Est 1923

Opera Arias - Franco Corelli

Record and Artist Details

Label: EMI

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 49

Mastering:

ADD

Catalogue Number: 747851-2

At the famous tenor's New York debut, Opera magazine's critic reported that Corelli did not appear to be ''too bright'', but that with a voice like that it didn't matter. As we listen to him now, we (the critical ones) may well feel like Othello's ''base Indian'' who threw away a pearl richer than all his tribe, for we certainly spent a disproportionate amount of time castigating his shortcomings rather than rejoicing in his gifts. The items in this present selection give us what may once have been common enough but is not so any longer: the thrill of a vibrant, full-bodied Italian tenor voice, somewhat comparable to that of Lauri-Volpi, and a species that may well prove to be already extinct. Though there are undisciplined passages (too much half-tearful declamation early on in Chenier's Improwiso, for instance), and though he is sometimes needlessly rough (as when asserting the strength of his arm in Il trovatore), he is also an artist capable of ending ''Celeste Aida'' and Romeo's Invocation with a finely controlled diminuendo on the high B flat. And though the emotions may not appear to be differentiated with the finest intelligence, they do impress as being real. He has a genuine feeling for Chenier's utterances, and even if his Romeo is obstinately Italian there is nevertheless a spirit going out to meet both words and music.
All of this was a long time ago—exactly how long there is no means of learning from the booklet or the CD (the date 1981 on the disc is downright misleading) but the recordings come from the 1960s. They survive well, and have no need of the volume boosting suggested by the high level of the transfers, or of the bathroom acoustic noisomely added to the excerpt from Norma.'

Opera Arias - Franco Corelli

Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music. 

Stream on Presto Music | Buy from Presto Music

Gramophone Print

  • Print Edition

From £6.67 / month

Subscribe

Gramophone Digital Club

  • Digital Edition
  • Digital Archive
  • Reviews Database
  • Full website access

From £8.75 / month

Subscribe

                              

If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.