Hi All,
We spoke on the last rehearsal of the old year about commitment - I want to share a very old video clip with you of my absolute favourite singer (well almost) - Giuseppe di Stefano.
Being a deeply flawed character myself, it will come as not surprise to you that one of my musical heroes (despite his genius) was not perfect. Giuseppe di Stefano was a natural talent, a voice with an immediacy and passion unrivalled in this century. His story was the story of a tenor who was more than liable to yield to temptation - and he did, singing without precaution.
During the decade of 1946 to 1956, Di Stefano performed onstage and on recordings with a beauty of tone and an intensity unique in this century. His lifestyle was as intense as his performing - it made the behaviour of the wildest player in Manchester United seem more sedate than that of a house-bound Baptist preacher.
His technique, which in some respects was extraordinarily good, spread his tone and negotiated the transition of vocal placement that occurs in the tenor range around F above middle C in the worst possible way. But while the voice lasted, it was unlike anything heard this century. Its sound was beautiful beyond compare and Di Stefano could manipulate it with nuanced expression of seemingly endless subtlety. His diction in both Italian and French was perfect. Every syllable he sang was suffused with meaning. He shaded the music so that the listener seemed to sense the meaning of what he sang without understanding a single word of Italian or French. He could also make a seamless transition from the very loudest to the softest sound without losing support of the tone, and he could do it over his entire vocal range.
Both Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti were asked which tenors had influenced them. They both named the same two - Enrico Caruso and Giuseppe di Stefano. The recently published biography of Jussi Björling written by his wife describes how taken that great tenor was by Di Stefano's singing, how Björling said that if Di Stefano kept going the way he had started, he would leave everyone behind.
The aria is E lucevan le stelle is the last solo aria in the Opera ra Tosca by Giacomo Puccini. It is sung by Tosca's lover, the painter Mario Cavaradossi,when lamenting his coming execution. Mario Cavaradossi is a beautifully shaped character who, being in love with a passionate and extremely jealous diva, Floria Tosca, endures all her doubts and jealousy and loves her more and more every minute. But he is imprisoned for treason and he is to be executed at dawn.
Cavaradossi, who is aware of the situation, bids his farewell to life, singing one of the most beautiful arias in the entire operatic repertoire. He starts recalling a night spent with Tosca - everything was so beautiful, sublime and almost unreal. But something is wrong with all that Cavaradossi's shows his anger over the unjust laws of life and death in the second part of the aria, when he cries out in complete despair:
This level of commitment to each note, to ensure that every phrase is what we want it to be is (in the words of Shakespeare's Hamlet) "a consummation devoutly to be wished" Please enjoy a masterful performance below.
We spoke on the last rehearsal of the old year about commitment - I want to share a very old video clip with you of my absolute favourite singer (well almost) - Giuseppe di Stefano.
Being a deeply flawed character myself, it will come as not surprise to you that one of my musical heroes (despite his genius) was not perfect. Giuseppe di Stefano was a natural talent, a voice with an immediacy and passion unrivalled in this century. His story was the story of a tenor who was more than liable to yield to temptation - and he did, singing without precaution.
During the decade of 1946 to 1956, Di Stefano performed onstage and on recordings with a beauty of tone and an intensity unique in this century. His lifestyle was as intense as his performing - it made the behaviour of the wildest player in Manchester United seem more sedate than that of a house-bound Baptist preacher.
His technique, which in some respects was extraordinarily good, spread his tone and negotiated the transition of vocal placement that occurs in the tenor range around F above middle C in the worst possible way. But while the voice lasted, it was unlike anything heard this century. Its sound was beautiful beyond compare and Di Stefano could manipulate it with nuanced expression of seemingly endless subtlety. His diction in both Italian and French was perfect. Every syllable he sang was suffused with meaning. He shaded the music so that the listener seemed to sense the meaning of what he sang without understanding a single word of Italian or French. He could also make a seamless transition from the very loudest to the softest sound without losing support of the tone, and he could do it over his entire vocal range.
Both Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti were asked which tenors had influenced them. They both named the same two - Enrico Caruso and Giuseppe di Stefano. The recently published biography of Jussi Björling written by his wife describes how taken that great tenor was by Di Stefano's singing, how Björling said that if Di Stefano kept going the way he had started, he would leave everyone behind.
The aria is E lucevan le stelle is the last solo aria in the Opera ra Tosca by Giacomo Puccini. It is sung by Tosca's lover, the painter Mario Cavaradossi,when lamenting his coming execution. Mario Cavaradossi is a beautifully shaped character who, being in love with a passionate and extremely jealous diva, Floria Tosca, endures all her doubts and jealousy and loves her more and more every minute. But he is imprisoned for treason and he is to be executed at dawn.
Cavaradossi, who is aware of the situation, bids his farewell to life, singing one of the most beautiful arias in the entire operatic repertoire. He starts recalling a night spent with Tosca - everything was so beautiful, sublime and almost unreal. But something is wrong with all that Cavaradossi's shows his anger over the unjust laws of life and death in the second part of the aria, when he cries out in complete despair:
This level of commitment to each note, to ensure that every phrase is what we want it to be is (in the words of Shakespeare's Hamlet) "a consummation devoutly to be wished" Please enjoy a masterful performance below.
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