(1) Franco Corelli & Leonard Bernstein Cavalleria Rusticana - Jan. 12, 1970

(Pietro Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana) Metropolitan Opera, January 12, 1970.
"O Lola ch'ai di latti la cammisa" ("Siciliana")
English translation by Bill Parker
Original color prints of Franco Zeffirelli's costume designs for the historic 1970 Met Opera production.
Turiddu: Franco Corelli
Santuzza: Grace Bumbry
Lola: Nedda Casei
Alfio: Frank Guarrera
Lucia: Carlotta Ordassy
Conductor: Leonard Bernstein
Please remember to be polite when posting. Any rude comments and bad language will be removed and the poster blocked. Degrading comments about things such as race, religion, and culture, etc., will not be tolerated.

[@elsaasta5491]

Non é un canto che ti tocca il cuore?? La sua voce è impastata di grande passione che travolge i sensi degli spettatori e li fa partecipi del suo grande talento e la sua grandezza di Uomo. Un binomio spettacolare Franco Corelli e Leonard Bernestain. Nulla di più eccelso.. Elsa. Asta

[@maggiedeveney]

Dear Roberta, Tomorrow, Oct 29, is the anniversary of Maestro Corelli’s death, as you will know. Thank you for all your wonderful posts of this great artist. As the years pass I realise there will be fewer and fewer people who heard him sing live. Thanks to your posts there are some descriptions of his live concerts written by your subscribers ; the consensus seems to be, that even the best recording does not do him justice. He was a voice and stage presence without peer. I am 75 and had never heard of Corelli until this year; You tube sent me one of your posts! Thank heavens for you! Since then I have bought what little I can find, and read the available books. His voice is superb! His life colourful and it’s own opera.There are no adequate superlatives! What a gift he was! You are keeping his memory and life’s work alive. I can find no one who has heard of Franco, nor do I hear him played on the radio. I live in England?? Perhaps he is well remembered in Italy or New York? I hope so. Thanks to you and Franco Corelli RIP, I’ve had many hours of listening pleasure. Kind regards, blessings and thanks. Maggie

[@aflethgsb]

Long before the İnternet age I used to spend long hours listening to Corelli on LP with my late mother, a great opera fan. These were blissful hours, we would both listen and she would cry from emotional intensity. Prince of tenors, the great Corelli.

[@ingriddoppler]

The great artists of the " Golden Era" , sadly are all gone by now ~ however their voices will always remain with us .

[@giardino1308]

Grazie infinite, cara Roberta, per tutti i meravigliosi video di Franco Corelli che hai cura di pubblicare.

[@trudischleifer7245]

I've read that Corelli did not want to perform this at the very slow tempo Bernstein insisted on, as it was extremely difficult, but I think Bernstein's choice was aesthetically correct. And Corelli, of course, did it superbly.

[@mariaruskova6054]

Yes, Bernstein had no mercy. He's allegedly said "Franco has lungs of a camel" and maybe was right. Google the article "The Champion of tenors" (William H. Honnan, NYT, Feb. 8 1970) about that performance.

[@trudischleifer7245]

@@mariaruskova6054 Thanks

[@Felix73able]

I think Bernstein is not correct here. It was not what the composer wrote nor was it the typical tempo for this piece or even this genre., there is no version that sounds like this, and I would imagine Gavazzeni etc would have a better feel for it. LB also chose extremely weird tempi for other operas around this time (Tristan) with no basis. Corelli sings really unbelievably well given all this.

[@robertmanno5749]

When I joined the MET Chorus in 1977 many of the choristers then were part of this 1970 performance. They all said how unhappy Corelli was with Bernstein's tempi and Corelli would complain bitterly backstage. But the proof is in the pudding! Corelli more than succeeded!

[@TrudiSchleifer]

😊

[@fofinha445]

Tive o prazer enorme de ouvir e ver este grande cantor em Lisboa no Teatro S.Carlos em duas recitas inolvidáveis Carmen e Tosca ....bravissímo

[@natalinatollari9906]

Che bello. Io non ho avuto questa fortuna. Mi consolano queste registrazioni che sono la colonna sonora dei miei giorni. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@augustocelsi2050]

Vivo nella sua città natale e ne vado orgoglioso❤

[@simonebu]

Am I hearing it right that after "E nun me mporta si" he takes a single breath and with that he does the whole "ce muoru accisu...E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu"? I mean, try doing that in your normal voice and see how difficult it is. Now imagine doing it while singing the way he does here. Also, I don't think any tenor has ever done this, if you look up even Caruso, Gigli, Pavarotti, nobody comes anywhere close to singing such a long phrase in a single breath

[@bharp4390]

That's like a twenty second phrase right in the middle of his passagio. Crazy shit

[@mariaruskova6054]

Yes, 4:00 to 4:19 and it is A5 flat. No wonder, as Bernstein said, “He's got the lungs of a camel.”

[@Felix73able]

The absolute king of portamento and il fraseggio no tenor came close

[@75bg90]

Thank you so much!!!

[@camenbel]

Thank you very much! I'd like to listen to the whole (complete) opera.It's one of my favourite ones. But I can't find it on KZbin (with Franco Corelli of course)

[@leonoradelagardie]

+camenbel There is a CD by "Opera d'Oro" with Franco and Giulietta Simionato, 1963, La Scala. Conductor Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Performed in Milan, December 7, 1963. Hope this helps...

[@mariaruskova6054]

Enjoy. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eWTamI1vq96SbKs

[@claraleonori999]

capolavoro\

[@marujaaparicio1009]

¡Còmo me hubiera gustado estar allì! Leonard Bernstein dirigiendo a Corelli. Lo màximo

[@FranciscoArvizuH]

¿A quién no? Bernstein se fue directo al ego del divo, y vaya que Franco lo era, para imponerle tiempos lentísimos y un fraseo nada ligado en el "Brindis", fueron batallas campales durante los ensayos. Corelli esta estresado, como siempre, por esos tiempos y porque para él la Siciliana representaba un reto mayúsculo, por estar toda en la zona del passaggio, que para Franco, de quien dijo Rodofo Celletti era un "barítono con extensión de tenor", pues esa región (fa-fa sostenido-sol) de la tesitura le resultaba hasta cierto punto incómoda... Bueno, eso decía él, porque ya en los hechos de la escena era un león rugiente. Franco, de haber tenido la seguridad escénica de Plácido Domingo, nos hubiera dejado por lo menos el doble de grabaciones, siempre dudaba y cancelaba al cuarto para las doce.

[@lorenagaleazzi5026]

Unico!!!

[@zoltanneszeri345]

Jó lenne a teljes operát meghallgatni, de ezt is köszönöm.

[@lidianeghme4274]

Esa voz es increiblemente dramática. Apropiada para papeles veristas y románticos.Hoy en día nadie tiene esa potencia de voz.Qué pena.

[@yaelpalombo4093]

💖💖💐💐

[@leonardopizzella7834]

Amo a Franco Corelli pero sigo eligiendo a Jussi Bjorling...creo que ellos fueron los mejores de la historia. Uno por su opulencia (franco) y el otro (jussi) por su bella voz y siempre precisa y ajustada.

[@bharp4390]

good lord

[@robertmanno8470]

Offstage Corelli complained bitterly about Bernstein's very slow tempi. It seems they came to an accomodation for the Siciliana.

[@tenorandrewowens]

Robert Manno made this exact comment on another Corelli/Bernstein Siciliana on KZbin!

[@robertmanno8470]

@@tenorandrewowens Oops!

[@cwstars]

Love karajans Rusticana as well. They both milk every last drop of emotion out of the music.

[@bjorlingfanfan1622]

Lenny formidabile, Franco dalla voce d'oro pronuncia male il siciliano

[@robertmanno8470]

Si, ma e meglio per la voce.

[@natalinatollari9906]

Una voce speciale come questa mi emozionerebbe anche se cantasse la liista della spesa!!!!!!! Fantastico essere❤️❤️❤️❤️