Word: tenore
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...Richard Tucker had never before tried the big, dramatic tenor role of Radames; Toscanini's favorite soprano, red-haired Herva Nelli, who had had to hold herself in as Desdemona in his 1947 broadcast of Otello, was getting a chance to open up as Aida. He had picked three newcomers: slim Norwegian Contralto Eva Gustavson (Amneris), who arrived in the U.S. last October, young Canadian Bass-Baritone Dennis Harbour (the King of Egypt), who a fortnight ago won the Met's radio auditions, and Soprano Teresa Randall (the Priestess), a finalist in the same contest. Baritone Giuseppe Valdengo...
Highest praise must go to the principals. The generally high quality of both singing and acting fully compensates for the absence of big names. Brian Sullivan sings the tenor role of Grimes with understanding realism, and Ellen Orford, the widow schoolmistress, is touchingly played by Polyna Stoska...
Verdi: Aïda (Beniamino Gigli, tenor; Maria Caniglia, soprano; Ebe Stignani, mezzo-soprano; Gino Bechi, baritone; Italo Tajo, bass, and others with the Rome Opera Orchestra and chorus, Tullio Serafin conducting; Victor, 40 sides). With such a cast, Aïda should have come off brilliantly; instead, it just barely comes off, with some good singing (Ebe Stignani's) and some bad (e.g., Gigli's Celeste Aïda is painful). Recording: fair...
Verdi: La Forza del Destine (Maria Caniglia, soprano; Ebe Stignani, mezzo-soprano; Galliano Masini, tenor; Tancredi Pasero, bass; Carlo Tagliabue, baritone, and others with the EIAR Symphony Orchestra and chorus, Gino Marinuzzi conducting; Cetra-Soria, 36 sides). Some of the singers made Verdi's less worthy opera sound far better than the Aïda. Recording: good...
...however, of Eleanor Davis' "Laudamusic," which was altogether competent. The soprano, Phyllis Curtin, had the most difficult role of all, particularly in the jumps of the "Et incarnatus est." Though she had many exquisite tones, she showed a slight unwillingness to land decisively on a note and sustain it. Tenor Summer Crockett was inaudible at times during his soles and his voles unpleasantly constrained...