“The Ultimatum of his Artistry” Franco Corelli was a voice of thunder, fire, and blood. He had the ability to throw a high note and stun an audience with sheer power unrivaled by any opera singer in the stage today. He also had the great powerful range of an undisputed baritone, and his voice was like laser cutting through steel. The epitome of the tenor voice is found in this man’s singing, as he has an excellent range and has the ability to color a multitude of phrases with excellent taste for good music as well. His Bellini, Donizetti, Puccini, Verdi, Mascagni, Leoncavallo, Giordano, Meyerbeer, and Neapolitan songs are all excellent vehicles for such a powerful voice, and his interpretation can almost be compared to that of the great soprano Maria Callas. A great voice such as his will be missed. Rest in peace Signor Corelli, you truly are the greatest tenor of this century.
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Terrible recording  Franco Corelli has a spectacular voice, however this CD skips & jumps all over the place, I will send it back if I can…. Franco Corelli’s “Best” But there is more, for instance two arias from lyric roles that were out of his fach: on CD 1, track 1 brings Bellini’s “A te, o cara,” where you will hear Corelli, who was in his element conveying tragic feelings, transmitting serenity with unbelievable power. And on CD 2, track 6, Donizetti’s “Favorita del Re!,” you’ll listen to a singularly spinto rendition of this aria, where he employs the vocal emission that sounded “mysteriously melancholic” to Karajan. Perhaps a most intriguing piece is his singing Ave Maria by Schubert, who originally wrote it as a German Lied (art song) to be sung by a soprano; later, the words of the Latin prayer were put to Schubert’s music. But this is a different version, with lyrics in Italian: not the translation of the German maiden’s plight, not the translation of the Latin prayer, either. Rather, it is the prayer of the suffering human soul that “chiede merce” (begs for mercy). Listen to Corelli’s love-sounding “Dio” (God). Unfortunately, a chorus of white voices that do not belong with Corelli is included. Amazed First-class tenor |
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2 Comments until now
Corelli the biggest voice in modern operatic history????
The review below argues that Corelli had the biggest voice in modern operatic history. I am not sure about this. How about Gwyneth Jones, Eileen Farrell, Gertrude Grob Prandl, Birgit Nilsson (perhaps not as vocally voluminous as the others listed here, but certainly very loud), Linda Kelm, Jon Vickers, Robert Merrill, Renata Tebaldi, R¨¦gine Crespin, Giangiacomo Guelfi, Cornell Macneil, or Leonard Warren??? All these relatively modern opera singers had enormous voices. Also, I contend that Corelli’s voice is not beautiful. It certainly doesn’t hurt one’s ears, but it is not a classic example of a beautiful tenor voice. For such examples, listen to di Stefano, Carreras, Wunderlich, or Bj?rling. Even Pavarotti will do.
Corelli does have a magnificent, one-in-a-million voice. The timbre is instantly recognizable and he has enormous, super-powerful high notes. The middle part of his voice is very strong and his low notes are full and secure. The singing on this compilation is very exciting and would please any opera house audience today. However, Corelli is certainly inferior in musicianship and taste to other tenors, like Gedda and Bj?rling. Also, Corelli has a tendency to sing forte/fortissimo too often. His pianissimi and diminuendi are excellent and breathtaking, but he bellows much of his music. However, he is never as coarse as Mario del Monaco often is.
Recommended, but keep in mind that Corelli has both GOOD and BAD qualities, just like every other tenor.
L’Ultimo Tenore
Maestro Corelli passed on in October of 03, but his artistic legacy will prevail beyond my years…and I’m only 32.
This CD is prehaps the finest sampling of Maestro Corelli’s collective works. Each aria is presented in a way which has not been heard before or since.
Though heavily critisized in his lifetime for his lowered larynx method of voice production, and for his ferentic stage performances, no one can argue the splendor, power and sheer brilliance of this mans voice.
For anyone familiar with the late Maestro, this will serve as a welcome reminder as to the man’s greatness, and for those of you who are new to opera, or have only heard the name in passing, this is the best CD you can have to really get a good understanding as to why this man, above the superfluous Pavarotti and the accomplished Domingo, has been voted “Tenor of the Century”.
There will be other great voices that shall pass into posterity, but none like this. Franco Corelli was indeed, L’Ultimo Tenore….the last tenor of the golden era of grand opera.
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