The sweetest of voices, dear Cesare Valletti! Perfect legato, rubato in the old style along with an infallible sense of phrasing, everything is so natural and beautiful. One becomes so nostalgic...
Amen, Cesare: it was those singers interpretation of the portati, portamenti as are found in the authoritative writing of the best 19th-c. teachers. This tenor's rare correctness of vocality surpasses many of the interpretations and emissions of even the greatest singers of a generation before him.
Who Are you Cesaare??? I love your comment, so true, I am fighting on explain that to modern singing! Singing the flow of the air is not "no scooping" it is the slow reaction of the breath on the vocal cords, making the sound smooth , full of emotions, not attack direct , closed into the head tones!!! Love you comment!!!!
Dear Cesaare, you forgot to mention so-called "modern" directors, who mistake beautiful, great pieces of opera for a Brecht play or an example for the theatre of the absurd! They were really the ones who put the last nails into the coffin of this magnificent art.
I have two theories (and they complement each other). First, it's natural for a director to want to leave his mark. And it's hard to do so in a "conservative" way - to offer a fresh and personal angle while not straying far from the original concept. It requires talent and a great love and respect for opera (or theatre, more widely) and the performers, and an understanding of their capabilities and physical limitations. I've read an interview with an opera director who said music didn't really matter - that approach is simply wrong. And even if you love opera, you can still go too far if turning things upside down and inside out is the only way for you to bring an original touch. The second thing is directors think they have to make the opera relatable for modern audiences. Which is of course true. But the fact is, a good performance will bring out the universal truth and the emotion - like in this example, where Valletti's singing can't fail to move you. When I listen to one of the golden age recordings, I feel the emotions and I can even picture the action - it all comes alive. Of course, when you don't have singers of that caliber, you end up feeling you have to do something to shake things up. I think in some cases it works better than in others - it depends on the opera and it depends on the director. But too often it gets entirely out of hand, unfortunately.
I heard no scooping, just nice legato. Scooping as a bad habit occurs as a "coming up to the note" constantly. This guy hit notes bang on and just slid them up to the next ones for musical expression. He clearly had incredible command of his technique.
Cesare Valletti, no hesitationl Listen to the recording of Mozart's "La Betulia Liberata", on Opera d'Oro (OPD 1417), with the most spectacular cast available at the time, a live broadcast with Miriam Pirazzini (Giuditta), Elizabeth Schwarzkopf (Amital), Cesare Valletti (Ozia), and Boris Christoff (Achior), with Mario Rossi as conductor or the RAI Orchestra and Chorus, Turin, April 30, 1952. You can hear the mellowness of Valletti's tone and purity of phrasing. "La Betulia Liberata", by the way, is the most remarkable recording of Mozart's teenage masterpiece. He was 15 years old, in 1771, traveling through Italy with his Dad. He had just performed "Mitridate" at the Milan opera house, and was working on his next commission, "Lucio Silla" for the 1772 Xmas gala in Milan. The piece is itself breath-taking, in the grand style. It is classified as "oratorio" instead of "opera", only because the beheading of the enemy general, Holofernes, does not take place on stage. Giuditta sings before she goes out on her killing mission to save and liberate the besieged city, Betulia. She sings again on her return to describe the action, the gruesome beheading (4th c. BC). Ozia is the prince of the city, her boss and admirer. It is in mono sound, but the sound is good, even gorgeous. Most young people have never heard of Cesare Valletti, nor of Miriam Pirazzini, two sensational singers, alas. It is a great pleasure to reconnect with Valletti here.
@@xxsaruman82xx87 You know nothing about great art if you can't appreciate the intelligence, talent and interpretation of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. You don't have to like her voice, even though it's beautiful in its own special way. I said very little, this page is dedicated to the wonderful Valleti, but such a statement of yours provokes a reaction. Schwarzkopf was one of the most important artists for a great reason, it is not her fault that she is not appreciated by people whose insensitivity does not reach the perfection and culture of that phenomenal woman.
With this recording I am descovering a new world near the singing of Caruso. After having heard Caruso I have "tried" to hear ohter tenors: unbearable!! Hearing this version I know the two versions different in style, but both of them so human and so expressive that I can hear them endlessly and every time desscover other expressions which escaped my awareness in the previous hearings. This is real living music and not only a show.
Valletti un tenore che aveva una voce dolce ed un timbro amoroso, un fraseggio morbidissimo (Schipa docet) ed un suono luminoso oltre ad un legato da antologia.... Ah se oggi avessimo tenori del genere... Che nostalgia.
the section from 1:43 to 2:10 is the part where I judge singers on this aria! Valletti sings it with lovely smooth long controlled phrasing without over-singing. I've always loved Nicolai Gedda singing it too (& many others arias)
Hermosura de interpretación!! El gran Cesare Valletti, después de su maestro Tito Schipa y Bruno Landi, es quien mejor interpreta está hermosa pieza (opinión personal). 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
"If you sing an aria like this today you probably will not pass a serious audition." I disagree. You make a valid point that today's singing is unemotional, but it is in no way "correct." If someone came out of the woodwork singing like Valletti does here, they would be a superstar... reason being that this type of singing is correct technically and physiologically allowing the delicate emotional expression to shine through. Today's singing does not subscribe to natural laws...
Personally I prefer Salvatore Gioia’s performance; perfectly measured, intence performance hinting maybe of the inner demons he had. That is my personal feeling and that is what I find interesting with opera or art as a whole.
Unfortunately recordings of those days were not as good as today, he would have probably done a better job, out of tune at some passagios. Susana Vegas
The sweetest of voices, dear Cesare Valletti! Perfect legato, rubato in the old style along with an infallible sense of phrasing, everything is so natural and beautiful. One becomes so nostalgic...
Cesare Valletti, such a fine artist in my view and ear
WOW!
It is the great Cesare Valletti, pupil of Tito Schipa
Wow I really felt that ! Beautiful
I have just listened to several versions of this masterpiece (Beniamino Gigli, Pavarotti, etc...)and this is by far the most moving.
Thank you.
Er war sooo hinreißend als Nemorino!
I also like Di Stefano's
Giovanni Malipiero
@@ladystarfall1539 Don't forget TITO SCHIPA
Amen, Cesare: it was those singers interpretation of the portati, portamenti as are found in the authoritative writing of the best 19th-c. teachers. This tenor's rare correctness of vocality surpasses many of the interpretations and emissions of even the greatest singers of a generation before him.
Who Are you Cesaare??? I love your comment, so true, I am fighting on explain that to modern singing! Singing the flow of the air is not "no scooping" it is the slow reaction of the breath on the vocal cords, making the sound smooth , full of emotions, not attack direct , closed into the head tones!!! Love you comment!!!!
I am available, for collaboration if you want to open an online studio/school.
@@Melicflucius where are you based?
Most beautiful tenor voice I ever heard.. 'live', that is.
very good . i hear him for the first time
Those were the days! Who need the nowadays singers ? Not me!
Che meraviglia
De todas las interpretaciones que he escuchado para mí esta es la mejor interpretación la más adaptada al texto de lo que se está diciendo
That is really beautiful singing! A perfect Nemorino.
Bravo! Cesare Valletti... student of Tito Schippa... masters of rubato and my all time favorites
Mon oreille est joyeuse, avec ces grandes voies italiennes.
Mais le monde est vaste !!!
Maravilloso!!!
I really, really like this clip. It is a superb example of the Italian emotional expression by a wonderful tenor. Loved it!
Dear Cesaare, you forgot to mention so-called "modern" directors, who mistake beautiful, great pieces of opera for a Brecht play or an example for the theatre of the absurd! They were really the ones who put the last nails into the coffin of this magnificent art.
E' vero!!!
I have two theories (and they complement each other). First, it's natural for a director to want to leave his mark. And it's hard to do so in a "conservative" way - to offer a fresh and personal angle while not straying far from the original concept. It requires talent and a great love and respect for opera (or theatre, more widely) and the performers, and an understanding of their capabilities and physical limitations. I've read an interview with an opera director who said music didn't really matter - that approach is simply wrong. And even if you love opera, you can still go too far if turning things upside down and inside out is the only way for you to bring an original touch.
The second thing is directors think they have to make the opera relatable for modern audiences. Which is of course true. But the fact is, a good performance will bring out the universal truth and the emotion - like in this example, where Valletti's singing can't fail to move you. When I listen to one of the golden age recordings, I feel the emotions and I can even picture the action - it all comes alive. Of course, when you don't have singers of that caliber, you end up feeling you have to do something to shake things up.
I think in some cases it works better than in others - it depends on the opera and it depends on the director. But too often it gets entirely out of hand, unfortunately.
My beloved Valletti!!! Listen to his Sonnambula with Callas!!!
I heard no scooping, just nice legato. Scooping as a bad habit occurs as a "coming up to the note" constantly. This guy hit notes bang on and just slid them up to the next ones for musical expression. He clearly had incredible command of his technique.
Cesare Valletti, no hesitationl
Listen to the recording of Mozart's "La Betulia Liberata", on Opera d'Oro (OPD 1417), with the most spectacular cast available at the time, a live broadcast with Miriam Pirazzini (Giuditta), Elizabeth Schwarzkopf (Amital), Cesare Valletti (Ozia), and Boris Christoff (Achior), with Mario Rossi as conductor or the RAI Orchestra and Chorus, Turin, April 30, 1952.
You can hear the mellowness of Valletti's tone and purity of phrasing.
"La Betulia Liberata", by the way, is the most remarkable recording of Mozart's teenage masterpiece. He was 15 years old, in 1771, traveling through Italy with his Dad. He had just performed "Mitridate" at the Milan opera house, and was working on his next commission, "Lucio Silla" for the 1772 Xmas gala in Milan.
The piece is itself breath-taking, in the grand style. It is classified as "oratorio" instead of "opera", only because the beheading of the enemy general, Holofernes, does not take place on stage.
Giuditta sings before she goes out on her killing mission to save and liberate the besieged city, Betulia. She sings again on her return to describe the action, the gruesome beheading (4th c. BC). Ozia is the prince of the city, her boss and admirer.
It is in mono sound, but the sound is good, even gorgeous. Most young people have never heard of Cesare Valletti, nor of Miriam Pirazzini, two sensational singers, alas.
It is a great pleasure to reconnect with Valletti here.
Schwarzkopf is so overrated. As is Christoff for that matter. Valletti and Pirazzini are great.
@@xxsaruman82xx87 You know nothing about great art if you can't appreciate the intelligence, talent and interpretation of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. You don't have to like her voice, even though it's beautiful in its own special way. I said very little, this page is dedicated to the wonderful Valleti, but such a statement of yours provokes a reaction. Schwarzkopf was one of the most important artists for a great reason, it is not her fault that she is not appreciated by people whose insensitivity does not reach the perfection and culture of that phenomenal woman.
Que suavidade. Belíssimo.
meraviglioso .
Ormai ci legano solo i rimpianti a noi amanti della lirica e delle vere e grandi voci...
la perfection absolue
With this recording I am descovering a new world near the singing of Caruso. After having heard Caruso I have "tried" to hear ohter tenors: unbearable!! Hearing this version I know the two versions different in style, but both of them so human and so expressive that I can hear them endlessly and every time desscover other expressions which escaped my awareness in the previous hearings. This is real living music and not only a show.
¡MARAVILLOSO!!!
So beautifully sung. Thank you.
a fluting voice, perfect sound for an aria so appealing the feelings like this one.
La mejor versión que escuché hasta ahora.
and therefore bars a singer from experiencing not only free, natural singing, but open and expressive singing.
Valletti un tenore che aveva una voce dolce ed un timbro amoroso, un fraseggio morbidissimo (Schipa docet) ed un suono luminoso oltre ad un legato da antologia.... Ah se oggi avessimo tenori del genere... Che nostalgia.
Florez è bravino..ma Gigli,Schipa,Tagliavini,Pippo Di Stefano..altra categoria
Very touching. This is the first video with Cesare Valletti. Whenever I see his name on the casts I take immediately those performances.
Check out his live performance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
the section from 1:43 to 2:10 is the part where I judge singers on this aria! Valletti sings it with lovely smooth long controlled phrasing without over-singing. I've always loved Nicolai Gedda singing it too (& many others arias)
Great!!
너무 멋지고 빛나는 voice...
Bravo!
Hermosura de interpretación!! El gran Cesare Valletti, después de su maestro Tito Schipa y Bruno Landi, es quien mejor interpreta está hermosa pieza (opinión personal). 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Me gusta la de Enrico Caruso
Misurato elegante storico adatto al pezzo
Born in Andalucía, Spain in 12/28/1897 and d. In Coruña , Galicia Spain in 05/29/1938
Miguel Fleta nació en Albalate de Cinca un pueblo de la provincia de Huesca
He performs it very similarly to Enrico Caruso
Ferrucio Tagliavini
Valletti
Yes - it is Cesare Valetti.
Never a doubt: It's the great stylist Cesare Valletti!
Cesare Valletti!
The best is Tito Schipa's 1929 recording.
Cesare Valetti - bravo!
"If you sing an aria like this today you probably will not pass a serious audition." I disagree. You make a valid point that today's singing is unemotional, but it is in no way "correct." If someone came out of the woodwork singing like Valletti does here, they would be a superstar... reason being that this type of singing is correct technically and physiologically allowing the delicate emotional expression to shine through. Today's singing does not subscribe to natural laws...
purtoppo e' cosi', molti gridi e niente arte!
Cesare Valetti, Tito Schipa pupil.
Cesare Valletti. No doubt!!
Kiss.
Personally I prefer Salvatore Gioia’s performance; perfectly measured, intence performance hinting maybe of the inner demons he had. That is my personal feeling and that is what I find interesting with opera or art as a whole.
cesare valletti?
Es un play back.
Das ist Cesare Valletti, das sieht und hört man doch, mein Gott!!
definately Valletti
Das ist Cesare Valletti
Irish tenor John McCormick is the tenor’s voice.
th-cam.com/video/vln17pHqtLE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=PpWReqMo-rVV_-Xb
Who is the tenor, please?
Cesare Valletti is the tenor
Think it's Tito schipa
I wonder what everyone thinks of this very young Tenor-not long starting out! th-cam.com/video/D8DrxFdNA68/w-d-xo.html
Unfortunately recordings of those days were not as good as today, he would have probably done a better job, out of tune at some passagios. Susana Vegas
To me, Salvatore Gioia was better. Softer. More ambisnce. But thats me...
Manific,?-no. DIAMONT. VOICE.... - GRACIAfor this memoria video
Valletti