Favourite Tenor

[Tsaraslondon]

... probably the most beautiful tenor sound I've ever heard....

Exactly what I feel every time I hear him.

[franz65]

Fritz Wunderlich is so wunderlich.

I'm from Germany and I have to say, that wunderlich means odd / strange, I think what you wanted to say is wunderbar
But it is true his voice is great even for unexperienced listener
Thank you for the great list of tenors you have made here, I know that everyone has a little bit different taste, but I'm educating in those names and performances. I've heard yesterday an great performance from Pavarotti, He sang Una Furtiva Lagrima as Donizetti.. It felt like I knew what he was singing about even thought I didn't knew the context and the language...
Don't know if enyone of you also shares this feeling sometimes?

[Guido]

Haha, yes I know of course, really I just meant to say Wunderlich ist ein Wunder!!

[mc ukrneal]

I'm from Germany and I have to say, that wunderlich means odd / strange, I think what you wanted to say is wunderbar
But it is true his voice is great even for unexperienced listener
Thank you for the great list of tenors you have made here, I know that everyone has a little bit different taste, but I'm educating in those names and performances. I've heard yesterday an great performance from Pavarotti, He sang Una Furtiva Lagrima as Donizetti.. It felt like I knew what he was singing about even thought I didn't knew the context and the language...
Don't know if enyone of you also shares this feeling sometimes?

Very much so. I love Pav's voice, but I don't always love Pav (if that makes sense). However, his diction was very good for Italian, as often was his style. It is not really critical for me that the singer be fluent or sound fluent in the language being sung, but it can really add to the overall flavor (and understanding) when that is the case. In some pieces there is really nothing like having a native speaker sing that song.

[franz65]

In some pieces there is really nothing like having a native speaker sing that song.

Well, I can't disagree. I remember watching Parsifal in Poland, where only few singers (besides one that was invited from Germany) had a good diction. That was little bit funny, that as a German I had to read subtitles sometimes to understand them. But nevertheless, German must be hardt to sing, I often hear not only from singers, that this language isn't really musical.
But back to the topic - what do you think about A. Bocelli for example? Maybe I've overseened him here, when yes I'm sorry.

[mc ukrneal]

Well, I can't disagree. I remember watching Parsifal in Poland, where only few singers (besides one that was invited from Germany) had a good diction. That was little bit funny, that as a German I had to read subtitles sometimes to understand them. But nevertheless, German must be hardt to sing, I often hear not only from singers, that this language isn't really musical. t
But back to the topic - what do you think about A. Bocelli for example? Maybe I've overseened him here, when yes I'm sorry.

I am not really a fan. I admire him to some extent and appreciate that perhaps he has gotten others to enjoy opera (in this sense, I'm a big fan), but his instrument is not ideal for opera. He is better when he sings songs separately, but the thing I dislike is his inability to projet well. He does not have enough presence and cannot be heard easily in the hall without amplification. He does have a pretty voice though.

Lately, I have been listening to several new Rossini recordings from Opera Rara. One of the house singers is Bruce Ford. He does some wonderful work. I had him on a couple of other discs, but could not assess him based on just that. He's pretty good.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Gerhard Stolze. The guy was genious!

[Tsaraslondon]

Well, I can't disagree. I remember watching Parsifal in Poland, where only few singers (besides one that was invited from Germany) had a good diction. That was little bit funny, that as a German I had to read subtitles sometimes to understand them. But nevertheless, German must be hardt to sing, I often hear not only from singers, that this language isn't really musical.

The interesting thing about diction is that not being a native speaker is not necessarily the same thing as having bad diction. Joan Sutherland, for instance, had terrible diction whatever language she was singing in. Pavarotti's was always superb, so good in fact that when he sings in French, you can hear how bad his actual pronunication is. Compare the two singers in Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment. You can hardly make out a word Sutherland is singing, the words emerging as a sort of mush. Pavarotti, on the other hand, is so clear, you can hear how bad his French is.

[zamyrabyrd]

The interesting thing about diction is that not being a native speaker is not necessarily the same thing as having bad diction. Joan Sutherland, for instance, had terrible diction whatever language she was singing in. Pavarotti's was always superb, so good in fact that when he sings in French, you can hear how bad his actual pronunication is. Compare the two singers in Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment. You can hardly make out a word Sutherland is singing, the words emerging as a sort of mush. Pavarotti, on the other hand, is so clear, you can hear how bad his French is.

Very good point. The excuse that words can be sacrificed for the sound is more acceptable in Sutherland's case, particularly in the higher stratsosphere where the vowels converge anyway, than pedantic pronunciation that happens to be wrong. The default mode when in doubt is to be intentionally unclear and make beautiful sounds. This way no one can really fault the diction. 

ZB

[The new erato]

Hearing Kathleen Ferrier singing Norwegian songs in the original language is a terryfying experience for a Norwegian.

[Tsaraslondon]

Very good point. The excuse that words can be sacrificed for the sound is more acceptable in Sutherland's case, particularly in the higher stratsosphere where the vowels converge anyway, than pedantic pronunciation that happens to be wrong. The default mode when in doubt is to be intentionally unclear and make beautiful sounds. This way no one can really fault the diction. 

ZB

An example of bad French, as opposed to bad diction, also occurs on the Cluytens recording of Faust. Gedda and De Los Angeles, neither of them native French speakers, both sing the language very well, but Christoff mangles the language intolerably. It quite spoils the performance for me and renders it almost unlistenable.

[knight66]

Just properly demonic French. I know it is mangled, but for that voice I happily put up with it.

Mike

[val]

It depends on the repertoire.

In Wagner, my choice goes to Franz Völker, Lauritz Melchior, Max Lorenz.

In Mozart, Fritz Wunderlich, Leopold Simoneau, Anton Dermota.

In the Italian repertoire, Beniamino Gigli, Ferruccio Tagliavini, Jussi Bjorling, Carlo Bergonzi.

Not forgetting, Jon Vickers (Otello, Peter Grimes, Florestan in Fidelio), Ivo Zidek (Martinu's Julietta), Georges Thill (Werther), Giorgy Nelepp (Sadko).

And in the Lieder, Julius Patzak, Ernst Häfliger, Peter Pears. 

[knight66]

Well, one of them is still alive.

Mike

[Wendell_E]

Well, one of them is still alive.

Mike

  Pretty much what I was thinking, though AFAIK (and according to Wikipedia), Bergonzi and Vickers are both still with us.

[knight66]

Sorry to Mr Bergonzi, I had thought that he had left the stage. 

Mike

[bigshot]

Caruso, McCormick, Melchior, Bjorling

[Tsaraslondon]

Just properly demonic French. I know it is mangled, but for that voice I happily put up with it.

Mike

Ah! Is demonic French a sort of dialect then? 

This is one of those rare occasions where you and I will have to part company, Mike. I too appreciate the voice and the intent. I just find the way he mangles the French language too hard to take.

[Karolina]

I don't know much about Rutkowski but from the little I heard here, this is not quite "it". He is flat at times and there is not a lot of elegance in production. It could also have to do with the rather poor recording.

I second the Wunderlich recommendation, plus Bjorling, Kraus and Gigli for tenors of the previous generation. The Pav was in a class by himself.

ZB

The quallity of the recording isn't really the greatest, but it's the newest and the best I could honestly find. I'll share with you some more links, but I don't promise, that the quallity will be better. But nevertheless, I can't persuade you to like his voice or technique.
As for the Wunderlich - yes, he's definitely one of the greatest!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXnrvLgNFFw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NATyXzgca60

[MariaCallasFan]

I have to say that I am surprised no one has mentioned Pavaroti, his voice was extremely rich and he was certainly insturmental in bring opera to the wider public.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ekaMQP_Fwc

Jussi Bjorlin & Robert Merrell takes some beating