo mercato ittico. Io ascolto Siepi, Pertile, Schipa, Neri, Bastianini, Bruscantini, Callas, Carteri, moffo, ruffo, tagliabue, masini, merli, tozzi, tagliavini, Corelli e molti altri che erano cantanti con la C maiuscola non fenomeni da baraccone aiutati dal marketing.
@@bl59957 no no ma la risposta era per giampierone010 non per lei:-) so bene che su del monaco discordiamo ma che invece su molte altre cose concordiamo. Saluti
@@eugeniogentili1048 You have counted them? I very much doubt you have listened to 40-50 renditions of Quando le sere ,never mind compared them with each other . Oh wait ,I forgot your "speciality" are weird comparisons in which your fav is always in his vocal prime and the "other" 30 years older...
@Cesconegre io cerco sempre di staccarmi da me stesso. ci sono tenori che non mi piacciono ma ammetto essere bravi come pavarotti, domingo etc...bergonzi mi spiace dirlo ma e' pura scolasticita' del canto...non c'e' arte...ecco perche' piace agli artisti mancati (ovvero gli insegnanti di canto e ai cosiddetti autoproclamati critici)
@@eugeniogentili1048 nonmi faccia ridere è stato il miglior tenore verdiano del dopoguerra... penso che lei non l'abbia mai .sentito in teatro io si parecchie volte e ogni volta ovazioni a scena aperta... tutti incompetenti?
@Cesconegre Lei confonde due cose antitetiche...Arte e' in mano al genio...e il genio e' sempre sregolato e muore spesso della sua arte (vedi Callas e Di Stefano)...mentre un Buon scolaro puo' essere il primo della classe ma mai un genio...e cosi' e' bergonzi...un onesto scolaro...manierato e pedante...niente piu'
sulla Callas concordo ma lasci stare Di Stefano ha cantanto bene fino a metà degli anni 50 poi è crollato per varie ragioni... Bergonzi il miglior tenore verdiano del dopoguerr a 72 anni cantava ancora cosi