M. Caballe & J. Carreras "O soave fanciulla" La boheme

[magichacker929]

Horrendous ending from carreras

[abdito721]

why do they go out of the stage that fast... zero in actoral interpretation hahahaha awful awful such a magnificent aria has been destroyed here

[abdito721]

awful... i got  a problem with caballe... i dont feel anything in this video... :S

[smokelean]

carreras may not b the best tenor technically however he has the most intensity and drama over many top3 for that

[Dymension]

This is a B natural. There was a transposition there some of you missed...

[Mukerji1]

Caballe doesn't take her ring off! lOl But Great!

[Nockturnmortem]

BRAVO!

[rebekkar1979]

She is great - not only beautiful soprano but woman in love. So much tenderness in her singing.

[dennisdeemii]

wow...i didn't think he'd go up for the top note at the end! i'm pleased!

[wdyp]

The discussion here is pointless: Puccini wrote a medium E for Rodolfo’s last note in this aria.

[seektheforce]

My favorite, is the one Jussi did with his wife Anna-lisa

watch?v=r3v1wIlunzQ&feature=re­lated

Yes Corelli had a wonderful high C, but so did Bjoerling.

[gerry4339]

franco corelli had the greatest high c of any tenor who ever lived carreras or domingo are or never were in the same league. domingo doesnt have a top c and carreras sounds like a schreeching cat trying to get the c note.

[pepeelsordo]

Carreras has a beautiful center and never learned how to sing above the passagio. His voice is-was that way. The frazing is exquisite, his italian so exciting!

As an actor very mediocre. He looked vey good on stage.

But, again, the center of his voice is of such velvet for a tenor!

If one likes high notes, don't go to Carreras. If you like artistry, then he delivers.

[Nicrhind]

Placido Domingo's nickname in opera cirles in Placi Mingo... because he doesn't have a 'Do.'

[godivapaw]

What the! Why the transposition!?

[Erdrick345]

well Caballe is finer than Carreras who struggles here. I believe that the Bjoerling/Tibaldi version is the finest and without peer..and it's on You Tube

[musoph21]

sang montsi

[youchowchow]

Todavía no comprendo xq gustó tanto Carreras, esto es muy malo.

[Mariss666]

OK, am I going crazy, or they totally changed the key at 2:08? I've never heard that version before! weird... can anyone explain?

[spgtenor]

Tenors taking the high note to outscream the soprano at the end of this sublime duet is completely tasteless. Even more tasteless is having it transposed down in the middle of the piece; Jose usually just sings it as written, which is wonderful, this was not, not to mention the weight gain on both of them.

[godivapaw]

Oh no you DID'NT!!! Leave the weight out of this!!!!

[spgtenor]

I can't. One reason I've always liked Jose is that I believe him in the character, he's always maintained a good weight and put effort into his role. He's hardly recognizable here. Good singing otherwise.

[dennisdeem]

Best Boheme is Freni and Pavarotti...unquestionable.

[Kallistos07]

It´s a opinion, nothing else.

[comey717]

Best sex is your mother.:))

[tdeane34]

I agree

[novice1959]

I usually LOVE these two together but on this one it just doesn't quite work. Cabelle's voice overwhelms Carreras a bit, eventhough both of their voices are beautiful, of course. I prefer the La Boheme with Carreras & Stratas.

[BriefEncounter1987]

yeh not feeling the chemistry between these 2!! needs a bit more passion.....get placido domingo on the case!!!

[kngiht84]

Are you still sane ? There is no better tenor to pair with Caballe than Carreras.

[OettingerCroat]

agreed, they are very very good together

[filiodecallas]

Más allá de lo desencajado que puede resultar el hecho de bajar de tonalidad al dueto, noto que es un efecto interesante. Le da una oscuridad, un sentido dramático que pocas veces puede expresarse en obras y roles tan difíciles como esta locura de Puccini.Ellos, cantan en nombre del amor, pero el final no será rosa. Ello justifica, a mi juicio, el recurso de bajar la tonalidad. Bravo por ello!

[ik4us]

His singing is not on the level here, pure screeming, really hurts

[verdi37]

does not really work with these two no chemistry.

[JuJo4000]

I wish the tenor could not show off with the high C, and E is what is written, and it makes the song that more beautiful when there is harmony. The harmony is what Puccini used to text paint, two hearts in harmony. If Carreras sang the E Caballe could have floated a beautiful high C, and then the song would have been as written 'pp' at the end not ff

[crazyjack876]

a rather "plump" mimi....

[876234ABC]

Plump was HOT back then...it's coming back into fashion.

[diehlan]

que gordo que esta aca carreras...

[vietkey]

Anyway, when exactly does the key change? Is it at 1:59 when Carreras starts signing a half step lower?

[donatello1]

Not only did they change keys around 2:05, but the tempo is slower than normal. This is hard enough to sing without it dragging the way it did. Still, I loved it.

[bluewizowl]

ooo, you're right...out of key at that point...surprising

[Dymension]

No, this was done when the tenor wanted to singing the high C but didn't want to "waste" a high C so they do a half step transposition so the note is a B natural. Some sopranos did it as well (think Tebaldi).

[sparkleplenty101]

I thought HE hit it perfectly. It wasn't his bad singing, it was hers. Not a very good soprano.

[OettingerCroat]

are u out of ur mind? caballé is internationally regarded by some as the latter-day superior of Callas. she has such superfluous vocal finesse.

[Dymension]

The note to which they are referring is a transposition...not a mistake on either part...

[30martin082007]

2 grandes!!!

[henrykkingdom]

great!!!Caballe!!!great

[undiaatras]

The final note of nessun dorma is not a high C, it´s a B or Ti (half tone less). Maybe, he can hit the high C in his house, but not in an opera.

[undiaatras]

They changed the key, because Carrera don`t have the high C. Then, the final note is a B, not a C (like in the others performance).

[eddyarias2]

Carreras can hit the high C's but maybe not over here in O Soave Fanciulla because of the nature of the song, this song is very exhausting. For instance, in Nessun Dorma, he can hit the high C at the end, otherwise he wouldn't be a tenor.

[mcknighty11]

He rearly used his C, mainly in studio recordings, but he may have used in on stage a few times. Although I don't know it would have been in the mid 80s that he stopped hitting the C for anything.

[TheSHadowV]

Not necessarily. Many Tenor's do not have a high C. Caruso didn't. Placido does, but doesn't use it live. Corelli took number of years to work the C into his range and still often lowered songs like Che Gelida Manina. Then there are tenors like Lanza or Pavarotti who have high Ds and use them sometimes.

[tdeane34]

I'm not sure you really know what you are talking about. Domingo had less of a high C than Carreras did and Corelli had the greatest high C of any tenor, period! If you do you your homework you will find countless examples of Corelli singing enormous and beautiful high C's on stage. Carreras also sang high C's on stage which Domingo did not.

[TheSHadowV]

Music is a personal thing. The sound you like may not be the sound someone else likes.

I didn't say Corelli didn't have a high C. Corelli Started his career without a high C and admittedly didn't have it all the time after he worked it into his voice. Once he was comfortable with it his C was quite brilliant, but if you do enough searches you'll find that Corelli often lowered arias with a high C when he wasn't up to it, but mostly at the end or beginning of his career.

[tdeane34]

Ummm, you are simpl way off. I actually know quite a bit about Corelli and he always had a high C. If "you" do enough searches you'll get your shit right. Corelli lowered di quella pira on stage as did every other tenor and he lowered Che gelida manina. What else? Also, I am a professional musician, so don't be so condescending and try and lecture me on how every one has there own taste.

[marokt]

Domingo sang high Cs in Otello and in Manon. He often cracked on the high C at the end of In questa reggia (e.g. with Marton in MET and with Dimirtova in Scala). Corelli lowered Pira and Che gelida. But I've listened about 6 live Turandot, and he always sings more than "comfortable" high Cs in In questa reggia and at the end of the act. Exactly huge ones. And sometimes at the end of Dio che nell alma in Carlo, or in Enzo Grimaldo..duett in Gioconda. Also hot Cs.

[Mooorhe]

Their own taste*

[tdeane34]

what a stupid comment.

[maxhansendk]

@tdeane34 I am writing this only because the high C. I love Corelli! But the high C from Nicolai Gedda in this song is always, always better!

In other songs I sometimes prefer Corelli.



[delanyinspiron6400]

@tdeane34 I bet you haven't heard from Pavarotti, if you say Corelli had the greatest high C... Listen to his O soave Fanciualla for example and stand in awe! Pavarotti had the greatest high C ever!

[QuiRan82]

@tdeane34 And still my fave is Pavarotti...

[jessrs16]

@tdeane34 High C obsesion, what about diction, phrasing and expression problems that Corelli had on stage.

[Englishtenor2]

@tdeane34 You're right except on one thing: Domingo did sing many C's onstage, but let's just say they weren't his strong point!

[tdeane34]

@Englishtenor2 No he didn't. He sang a couple on stage.

[TheSHadowV]

-As I said before, Domingo doesn't use his High C live because he's not comfortable with it, however there are countless recordings of him using his high C, and if you ask me Pavarotti has one of the most beautiful, effortless high Cs ever! Even Caruso didn't favor his high C, but there are a few recordings where he goes for it and his high C is so vibrant it often distorted the recordings.

[tdeane34]

How do you figure Domingo had a high C? You are the only person I have ever heard say that. Even big Domingo fans admit that he didn't have a high C and barely had a high B. The VERY few recordings(not countless as you state) of him singing a high C are terrible! Incredibly pinched and forced, sounding as if he had to resort to self castration to hit the note. If you added up all the C's he has sung live or on recording, I bet it wouldn't add up to 15 seconds.

[vietkey]

That's still better than Domingo, who has decided to sing F-E instead of A-C in all of his La Boheme performances.

[naoto84]

At 2:05 "Già mi mandi via" is off-key!?!? Why did they change it?

[eddyarias2]

If you are talking about the symphony, I do believe they changed the key. IT sounded really weird, like burial music.

[eddyarias2]

this must have been really hard for Carreras to sing

[tena2]

i agree with you, but i think it depends on the opera though as he sings very well la forza del destino´s hight notes without a problem, la bohem is different and i felt pain as he was singing along as it is very hard for him, thanks for the comment.

luis tena from valencia

[dennisdeem]

you are right. he didn't have the high Cs. neither did Domingo really.

[GrandMaestro]

Although this clip is fabulous I wonder why they changed the key. The key change starts at 1:56 its lowered. At the end its normally a high C but their singing a high B. I'm just wondering why they might have done this. Regardless of this.......the clip is great.

[patjan1992]

I read a review many years ago remarking that Caballe's voice was not suited to Puccini. I thought he was crazy then and I think he's crazy now. This is beautiful.

[zurriuss]

Two "THE GREAT"! Oh, how I love Montserrat and Carreras! Bravooo! Thanks for postin this.

[Phaedrax2]

Great Stuff!

[Slartiebartfast]

My favorite aurea and my favorite tenor.

[Slartiebartfast]

"Aria", I apologize for the mispelling.

[steainsy]

such chemistry

[gheeah]

hear their voices, see their honesty and fall in love with this art....

[viziagi]

It has already happened.