Customer Reviews

The Singers: Franco Corelli

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Franco Corelli fans should be so grateful. At last a recording company is releasing some wonderful classical material. Along with several of Franco Corelli's most loved arias this CD is a fabulous remastering of some of Franco Corelli's best (and least often heard) singing. There was, and never will be, a more exciting and thrilling tenor voice. I thought I had at least one example of every song that Maestro Corelli had recorded, but here is a fabulous duet from Francesca da Rimini - magnificent. The pairings with Renata Tebaldi sear the soul and heart as well as the ears. We will not hear voices like this again. The "Gia nella notte densa with Zylis-Gara has been restored beautifully and is a sad reminder of what we missed when Corelli chose not to record this Verdi masterpiece.

With some fairly unusual track selections, this is not the CD to buy if you are going to have only one Corelli recording. However, as NO ONE ever has just one Corelli recording, go get this as quickly as possible. The price is amazing considering this is an "enhanced" CD with a photo gallery, discography and other feature included.

The real of joy of this recording, and what makes it different than most other Corelli recordings, is that it is largely material that he never performed live on stage. So while it's a joy to listen to it, one can't help but be sad by the fact that he never chose to perform these roles live.
On this disc, only Tosca and La Gioconda were in Corelli's repetoire, and they are well represented here. The disc opens with the famous love duet from Otello in which Corelli is partnered with the excellent Teresa Zylis-Gara. The audience goes wild- and no wonder why! All the elements are there- the romance, the passion, the heroism. Without a doubt, Corelli would have been an incredible Otello!
He is partnered with Renata Tebaldi, past her prime, in two duets. The first, from Manon Lescaut, finds Tebaldi trying to keep up with Corelli. There is, however, magic when the two of them sing together. The second is the challenging, but beautiful duet from Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini. Listen to Corelli's diminuendo when he sings "Francesca" at the end! You will have goosebumps.
He is heard also in Faust. Though his French was less than ideal, he still creates an excellent Faust and is well partnered by Nicolai Ghiarouv.
All in all, this disc is a must for any Corelli fan, or any opera fan.

It is always a great pleasure hearing Franco Corelli singing, specially because he will never record again. Whatever we can find out recorded by him, studio or live performances, is wellcome. Once Franco Corelli stated that his live performances recording were far better than studio recording, which I absolutely agree with him. On live performances one can feel and hear how Franco Corelli set himself FREE when singing. In my modest opinion, there is no other opera singer like him. His voice, the way he performed when singing is absolutely outstanding. The beautiful pianissimos he introduced on his singing will assure to him and to everybody that he will never be forgotten for that achievement. No comparison with anyone else. He is unique. He changed the way Opera use to be sang and performed. Although no one is perfect, Franco Corelli did his best and made all the efforts possible to be almost perfect in what he was great: singing for us, all those who enjoy Bel Canto, Canto Lirico. Highly recommended.

It is always a great pleasure hearing Franco Corelli singing, specially because he will never record again. Whatever we can find out recorded by him, studio or live performances, is wellcome. Once Franco Corelli stated that his live performances recording were far better than studio recording, which I absolutely agree with him. On live performances one can feel and hear how Franco Corelli set himself FREE when singing. In my modest opinion, there is no other opera singer like him. His voice, the way he performed when singing is absolutely outstanding. The beautiful pianissimos he introduced on his singing will assure to him and to everybody that he will never be forgotten for that achievement. No comparison with anyone else. He is unique. He changed the way Opera use to be sang and performed. Although no one is perfect, Franco Corelli did his best and made all the efforts possible to be almost perfect in what he was great: singing for us, all those who enjoy Bel Canto, Canto Lirico. Highly recommended.

There is always a special thrill in the inimitable tones of Franco Corelli, and I would sooner hear him at not quite his best than many another tenor at his peak, but there's no denying that the items from 1972, four years before his retirement, present him in slightly clumsy voice, with a slight beat intruding in his top notes, more sense of effort than we are used to hearing in his best recordings and the incipient lisp more apparent. Tebaldi, too, in her pre-retirement mezzo phase following her vocal crisis, is well past her best and often rather acid but still capable of providing heft and ample tone. The "Manon Lescaut" in particular is especially dramatic, sung, as it is here, by two real stage animals, and it is a double pleasure to hear Corelli tackle at least a part of that elusive "Otello" he never sang when partnered by the lovely, under-rated, Teresa Zylis-Gara. The mid-1960's items capture Corelli at his most convincing and more familiar best, fairly execrable French in the "Faust" notwithstanding.

I particularly loved the "Francesca da Rimini" excerpt as this is an opera I would cite as inexplicably neglected - perhaps because we don't have singers capable of doing justice to its visceral verismo melodies. (If you want this wonderful opera complete, try the late Olivero/Del Monaco version -two more great singers in the twilight of their careers, singing their hearts out. Tebaldi, in any case, gives Olivero a run for her money in terms of tender expressiveness.) I withold a star only because this is not the disc to present either Corelli or Tebaldi at their greatest - but it's still essential for their legion fans.