Georgiana BrummellI love my leggero and lyric tenors and am always listening to them, from Schipa, to Gigli, to Tagliavini, to Fort, and beyond. This is normally where I am the happiest. Then, there are Battistini (a baritone) and Tamagno (an Italian heroic tenor) who just had to make their way into my regular folder and change the pattern! Today, I was in the mood for Tamagno. Why? I don't know! His is the only heavy voice I actually like. Don't look for the sweetness of Gigli or Tagliavini here, but do look for the clarity of Schipa. Even in wax, Tamagno's enunciation can very clearly be heard. His voice is a mixture of power, an unexpected lyricism and clear, high notes. It's the kind of voice that always makes me wonder what on Earth it would have been like to hear him live. I heard he could literally make walls shake and one could feel his voice in one's bones! His only equal, to my mind at least, was Lauri Volpi. These are not your average dramatic tenors with big, loud, shouting voices. Heroics are an entirely different category and are so rare that these are literally the only two I know of. As for Battistini, I have never heard another baritone like him. He is in a category all by himself. Bright, high, lyrical, and flexible, his voice is truly something marvellous.