Tito Schipa - O Lola ch'hai di latti la cammisa (two recordings)

Legendary Tito Schipa sings two versions of the the Siciliana from Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana.
The first is the famous 1913 Gramophone - the first recording session he ever did (better quality than the other uploaded versions on youtube).
The second is a less well known 1919 Pathé recording.
Which one do you prefer?

[@shirleyrombough8173]

Both are beautifully and clearly sung. The melodies in this opera are so incredibly ...melodious it is painful to listen to them.

[@Petroschristidis]

wonderful ! maybe the best performance i have ever heard thanks !

[@brianocallaghan7172]

delicate dulcite tones of an italian with the voice of an angel with sublime delivery. genius . . bravo . . .

[@CraigFrancisSoto]

Che meraviglioso. The great Schipa had such wonderful legato,phrasing and enunciation. I've read that when Schipa performed in the Italian and Spanish opera houses,that many people in the audience never bothered to buy the printed libretto because has diction and phrasing was so flawless. Many opera critics also stated that although he had a lighter 'tenore di grazia' type voice,his resonant voice could easily be heard at the very back of the house. Bravissimo Maestro Schipa.

[@rosinamanfredi4593]

Fraseggio , Timbro , Grande Voce Inimitabile .🎼⭐

[@PhilippusFerrarius]

Both are two jewels.

[@Herur22]

Both versions are beautiful. As Edmund said - he sings them. Thank you, Theo.

[@ObviousInit1]

This has a quality all of it's own, my favorite piece from the Rusticana. Sounds so natural....

[@moshebautista3918]

Se echa de menos una voz así en la opera, canta no grita, se siente dulce y a la vez contundente. Bravo Schipa

[@radames5855]

Perfezione assoluta...

[@jambones100]

Such delicacy in this singing. Truly he was a singer's singer. Such a pity that opera like so many sports has become the domain of the heavyweights.

[@St.Garoosh]

It has always been the domain of heavyweights. Schipa was the anomaly. He was a light tenor. A great light tenor but a light tenor at the end of it. This aria is supposed to be sung by a spinto tenor. That Schipa could sing it does not mean he'd ever perform the role. His voice was too tiny for such a feat. As for heavy weights, opera IS for heavy weights. It was written for voices that could travel over an orchestra without amplification. If you weren't going to go large, you weren't making it to the stage. Its in this age of amplification that tiny voices have been more accepted, which has also watered down opera. Tiny voices are not exciting, and today, tiny voices are usually underdeveloped voices, ill-trained, voices that use poor technique. Schipa employed an excellent technique and was able to be heard with some level of power when necessary, but again, he was the anomaly.

[@edwardkerrigan5356]

@@St.Garoosh Nice to get a comment from someone who knows what he is talking about - the sophisticated sound systems of today have distorted the perception of this kind of singing. Hence you have people - who never bother to look any further, so they are obviously happy enough, I suppose - who imagine that the likes of Andrea Bocelli and Russel Watson and, God help us, Paul Potts, are opera singers. I read of one family of rabid AB supporters, who went to a concert he gave at Carnegie Hall, for which they paid over 1,000 dollars in total, who demanded their money back because they could hardly hear him - and they were only in about the tenth row of the hall. They didn't understand that AB can only perform to the level they expected with amplification systems, which the Carnegie Hall does not have in place. If they like the music he sings, it always puzzles me that they don't have the curiosity to investigate other performers.

[@St.Garoosh]

@@edwardkerrigan5356 amen to that, thank you.

[@edwardkerrigan5356]

@@St.Garoosh I would add further that a performance of Cav. requires a mature and experienced 'robust' tenor. Jan Peerce - who knew what he was talking about when it came to vocal preservation, mentioned in his memoirs that he had a stand up argument with Rudolf Bing over his decision one Met season to cast young, relatively immature singers in the role of Turridu, on the grounds that it would be good experience for them. Peerce argued that it would be deleterious to their voices and that they should wait until later in their careers, but was overruled by Bing, with whom he had never had a good relationship. Peerce's KZbin version of this aria is well worth a listen - he was 61 years old at the time, but the voice was still a few years from showing any diminution in it's quality.

[@luciagildersleeve8110]

What a treasure! Thank you!

[@道-p2e]

Gorgeous, great on both, thank you.

[@sarahdaniel411]

I love them both. Such a tremendous aria (and so muffled in performance! off-stage, fie!). I like it that he took a different approach to each. Very expressive.

[@ivanscotton6163]

Timbre único.

[@yaelpalombo4093]

Gioiello di Voce🎉

[@joaopaulorusso9621]

Caruso il più grande tenore di tutti i tempi 🔥

[@xxirapax8830]

👎🏻

[@carlosmagnobustamantebonel8921]

Si pero se destrozo la garganta por su mala técnica. Schipa una voz perfecta hasta 1956. Nació en 1882

[@nthdegree1269]

Interesting how the earlier one had such great sound. I was well surprised with the quality. I will take the earlier one, but I can't really decide.

[@ИринаКлеванская-д1с]

Очень красивый голос

[@tomislavzoricic7618]

Interesting thing to hear side by side Tito Schipa and Mario del Monaco singing " O Lola" :)

[@edmondulaj7653]

To my opinion,Del Monaco had a big voice,but not really a great singer..

[@tomislavzoricic7618]

@@edmondulaj7653 MDM i s fantastic singer!!!

[@tomislavzoricic7618]

@@edmondulaj7653 in my opinion quite oposite!

[@GermanOperaSinger]

@aaronsande Sicilians live to drink! 'O Lola ch'hai di latti la cammisa' translates roughly to 'Oh Lola you that (who) has milk (colored) blouse'.

[@mariopietta5888]

white and red like cherry,not milk

[@gabrielefigliola9619]

@@mariopietta5888 The "white as milk" color is related to the girl's blouse, the white and red as a cherry color is related to the girl's skin tone appearance.

[@sugarbist]

Yes, You are literally correct. ''Camiiissa is Sicilian means shirt or blouse, but he truly is referring to her milk like colored skin . Sei bianca and rossa come` una cerasa. You are white and red like a cherry.

[@MUSICALLAN]

Second.

[@armandogonella2770]

GRANDISSIMO , PERO' C A R U S O . . .

[@sgfdsfgdfgful]

The first one

[@riccardarosini4013]

Preferisco il grande Corelli pieno di passione!!!

[@biolaloucosmeceuticibioeve4846]

@@riccardarosini4013 sono due voci completamente diverse, Schipa è commovente e trascinante

[@martinmariani8974]

La voce di Schipa, per quanto bella, non riesce a compenetrare il canto ardente di Turiddu... "Cavalleria" non è opera per la sua armonica voce.

[@biolaloucosmeceuticibioeve4846]

Non sono d'accordo, è molto ardente! Specie nella prima versione, si sente una marea di armonici

[@martinmariani8974]

Mi dispiace, sempre educatamente, dissentire dalle sue tesi, perché, per quest'opera verista occorre un tenore di "mezzo carattere" e non un tenore sentimental-elegiaco qual è Schipa, il quale rimane sempre uno splendido tenore.