Twelve Tenors Singing the High E-flat in 'Verranno a te sull'aure' in Lucia di Lammermoor

Tenors included in this video (both the lower examples and the E-flat):
Giuseppe Di Stefano, Richard Tucker, Beniamino Gigli, Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras, Rockwell Blake, Roberto Alagna, Javier Camarena, Giuseppe Morino, Francesco Demuro, Todd Wilander, Joakim Rignell, Yijie Shi, Carlos Barcenas, Vale Rideout, Alessando Luciano and Ferruccio Tagliavini.

[@brunopicaude3092]

When Donizetti wrote this note, no tenor sang it in chest register; they used a rich falsetto voice.

[@KajiVocals]

Of course.

[@sadi0019]

Without any doubt... Carreras!

[@nurhandrio]

high Eb from Carreras!! woow!! didn't think he can go up that high before!

[@louisrharmony]

Edgardo was definitely one of his signature roles, most people just don't associate him with that kind of rep. His Eb is also one of, if not the most resonant in this group.

[@operaanimelover369]

Personally, it would be twice as epic to have both the tenore leggiero or lyric tenor and the lyric coloratura soprano, i.e. Edgardo and Lucia, hit the high E-flat!

[@KajiVocals]

I agree!! More opera vids coming now that I have time.

[@operaanimelover369]

@@KajiVocals Lovely to hear. :)

[@Yotam1703]

2:25 and onwards!

[@malou1563]

2:25 the soprano here ATE that

[@jaimitocarapito4130]

Nadine Sierra.

[@otakukinois9315]

She didn't read the sheet 😂

[@trottgizz1946]

Rockwell Blake E-flat is the most rich and impressive !

[@HoangAnhNguyen-bl7pc]

Yijie Shi!!! it's powerfull tenor high - eflat! why no one like him?

[@oliverdelica2289]

I can't seem to hear the notes before the eb

[@HoangAnhNguyen-bl7pc]

@@oliverdelica2289 I think it's the recording problem, don't judge the singer by just one recording

[@oliverdelica2289]

@@HoangAnhNguyen-bl7pc ahh fair enough

[@osoriofede]

This one is for Jose by far.

[@roymayh3819]

Bonisolli definitely belongs here, as good if not better than most.

[@KajiVocals]

I agree, I did not know he recorded this E-flat when making this video.

[@maximtuboltsev6046]

His Eb is better, then Ebs of all of these singers!

[@xxirapax8830]

Alagna very good...Blake immenso...

[@helgezagoda]

Giuseppe Morino 👌

[@napejack]

Thanks for great choice!

[@roymayh3819]

Has anyone recorded the separate part for the tenor? With the soprano signing simultaneously and much louder I am not sure we are evaluating purely the tenor note rather than the 'blend' of frequencies from soprano and orchestra. Some of the supposedly correct notes are very suspect to me and sound a bit off.

[@KajiVocals]

Sopranos often go flat in this I noticed.

[@trottgizz1946]

Would be nice to post a video(or recording) with Rockwell Blake singing solid E (not E-flat) !!! I DO know there are a couple of examples somewhere.

[@tasoslts3480]

Impressive! Keep up the good work!!!

[@shicoff1398]

Yes, I do like hearing live performances myself, without the benefit of the recording studio.

[@Milordvega]

Carreras, because it was unexpected, and he was singing with Montserrat Caballé. Alagna (in French?) and the Japanese (?) tenor sounded beautiful too. I am not a composer, but I actually would have preferred it if Donizetti had made it for Edgardo to sing the high C and Lucia the high E-flat (like how Luciano Pavarotti with Beverley Sills did it here). Because: one, more tenors would go for the high note if it was the standard high C (one look at the high E-flat and most would say, "no way I'll try that, I'll sing it much lower"). And more important, because for the sake of the drama, you have to be somewhat of a crazy in love protagonist (close to madness) in order to go for that note, and in this opera, that's Lucia more than Edgardo. She's the star of the opera, after all. And that high of a note normally sounds better from a coloratura than a lyric tenor. Still, I liked hearing these very high notes from these tenors, most of whom I hadn't heard before.

[@giovic9802]

Blake!

[@churchhymnsandpsalms]

Carreras. Hands down.

[@thunderstorm__8147]

Impressive. Really. You are great!!

[@KajiVocals]

Thank you very much!!!

[@LiederBrasilis]

Good videos

[@KajiVocals]

Thank you!

[@JackieLanceTenor]

Blake and Camarena I think did it the best.

[@matveykurland7012]

When is Tagliavini? I see him in description but not in the video itself.

[@KajiVocals]

He's in the outro with Callas.

[@matveykurland7012]

@@KajiVocals Does he hit the high E-flat?

[@KajiVocals]

@@matveykurland7012 No. At least not in the recordings we have.

[@shicoff1398]

At the very end.

[@shicoff1398]

@@KajiVocals Studio rec. with Callas 1959 I have it complete, a good recording.

[@gegiocavacci2589]

Kaji, any full lyric tenor in this as far as you know?

[@KajiVocals]

If Chris Merritt sang it, then him. Michael Spyres too.

[@gegiocavacci2589]

@@KajiVocals Yeah wasn't sure about Alagna and Alessandro Luciano, but after checking some of their performances and interviews it's pretty clear their voice sits on the lighter side

[@gegiocavacci2589]

@@KajiVocals As for Spyres I once saw an interview and thought he was a leggero, guess him trying to speak italian tricked me kzbin.info/www/bejne/p33FZqaXj9llsLc

[@KajiVocals]

@@gegiocavacci2589 He is a leggiero in terms of the rep he sings but his natural voice is darker and deeper. Might even be a spinto. Here’s a low C kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHK6nJiLjbtsisk Bass imitation (in the morning) kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYvaaoBpZ8atec0 You can hear it here after he goes low too kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGTaeYl8d717m5o Bigger tenor trained as leggiero. Quite nasal too. But one of the better voices today. Very good actor too.

[@gegiocavacci2589]

@@KajiVocals Yeah he even said he sang some baritone roles at the beginnin and that he speaks like a baritone (not really, in my opinion) kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqa6cquhmKqNgJo. Btw could you tell me some name of nowadays true leggeros either pop or opera?

[@marcog.3533]

2:45 WTF

[@KajiVocals]

Yeah its bad

[@trottgizz1946]

@@KajiVocalsActually it was high D

[@DiomedesDioscuro]

Give me Di Stefano, please.

[@pedrosergio2002]

What is the fach of these singers?

[@anthonyehrenzweig7697]

Not a sensible question?

[@karifrid]

TAKK. (Thanks for this, I only sing E flat when warming up... Not in public...) I did a video of a tenor, singing three oktaves, with a E flat, down to D for basses... I am not a strong bass.....

[@stefannita3439]

The sopranos ruin so many of these clips imo, a lot of them are super shrill and thin

[@oliverdelica2289]

To be honest some of the tenors are also shrill and thin too

[@claudiusaugustus4526]

What about Franco Bonisolli?

[@KajiVocals]

Didn’t know he attempted it.

[@claudiusaugustus4526]

m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZnqzXqqOn52mnK8, it’s around minute 38.

[@trottgizz1946]

@@KajiVocals He never did)

[@dmytrotsvyntarnyi799]

Is it sung using mixed voice?

[@KajiVocals]

Some, not all.

[@dmytrotsvyntarnyi799]

@@KajiVocals and others are chest?

[@KajiVocals]

@@dmytrotsvyntarnyi799 A few are indeed full voice.

[@dmytrotsvyntarnyi799]

@@KajiVocals I'm not that much into vocal terminology. Full voice is ≈ chesty mix, isn't it?

[@dmytrotsvyntarnyi799]

@@KajiVocals is full voice a M1 or M2 vibratory mechanism? Or a mix between them? I guess this is the proper formulation of my question