Gregory Kunde's abrupt Full Body D5 against Renee Fleming's Ravishing Vocal Line

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[@JustMarmalade]

Armida is such a wonderful opera, pity that's staged so rarely... But who would be able to sing this crazy rossinian music today? I adore this version, Renee is gorgeous as Armida. Of course Callas is one and only, but Renee has second prize for me :D And she has much better partner... Kunde is fantastic, what a technique!

[@LohengrinO]

For me Armida is Rossini's greatest work of them all... absolutely astonishing music both in terms of beautiful melody but also in terms of dramatic writing in the way the very personal Rossinian Genius conceived dramatism... I find this Opera a rare Diamond... and yes it will never again be sung the way Callas sang it

[@greatmomentsofopera7170]

Lohengrin O I agree, I think it's his greatest work

[@jmiller05]

His ensemble where he incorporates the melody of 'Caro mio bene' melts the heart so much.

[@anthonyehrenzweig1635]

@@LohengrinO And I havent even heard of this opera by Rossini! Let alone listened to it! My next project.

[@andrewbloom7694]

Spyres and Pratt could do this for sure. Spyres has sung exerpts, there was something from Armida on his and brownlees amici album I know.

[@angelus2002]

It amazes me that Kunde is still singing up a storm today. I believe he’s one of the very very few tenors to have sung the Rossini and the Verdi Otello. As well as Radames and Manrico. One of my all time favourite tenors

[@LohengrinO]

he has sung Manrico? OMFG I have to listen to that... in what age?

[@angelus2002]

Lohengrin O kzbin.info/www/bejne/m5bOqWZ3jr-cpLM

[@LohengrinO]

those are D5s right? if I recall correctly... they had given Del Monaco cold feet and had made him switch to Chenier :p does he sing only two or only two are supposed to be sung?

[@LohengrinO]

so Corelli never transposed down or he sang B4s instead? :p

[@LohengrinO]

so if I get it right, in order for them to Blast and just because they cannot blast easily a lets say C5, they blast a B4? as long as they blast? :D

[@Wolfcrag85]

Kunde has this amazing combination of belcanto agility, vocal range and full-bodied tone.

[@contraltissima]

Greg is not only an incredible singer but also a great human beeing, a wonderful colleague who supports all his tenor colleagues with enthusiasm. ❤

[@Khalito22]

You always post the most gorgeous works, full of emotion, and vocal conquest. I'm an operatic tenor in training. I always listen to you videos, for inspiration and joy.

[@PeterBrodie]

Love Yourself, if this is the kind of the singing you're modelling yourself on, what fantastic gifts you have waiting for us!

[@LohengrinO]

I have a uniquely love affair with Gorgeousness on all possible levels... slave of Beauty forever :D

[@Khalito22]

Peter Brodie if only my voice will one day transmit half the genius of these great operatic voices...I will be ever greatfull.

[@Khalito22]

Lohengrin O Thank you so much. It's always the light of dark day.

[@PeterBrodie]

Love Yourself, that you aspire to such standards as even "half" means that your focus is on truly listening to yourself, rather than feeling smug, which spoils the delivery of so many modern singers - along with the modern obsession with vibrato at all costs! What stands out for me in this performance is their total immersion in just about every way possible: musically, dramatically, emotionally. Their evident awareness of each other in balancing their timbre, their timings, their attention to harmonic detail - making sure those thirds and sixths sound just right - ooh! You've got me going! I'd love to know your real identity for your future performances!

[@mugrad25]

I'm more of a soprano person but Kunde's vocal beauty absolutely moved me to tears.

[@juanmorales569]

Lohengrin O thank you this is truly lovely.

[@PeterBrodie]

Utterly exquisite! I'm hooked!

[@tatianakrevel8377]

Grazie mille!

[@ji5055]

I just found this guy. I got to have more. Bella Bella quickly indicted. I'm going to have to take turns between this man and baroque. mi amore. Sitting under the stars listening. Neighbors think I lost my mind.. I said good it's a bad neighborhood. We need to be out of our minds more. It's being in the mind that causes the damage. This is simply magnificent! It was as beautiful the Stars.

[@vxhorusxv]

That was simply marvelous.

[@mariezenaida]

This is so beautiful.

[@JackieLanceTenor]

I think Lisette Oropesa and Michael Spyres would be a great pair for these roles in the 2020's era.

[@samueljaramillo4221]

Yes, I agree.

[@prof_roger720]

Kunde is fantastic!

[@arnoldamaral3814]

Theo Kunde is great here. Thank you Arnold

[@chibaz8882]

Would it be possible to include a concrete time point since you're referring to a specific note in the title? Thanks

[@finally_dorian]

Caaaause all I hear are Bs and Cs

[@davidalbro2009]

1:07

[@greatmomentsofopera7170]

This is 1996? Or the non Sony released 93 'other' broadcast? I have listened to the 1993 Sony released version of Kunde hitting this exact note so many times it's actually ridiculous! I adore this duet and these two artists are just magnificent. Kunde I think is one of the most underrated singers. As an aside, It's such a shame that Eve Queler is such an amateurish conductor because the 96 Armida is just so poorly put together from the orchestral and choral stand point (messy, erratic tempo changes etc etc) that it simply can't have the same intensity and thrust from the principles.

[@greatmomentsofopera7170]

Martín it's from the same run as the released 93 version, so same cuts as that. Much much less cut than Callas 52 which is just butchered sadly :( The other 93 night is a less exciting performance than the released one - they all sound a bit more tired, so you're not missing out too much!

[@greatmomentsofopera7170]

Martín no the released one is staged hence the extraneous noise and you can hear the voices moving around the stage. I think it's part of what makes it so exciting dramatically too. But the singing is of ridiculously high quality, easily studio standard!

[@chaan280]

Great moments of opera So happy you made this remark about Kunde. When I first heard him it was from a youtube clip with Renée and I just could not believe I’ve never heard of him. Unbelievably gorgeous voice! And the two of them make magic. Nothing else.❣️🎶❣️Thank you-again😊

[@greatmomentsofopera7170]

chaan280 he's quite amazing, certainly the greatest bel canto tenor I could name of the last 30 years. Way preferable to me in all regards to the boring, nasal Florez for instance - larger voice, actually used expressively, much wider range of colours, more exciting coloratura, more beautiful timbre. As an aside, to he above commenter, the only operas that Fleming recorded in the studio in full were Thais, Rosmunda and Rusalka. All the other released full operas are live recordings - Cosi, Don Giovanni, Manon, Armida, Alcina, A Streetcar Named Desire, Daphne, Rosenkavalier, plus the DVDs of course.

[@chaan280]

Great moments of opera As you mention Alcina... I have ordered the cd. Fell in love with the opera through the clips on youtube despite the awful sound quality.❣️🎶❣️

[@andrewbloom7694]

I still dont know why we haven't collectively duct taped spyres to a chair until he recorded every rossini baritenor role lol. No one made Merritt do it either, and so all these really great operas just go unperformed or unrecorded cause no star is willing or able to sing them.

[@LohengrinO]

do people in the industry understand how rare these singers are? when Maria sang Armida like the superbeing from outer space they had her officially record cavaleria and pagliacci lol... Stupidity is the common trait of man kind, true intelligence is very rare

[@NLidar]

I believe if Callas would have heard the magnificent Renee, she would instantly be a fan. Maria always said she was always not pleased with other singers because they were lower than her expectations, but Renee just makes her expectations higher higher after every stellar performance of hers.

[@LohengrinO]

with all that scoop? Im afraid she would have said: Gorgeous voice but what is all that scooping about? Renee, perhaps much less in Armida, never sang Bel Canto the way it must be sung because it went against the subtle but highly followed vocal health protective vocal tricks she used in her career which kept her voice alive up to now (exactly same case as Gruberova, Fleming in a way reminds me of Gaga, she tried to incorporate into her Voice ALL POSSIBLE influences from ALL POSSIBLE directions)... I personally like Renee in bel canto a lot and perhaps she does not scoop as much as Gruberova did, but this isnt bel canto Im afraid nevertheless

[@NLidar]

Lohengrin O Well, did Renee have that scoop very early on? I mean, if she was at the met by '89, she probably did not have a scoop back then. But her scooping (For me personally) isnt as noticeable as other singers (Gruberova, and sometimes even Sutherland late in her career).

[@LohengrinO]

I think Armida is Renee's finest bel canto achievement but she truly sacrificed the bel canto technique for vocal health and vocal gorgeoussness reasons... and perhaps, in her own personal universe, she was quite right for doing so, if she hadnt the Beauty of her vocal line would have disappeared, her voice would have been destroyed too soon and the overall result I highly doubt it would ever rival either Callas or Sutherland, so why do it? :D

[@NLidar]

Imagique I am sure if that idiot who wrote that comment was alive back then he could not have afford a ticket to see Callas... and if he judged her by her Met recordings it just proves how much of an idiot he is...

[@LohengrinO]

an idiot is always an idiot and could never appreciate a genius... Callas is the ultimate IQ test, no idiot can never like her

[@karinamakova24]

I saw en heard Kunde live in Rossinis Otello. I was under my feet or something. A few years later I went to a Juan Diego Flores concert. Was he good? I don't know, I didn't hear him. Everyone was applauding, I didn't know why. Kunde I heard. Flores not.

[@tenoreDB]

I was on stage with him in Rossini's Otello. He was fantastic. He has still a great voice: all the high notes are there and with ease. And he does some acrobatics in all ranges. His voice was in better shape then two other tenors. And he is 20 years older then them !! And op top of that he is a great guy.

[@mao1878]

Beautiful singing but so... void. Maybe i listened too much to Callas’ Armida but her duet there is just so well spoken ( attention i didn’t say well sung) that Renee with all her gorgeous timber a la Netrebko ( kinda..) just doesn’t do anything.. just like her Pirata recording. She sings it way better than the others around today, but .. i get no emotional response. It does not move me in any way. Just like Sutherland. Great singing, all the notes, legatos and all but like others said, she could have sung the cook book instead of Il dolce suono and it would have sounded equaly the same. Regards, Dana

[@LohengrinO]

no singer should ever be compared to Callas... it is unfair. And La Fleming was always emotional as a singer on the lyrical side...

[@mao1878]

Lohengrin O i think everybody singing should look at Maria and try their best and then some more! She wasn’t an alien she was a human, cause... she did die :(. But she should be the best example about work and the dedication needed to make ART! As for Flemming, i’m sure she has many things in her favour but i am one that feels more attracted to drama, thrilling music but melodic one... i listen and love Corelli, he reminds me kinda or Flemming. But he poured his soul into singing! I get mistified at the way he sings the Tosca love duet with Maria. DelMonaco is amazing in Chernier with Maria. But.. then DiStefano comes along and blows them both to pieces. You don’t forget the other two, but i always think how would he have sung this or that?! One of my greatest regrets is that he never sung Norma with Maria.. Anyways to end up, even in Maria’s masterclasses there were some US students that remind me of Flemming: didn’t put more effort into speaking without that darn american accent/declamation way.. which is very distracting! Maria was american and more so greek! She should have had an enormous accent.. but she worked her butt off and spoke italian more limpid and clear than Tebaldi, a native... That should be the example to all! You work hard to be better and execute the music as intended not as it suits YOU..

[@LohengrinO]

indeed many of her superhuman feats derived from her super human work but also from her super human brain and super human vocal skills