Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. L'Heure exquise
2. How fair this spot
3. V p�lnoch...v sad�...u font�na
4. Kein andres, das mir so im Herzen loht
5. No.6- Air: Mon coeur est plein d'un noir souci (Act II )
6. Merci, doux cr�piscule
7. La fleur que tu m'avais jet�e
8. So leb' ich noch... Vor deinem Fenster
9. Che gelida manina!
10. Nein, l�nger trag' ich nicht die Qualen...Durch die W�lder, durch die
11. Ecco ridente in cielo (Act I)
12. Una furtiva lagrima
13. Recitativo: Qual mi conturba I sensi
14. Aria: Fuor del mare

Disc 2:

1. Auf dem Berge Ida
2. Ronde du Postillon:Mes amis, �coutez l'histoire (Act I)
3. Der Handschuh, wie pikant-Es duftet nach Tr�fle incarnat
4. Hinweg! Hinweg! Dein dr�uend Angesicht
5. Air:J'ai revu nos amis (Act III )
6. Je crois entendre encore (Act I)
7. Ach, so fromm, ach, so traut

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #736471 in Music
• Released on: 1999-08-03
• Number of discs: 2

Customer Reviews

Great small voice
Nicolai Gedda has a quite 'small' voice but he uses it with great technique and intelligence. It's well focused, very smooth and not least, beautiful. In other words, a perfect lyric tenor.

The combination of technique, intelligence and beauty makes him ideal for lieder, italian bel canto operas, romantic german & french operas. And you get it on these discs. All songs have been collected from the EMI archives, assuring a high production standard. It contains highlights from most of Gedda's most famous recordings, amongst them a lovely floating 'flower song' (Carmen) under Beecham, and a unbelievably beautiful and effortless 'Je crois entendre encore' (Nadir's romance from the Pearlfishers). The most famous tenor-arias from der Freischutz, il Barbiere di Siviglia, l'Elisir d'amore, Martha, la Boheme, der schöne Helena and many others are featured, as well as works by Mozart, Beethoven, Gounod, Lehar, Faure and Grieg. And their all tremendously well done.

Gedda may not be a Wagner singer. Maybe not even suitable for much of Verdi's or Puccini's works. Therefor it's good that these discs has none of this repertoire. It focuses on Geddas other strengths. For, what Gedda misses in extreme power and positive 'vulgarity' (compared to the ever popular Corelli, del Monaco and sometimes Pavarotti), he greatly compensates by the cheer beauty and intelligence of his voice. This is a school-book example of lyric tenor singing, and after listening to these discs I assure you that you will understand why Nicolai Gedda was one of the last centuries most popular tenors. Simply great! And at this price it's almost a shame not to own it. A must för lovers of the somewhat lighter opera repertoire.

Great example of this terrific tenor's work
Nicolai Gedda had such a large palette of COLORS to his voice. If you will notice in this recording, there are some selections that sound quite dark and baritone-like ("Hotel" is a particular example of this). Then on another band, you will hear a super-lyric tenor, ringing the rafters with E-flats above high C - absolutely spectacular. The Russian pieces are - WOW. I really love this guy, and have admired his voice since I was studying voice many years ago - what a winsome spirit he has, along with his obviously prodigious vocal and expressive gifts.

Correcting Mr. Bjornson
Just a brief word or two to correct the sole erroneous impression left by Mr. Bjornson's review. Nicolai Gedda did not have a "small" voice. Perhaps I should say "does not have" since he still performs occasionally. I heard him many times in the old Metropolitan Opera House, and he had what could be termed a medium-sized voice, certainly larger than Alfredo Kraus's back then or Juan Diego Florez's today, both fine singers by the way. In all other respects I agree with Mr. Bjornson and second his recommendation to purchase this fine 2-CD set.