anch'io ne ero innamorata! e quando stava a Roma mi abitava vicino e lo vedevo spesso avvolto in un mantello scuro e un largo cappello sul capo! era un bell'uomo veramente!
He is wonderful his voice is more full than most tenors. But how in the hell does hold those notes so long in full voice? I really enjoyed this. Thank you so very much :) 😋🧔🏻♂️🌷🌱
Almost all of you are entering into a useless debate. And you started, Mr. Brady Call, with the title of this video. They are just personal opinions. None is more right than another. The best tenor "of all time" is the one that each of us fans like the most. That simple.... Del Monaco was "one" of the best, of course, but it is impossible for "only one" tenor to be "the best" of all. I say all with all due respect, because it is also just my opinion.
I swear, listeners of Opera singers, especially tenors are more egotistical than the opera singers themselves it's actually repulsive. No one tenor has every single quality that would or could make them "the gReaTeSt tEnOr of aLl tImE" such an asinine declaration. Makes me think the poster of the video is a highschool kid trying to prove themselves.
Rum-pum-pum-pum,…it’s all the same to the ear of God! I, however, do not yet possess the Grace of God that extends beyond my own imperfections, and opinions. The pursuit of perfection is always life’s ultimate challenge. Music is the most sublime of Human expression, and illustrates many aspects of perfection.
Absolutely! There is plenty of room at the top for the best. You can chuck Gigli, Björling, di Stefano and many others up there. They were all the best at something, but none of them were the best at everything.
Thanks for posting! Even on this old clip, his voice shines in the Turandot aria. Definitely one of the great voices. He sings the Wagner aria properly, but it clearly doesn't come naturally. Not his cuppa...
I like his Wagner attempts if he did it more often and more seriously it could have been quite something! But I don't think he really added something interesting or exiting to Nessun Dorma. He did not sing the role of Calaf a lot, only a handful of times, it was really too high for his voice. Personally I think this might be one of the best Nessun Dorma's ever recorded, but unfortunately as is always the case in these situations it is not a good quality recording, but I think you can get a very good idea: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IEKWrwsxGpE.htmlsi=7A7I7tTZNG7qBbL8
@@ZENOBlAmusic Disagreed pal on his performance on Nessun Dorma. His version is my favorite, and my second favorite is Corelli. I admit as a biased Del Monaco fan, Corelli projected the high notes much easier than Del Monaco.
@@bradycall1889 Dramatic tenors are usually short, thin or quite athletic in build. Mario was 5'7. Lyric tenors are round, especially as they age. Obviously there are always exceptions, but this is a general rule. It might have something to do with testosterone, the more athletic guys might have more testosterone.
While comparisons are odious and subjectivity is always at play the truth is that Opera demands various musical approach! SO SOME ARE GOOD,SOME ARE BAD, FOR EACH ONE LETS BE GLAD ! 😂😂😂
Great in concerts and records, but you can't appreciate Bjorling in the large Opera Houses because he can't be heard. I saw him agt the Met in 1957 in Cavalleria and was disappointed and shocked. Tucker and del Monaco had very powerful voices!
its a landslide, pavarotti, he even cried when he was doing a rehearsal. he puts his whole body into it, and he is so concentrated and fastidious, that he looks at ease, but you can see all his muscles moving about, and he always has his mouth in a nice round shape. @@Athena621
If one understands the true meaning of "One man's meat is another man's poison." or " Every eye forms it's own beauty." then what is there to debate WHO is the GREATEST?
I'm going to admit being partial to Wolfgang Windgassen, just because his recorded performances in the Ring Cycle were made using the RIAA curve. I love the high fidelity of recording. I cannot argue against the musicality, beauty and supreme line of Melchior. I simply do not appreciate the recording standards from his earlier era as much.
I must admit Windgassens name completely left my memory. You are right. He was a wonderful tenor. Another name popped into my head. Sandor Konya. I had a great recording he did of Lohengrin that was recorded in Bostons Symphony Hall.@@ubermo1182
Jussi Björling was and is still the greatest operatic tenor to date. You want to filter to only Wagnerian tenors? Go ahead, but Jussi is still the GREATEST OPERATIC TENOR. We hope for someone beyond his stature, but are still waiting.
Del Monaco’s voice is almost baritone. That’s how Domingo started. however, he was instructed to use his diaphragm more & corrected his registers & singing line. But, Monaco is not afraid to give it its all on each & every note. Amazing, the guy had nerves of steel & a voice to match if not surpass !
Certainly great but I'd expect someone who is called 'the greatest of all time' to be versatile in more than one style, and MDM unfortunately could only sing in one style well.
I would not argue about the greatest tenor of all time but certainly when you consider the recording of Nicolai Gedda in Lonjumeau that brought tears to my eyes the mastering of opera roles in seven languages and not just singing, I mean mastering, Apparently the EMI producer Walter Legge after hearing him sing sent telegrams to Herbert von Karajan and Antonio Ghiringheli, "Just heard the greatest Mozart singer in my life, his name is Nicolai Gedda." He sang the role of Don Ottavio in his debut at La Scala, under the baton of the Maestro von Karajan. His father was Swedish/Russian and his mother was a teenage Swedish waitress, so poor they could not raise him, his aunt wanted to adopt him but was not allowed to because of their being impoverished, so they kept him illegally. Russian and Swedish were spoken at home and he eventually became proficient in nine languages, singing in seven. His role in Eugene Onegin "Lensky" is said to be his best role.
@@nonenoneonenonenone although I have the highest regards for Bulgarians, he would be disqualified because he was a baritone and shouldn't it be spelled Ghiaurov, not that I was all that great at spelling in school
Gedda is somewhat underrated, he was very proficient in languages and dictation, in those aspects he was one of the best. But he wasn't really a versatile tenor, he did not perform heavy roles well or convincingly at all. He wasn't really a stand out in many specific roles. I personally don't feel he always connected or conveyed the emotion of what he was singing. Gedda was a very good tenor, the problem is there is a lot of competition in the lyric - leggero types of categories. I would actually pick Gedda above Bjorling, but many people would hate that idea.
No person ever answers me when I ask the question,'' What Criteria are you using to come to the conclusion that any one tenor was the best of all time'' Because they don't have one or don't know.
I believe the fact that he has a moustache here would say that he'd already had the car accident that nearly killed him and had come back from that. Although he trained constantly and hid the scars, he was never the same. I can't say that his Sigmund is especially impressive, having done the Ring with some top-drawer Wagner tenors. Wouldn't think of Wagner as his fach. Calaf and Otello are better examples. My husband [Royal Opera Covent Garden for 30 years] was an acquaintance, though a generation or so younger. Del Monaco was his hero, far and away, and being invited to his home in Italy, one of the pinnacles of his career. Del Monaco was a perfectionist in every regard. Completely disciplined and an utter technician.
Music lovers? Anyone who listens to a bit of opera knows exactly who Mario Del Monaco is. Just because people know about you does not make you great. Greatness is not a popularity contest. Many people know Cardi B, does that make her great?
When I heard this as an audio recording years ago I half wondered if that astounding second "Wälse!!" he holds for 18 seconds had been doctored - I didn't know there was video proof of it. Unique voice of granite mixed with iron filings.
More dramatic tenor are better at holding notes for longer. They seemingly have the stamina to endure it easier. Of course there is also the 23 second pianissimo note from E Lucevan Le Stelle with Franco Corelli in Parma 1967.
From a Italianate tenor his Wagner is not bad.....his breathing in a alien environment is nothing short of astounding.Not many today could make this sound outside the studio......Del Monaco had a voice.
He admits it himself that his pronunciation of the German language isn't good. I still, however, love his Wagner performances because of his raw, untamed power.
@@bradycall1889 I mentioned that Nicolai Gedda was my choice for the tenor solo in the Ninth. I pay especial attention to the solo when ever I listen to the Ninth and he is by far the clearest and strongest at that immensely important role. Luciano Pavarotti thought very highly of him. He was at one time the most recorded opera singer. It is said that he was the most versatile singer, proficient in nine languages.
There is an unknown tenor about to emerge in Australia. Like Monaco, he can hold a note for an incredibly long time. His name is Vito Montforte. Born in Sicily. Came to Australia as a youngster. Been a builder since he was twelve years old. He is now 65. I get goose bumps when I hear him sing O Sole Mio. When he performs Ciao Ciao Bambina, I have tears falling from my eyes. He performs Nessun Dorma with such passion and emotion. Not even Opera Australia knows of him yet. His voice is similar to Mario Lanza.
Vito is currently receiving training with an opera singing teacher who is 90 years old and retired from Italy to Australia. In italy, she was one of Pavarotti's teachers. When she heard him sing in Church last year, she came out of retirement to coach him. He has no presence on the internet yet, but keep an eye out for a website by googling his name. He is yet to perform in a concert which hopefully will be in a few months time, I can't wait! He currently lives in the Western district of Victoria. I feel privileged to be Vito's friend. Thanks for your reply.
The production of the "Don" on film with Ruggero Raimondi and Jose Van Dam was excellent, Loren Maazel one of my favorite conductors. Never ever forget Mozart! The immortal!
I love his attempts at Wagner, I wish he did more. Mario Del Monaco's Nessun Dorma is not particularly great or interesting, I would pick it over Pavarotti for obvious reasons, but he doesn't add any of his usual flair, it is underwhelming in truth, I think Giacomini sings Nessun Dorma in a much more exciting manner then Del Monaco. Mario Del Monaco was a truly great dramatic tenor. One of the best dramatic tenors! One my personal favourites. But I cannot call him or think of him as the best tenor of all time in good faith, he did have some shortcomings. All tenors and singers do have shortcomings no one is perfect, it is a matter of thinking about the least shortcomings, and weighing positive and important attributes. You can never really say who was the best, although we al have our ideas and favourites.
@@bradycall1889 He is my second favourite tenor, I love his energy and passion. He also had a very beautiful bronze coloured voice, with an extremely noble quality and projection in his sound. If you go back 2000 years you can bet, his voice would have been the perfect battle commander voice. People don't acknowledge the pure beauty of his voice enough, but many people think only lyric tenors have beautiful voices. Some lyric tenors have pretty voices, but there are some beautiful big voices, in my opinion. I personally think that Del Monaco did not particularly like the role of Calaf, or he did not have a strong affinity to the role. He did not perform the role very often, I think it was slightly too high for hm. But looking past that, it just never sounded like he added as much energy to his Calaf as many of his other roles. At some point all singers ends up singing a role in their repertoire that might not be their favourite. You continuously hear more music as you go along, but I think at this moment the best Nessun Dorma is this version, it is one of those rare recordings where you can actually hear the size of the voice: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IEKWrwsxGpE.htmlsi=knxrFbafIx1iOTNO I don't it is a secret that Corelli is my favourite tenor, but I also wouldn't vote or bestow the title of best or greatest ever tenor to him as well. It is nothing against Mario Del Monaco personally, it is just objectively that there is someone more technically skilled in many different areas then both of them. But I would certainly rather listen to Corelli and Del Monaco then the greatest ever technical singer.
No mention here of Mario Lanza wno is considered among the greats. However he was an arrogant pup and didnt turn up to performances so written out.....
Love his power. His voice lacks roundness and warmth that I get from Melchior or Vickers. A mono dimensional productive for the Wagner. The Nessus Dorma gave me absolutely everything I wanted. Flawless. The Italian is of course from the soul. The Wagner was not. Great performances both!
In around 1997/8 I was in a hotel in Barbados and in the room below was Luciano Pavarotti, I was awestruck, sadly his knees had gone and he had to be helped into the water a few times a day, his young girlfriend was with him "nicky "?? Anyway I didn't complain about the "noise" 😂😂😂
@@adrianbuckley8922 I am sorry to hear that about him, particularly that far back. I had a brother in law whose knees were shot, but he did it skiing and wasn't obese. But to be honest, I would have given most anything to have been able to hear him rehearse. Not that I don't have a very good idea as he lost his high notes and couldn't get them back. Still, I would have found it fascinating. The better one's voice gets, and the more success one has with it as it is, the scarier it is to try something different, but that is what he needed.
@@adrianbuckley8922 That's sad to hear Pavarotti suffer like that. Must feel embarrassing. But it's also fun to be on top of the room of a world-renowned operatic tenor.
The greatest recorded tenor is in my opinion Helge Rosvaenge. But the greatest of all time I don't have enough knowledge. There's Manuel Garcia father, the Rossini tenor. Anton Raaff in XVIII century. But there were divine tenors all over the centuries
Yeah I wonder how tenors sounded back then in the old days before recorded technology. I think they used to sing their high notes with falsetto before they started using chest voice.
Paoli es de la misma época que Caruso y, en las grabaciones suena mejor. Nadie de la actualidad ha escuchado a Caruso en teatro, que es lo que vale. En las grabaciones de Caruso hay que suponer que era muy bueno pero...hasta dónde llegó su calidad y hasta dónde el marketing ?. Yo no lo sé. Parao, con la evidencia disponible, el mejor tenor de la Historia es D. Alfredo Kraus.
Never heard of him, but he is good. In the UK all we hear about is Fisher-Diskau ( sp? ), but this guy sounds a lot better to me. I'm glad photographic practise has improved since then.
Original video is butchered by letterboxing. Makes it blurry and cuts of heads and feet. The full-frame video is visible at ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-geKfB7UdGTU.html
I admire del Monaco for his desire to expand his artistic span towards German opera, and Wagner in particular, in his maturity years. So rare for an Italian opera singer! I can only think of Aureliano Pertile as a possible match. However, his lifelong Belcanto education and practice left indelible marks on the way he uses his otherwise magnificent voice. This doesn't really fit in Wagner. Nor does his very rough German pronunciation.
How good was hein Puccini, Verdi, Bellini, Britten, Schoenberg et al? Wonderful singing here but a great singer needs to be versatile in both Opera, and oratorio, chanson etc. Del Monaco was wonderful but limited.
Wasn't Jussi Bjorling once dubbed the Enrico Caruso of Sweden. Why is there no reference to Enrico Caruso? The first singer ever to sell one million recordings as he could see the future of the music industry.
@@bradycall1889 You are correct some tenors by virtue of the tone and quality of their voice can make a song sound better than when it is sung by anyone else.
Audio + sound systems missing in pre hi tech era.. Remastering cleaned up scratched Mono & Stereo recordings.. Every voice has special enticing qualities.. God's gift.. no one can be best Voice of all times
@@MOV1983 Absolutely. Perhaps you should should do a little more studying, listen & reading. He could have performed on any opera stage had he wanted to. Hollywood far more lucrative. In fact, he did perform in two operas. Professional opera singers all concur he was one of the best tenors ever, including Pavarotti, Carreras & Domingo to name but three. I think they know far better.
@@robertsmale3714@robertsmale3714 Mario Lanza did opera a great service. He brought it to places in the world where opera was never heard. I was first introduced to opera when I saw the movie The Great Caruso. Don't get me wrong. I've been a great admirer of Mario Lanza all my life. I saw everyone of his movies and collected all his LP's of opera recordings. I've been a student of Mario Lanza. As an instrument, he had one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard, but his career was spent in the movies. How would he have done with a career on the opera stage we will never know. As far as I know, there is one documented opera performance on stage, Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly. I have also been a student of all the great tenors, Corelli, DiStefano, Monaco, Bjoerling, Massini, Filipeschi, Carreras, Domingo, Pavarotti, Atlantov, Piavko, to mention a few. Some of the above I've heard live. Having said that, I have a problem when anyone compares Mario Lanza to the great ones who made their careers on the opera stage of the greatest houses in the world. Similar comparisons have been made with Andrea Bocelli and even Paul Potts. Singing a few arias in a movie or in concerts does not make you an opera singer, and it does not bring you alongside the great tenors whose voices are still ring through the rafters of the great opera houses around the world, and whose toil and sweat still soak the stage floors. Best wishes to you.
@@MOV1983 Completely agree with your perspective on Potts & Bocelli. But when seasoned opera performers assert Lanza would have had no difficulty transitioning to the stage I take note of the expert opinion. The issue with Lanza would have been discipline. And in the end he reached a far greater audience with this music, millions in fact, than those who performed on the stage. It’s I suppose how one here also interprets the title, “operatic tenor.” Is that strictly limited to the stage? Perhaps. But I tend to look at it more broadly. Lanza had an amazing operatic tenor voice. Both him & Corelli a more richer spinto type voice I prefer to the lighter lyrical voice of Pavarotti or Bjoerling. Like anything, particularly music it’s a matter of style, choice & taste, as well as what you grew up listening to or hearing. Opera theatre was simply not something available to me growing up, either financially or through other means, but listening to Lanza especially, along with Corelli, Bjoerling et al recordings exposed me to such music. It was always a matter of discussion as to who was “the best.” In the end, an issue that will be debated forever with no definitive answer. But for me, Mario’s at or near the top of the list of all time great tenors of the operatic genre despite his limited appearances on stage. Fortunately now I’m able to travel to the opera regularly. I’ve yet to hear a tenor on stage who sings these arias better than Lanza or Corelli. If I can find the article about Lanza & the stage I’ll post it here.
It is sloppy to enter a note under the pitch and then "scoop" up to the pitch intended. He does this very, very often. When he holds a long. note he often goes sharp. His tuning is really terrible. How sad that a person with his amazing voice never learned to sing properly. His technique was not even good enough to excel as an American high school student.@@bradycall1889
Why do you post a singer with such low resolution? It takes the same effort to post it with high resolution. The sound would be better at higher resolution - this takes a poor recording and degrades it even more.
Undoubtedly the best Otello and Canio in history. Watch 1959 (Otello) and 1961(Canio) performances with Gabriella Tucci, Tito Gobbi, and Aldo Protti in Japan.
This would be blasphemy to some Mario fans, but I prefer Franco Corelli as Canio. I would say he actually sings it even more dramatically then MDM. But of course Mario sings it great, it is my second favourite version, and Richard Tucker also did a great Canio, and the role did actually suit him physically as well.
Well he is very good, but the very best of all time was Fritz Weisshimmel, the legendary shower singer of Nürnberg. Sadly, he sang 200 years before recordings were made. p.s. I just heard him sing Nessun Dorma. He is D*MN good.
Funny you almost pick him at his worst-Siegmund give me Vickers or Melchior every time. Nessun Dorma-it's Corelli's aria-not Pavs, and certainly not MDM
@@bradycall1889 What he did sing for most of his career after he lost the capacity to sing softy and almost exclusively sang forte-of course Otello-a great Otello if a little melodramatic for my taste-Canio, Samson-other than his early recordings, that's all I really like him in
I respectfully disagree that Jonas Kaufmann is a dramatic tenor. Sorry to break it to you, but sometimes he over darkens his voice in an unnatural way. I would say probably a spinto tenor who leans more towards the dramatic side than the lyric side (some people call that type of voice a dramatic-spinto). Overall, he's a decent singer imo, but in some of his recordings he does sound like he need to work on his technique.
Kaufman is not a dramatic tenor. A dramatic tenor has a huge voice, Kaufman has a small voice and his voice doesn't have any weight, he is a lyric tenor. Having a dark tone of voice does not make you a dramatic tenor. Unfortunately there are no dramatic tenors today on the biggest opera stages.
@@ZENOBlAmusic I respectfully disagree that his voice is really THAT small, and he definitely has weight to his voice, even without a microphone he can definitely project. I think he's a spinto tenor, honestly, and not a lyric tenor. And yes, unfortunately I agree there aren't many dramatic tenors in opera today, if any at all. There are a few people who come close, such as Giancarlo Monsalve, but not very many.
@@falkfink I was using a poetic way of saying his voice sounds impressively deep. I don’t really think he’d make a good Wotan. Though honestly I would have paid to hear him try. 🤣
I like MdM in some things but this clip is not what I would use to demonstrate he was a great tenor. His German doesn't sound right, nor is the style appropriate. He was amazing in Carmen in Moscow in 1959. I would pick that opera over this performance
It makes sense what you're saying because a native German speaker singing the same role would sound way more "natural" in this language, assuming that they're also a dramatic tenor. MdM admitted it himself that his German isn't very good. However, this video is not to demonstrate his pronunciation of words, but his raw vocal power.
@@CasaErwin I've tried singing German repertoire before (more specifically the Bird Catcher song sung by Papageno from The Magic Flute) and yeah it's a tad hard. I guess it's not extremely hard but still hard to pronounce things correctly. I've taken 4 years of Spanish classes throughout high school and I have a wack accent still lol.
His German pronunciation May not be that good (and he admits it himself) but I still love his Siegmund anyways because of his shear power, which is something that lots of opera singers nowadays don’t do, unfortunately.
@@walterbenjamin1386 Not sure where you're coming from man. With all due respect, I don't understand your argument. His vocal timbre and resonance sounds just like a true Wagnerian tenor. The only thing he was missing, really, was pronouncing his German right.
@@bradycall1889 I'm sorry to have offended you. Truly I am. I understand what it is to passionately love a singer, musician, composer. I've heard Del Monoco as Chenier and thought he was superb. But Wagner requires a different sound with more depth, control and insight into the music. It's okay. They don't all have to perform in the same fach. He has greatness. Just my opinion. I wonder if a bunch of seasoned Wagner lovers listened to this what they would think. Take care and keep loving music!
@@walterbenjamin1386 Sorry if I sounded like I was angry. I am not really mad I just disagree and, no offense, don't quite get the point you're trying to make. But it's nothing personal.
El mejor? Muy bueno pero no el mejor. No hay mejores a ese nivel. Para mi es otro es mejor que ni lo nombro, porque es el que mas me gusta. No tiene sentido discutir
