Leonard Warren Sings Tosti's "L'ultima Canzone." 1958

[@dantegumucio7957]

I heard Warren for the first time some 55 years ago on a then new release by RCA Victor of opening nights at the Met. Even has a 14-year-old I could not believe what I heard--the size, the beauty, the range, the subtlety, the grandeur of the voice. That voice was surely a gift from the heavens, but I’ve determined that he worked very diligently at his craft, always polishing and perfecting, as evidenced in this little belt, emotional Tosti piece. I agree with an earlier comment thst this recording is a “continent” of beauty! Thanks for posting!!

[@tenorschofield]

Marvelous singing by one of my alltime favorite baritones,Leonard Warren!!!,BRAVISSIMO!!!

[@oscarpintormerlano]

Me gusta muchísimo esta interpretación!!! Grandísimo Warren. Por lo demás la canción es tan bella que tantos cantantes la han abordado y cada uno le ha puesto algo, esa musica es un continente de BELLEZA. Gracias por subirla

[@leskendal]

Unbelievable control ... and wonderfully sensitive and expressive interpretation of the text

[@Bivolari]

What a voice. Incredible mezza voce. One in a million. A gIft from the heavens.

[@petergraham8681]

The recording of this I have of this is sung LIVE from one of his Russian recitals. One hears here Warren‘s amazing mezzo voce on a high G the likes of which I have never heard from any other baritone. In the low to middle part of his range Warren did eventually have to deal with some unsteadiness & loss of focus primarily in his later career & when this began & proved problematic I am not certain. Old Wobbly Someone once nick named him! Alfred Hubay in his comprehensive career Interview as a MET House usher & manager commented that in the March 1, 1960 performance of BOCCENEGRA he preferred Warren‘s interpretation of SIMON from 10 years previous although some felt it was Warren‘s greatest MET achievement. Go figure. One commentator even felt Warren’s voice was a bit past its peak on that occasion. If this were the case I suspect all the pressure & stress he put upon himself & others during the BOCCENEGRA rehearsal period might have contributed to this last opinion. Who knows although this all might have contributed also to his death 4 days later. Because of the occasion (a new Met production season Premiere of BOCCENEGRA & also Benefit performance) I was surprised that apparently, according to the late Robert Tuggle (a MET curator) no recording of this event was ever made as far as he knew. Too bad. I would like to hear for myself how Warren sounded in his last complete MET performance.

[@shicoff1398]

This is the 1958, Live Russian recital, perhaps the one you have. My friend (Richard Tucker's son) was there at the Met. the night he died (as Warren was singing with his father) he said straight out, Warren was in excellent voice, in fact he was kidding around with Warren before the opera in Warren' s dressing room, Warren seemed just fine. RIP

[@EdmundStAustell]

Thank you my friend. Yes indeed, a mighty baritone!

[@tenorschofield]

He was great !!!! BRAVOOO!!!!!!!!!

[@道-p2e]

Love Love this giant, so beautiful in deed, thank You,

[@EdmundStAustell]

Un placer, mi amigo. Mucho le agradezco su comentario, y estoy de acuerdo. Posiblemente el mejor baritono del siglo XX!

[@EdmundStAustell]

Ha, ha. Very good. Yes, that was a mighty voice, no doubt about it.

[@Colinm888]

Wonderful performance and recording... thank you for sharing :)

[@GermanOperaSinger]

@aaronsande Dramatic Verdi baritone. It was a very large voice - not lyric. He had great control over his voice and could scale it down to sing lyrically when he wanted to.

[@azencotmarcel8991]

Un des plus grands barytons qui fussent! Puissance et douceur et cette extraordinaire voix dramatique et torturée..;Grand comédien aussi, il faut l'entendre dans I Pagliacci avec Victoria de Los Angeles, Robert Merrill et Jussi Bjoerling (une merveille, un must, tous) chanter "Io sono Il Prologo ! ", bouleversant, la chair de poule; le premier américain aussi à chanter en récital à Moscou durant la Guerre froide...Mort sur scène au Metropolitan, un jour de l'An ou un Noël de 1960...Un après Mario Lanza...

[@aliciasarramida]

great!!!!!

[@oakroom48]

Thank you so much - I agree with my fellow commenter below, "a gift from the heavens". Astonishing ...

[@EdmundStAustell]

Thank you very much!

[@oakroom48]

***** I love everything Warren touched, but this was a special treat. It seems I don't know his body of work as well I could (or should) :-)

[@judithverabutzberger]

Toll !

[@EdmundStAustell]

@MrJered68 Thank you. I agree. There is a lot of evidence to support that claim!

[@EdmundStAustell]

@Colinm888 My pleasure, my friend!

[@MassimoCrispi]

certamente un immenso baritono con tutti i suoni a posto ed elegante, ma non ha capito molto della canzone che canta. Probabilmente nessuno glielo ha spiegato per bene. Tosti sembra facile perché ha melodie belle e accattivanti, ma per renderlo bene bisogna conoscere tutta un'estetica fin de siècle e possedere leggerezza e mobilità interpretative che la maggior parte dei cantanti lirici non ha. La difficoltà sta proprio in questo perché basta un nulla per rendere volgare una sua canzone. Non è questo il caso, ovviamente, anzi sono apprezzabili le mezze voci e i bei suoni che Warren emette, ma questa canzone è una serenata di rabbia moderata, comunque di stizza, nella tradizione dello stornello, cantato sotto la finestra della signora affinché i vicini ascoltino per bene la slealtà di Nina, quindi recitata con voce più grintosa e meno sognante. Io, almeno, la immagino così. Con un pizzico di Scettico Blues (canzone di diciannove anni dopo).

[@EdmundStAustell]

Grazie per un commento molto erudito, sempre apprezzato!

[@ritamarangoni112]

+Massimo Crispi Grazie per la sua perfetta spiegazione.

[@azencotmarcel8991]

Pardon, Warren est mort face au Destin en chantant La Forza del Destino, quelques mois après la mort de Mario Lanza, le 7 octobre 1959...

[@misefari]

mi spiace ma non posso essere daccordo con voi, c'è molto di meglio in giro....buona voce ma non è il massimo per le arie di tosti.....