Carlo Bergonzi's amazing Met seasons 1958 - 1960

[@elimaurer9491]

This is gold, man - this is the only style I can conceive - everyone forgets that once you hear the right stuff there's no going back

[@siukola1]

Great performances of one of my favourite singers, highly intelligent, highly musical, perfect technically, he knew how to sing. And these Cs.... Unbelievable.....thank you very much!!!!

[@g_vezz]

My favorite tenor of all time....

[@Sutherland2]

We didn't know how lucky we were in the 1960s and 70s. All these great singers performing miracles nightly. We were lulled into a false sense of security that it would go on forever at this level. Looking at opera today, we were living in a DREAMLAND! Now it's a nightmare.

[@elimaurer9491]

I'm born in '85 and I am only lucky to hear the greats on this channel

[@anpaglia]

I heard his first recording in 1958 in the studio of my first voice teacher, Helen Elbin First Lady of West Liberty State College. Bergonzi has been my favorite tenor. Since, and at 84, he still is!!!!! He and Frederick Jagel, my teacher remain my favorites.

[@roadscholarwarrior]

Bergonzi is on FIRE in these recordings.!!! Wow.!!!! I LOVE it.!!!!!! 😍

[@MrQbenDanny]

BRAVO!!!! It makes me very happy to feel how much the great CARLO BERGONZI enjoyed tremendously the gift God blessed him with. The singing here is ravishing in every way possible. Thank You so much for this fantastic post!!!

[@jeffreymiller4814]

Bergonzi was a very generous singer. He gave 100%, and then some, all night long in all these performances.

[@solangeguepratte7501]

Voix. Impréssionante!!!BRAVO. J’aime ❤❤❤❤❤

[@massimoflammini5229]

These wonderful selections prove that Bergonzi was a great Puccinian tenor as well as Verdian!! Unfortunately, singers lack this today: lyricism, passion, vocal means. And I think critical editions can't make up for it!! Sorry for my bad English

[@StephanieG1]

Your written English is very good. :-)

[@TrainFan-tk4yq]

Your english is fine. But I do totally with your statement on today’s singers lacking a lot of things within operatic spheres. Especially not sticking to its traditions.

[@pietromazzoli1775]

Ritengo che egli possa essere considerato un grande poiché con tanta bellezza vocale e perfezione tecnica è riuscito a sopperire al fatto di non avere una voce così potente...numero uno Carlètto!

[@Verdieio]

Io sono stata fortunatissima nel vederlo parecchie volte e le assicuro che la voce si sentiva, eccome!

[@hashatz]

In these selection's Bergonzi's voice has a "ring" that was not present for most of his career though he was always an elegant and talented interpreter.

[@barahona68]

Indeed, but his high notes were generally out of "ring". But nobody can outrank him in elegance and beautiful phrasing!

[@hashatz]

@@barahona68 Yes but the "ring" in the upper range is what a tenor is all about. The big sound. Bergonzi was a wonderful artist.

[@barahona68]

He was a wonderful artist even when in his later years some notes were flat. I always loved him and I think his "weapons" were his beautiful middle voice, his long breath, his elegant singing and wonderful phrasing. He exceled in the "canto di grazia" not in the "bravura".

[@eberardo6750]

Bella voces Bergonzi. The best.

[@dennisj.3439]

I think of the post war 40s and 50's as the Golden Age of singing for instance, all these tenors in their absolute prime Bjoerling, Distefano, Tucker, Del Monaco, Tagliavini and then coming into their own into the 60's you had Corelli, Bergonzi , Gedda and Pavarotti to name a few ! What a glorious operatic age compared to what is now the state of exciting singers.

[@Artiej0hn0]

Thank you for posting these excerpts.

[@Artiej0hn0]

It's also wonderful to hear Licia Albanese sounding so great.

[@HellasItalia4]

Che voce!!! Grande cantante!

[@poppables7140]

Wow, the demands of des grieux in the puccini manon are quite something

[@ivandr2923]

I agree with you on Sereni 100%.I have "La Traviata" with Los Angeles and Sereni and he is wonderful as Germont

[@aureliano1952]

registrazioni splendide, e concordo appieno che Sereni sia troppo poco ricordato per quell'eccellente cantante che fu davvero.

[@7H7GRm8jm4QCnjuQ]

It sounds like a totally different singer in Manon, his voice really changed character from role to role. As Nemorino he sounds like a perfect bel canto tenor (a real one, not a senza voce singer), here he really does sound like a verismo tenor, and in Verdi his voice has a totally different character again. Wonderful interpretation here, I didn’t know he could go this far as an actor

[@ralphoperaphile]

Bergonzi was the first tenor voice I encountered when I fell in love with opera fifty years ago as a student, buying his "Un ballo in maschera" with Leontyne Price. He's not perfect but the elegance and passion of his singing are compelling. He was also the first great tenor I heard live, at Covent Garden, in the same year, singing the Duke in "Rigoletto" - we'd kill for a tenor of his calibre today.

[@AfroPoli]

Indeed! Well said.

[@rockyfood8903]

Maybe not the best voice but the best singer.

[@enricodicapri]

Grazie mille, AfroPoli

[@tinkerwithstuff]

Hey Mr. AfroPoli reincarnation! Could you make a video of the best opera performances WITH VIDEO that have been made? (and are available somehow, somewhere, even if difficult)? I enjoyed your compilations of good singers of the 80's and 90's. But for some operas I have not found any videos with at least some singers (esp main roles of course) that i really like. I have not seen a good performance of e.g. Gioconda, singing wise, for instance. Just saw one with Domingo... well... not too great a fan of his singing, in that role anyway. And then there is Wagner... is there even ANY Wagner performance on film that has good singers? I tried some with Jerusalem or even Botha, while visually pleasant, the voices... ugh...

[@TrainFan-tk4yq]

When Carlo Bergonzi started singing, I thought Corelli was singing at first!

[@enzocardinale5028]

Il “Guardate, pazzo son” è inascoltabile nel suo delirio verista.

[@ciupotto]

alla storia del tenore verdiano, ormai non crede più nessuno...semplicemente perchè il tenore verdiano non esiste...esistono interpreti bravi in certi ruoli...Bergonzi ha avuto un suo momento magico e poi un lungo lento declino, come tanti altri grandi interpreti

[@eugeniogentili1048]

Esiste esiste e' Richard Tucker.

[@Tkimba2]

Alla storia di CB come tenore verdiano non crede più nessuno, semmai.

[@stephenlord9]

a GOD of legato

[@barrybernstein9049]

I've never heard Carlo Bergonzi sing like he does in Manon Lescaut! It's like the he has been told to sing as near as possible to Giuseppe Di Stefano. Yes this is thrilling . But we don't expect these ugly notes from Carlo. Thank God he thought about it . And for the next dozen years or so he sang in the same class as Caruso. And though the voice slowly but surely lost some of its former splendour. Even in his later years the control of his vocal line was still second to none.

[@michelecestone7842]

Chi canta gelida manina meglio di lui???

[@absdyna]

Luciano Pavarotti :P Beniamino Gigli....

[@ciupotto]

Gianni Raimondi, Giuseppe di Stefano....

[@ivandr2923]

Franco Bonisoli

[@massimobertini9510]

@@ciupotto GallianoMasini. Barioni.

[@eugeniogentili1048]

Gigli Bjorling Di Stefano Tucker Prevedi Aragall Lindroos Raimondi i primi che mi vengono in mente.

[@camillopellegatta581]

What a joy to see the name of Tommy and to listen to his magic touch.

[@massimoiapichino2817]

Certi grandi non dovrebbero mai invecchiare.....in quegli anni Carlo era il n.1 del mondo

[@ciupotto]

parere soggettivo

[@eugeniogentili1048]

Non penso proprio a quei tempi c'erano tenori del livello di Corelli Bjorling Del Monaco Tucker Barioni Vichers Di Stefano Campora Nikolov Prevedi.

[@massimocassano2545]

Probabilmente era quello che cantava" meglio" Sicuramente il suo modo di porgere il suono e di fraseggiare ha fatto scuola Poi le classifiche lasciano il tempo che trovano ......

[@jeffreymiller4814]

Not one word about the great Dorothy Kirsten as Manon?? She’s 50 here, but sounds like she’s 40. Her final Manon L broadcast was in 1975 with John Alexander. And it was mind boggling to hear such STEADY, shimmering sounds, and spot on high Cs from a 65 year old in her 30th Met season.

[@AfroPoli]

She was magnificent!

[@jeffreymiller4814]

@@AfroPoli she misled everyone about her age, big time. She always said 1917 instead of 1910, yet even Rudolf Sherlock Holmes Bing never caught her (he did call out Lily Pons who lopped off 6 years). I only say this because in Spring of 1975 Olivero caused such a stir by singing Tosca at age 65. Yet Kirsten, too was in her 65th year when she sang Tosca and the Manon Lescaut broadcast a month before Magda’s debut. At the time everybody thought that Kirsten was “only” 58. She was one of America’s best. Sang idiomatically in every style, was a supreme MUSICIAN, and kept her lovely physique in absolute prime condition. Not one single wobbly tone was ever emitted from that golden throat. Her final Met Tosca was with Bergonzi and MacNeil-in her 69th (!!!) year, again with lovely, steady, long phrased singjng and high Cs right on target. P.S. love your posts.

[@giuseppestefano6278]

In tono什么意思？

[@piergiorgiomei3648]

Tempi andati solo rimpianto per quel che fu ,fortunosamente ci rimangano le registrazioni in quanto poi se un artista sia verdiano o pucciniano è un etichetta basta che canti e interpreti il personaggio che rappresenta poi ognuno fa le sue valutazioni personali Comunque quelli di oggi che dicono dall'alto della mia meritata fama, e invece sono solo fenomeni da baraccone farebbero bene a sentire queste voci, magari cercherebbero anche di trovar dei difetti

[@ransomcoates546]

How could his early teachers have thought he was a baritone?

[@stephenlord9]

although she admired him tremendously, Joan Sutherland told me he had the worst breath... he chewed raw garlic before singing.

[@e-bikeskibum7141]

I will be honest, I don't get the hype over Bergonzi. He certainly has some beautiful moments, but his higher register was 99.9% of the time way too open with no squillo. I don't get it.

[@jyscantorialmusic]

This is not the original key half key lower, it’s not high C… it’s high B….

[@ralphoperaphile]

No it's not. It's high C

[@rockyfood8903]

High C

[@dennisj.3439]

It's definitely a high C in the aria and duet, Einstein

[@rabbitwoo]

Beat Puccini singer..

[@jyscantorialmusic]

Bergonzi was great singer interpreter of the music, however he always had problems with high notes.. His throat closing down on almost every high note…