Forgotten Great Baritones IV : Stracciari

[@marilynntodd6837]

He was Boris Christoff’s teacher…both of them were magnificent!

[@zriter59escritor33]

RS perfectly balanced beauty and power. His sound was dark and warm, yet clear and bright. Rich, yet ringing. And vibrant from top to bottom. Indeed, am not sure any other baritone on record, in this or any other repetoire, had such virtues to this extent.

[@jankerle58]

Listen to this man: his all voice is so egual in all range, he sings the perfect legato - all the pitches are at the absolut same place and idealy conected - that is why his top is so brilliant and easy. A legend cannot be forgotten

[@andrzejbator7708]

Wielki Artysta. GOLDEN VOCE.

[@robertwbecker]

Yes, Truly one of the Greats of all time, along with Ruffo, Granforte, Giraldoni!!!!!! Amazing Singer!

[@vocalishamburg]

I absolutely agree! But there were other excellent singers like Pasquale Amato. As he declined another wonderful singer took his place: Guiseppe Danise. I really admire the singing technique of the most singers of that time resulting in the free vibrato.

[@jankerle58]

Just to add: he is certainly not forgotten! There are still enough of us who admire him and will pass on the admiration to thr young. At least I try to do it with my students. And KZbin is a great possibility for these things!

[@jankerle58]

A legend! Legends never get forgotten... Love this man!

[@revallen]

OK. Stracciari wins. His sensitivity to his own native language was marvelous. His Di Provenza was especially touching in the way he sang it, caressing the words with his excellent technique and understanding. I sang Germont in Berlin in 1972, replacing the great Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau at the Deutshe Oper and I got ten solo curtain calls, but I could not compare to this!!! What an artist!

[@道-p2e]

What a humble words. I am sure you are a fine artist. I love Stracciari's total package, extremely rich and masterful, certainly a grand baritone. Bravo,

[@ronnieince4568]

Wonderful elegance to his singing and superb diction -one of the greats along with Ruffo Battistini and the powerful dark chocolate voice of Urbano -not elegant like Stracciari but a voice you want to drown in its dark depths .

[@amantedellopera1681]

Urbano was a great singer indeed a pop star of his day,selling millions of records,but you are correct he did not have the panache or subtlety of stracciari,that said, what a voice

[@robertwbecker]

One of the most spoken of all singers ( sustained speech).

[@lilianahernandez8893]

The Timbre is amazing powerful and beautiful, his legato is excelent too.

[@charleswebb8230]

Ponselle had it right.She said Stracciari's voice was '' like a shower of diamonds, brilliant, just brilliant''. Henry Webb

[@ROBERTRIVERification]

In my opinion Riccardo Stracciari had it all voice technique that is why he lasted so long. My absolute favorite

[@CharlotteinWeimar]

What brilliant effortless and expressive singing. Glorious! Thank you.

[@道-p2e]

What a voice, how rich his artistry, love to hear Riccardo Stracciari to sing all day... Finest artist!!!

[@primobaritono]

Unfortunately most of todays young singers don't know about him and I cannot recall ever seeing his Rigoletto or Barbiere or any CD of his for that matter in a record store. One of the main reasons I post these things, is in the hope that someone will discover these marvelous artists for himself. :)

[@AmhranaiAlainn]

Thanks for posting. Sublime singing by a truly great baritone. Yes, those who ignore the great singers of the past are fools. The Bel Canto singers of the past were the true singers, who sang from the natural spoken word. To listen to Stracciari and the singers of his era is a free lesson in singing. The one thing you will always know with true singers male and female is that they 'speak' to the listener and their tone is truly natural. The tone is not 'created', which is what we have today.

[@PaulOuzounov]

As a guitar player I study my favourites as well as discover the old and potentially overlooked greats as much as I can. It is a cycle of beautiful re-imagination and inspiration for many, and thankfully this age old approach can be applied to so many fields of artwork. I'm terribly impressed by the voices of old. Terribly.

[@rupepill]

Dinh Gilly's career was an international one, but I believe that its main focus was in Paris during the first few decades of last century. Information is available via Google references. Just type in "Dinh Gilly" + biography, if you would please. When I looked there were quite a few references to him. After his retirement from the stage, he taught. The Australian baritone John Brownlee was one of his pupils, and Gilly's wife, Cecile, taught Australian soprano Marjorie Lawrence, among others.

[@Alessandro-tk2ll]

Grande tecnica e grande voce. Grazie. Un riverente omaggio ad un grande artista lirico

[@kdkevs]

Thank you primobaritono for this series of forgotten baritones. You make it easier for younger singers to find out about these incredible artists. These guys are all pretty amazing and they sing with such a closeness to the music. They are not so far removed, which makes it easier, I think, for them to connect. That's why artists today should listen to these guys and do a little research of their own. Thank you, primo, for all of your videos and your overall love of the art and the singer.

[@SilverSingingMethod]

Excellent chiaroscuro.

[@joseismaelrodriguezalvarez135]

Un artista inconmensurable. Por su capacidad de transmisión de lo que la partitura quiere expresar, utilizando magistralmente una voz portentosa capaz de infinitos matices, al servicio del drama y del sentimiento. José-Ismael.

[@davidnewton9496]

Stracciari has been my favorite baritone since I heard his Rigoletto recording a billion years ago. Thanks for posting (but, I don't think he's forgotten). I must add though, Tita Ruffo's 'Di Provenza il Mar' is even more moving.

[@GermanOperaSinger]

Well I certainly don't think Stracciari was overlooked, he was considered by many to be the greatest Italian baritone who ever made recordings. Perhaps young singers of today are unfamiliar with him, which just goes to show what a sad state we are in. Was just talking to a vocal student the other day, he knows absolutely nothing about singers of the acoustic era. Just sad. How could one even bear to listen to any modern day baritone sing Verdi after listening to this?

[@Lantogh]

I'm not studying opera but i may liked to do it in a near future, thanks for posting this i didnt hear about this singer

[@SilverSingingMethod]

Not forgotten by me either!;) As amazing as Stracciari was, I find he sings with a bit of affectation, especially at the end of the words where is slightly slurs the vowels. Still amazing!

[@rickos1915]

Stracciari had it all: immaculate technique, squealo, beauty and artistry. Today we settle for crooners --

[@道-p2e]

Today, no more this, all pretentious fake, we have to continue to go back Stracciari and other giants' black/white films. It makes me happily satisfied.

[@primobaritono]

I agree wholeheartedly! We build our work on the shoulder's of those who came before us. The wheel isn't invented anew every day. I find it very silly and quite wrong when certain singers won't listen to recordings of famous artists for fear of loosing their individuality and own interpretation. Fischer-Dieskau is a great advocate of studying historic recordings and has done so all his life, but he certainly has his own sound and personality as well as interpretations.

[@jankerle58]

Listen to this singing: all (but realy all! tones are conected in a perfect legato!

[@vpo2g2]

Stracciari, Bonelli -- what singing is all about.

[@AmhranaiAlainn]

I completely agree. Fantastic range, interpretation - natural and effortless singing. The mark of a true Bel Canto singer. Yes, I also agree on the use of the early singers as a reference. Students of singing, regardless of genre, without doubt, need to study these early singers to help them understand what singing is all about. For in the art of Bel Canto therein lies the secret of singing with complete vocal freedom and uniqueness.

[@ricardobedini5345]

Extraordinario . . . . Sublime . . . . . . P E R F E C T O * * * * *

[@robertwbecker]

Stracciari, Ruffo,,, truly the greats of their and our era. A standard that is certainly lost today. By the way, his level of sustained speech is impeccable.

[@AulicExclusiva]

This are clearly acoustic recordings, as one can tell from the adapted orchestrations. The reproduction here is excellent, though. Great performances by a fabulous artist. Thanks.

[@legatofancier]

Robert Merrill spoke of Stracciari as "his" baritone. No wonder!

[@primobaritono]

The thing is that he is certainly not forgotten by people such as you and I. I find however, that at least 85 % of the singers I have met including operatic artists, voice students, voice professors and opera fans have never or only faintly heard of these great singers. They are certainly NOT as well known today as they should be, ESPECIALLY among the young singers! Hence my rather provocative choice of calling them "forgotten". I've never heard of Dinh Ghilly...where and when did he sing ?

[@ronnieince4568]

Primobaritone Dinh Gilly -Algerian baritone 1877 -1940 was a principal at the Paris Opera .Was a student of Cotogni who taught amongst others Gigli, Lauri -Volpi , Stabile,Basiola.Spent 5 seasons at the Paris Opera , sang in the USA , London Vienna -learned Czech from Emmy Destinn and made duets with her and from about 1925 on taught .Not in the very first rank of baritone but when you consider the competition then not surprising .

[@darklord220]

perfect.

[@charleswebb8230]

I doubt if there is a baritone singing today who could match the brilliance of Stracciari. He had a long career, but sadly died in poverty. Henry Webb

[@davidnewton9496]

I could be wrong Charles, but I think it was Titta Ruffo that died in poverty. Stracciari was teaching voice till late in his life, but Ruffo had some pretty awful things come down during the Fascist's regime.

[@davegreene8588]

@@davidnewton9496 As was his voice, Ruffo's courage was leonine!!! He spoke out against Mussolini, and consequently was imprisoned for a time.

[@shettywap]

Insane that he has a pure "i" on Dio mes audi......bonkers. awesome voice.

[@robertwbecker]

@stevevandien totally agree!

[@legatofancier]

Unfortunately, you seem to be right, Steve. I've talked to some young singers over the years, and it seems to confirm what you are saying. What troubles me is their general lack of curiousity about the great singers of the past; their repertory; & the styles they represented. Even many young actors seem to have little or no awareness of the great actors of the past.

[@raphaelhudson]

I have a question for anyone that knows. If you listen to Stracciari singing the same song on his acoustical recordings versus his electric recordings recorded in the same 10 years his voice sounds completely different. His voice is about 10 times as dark and heavy in the electrical recordings. Was this a change in his voice or just recording technology? If it is the technology then we need to reevaluate what these great voices actually sounded like

[@jankerle58]

Good to read all this!

[@MrSkylark1]

The LOST ART of SINGING

[@flaze3]

well I agree to an extent. But actually the opera superstars are genuinely talented. Singers who I look up to for their singing agility and unaffected timbre are 1) Tito Schipa 2) Alfredo Kraus 3) JD Florez 4) Lawrence Brownlee. All are excellent, methinks :-)

[@vully70]

What I don't understand about this threat is the title: Great - YES! But forgotten? Riccardo Stracciari - or Mattia Battistini (No. 1 in your list) - isn't forgotten and never can be!

[@amantedellopera1681]

Stracciari forgotten,no way,he would be in anyones top 5 of the greatest baritones ever,alongside,grandforte,ruffo,danise,tagliabue,de luca,battistini

[@henrywebb9320]

Forgotten????. Not by me! Henry Webb

[@Markinsky]

Both these recordings sound like early electrical recordings which would date them around 1925. The bas-treble response and the realism of the instruments are very much superior to an acoustical recording of 1917.

[@franzbernasek4058]

for me the best baritone ever

[@flaze3]

No offence to baritones or basses, I should add! I also love Ezio Pinza and (to an extent) Thomas Hampson, and Gorin. :)

[@rupepill]

Great, most certainly; forgotten doesn't seem to be appropriate at all in Sracciari's case. Overlooked might be a more apt word. He was, and has been relatively eclipsed by being active at a time when De Luca and Ruffo and other well known baritones were also strutting their stuff. There are some interesting anecdotes about Stracciari in My Life, Gobbi's autobiography. How about posting some Dinh Ghilly's recordings if any are available to you? He seems to fall into the category of forgotten.

[@21donbar1]

I recently finished reading Rosa Ponselle's story of her life, and she says Stracciari was probably the overall best baritone she worked with, and she performed with the likes of Amato and Ruffo and all those great ones in the 20s and 30s.

[@legatofancier]

Singers spoke of Robert Merrill as a great voice, but not a great artist. Jim Sveda on KUSC's Listening Room had Paul Sorvino on as a guest last year. Sorvino is not only an outstanding actor, but an accomplished singer. He's very knowledgeable about both fields. Sveda said that while interviewing Robert Merrill that Merrill had described Stracciari as "his" baritone. Sveda then added that he thought that Straccciari was about the "fifth guy you called." There's no accounting for tastes!

[@theodorelambrinos6187]

persistent vision

[@davegreene8588]

For sheer voice per se, I consider Merrill and Bastianini as sharing Top Spot! Merrill's phrasing, though, was less perfect in later years.

[@jankerle58]

What legato. Who sins so today, noone that I know

[@wotan3000]

Embarrassing reality check on today's professionals in opera/classical music: WFMT - La Triviata (Trivia Show) 4-17-09 Panels of music professionals including Brian Dickey of Chicago Opera Theatre and 8 other tops directors/educators on panels - Voice recognition - They get Dessay and Ramey right. They miss Wunderlich singing "Granada" - They guessed Del Monaco then Domingo. Mistaking Wunderlich's voice for MDM! Also - Callas "Casta Diva" - They guessed Florence Foster Jenkins. Embarrassing!

[@rawdonqueen]

His upper register is certainly one of the most beautiful I have ever heard.

[@wotan3000]

And enlightening! If people hiring singers/educating in one of the top cities, Chicago, cannot tell teh difference between Wunderlich and Mario Del Monaco and go so horribly evil in their assessment of Callas's voice as to impugn her as possibly being Florence Foster-Jenkins, it is no wonder 99% of the people getting hired are total crap. I know I am not alone in this. It is disheartening to say the least. These people should be canned and replaced.

[@amymartin4896]

Play Core ingrato

[@wotan3000]

They have no voice "pallet". THey cannot sense the subtle differences (and NOT-SO-SUBTLE differences) in voices/techniques. They cannot tell a well-produced voice like Stracciari's from the blustering push-fest of a Nucci or Pons. I know my post has gotten really long, but to noe of us with a pallet capable of hearing great singer/timbres will ever forget Stracciari, but those in charge of opera today have no skill in sensing great singers. And will break the mentor/apprentice tie to history.

[@rupepill]

Sorry - that should be Dinh Gilly.

[@abracadabranque]

Style,musicality but too much nose!