others have greatness thrust upon them
As you may recall, last year the BBC Music Magazine published a list of “The 20 Greatest Sopranos of All Time,” and one or two of you didn’t quite see eye to eye with their selection.
Well, this year they’ve turned their attention to the top 20 among tenors, who are (in ascending order of greatliness):Â
20. Sergey Lemeshev
19. Wolfgang Windgassen
18. Alfredo Kraus
17. Anthony Rolfe Johnson
16. John McCormack
15. Franco Corelli
14. Peter Schreier
13. Juan Diego Florez
12. Carlo Bergonzi
11. Tito Schipa
10. Peter Pears
9. Nicolai Gedda
8. Jon Vickers
7. Beniamino Gigli
6. Lauritz Melchior
5. Jussi Bjoerling
4. Fritz Wunderlich
3. Luciano Pavarotti
2. Enrico Caruso
1. Placido Domingo
Since I was in the house for the TRISTAN, I’m utterly fascinated by the comments above. It was a disastrous night in the theater (the visuals beyond description), and Master got the most booing I’ve ever heard during more than three decades of Met-going.
As it is morphing into an Isolde thread no one has mentioned Nina Stemme, vocally and dramatically in command of this part as both cds, DVD and live performances show. Some exciting young contenders as well- Theorin and Anja Kampe. None of them has sung at the MET and don’t even figure in the Futures.
The MET needs some frsh voices in its Wagner.
In many cases, accolades should be given for what abiliies a singer had (has) and how they untilised that voice to its fullest widest potential and vesatility over the span of a career. On that level Domingo would win ..no dispute! Gedda would come in there as well. Remember Domingo started hitting the ‘big time’ as early as 1965 (same time for Pavarotti). That’s 42 years ago. While Domingo was still doing Otellos’, Pavarotti was off doing silly ‘cross-over things’ and a never ending farewell concert tour to outstrip Melbas’. Pavarotti may have being given a voice. Domingo was also given a BRAIN. Sheer intelligence knowing how to use the voice they were given, is the true mark of judgement whether an artist was truly great. If as reputed, Caruso had an attendant in the wings , a cigarette already lit, for him….the total lack of husbandry for a voice leaves Caruso at rock bottom. (I admit though, I smoke myself – but I am not a singer). What shocks might we encounter if Caruso was ressurrected and recorded ‘naked’ in full digital sound….all the ‘shielding veils of noise from the old shellacs’ gone? When considered retrospectively: those artists that had a fine progression and ‘longevity of career ‘ must be considered the winners.
If an artist is but a ‘James Dean 3 picture -immortal’, then we are just playing with our ‘candle’. Yet we are seeing suspicions of such, with the current crop of singers. We are hearing of too much vocal trouble. What is wrong? Is their technique poor? Are they accepting too many engagements too soon in too many varied operas? If a singer is so stupid and ambitious that they do not know how to preserve vocally what they have, how could they be considered as ‘worthy of other insights …like simply intrepreting a role’?
I contend the true golden age time period of opera was the years 1960-70. Just have a think about the total number and calibre of singers famous and those on the cusp of becoming famous, who were singing at that time. It is mind boggling. Now have a look at today’s recruits. By making such comparision: we are looking at a cultural wilderness. Best secure the hatches, and just keep listening to our recordings.
One of the posters on the tenor thread…remember that one?…mentioned that Domingo “…may have less of a distinctive voice…” — I think of it as more of an ability to color the voice. Within two notes of his, yes, beautiful voice, you ALWAYS know it’s Pavarotti, but not so with Domingo. For that, and other reasons, his is the desert island voice for me. Does anyone out there, besides me, have his “Cien Anos de Mariachi”? Listen to the sob in the voice, and tell me you knew instantly it was Domingo. Just a random thought…
I’ve decided to add Leo Slezak to my list of favorite tenors, although I’ve never heard him sing. I must say, though, that without him, we would never have had Viki Buchanan. I adore Erika Slezak. I have been watching her since the days when the Woleks were still on, and Judith Light had not yet testified about being a hooker. And I watched right through the stuped hidden city filled with gold, and all of the Niki/Viki episodes. So there… Leo wins. Oh, and his son (her father) Walter was a fine actor. That may be the most talented family since the Zimbalists.
I’m amending my last post. I just listened to some of the tenors included on “44 great Tenors” on iTunes. Leop SLezak was terrific as was Giacomo Lauri-Volpi. There are a lot of men I’ve never heard of (obviously they weren’t in the Navy – see other posts about my doing my patriotic duty).
i was wondering if we all voted on it, whether it woudl be that different a list.
Sanford you hit the nail on the head- no list of great tenors would be complete without Volpe- who was sensational.
I think lists like this are worse than odious because they can never be “right.”
To this day (some 60 years later), Hitzi Koike is my favorite Butterfly, and Coe Glade, my Carmen for all time. Not serious, but thank God for Fortuno Gallo’s San Carlo artists. When I finally heard Gladys Swarthart, I believed she couldn’t hold a candle to Coe.