The Very Best of Nicolai Gedda

Nicolai Gedda (Artist), Adolphe Adam (Artist), Ludwig van Beethoven (Artist), Vincenzo Bellini (Artist), Hector Berlioz (Artist), Georges Bizet (Artist), Gaetano Donizetti (Artist), Friedrich von Flotow (Artist), Mikhail Glinka (Artist), Karl Goldmark (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 2, 2003)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B0000A1WP3
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #224,094 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, but just SOME of the very best of Nicolai Gedda, July 2, 2005

By 

Lawrence Arledge (Plano, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Very Best of Nicolai Gedda (Audio CD)

This is but a subset of the glorious recorded singing by Nicolai Gedda; however, it is a good sampler of the repertoire that made him legendary. And, at least a couple of the tracks ("Asile Hereditaire" and Lenski's aria) seem to be his best recordings of those particular works. Gedda is a member of a small circle of famed tenors noted for disciplined and artistic vocal production. He could find and consistently produce the "ping" we all love to hear. And, that was necessarily accompanied by flawless breath control. He holds the last note of the rousing "Hereditaire" for approximately eleven seconds! Onward! Ho! The emotion and delicate treatment he showed in Lenski's aria is a high-water mark. I can not imagine it being done better.

I first heard him in a recording of La Boheme (with Freni) in 1975 and have heard him in person both in Faust (1976) and in recital (1981). Whether on stage or in recording, Gedda is remarkable and consistent. If you are new to opera or are younger and addicted to the stars of today (and some of them are very good too), you should hear Gedda. It will raise your definition for what it takes to be a great tenor. Go find a recording of Fritz Wunderlich too.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nicolai Gedda . . . the 4th tenor, June 13, 2004

By 

Patrick Anderson (Columbus, OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Very Best of Nicolai Gedda (Audio CD)

Those of you who know the three tenors should look into this incredibly versatile singer. The first time I heard this remarkable tenor sing was from a recording of Mozart's Magic Flute. From then on I became an avid fan. This recording highlights how Gedda could go from singing lyric repertoire, to the bigger and more difficult French and Bel Canto and even tackling Russian and operetta. Any aspiring tenor and dedicated opera fan would do well to own this CD set.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the foremost tenors of all time, August 30, 2009

By 

Dag Kyndel "Kottebo" (Stockholm, Sweden) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Very Best of Nicolai Gedda (Audio CD)

This recording is a marvel, nothing else. When I grew up I think Swedish people mostly regarded Gedda as a famous operetta star, caused by his innumerable recordings of operettas on the EMI label. Not until late in my life I understood better. Gedda gave a concert with opera arias in the Uppsala University Aula, all 1400 sets sold out. I was completely shocked. What style, what technique, what a Godsend voice. His last number was "E lucevan le stelle" from Tosca. I have NEVER heard it sung in such a convincing manner, security and beauty. Direct from heaven. And I have seen Tosca more than twenty times, three of them with Carreras, one with Ricciarelli, Wixell (and Carreras). It was luckily not too late for me to go to Stockholm and hear this phenomenon of an artist as Lensky, Cavaradossi, Sänger in Rosenkavalier, Herzog in Rigoletto and so on. Surely he was one of the most illustrious tenors of the 20th Century. By some reason he never recorded Cavaradarossi officially. Today it is available in a recording from an unforgettable night at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, December 30th, 1975 with Berit Lindholm (Tosca) in her most remarkable form and Rolf Jupither (Scarpia). Only available here: [...] Search on Gedda Lindholm
For one of the best live Rigolettos existing, in Italian and with Gedda easily taking a high D, look for a recording from Stockholm with The Royal Opera Orchestra, Sixten Ehrling, on the BIS label. Available on www.amazon.co.uk Marvellous!