Customer Reviews

The Very Best of Nicolai Gedda

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

 

 

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.

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.

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!

What a range of roles! Gedda moves from Mozart to Donizetti to Verdi and Wagner, and also sings Offenbach, Thomas, Rossini, and Tchaikovsky, inter alia. It is odd to me that his wonderful Rodolfo from "La Boheme" is not included. One of my first opera experiences was at a theater in Peoria, Illinois, in which a performance of "La Boheme" was presented (with Gedda and Mirella Freni). Gedda was remarkable in the role; I wish that some works from that opera had been included here.

Some examples of his work:

"Una furtive lagrima": Gedda's smooth voice works well here, in this nice aria from Donizetti's "L'Elisir d'Amore." His polished style is compelling.

"Fra poco a me ricovera": From Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor," this is another aria handled smoothly by Gedda. His musical treatment of this piece is nice indeed. His rich voice does justice to the music.

"La donna e mobile": Nice version, although not as spirited as some. This is very musical, but I'm not sure that Ge3dda's mannered style captured the spirit of the wretched Duke of Mantua. A nice final high note.

"Il mio Tesoro": From Mozart's "Don Giovanni," this is smoothly and richly sung by Gedda. His elegant style works nicely here. Mozart asks a fair amount of the tenor here, and Gedda answers the call.

"In fernem land": This is from Wagner's "Lohengrin," and shows Gedda's range. From Mozart to Wagner is quite a stretch! Gedda sings this well, but his voice may not be ideally suited to this piece.

In addition, Gedda sings operetta as well. If only we could have heard his Rodolfo from "La Boheme"!

This 2 disc package is a real feast of Nicolai Gedda's art. I am not qualified to comment on the technicalities of his performances but I think you would be hard to please if you did not absolutely love this album. He sings well known arias in Italian, French, German and Russian and his diction is flawless in all languages. A wonderful rich two or more hours of beautiful singing. BUY IT - You will not be disappointed!

Beautiful, easy lyric tenor; also great diction and phrasing -- a good example to any tenor on how this rep. should be sung.

The 3-star rating is NOT Nicolai Gedda's fault. Track 14 of Disc 2 (Beethoven's "Adelaide"), has an extraneous whistle or squeak after the words "im Gefilde der Sterne." This is a shame--Gedda's recording compares favorably with Jussi Bjorling's, and it's usually a sacrilege to mention ANY other tenor in the same breath with Bjorling. The disc itself looks undamaged. The Amazon.com customer reviews don't mention any extraneous noise on Track 14. I understand that, in analog-to-digital transfers, minor tape glitches that would not appear on an LP become evident on a CD. However, my CDs are mostly LP remasters, and I have never run into this before. If anyone reading this review is a "techie," I'd be interested in knowing if noises like this are normal. If everyone else hears the same phenomenon during "Adelaide," there would be little point in exchanging my CD set as any replacement would have the same problem. It sounds as if somebody messed with a microphone while Gedda was singing. In that case, I can only wonder why EMI released this track--Gedda's extensive discography must have numerous alternatives. I WOULD APPRECIATE ANY INFORMATION THAT A FELLOW GEDDA FAN CAN PROVIDE.