Recondita Armonia : Four recordings : Caruso, Schmidt, Bjorling and Lanza (new restorations)

The recordings are
0:00 Enrico Caruso 16th Nov 1909
2:34 Joseph Schmidt 1933
5:02 Jussi Bjorling 3rd December 1936
7:51 Mario Lanza 18th May 1950
I have tried to get the best possible sound from the recordings and, just to give the effect of a live performance and give a smooth transition between tracks, have added applause.
This is the aria Recondita Armonia from Puccini's opera Tosca.
The singer (Mario Cavaradossi) is painting a portrait of Mary Magdalene and is comparing her to the woman he loves, Tosca.
The translation to English is as follows
Concealed harmony of contrasting beauties!
Floria, my ardent lover, is dark haired.
And you, unknown beauty, crowned with blond hair,
You have blue eyes,
Tosca has black eyes!
Art, in its mysterious way,
blends the contrasting beauties together...
But while I'm painting her,
My only thought,
My only thought is of you,
Tosca, it is of you!

[@michaelmcgrailengland]

0:00 Enrico Caruso 16th Nov 1909 2:34 Joseph Schmidt 1933 5:02 Jussi Bjorling 3rd December 1936 7:51 Mario Lanza 18th May 1950

[@GuidoKaiserBariton1]

Eine beeindruckende Gegenüberstellung dieser großen Tenöre. Und die Geschichte Josef Schmidts ist mir die berührendste, tragischste.

[@michaelmcgrailengland]

Thanks for listening and for you comment Guido.

[@opera888able]

Schmidt, the pint-sized singing freak, God what sound. But for me Bjorling is top. It just has that beautiful warmth of tone the others don't have.

[@michaelmcgrailengland]

Thanks for listening and for your comment.

[@hrbooksmusic7878]

Four great tenors, four wonderful recordings... and I certainly won‘t pick one as my favourite... They all have something special to give, they all have exceptional voices, their own assets, perhaps a little weakness... They excel in warmth, or passion, or ardour, in beauty of sound, expressiveness, mellifluent tone, or a perfect singing technique... One voice maybe is a little closer to my heart - but I won‘t tell. 💖⭐️💖 Thank you very much, Michael, for this excellent video, the sound improvement, and the photographs!

[@michaelmcgrailengland]

The pleasure's all mine Harriet, thanks for listening and, like you I love them all for one reason or another. I feel a special attachment to Joseph Schmidt's recording because it was on a 78 of his that I first heard this aria. I used to go to the local auction rooms in my lunch break and if any lots had 78s in them I would leave a bid with the auctioneer. If I won I would go round with the kids pram, if they were too heavy to carry, and bring them home. It was in one of these batches that I found Joseph Schmidt's recording. I was amazed to find out afterwards of his sad story and that he was only 4ft 9in or so tall. Also he died in 1942, the year I was born. I sent you a message on a Richard Tauber video about a McCormack video that you might like if you get chance to watch it.The link to the message video is kzbin.info/www/bejne/hn-9h4OVna6Yiac

[@hrbooksmusic7878]

@@michaelmcgrailengland This is a truly wonderful story... I picture it in my mind‘s eyes... Michael (who I have no picture of... there was something about a swollen head once, but that must be a nasty rumor) pushing a perambulator loaded with old records... I like the image, and I can almost see the big grin on your (blurred; no picture!) face while you proudly push home your treasures... Joseph Schmidt’s story indeed was one of great tragic... He could have left the country earlier on, he could have stayed in the USA where he was on a concert tour... but he came back to Europe, to Germany... Maybe he felt he didn‘t belong; some emigrants never feel at home in a foreign country, perhaps that‘s why so many of them return as soon as it‘s save enough for them to do so... Finally, in the face of mortal danger, he fled to Switzerland, only to find himself being interned in a refugee camp. He got ill - the authorities didn‘t care... And so he died in camp - a free and save and neutral country‘s camp... but a camp... Nobody killed him - and yet, he died... Of course this is just one tragical story out of millions. Since he was famous, we feel the loss even more... I‘m extremely grateful for his legacy of recordings; his voice was special, easily recognizable, not big, but sounding big because he used all his resonance rooms (that sounds somehow wrong, maybe you could have the kindness to provide the correct term) to utmost advantage... His singing was expressive, full of life - sometimes filled with a deep melancholy... always unique... Lengthy answer again - I‘m sorry... Thank you so much for the link, I‘m going to follow it right away! All the best - and have a wonderful day! 🍀 P.S. Oh, we actually „met“ there already... anyway, listening to Tauber‘s magnificent singing a second time won‘t do any harm...

[@michaelmcgrailengland]

@@hrbooksmusic7878 Thanks for your message Harriet, as you say Joseph Schmidt did leave a wonderful legacy of recordings, there are some particular favourites of mine that I want to enhance and upload. You don't need to see a picture of me by the way, just imagine a 5ft 8in man of 78 with very little hair very few teeth and a wrinkled face with bags under the eyes and youve got it. Mind you I did look a little better than that when I was pushing the pram. Enjoy what's left of the evening (and keep practicing the singing!!)

[@hrbooksmusic7878]

@@michaelmcgrailengland What I imagine are bright eyes, a wide smile, and an intelligent face... Then I add a sharp mind, a big heart, a wonderful sense of humour, and a great love for music and beautiful voices... Whether you still push a perambulator or prefer fiddling with technical stuff I do not even know the name for, doesn‘t matter. You host a fantastic channel, bestowing upon us the gift of music... (and, sometimes, anecdotes from your life, which I appreciate very much) I look forward to more Joseph Schmidt, but also to all other recordings you are ready to share - not to forget those which have been online a little longer already, waiting for me to be discovered... We overslept today (the alarm clock didn‘t ring), so there won‘t be much time for „Youtubing“, but I might be able to steal an hour for my favourite channels, including yours, of course! Have a very pleasant day! Best regards! 🍀

[@michaelmcgrailengland]

@@hrbooksmusic7878 Now that's enough compliments Harriet, I've just bought one extra large hat, I don't want to have to buy another. I shall lock your image of me in my mind but, unfortunately it's far from reality. Firstly I'm not intelligent, I left school at 16, no higher education or university. The vast majority of the information that I put on my videos comes from reference books or the internet, not from my head. I've been enjoying Caruso's recording of Musica proibita for the last 50 years but had never taken the trouble to find out what it was about until I uploaded the recording. I'm basically just a simple person who loves music and I'm happy to waste a proportion of what's left of my life sat at the computer trying to improve the sound of the old recordings that I love in the hope that it will help to preserve the memory ot the great singers/musicians who recorded them. As a matter of interest the software that I use I bought on EBay for £14 (about the cost of 3 pints of beer here) and if I remember correctly it was developed in Germany. It's called Magix. By the way, I think my Star Spangled Banner video has offended some Trump supporters, it's already had two "thumbs downs" which is unusual at this early stage. I don't know what the time difference is between the UK and Germany is but I'll say Good Night.

[@bjorling4ever]

It's meaningless to pick the best one. Caruso, Schmidt, Bjorling have already reached to the level of singing god. They are all excellent, and each of them is best in his own way.

[@michaelmcgrailengland]

Thanks for listening and for your comment with which I completely agree but, looking at your KZbin name, I bet you have a sneaking preference for one of them!!

[@bjorling4ever]

@@michaelmcgrailengland hahahaha.. you are probably right... I am a big fan of the great Swedish tenor, which does not necessarily mean, however, that other tenor is inferior to him in all area. Caruso and Schmidt are also my favorite tenors. ha ha ha... By the way, If I'm forced to pick one, mine is Bjorling, but in that cruel situation will never come in my life, I hope. ^^ Your video clip is always enjoyable. Thanks.!

[@michaelmcgrailengland]

Thanks for your reply. My own personal overall favourite is actually John McCormack but like you I love them all and agree that they all had their own special strengths. I'm very pleased that you enjoy my videos.

[@sheilamillar]

Glorious every one, Josef Schmidt up there with all the other “top ones”.

[@michaelmcgrailengland]

Thanks for listening Sheila, I'm glad that you like this selection and, as you say, Josef is right up there with the others.

[@opera888able]

Schmidt's version certainly stands easily among these. In some cases well beyond these few.

[@michaelmcgrailengland]

Thanks for listening Warren. I love them all and Schmidt;s recording is absolutely outstanding

[@sgnmath1234]

Perhaps Bjoerling's 1956 RCA Stereophonic version would have been a better selection ??

[@michaelmcgrailengland]

Thank you for listening and for your comment.You could well be right but generally I like to restore the old mono recordings and present them with improved audio quality. However, I have remastered and uploaded a number of Jussi;s great stereo recordings and links to the videos are below if ever you wanted to listen. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ioisi4l7bZWXraM kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5_IpIuJiLp_kJo kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3rFmKSIpKyWbK8

[@pedromotta9324]

Caruso sang all the notes beautiful, not only the high tones!

[@michaelmcgrailengland]

Thanks for listening Pedro and for mentioning Caruso's great recording.

[@phyllisramsey9531]

Always interesting and enjoyable! Listening to these operatic comparisons is a good learning experience, too.

[@michaelmcgrailengland]

Yes, it's the same for me Phyllis, I invariably have to to look up the detail (and, hopefully, remember some of it!!!) John McCormack recorded this in 1910 but it seems that no copies survived unfortunately.