In the lounge of student union of my college, there was a huge classical music listening room, which had a 'made in Germany' LP player and several hundreds of LPs. A group of students including me volunteered to play the LPs by turns during the day time whenever we had no classes. I, who had had only a small bunch of classical music LPs in high school days, was so much excited to play so many LPs with friends of naivete. Each member had his/her own favorites. I preferred symphonies, concertos, and sonatas of the Classical and Romantic periods. But, one of my friends always played the Baroque albums, while the other liked opera music. Above all, Luciano Pavarotti's "Di Quella Pira" is unforgettable. As such the extracurricular activity gave me a shortcut to listening to wide range of classical music of interest. One day I took hold of Mario Del Monaco's album of opera arias by chance. His dramatic powerful voice was overwhelming enough to inspire and move me without understanding of the lyrics. Among the repertories, Verdi's "Niun mi tema" and Wagner's "Ein schwert verhiess mir der Vater" enthralled me most. It took decades until I watch an opera film "Otello" with English subtitle from RU-vid. Knowing the lyrics of "Niun mi tema" made the music far more exciting, in particular, when I came to know the meaning of the Italian words "HO UN'ARMA ANCOR" as "I still have a weapon".....Otello cries loudly as such by already dead Desdemona and stabs himself to die. Verdi and Del Monaco.....Who can compose better and sing better about the remorse and despair of a man who killed his innocent wife? Mario Del Monaco (1915-1982) played Otello more than 200 times, as if Otello himself had been reincarnated…. He was buried in his Otello costume. The strong Impression I had got from "Niun mi tema" has been lasting for several decades.
Simply the best. In my book, MDM picked where Caruso, Gigli, Melchior left off and where Pavarotti, Domingo, Corelli continued. As for any possible MDM's these days? I do not see it. We are in an opera lull right now where the biggest sensation is one tenor who is losing his voice and another who specializes in Rossini and lighter opera. Who the heck is singing Otello and Pagliacci lately who can compare with older generations? Sad
I agree. I have been here about a week to search a best tenor in younger generation who could give great performance. Now I realize there is a thick and solid ceiling between Del Monaco and others.
