Christmas 2009 Tenor Special
Posted by Dan F | Date 21 December 2009
New forum with Mystery Tenors!
A new forum awaits you with two new mystery tenors every day till Christmas. Our two long time forum friends, Geoff and Keith, have chosen one mystery tenor each in the all new, all ephemeral Christmas 2009 Special forum (it's the one with the Christmas tree). Buon appetito!
On a more general note, thanks to all of you for making this amazing community happen every day of the year.
Wishing you and yours the merriest of times together,
Joern, Dan & Lennart
First steps
Posted by Dan F | Date 19 November 2009
Moving ahead
Joern has created something amazing, and I for one am very glad that he took the time and effort all these years to provide something the web is way too short on. That's something that inheres in a person's character. Thank you, Joern. I wish you good fortune in all your endeavours.
Down to brass tacks, Grandi-Tenori was built in a different era of web technology, and some of that needs to be updated before it can move ahead.
The first thing that's going to happen is that a large forum bug is going to be fixed. This bug does not allow some posts to be indexed and affects searches. This means that the forums will be down on Saturday (21 November) this week in order to be fixed.
We will be upgrading the forums significantly (much faster loading time, easier post editing and other cool fixes), and adding some new affiliations besides google adsense in order to help the site break even and offset its overhead costs. In January (we're hoping by Christmas), the site itself should also be brand new.
The main direction the site will take relates to user-featured content. Grandi-Tenori will boast the same great forum on a better platform; user blogs; and a great deal more publishing and feeds and ways to contribute what you know or what you think about tenors to the actual content of the site. Your knowledgeable discussions should make front page on a regular basis and that's what we're working towards.
The site will also be more proactive in promoting things for tenors and by tenors, not just of tenors: singing manuals, more audio samples and downloads (depending on bandwidth agreements with our host), special vlogs, a singing teachers section, and whatever you guys suggest when I send the ideas hat around.
As for new content, I hope at the beginning of next year to have gleaned enough to start a Section dedicated to Soviet-era tenors (Tenori d'Oltrecortina), and another Section dedicated to Cantors (Tenori Chazzanim).
That's the high level of it. If you are interested in contributing content, writing, translating, anything at all, email me dan [at] grandi-tenori.com. Otherwise, please keep enjoying the site as I do, and please don't fume when the site goes down a few times this month and next.
Hope you enjoy.
A New Era
Posted by Grandi-Tenori.com | Date 16 November 2009
New Management To Ensure Future Development of Grandi-Tenori
Joern Anthonisen, editor and owner of Grandi-Tenori
1998-2009. After almost 12 years at the helm of Grandi-Tenori - or
"GT" as many of you have come to know it - the time has come for me to leave the
wheels and bring in new management. It's time for a change, for new incentives,
for new ideas. A fresh take on things. The site needs to keep growing, bring in
new technology and find new ways of interacting with the readers. In so doing, I
felt it best to bring in new people. However, I will remain onboard as advisor,
but I will no longer act in capacity of editor or owner.
I am pleased to announce Daniel Forst and Lennart Speyer as new owners and managers of Grandi-Tenori. They may be new to the management, but they are old friends of the site. I am confident the project is in good hands and that the characteristic gist of the site will remain with them. Grandi-Tenori should still remain your home on the internet for all things tenors.
Things will start happening already from this month. Everything is up for
revision and changes are being made to the site's backbone. Changes to the forum
also apply. It means you will have to expect periodical downtime from now on and
up to early December.
Lastly, I would like to thank the folks previously
involved in the site. Many people have provided invaluable assistance over the
years - to all of you I am eternally grateful. And many more have enjoyed the
content of this site and the debates in the forum since its inception. May you
all remain with us for a long time still.
Mario Lanza 50 Years After
Posted by Grandi-Tenori.com | Date 7 October 2009
50 Years Since The Demise of The Tenor
On the
50th anniversary of the death of Mario Lanza, Richard England records how,
although maligned by connoisseurs and critics of his time, the singer is none
the less today ranked among the greatest of tenors of the 20th century.
In Rome, Lanza had been invited by the manager of the Rome Opera to open a season there in any opera of his choosing, and eventually similar invitations were made by the management of La Scala and San Carlo. Lanza eventually accepted to open the 1960/61 Rome Opera season as Canio in Pagliacci. He never got to perform the role: On Wednesday, October the 7th 1959 the tenor suffered a fatal heart attack while being treated at the Valle Giulia Clinic in Rome. Lanza was gone.
Articles:
Richard England: Mario Lanza 50 Years After
The Barber of Seville
Posted by Grandi-Tenori.com | Date 13 June 2009
Audio of the Month, June
The Barber of Seville is a well-known and much appreciated opera.
It was Rossini's 17th, at the age of 24. With music set to a play by
Beaumarchais, the opera had it's first performance in Rome in 1816 but had
everything but a smooth premiere. First entitled 'Almaviva, ossia L'Inutile
Precauzione' (Almaviva or the useless precaution), anecdotes tell about
a booing audience, allegdly Paisiello supporters (Paisiello had composed a
"Barbiere" of his own which premiered in 1782), stumbling singers, broken
instruments and animals being chased on the stage. The work was soon recognized,
however, as Rossini's greatest work, a view that has widely survived over
time.
This month's Audio of the Month features the aria "Ecco, ridente in cielo" from the first act of the opera, sung by Count Almaviva. Geoff Mallinson has selected the following voices: Koloman von Pataky (1928), Luigi Infantino (1948), Petre Munteanu (c1953), Richard Conrad (1963), Matthew Polenzani (2005) and Kenneth Tarver (2005).
Did you miss AM for May? Unfortunately, monthly features are not always notified here on the index page, but make sure you follow the forum and the subforum dedicated to the Audio of the Month feature there.
Jussi Bj?rling (1911-1960), Sweden's greatest
tenor of all times.
Jussi Bj?rling (1911-1960) has for long been poorly represented here on Grandi Tenori. Luckily, the reputed Maltese architect and mulitfaceted artist Richard England has allowed one of his articles on the Swedish tenor to be reprinted here. England speaks of the "celestial tenor from the North," a man that had "burnt the candle at both ends," as Bj?rling had confessed to his son not long before his premature death in 1960, aged 49. At that point he was a sick and tired man. Yet, "nowhere on record will you find such intensity and soaring sounds of continuous unbroken rich vocal splendour," England concludes. Bj?rling was, after all, the tenor Caruso's widow said resembled her husband's voice the most. In 1951, after one of Bj?rling's performance at the Met, Dorothy Caruso handed over the costume her Enrico had worn as the Duke in Rigoletto. "You are the only one worthy to wear Rico's crown," she told Bj?rling. In England's mind, she was completely right.
AM: June 2009: La Forza del
Destino
AM: May 2009: Ma?tre
Pathelin
Articles: Tenors: Jussi
Bj?rling
The Force of Destiny
Posted by Grandi-Tenori.com | Date 18 April 2009
Audio of the Month, April
Verdi's opera La Forza del Destino was first premiered
outside Italy, in St. Petersburg, at the end of the year 1862. Verdi was at the
height of his career, financially very safe and considering going into
retirement. But he did not, he was convinced into writing another opera and
could eventually not even settle for the original score after it's premiere.
Several revisions followed. The version most frequently performed since
is the one that was first performed at La Scala Milan in 1869, and in which Don
Alvaro gets to live at the end, instead of plunging into death, jumping from a
cliff. Tenors that do not need to jump, include Barry Morrell (1960s), Flaviano
Lab? (1961), Bruno Prevedi (1964), Gianfranco Cecchele (1966), Giuseppe
Giacomini (1996) and Taro Ichihara (1999). They form part of Geoffrey
Mallinson's Audio of the Month for April and the aria is: La vita ?
inferno all'infelice (which translates into something like "Life is a hell
to those who are unhappy").
Some may have missed the February feature, which was Offenbach's opera "The Tales of Hoffmann" and the aria "Va pour Kleinzach," featuring Richard Tucker, Sandor Konya, Neil Shicoff, Waldemar Kmentt, Rolando Villazon and Nicolai Gedda.
A special mention also to Keith Shilcock's short biography on British tenor John Boulter, currently living in New Zealand.
AM: April 2009: La Forza del
Destino
AM: February 2009: Les Contes
d'Hoffmann
Tenors: John Boulter
New Years Day Quiz
Posted by Grandi-Tenori.com | Date 31 December 2008
Ten Tenors: Can You Guess Them?
Don't forget to check the forum tomorrow on New Years Day for our special New Years Tenor Quiz. Yes, it was meant to be published tonight, but circumstances make it impossible. Geoff Mallinson has come up with ten tenors it might not be so easy to guess. Give it your best shot and tune in tomorrow. Happy 2009 to all our readers.
Christmas Again...
Posted by Grandi-Tenori.com | Date 23 December 2008
Audio of the Month:
December & Christmas Special
Christmas is upon us again and December brings two
feature articles: our regular Audio of the Month plus a Christmas Special
AM.
Our regular article is all about Donizetti's La Favorite. First performed in Paris in 1840, at the Royal Academy of Music, the opera was one of Donizetti's most hurried works and relied heavily on elements from previous compositions. The lead role was for the tenor, Fernand, a novice monk who has fallen in love with Lenor, the King's mistress. The role of Fernand was created by Duprez and it showpieces perhaps some of the most notable moments in belcanto history singing for tenor, the aria chosen for this AM being no exception: Un ange, une femme inconnue (Una vergine, un'angiol di Dio). The voices are: Christy Solari (c1930-35), Roberto D'Alessio (c1925-30), Jaume Aragall (1968), Alfredo Kraus (1971), Franco Bonisolli (1974), all singing it in Italian, and Roberto Alagna (2003), who sings the aria in the original French. The article is, as usual, written and compiled by Geoff Mallinson.
With Christmas yet again on our doorsteps, we have decided to give the readers a special seasons treat and give you further six selections of memorable singing in a Christmas Special AM. With the help of Keith Shilcock and Nick Scott, who both have provided two clips along with Geoffrey Mallinson's two, the Christmas special feature four opera duets and two songs. Click below to see which.
With that, it only remains to wish our readers all the best for the festive season and don't forget to tune in on New Years Eve: There's a special New Years Quizz awaiting; are you capable of guessing ten tenors? Find out on New Years Eve. Merry Christmas!
AM: December 2008: La Favorita
AM: Christmas Special 2008
A Masked Ball
Posted by Grandi-Tenori.com | Date 15 November 2008
Audio of the Month, November
Verdi wrote the opera "Un Ballo in Maschera" in
the second half of the 1850s and after struggles with censorship and several
rewrites, the opera finally premiered at the Teatro Apollo in Rome in 1859.
In this month's AM, we've chosen a duet from the opera between Amalia and Rodrigo, "Teco io sto," and the voices are: Giuseppe Di Stefano and Antonietta Stella (1956), Giuseppe Zampieri and Gre Brouwenstijn (1958), Franco Corelli and Regine Crespin (1964), Carlo Bergonzi and Leontyne Price (1966), Flaviano Labo and Montserrat Caballe (1969), Jose Carreras and Katia Ricciarelli (1977) and Jaime Aragall and Mara Zampieri (1985). As always, the article is written by Geoff Mallinson.
Gianni Raimondi Dies At 85
Posted by Grandi-Tenori.com | Date 25 October 2008
One of the greats leaves us
Maria Callas and Gianni Raimondi in
Anna Bolena at La Scala (source, La Scala) TENORS: Gianni Raimondi
External link: Gianni Raimondi at Wikipedia
External link: A farewell to Gianni Raimondi, La Scala
Cavalleria Rusticana
Posted by Grandi-Tenori.com | Date 18 October 2008
Audio of the Month, August
Cavalleria Rusticana is undoubtedly one of the
most popular operas to date, written by Pietro Mascagni and first performed on
May 17 1890. Turiddu's goodbye to his mother, "Mamma, quel vino ? generoso" from
the last act is the featured aria for the August AM and as usual the article has
been written by Geoff Mallinson. Tenors are: Giovanni Martinelli (r1927),
Achille Braschi (r1952), Daniele Barioni (r1960), Eugenio Fernandi (r1960s),
Gianfranco Cecchele (r1967) and Corneliu Murgu (c1980). There is also a mystery
voice.
Mignon
Posted by Grandi-Tenori.com | Date 27 June 2008
Audio of the Month, June
Partly what changed my opinion on Di Stefano was hearing him sing "Ah, non
credevi tu" in recording from 1947. It was pure beauty. This wonderful aria from
Thomas Ambroise's opera "Mignon" is material for Geoffrey Mallinson's Audio of
the Month for June, and apart from Di Stefano, singers include Alfred Piccaver
(1914), Andr? d'Arkor (1931), Anatoli Orfionov [or Orfenov] (1940s), Georgi
Vinogradov (1948) and Roberto Alagna (2001). Courtesy of Keith Shilcock, the
biography on Orfionov has been added to the tenor
library.
If
you missed last month's AM, try it now.
AM: June 2008: Elle ne croyait pas
AM: May 2008: Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd
sch?n
Tenors: Anatoli
Orfionov
Why Di Stefano Was Unique
Posted by Grandi-Tenori.com | Date 8 April 2008
Audio of the Month, April
It is one month since Giuseppe di Stefano (1921-2008) passed away and we
remember the great Sicilian tenor with an honorary Audio of the Month
featuring 14 of his most memorable recordings. The article is written by Dr Neil
Kurtzman.
AM: April 2008: Why
Giuseppe di Stefano Was Unique
"Wagner's music is better than it sounds."
Posted by Grandi-Tenori.com | Date March 2008
Audio of the Month, March
Friday 21 March 2008
The 2nd installment of
"Winterst?rme" is ready and includes further 6 renditions of the aria: Modest
Menzinsky (1910), Riccardo Martin (1911), Cesare Vezzani, Lauritz Melchior
(1931), Piero Pauli (1933) and Robert Dean Smith (2001). There is also a 2nd
Mystery Voice.
AM: March 2008:
Winterst?rme, Part II
Tuesday 11
March 2008
Woody Allen once said about Wagner's music that he can't
listen that much to it, "I start getting the urge to conquer Poland!"
According to Mark Twain, "Wagner's music is better than it sounds." And
this month it will sound on GT - Geoff Mallinson has chosen the aria
"Winterst?rme" from Wagner's Die Walk?re and the tenors include: Vi?as
(1908), Borgatti (1914), Urlus (1915), Widdop (1926), Martinelli (1958) and
Remedios (1973).
AM: March 2008:
Winterst?rme
Giuseppe di Stefano Dies
Posted by Grandi-Tenori.com | Date 3 March 2008
The World's Most Beautiful Voice Silenced
Giuseppe di Stefano died today in his home in Santa Maria Hoe, north of
Milan, The Associated Press reported today. He was 86 and had according
to his widow never recovered from the injuries sustained in an attack at his
family's villa in Kenya in November 2004. With the death of Luciano Pavarotti in
September last year, two of the most beautiful tenor voices this century are
gone.
Forum: Commemorative
thread
GT Feature
page
You Are My Heart's Delight
Posted by Grandi-Tenori.com | Date 8 February 2008
Audio of the Month, February
Lovers of Lehar's music are in for a treat as Geoffrey Mallinson present the
aria Dein ist mein ganzes Herz from the opera Das Land der L?chelns
(The Land of Smiles). A vehicle for Tauber (1935) he is naturally among the
tenors selected, and the list is completed by Dermota (1929), Schmidt (1929),
Craig (1964), Krenn (1971), Rolf Bj?rling (1980) and Bonisolli (1985). Happy
reading and listening.
AM: February 2008:
Dein ist mein ganzes Herz
Asciak Turns 85
Posted by Grandi-Tenori.com | Date 28 January 2008
Celebrates birthday with CD release
All the best wishes to Maltese tenor Paul Asciak who
turns 85 today, 28 January 2008. On the occasion, Michael Storrs Music launches
a compilation CD with the tenor, gathering material from Asciak's career in the
1950s and appearing for the first time on CD. "It's a very happy
moment," Asciak reported to the Times of Malta yesterday and
added: "These are old soundtracks that used to be recorded from the
audience. With today's technology the team has managed to remove the hiss to
bring out the freshness and clarity of the voice. It's quite a mixture of
emotions - while thrilled with the end result, at the same time you want to
cling to its authenticity."
web: Paul Asciak official
website
web: The Times of Malta
web: Michael Storrs Music Label
Happy New Year
Posted by Grandi-Tenori.com | Date 5 January 2008
Colin Bain In Memoriam
Wishing you all the very best in 2008. As a follow-up to Colin Bain's article
on the aesthetics of the recordings of Gigli, I am publishing Barry Ashpole's
article in memory of Bain, who passed away in June 2007.
Article: Ashpole:
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