Georgiana BrummellIt's time for another opera review! As always, please remember that my knowledge of operettas is far more extensive than that of opera, and I am not any sort of professional. I do this for fun, and just started this journey a few weeks ago. Having said that, this time, we have two new voices to add to the collection, along with a few familiar ones.
Enrico Caruso - Ideale (1906)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w85mS_Z8OAQ
In the first few notes, it actually sounds as if some instruments are a bit flat here, and I have no idea why! I am accustomed to very old recordings, so that's not it. Anyway, this is supposed to be prior to Caruso's voice change, or right around there of, but to me, I can already hear a deepness in his voice. He's singing it as a tenor, but there is a sort of dark tamber to it. He slides notes very heavily and smoothly. He is also very expressive and rolls his rs a lot.
John McCormack - Ideale (1909)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGqt47GaYAg
I wasn't originally going to include him, but after listening to a bit of his version, I decided to do so. He is the only non-Italian in our list today. His pitch is the same as Caruso's. His pronunciation sounds accurate, judging by that of the others. He has a light l sound. He rolls his rs as well. Not only does he reach the high note, but upon sliding down from it, he ads a special sound that I cannot describe. His voice has more vibrato on those notes. He also ends on a high note, like Caruso, and holds it for a long time.
Dino Borgioli - Ideale (undated)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoPIAlqpNeY
He sings this at the same pitch as McCormac. His voice is light, sweet, and clear. He also slides notes, but has a wonderful control of his dynamics. His rs are not rolled strongly. Interestingly, he doesn't end on a high note as the previous two did.
Ferruccio Tagliavini： Ideale (Tosti) (1955)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQCX0i2mC3Q
I actually have two different versions from him, the other being from 1964. However, I chose this one because he's closer to the age of the other singers. It's worth noting that in the later one, he does sing it in a lower key. That said, here, he is almost parallel with Caruso in pitch. He, too, has excellent dynamics He rolls his rs slightly more than Borgioli. He ends on a higher note, but not the highest.
Tito Schipa Ideale (Recorded 1930)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWZ_8k2l9io
His version is in the highest pitch. His phrasing seems a bit shorter than the others. Like Caruso, his rs are rolled, and I can also hear the dark l sound. His dynamics are also displayed wonderfully, as is to be expected, since he has excellent breath control. As always, the clarity of his words is quite obvious.
Final Analysis
I was surprised at the variations here, from pitch to end-note. Even though I truly enjoy the voice of Tagliavini (one of our newcomers), in this instance, he really didn't impress me as much. His performance seemed not to be as expressive as the others. The reason I kept mentioning rolled rs is that some Italians seem to have it while singing but some don't. I had mistakenly believed that Schipa came from Naples, since he sang so much Neapolitan music, but that's not true. He was from Lecce, which has its own dialect, called Salentino. Still, he and Caruso, who did come from there, both share this characteristic. But what I really found interesting is that McCormac, an Irishman, did this as well! I was also surprised that, even though this is his lighter period, Caruso's voice still had a dark sound to it. Yet he ended on a high note.
And my personal winner is... John McCormac! I was all set to choose the other newcommer to our list, Dino Borgioli, whose performance was exceptional and whose voice is truly amazing. But after hearing McCormac, I was forced to change my mind. It was such a close call, though, that it was almost a draw. But he had that little something extra. I thought, before starting this, that Schipa would win, since he is my favourite singer. In fact, I deliberately went against the timeline and put him last in the list so that I wouldn't be partial to his version! I guess it worked.
#DinoBorgioli #EnricoCaruso #FerruccioTagliavini #JohnMcCormac #opera #review #TitoSchipa
Enrico Caruso - Ideale (1906)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w85mS_Z8OAQ
In the first few notes, it actually sounds as if some instruments are a bit flat here, and I have no idea why! I am accustomed to very old recordings, so that's not it. Anyway, this is supposed to be prior to Caruso's voice change, or right around there of, but to me, I can already hear a deepness in his voice. He's singing it as a tenor, but there is a sort of dark tamber to it. He slides notes very heavily and smoothly. He is also very expressive and rolls his rs a lot.
John McCormack - Ideale (1909)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGqt47GaYAg
I wasn't originally going to include him, but after listening to a bit of his version, I decided to do so. He is the only non-Italian in our list today. His pitch is the same as Caruso's. His pronunciation sounds accurate, judging by that of the others. He has a light l sound. He rolls his rs as well. Not only does he reach the high note, but upon sliding down from it, he ads a special sound that I cannot describe. His voice has more vibrato on those notes. He also ends on a high note, like Caruso, and holds it for a long time.
Dino Borgioli - Ideale (undated)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoPIAlqpNeY
He sings this at the same pitch as McCormac. His voice is light, sweet, and clear. He also slides notes, but has a wonderful control of his dynamics. His rs are not rolled strongly. Interestingly, he doesn't end on a high note as the previous two did.
Ferruccio Tagliavini： Ideale (Tosti) (1955)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQCX0i2mC3Q
I actually have two different versions from him, the other being from 1964. However, I chose this one because he's closer to the age of the other singers. It's worth noting that in the later one, he does sing it in a lower key. That said, here, he is almost parallel with Caruso in pitch. He, too, has excellent dynamics He rolls his rs slightly more than Borgioli. He ends on a higher note, but not the highest.
Tito Schipa Ideale (Recorded 1930)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWZ_8k2l9io
His version is in the highest pitch. His phrasing seems a bit shorter than the others. Like Caruso, his rs are rolled, and I can also hear the dark l sound. His dynamics are also displayed wonderfully, as is to be expected, since he has excellent breath control. As always, the clarity of his words is quite obvious.
Final Analysis
I was surprised at the variations here, from pitch to end-note. Even though I truly enjoy the voice of Tagliavini (one of our newcomers), in this instance, he really didn't impress me as much. His performance seemed not to be as expressive as the others. The reason I kept mentioning rolled rs is that some Italians seem to have it while singing but some don't. I had mistakenly believed that Schipa came from Naples, since he sang so much Neapolitan music, but that's not true. He was from Lecce, which has its own dialect, called Salentino. Still, he and Caruso, who did come from there, both share this characteristic. But what I really found interesting is that McCormac, an Irishman, did this as well! I was also surprised that, even though this is his lighter period, Caruso's voice still had a dark sound to it. Yet he ended on a high note.
And my personal winner is... John McCormac! I was all set to choose the other newcommer to our list, Dino Borgioli, whose performance was exceptional and whose voice is truly amazing. But after hearing McCormac, I was forced to change my mind. It was such a close call, though, that it was almost a draw. But he had that little something extra. I thought, before starting this, that Schipa would win, since he is my favourite singer. In fact, I deliberately went against the timeline and put him last in the list so that I wouldn't be partial to his version! I guess it worked.
#DinoBorgioli #EnricoCaruso #FerruccioTagliavini #JohnMcCormac #opera #review #TitoSchipa
Georgiana Brummell