Track Listing

1. Aida/Se Quel Guerrier Io Fossi! ... Celeste Aida (Atto 1)
2. Favorita/Favorita del Re! ... Spirto Gentio (Atto 4)
3. Gioconda/Cielo E Mar (Atto 2)
4. Manon Lescaut/Donna Non Vidi Mai (Atto 1)
5. Adriana Lecouvreur/L'Anima Ho Stanca (Atto 2)
6. Tosca/Recondita Armonia (Atto 1)
7. Tosca/E Lucevan le Stelle (Atto 3)
8. Trovatore/Ah Sì, Ben Mio... di Quella Pira (Atto 3)
9. Norma/Meco All'altar di Venere... Me Protegge, Me Difende (Atto 1)
10. Gli Ugonotti/Non Lunge Della Torre... Bianca al Par di Neve Alpina ...
11. Roméo et Juliette/L'Amour, l'Amour... Ah! Lève-Toi, Soleil! (Acte 2)
12. Cavalleria Rusticana/Intanto Amici... Viva il Vino Spumeggiante
13. Cavalleria Rusticana/Mamma, Quel Vion È Generoso
14. Andrea Chénier/Colpito Qui M'Avete... un Dí All'azzurro Spazio (Atto 1)
15. Andrea Chénier/Legray! ... Andrea Chénier! ... Sì, Fui Soldato (Atto 3)
16. Andrea Chénier/Come un Bel Dì di Maggio (Atto 4)
17. Pagliacci/Recitar! ... Vesti La Giubba (Atto 1)
18. Turandot/Nessun Dorma

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #136780 in Music
• Released on: 1997-10-14
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Vincero!
Hear the Tenor of the century! This Franco Corelli CD contains many of his greatest recordings...the long lost 2nd half of "A Portrait of Franco Corelli". No tenor can compete with the sheer power and excitment of Corelli's high "c" from Di quella pira. After hearing his impassioned "E lucevan le stella"...with it's awe inspiring diminuendo phrase "Le belle forme disciogliea dai veli...", all must realize that in Corelli we trully had the Tenor of the ages. I challenge all the Pav fans to listen to the "REAL MAN!" Be warned, Track #18, his Nessun dorma will forever ruin your enjoyment of this song when others sing it. No one holds the "Vincero" like Corelli. NO ONE! Enjoy the albulm, I challenge anyone to find a "Vincero" like Corelli's

In A Class By Himself
Franco Corelli, who sang from 1951 to 1975, was the greatest tenore di forza of the postwar era. A powerful and exciting singer, never a subtle, elegant, or refined one, he had his detractors (who called him crude, vulgar, self-indulgent, and who lambasted his execrable French), but there can be no argument about the quality of his voice, a big, vibrant tenor with a thrilling timbre (often described as rich, dark, or baritonal) and a brilliant, secure top that must have been the envy and despair of other tenors. A nervous performer repeatedly subject to pre-performance jitters and anxiety attacks (a wag once said of him that Corelli could always think of more reasons not to sing than to sing), once onstage he was a generous singer who gave fully of himself and, like Caruso, poured out his magnificent voice unstintingly, never holding back.

The voice itself was one of the glories of the generously-endowed operatic scene of the Fifties and Sixties, and one of greatest tenor voices of the century. Herbert von Karajan said of Corelli, "A voice of heroic power, yet with great beauty of tone; darkly sensuous, mysteriously melancholic . . . but above all, a voice of thunder and lightning, fire and blood." Harold C. Schonberg, senior music of the New York Times, reviewing Corelli's Metropolitan debut in 1961, noted that his voice "has something of an exciting animal drive about it, and when Mr. Corelli lets loose, he can dominate an ensemble," and later described his voice as "a force of nature, an act of God, the vocal equivalent of an earthquake, volcano or hurricane." The distinguished musicologist Paul Henry Lang writing in the New York Herald-Tribune called Corelli "a latter-day Caruso." Alan Rich of the New York Herald-Tribune wrote of him, "There is no tenor in modern times, Italian or otherwise, whose voice rings out with greater vibrancy, whose every tone carries with it emotion at white heat. The sounds he makes, seemingly without effort, are dazzlingly bright, urgent, and communicative." Since Corelli's retirement we haven't heard anything remotely like him, and those of us who know his voice (and Bjorling's) can perhaps be pardoned for finding the "three tenors" so popular today somewhat anemic in comparison.

I have been an admirer of Corelli, a collector of his recordings, and a follower of his career since the 1950s (before he sang in America, when his only recordings were Italian Cetra imports). I have just about everything he recorded. This CD is a fine, representative selection of Corelli's Angel/EMI studio recordings from the 1960s, when he was in his prime, and a good introduction to his singing, including two roles in which he was without a peer: Andrea Chenier and Calaf in Turandot. You will never hear a more thrilling and heroic Improviso from Chenier than the one here. And if you're fond of Nessun dorma, this is one of the great ones.

There is no tenor singing today with a voice the equal of this one. Don't miss it.

Super
This is a great testament to the studio art of Franco Corelli. Although there are some exceptions, these is a great collection of arias that Franco sang incredibly well. His is a voice that has a strong, baritonish middle and a high voice that cuts through the air as a blade. Highly reccomended.