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From: vaimusic
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  • BJORLING & TEBALDI...AMAZING...IF THERE NOT IN HEAVEN WHEN I GET THERE (I'M GOING TO BE A GOOD BOY FROM NOW ON!) THEN I WANT A RETURN PASS, BECAUSE THERE CAN,T BE A HEAVEN FOR ME WITHOUT THESE VOICE'S TO HEAR!...SINGING SIMPLY PUT DOES NOT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS.....

  • This is a gorgeous recording by these two great singers, they have never been equalled in my opinion.

  • shouldn t have a "dislike" option! this is love between a man and a woman

  • QUE DOS VOCES, DIOS MIO !!!! CUANDO PODREMOS ESCUCHAR ALGO QUE POR LO MENOS  SE ASEMEJE A ESTA MARAVILLA ? LA RESPUESTA ME LA DOY,: PUES, CUANDO ESTOS CANTANTES Y MUCHOS DE SU GENERACIÓN Y ANTERIORES. SE REENCARNEN, PORQUE NO VEO OTRA POSIBILIDAD, CON EL PANORAMA DE VOCES QUE HAY HOY DIA Y VENIDEROS......

  • WOW! Must be so hard to sing so beautifully.

  • 9 Very Mean people out there!

  • @operachad  Bravo your response.

  • These 2 recordings with La Tebaldi are so beautiful. They are even better than the recordings with de Los Angeles. Jussi is as always super, I love him. And for the people who are in the opinion that Jussi is not a very good actor I want to say this.

    With his voice he touches me so that I am not interested in the way he acts. By the way, in these 2 fragments he moves me with a soft and shy approach of the great Tebaldi. As if he is not aware with the fact that he is GREAT as well.

  • BRAVISIMO!!

  • Goosebumps, hairs on necks or whatever else would describe such a wonder, count me in.!!

  • hjaha, never saw a couple falling in love so fast as mimi and rodolfo =P

  • Gorgeous... Tebaldi always seemed so aristocratic to me. I have a hard time seeing her as Mimi (not by voice but by bearing). De los Angeles had the kind of down to earth charm that made her such a lovable Mimi and Carmen. Tebaldi looks better in regal roles like Aida or Adriana. Of course on a recording it's different, but I'm commenting on video here, people.

  • @larkin78 I agree with your comment - Mimi is not an obvious role for Tebaldi. But there are many roles in her repertoire that are surprising - see her "Giunse alfin il momento - Deh' vieni non tardar" from Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro here on youtube. Tebaldi as an exceptional Susanna!

  • BiS !!! iOnce more, min älskade Renata. Oöverträffad.

  • Min älskade Renata! Andra kommentarer saknas.

  • To SHICOFF, wow you are truly privileged to have heard the great JB live. We are lucky to have the mere recordings left for us to enjoy... his singing in this aria of the first 10 seconds is just incredible!!!

  • The sound was much the same as on Records, not as large perhaps a sound as the recordings. I heard him in 1958 as the Duke, the same year I heard Jan Peerce in Recital and a few years later in 1961 Bergonzi in Lucia, Del Monaco in 59' as Otello, then Kraus , in Chicago. Later the young Pavoratti in 1974 in Hollywood in Boheme and later in Recital. Already had heard Tucker Tagliavini, Corelli, Domingo etc. Schipa I heard as an old man in 1962 in California, his farewell recital, many more!

  • What is she saying at 30?

  • About JB- I heard him in house live, not many who post here have and that was an experience to remember. Old age has benefits like hearing the last Golden age of singer that today we do not have.

  • @SHICOFF1 So envious! I have memories of being 5 years old and my dad playing his records saying he was the best. I believe he saw him with Los Angeles. I would have LOVED to see him live. Please tell us the difference between the recordings and live. It's good to have for us that will never get to see him.

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  • By the way Rolf Bjorling died of Cancer not heart disease according to the books on jussi.

  • I cannot compare tucker and bjorling, too different, a spinto tucker and a lyric basic jussi. apples and oranges. Texas critic john rosenfield, a top man in his day in Texas said in 1955 " No tenor at the met has the combined power and beauty of tucker" Schoenberg and Kolodin and several Italian critics liked him also. Claudia Cassidy in Chicago said his voice was "steel wrapped in velvet" Look under met archives for many reviews. You can also look up Jussi reviews, same site.

  • @SHICOFF1 More like comparing apples and hot dogs.

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  • People arguing about technical aspects of such a charming, warm, beautiful performance by two great talents that are so enjoying the moment? If it were all like this, and we were unaware of technical terms used to dissect the performance, opera would be more popular, at least among those sensitive to true beauty and the connection between performance and soul; and the rest, unaware that they are seeing something special either because they lack sensitivity or are lost in jargon need not listen

  • My God he is amazing.... Mozart was not the only "Amadeus".

  • I find it interesting that out of all of these comments NO ONE - not even the video description - that the entire duet's key is shifted a whole half step right in the middle of the aria!!! They do not sing a high C at the end, they sing a high B natural. It's GENIUS. It is AMAZING!! They are beautiful voices and this version kicks ass all the more so because of this KEY CHANGE in the freakin MIDDLE of the piece. Mimi sings "V'aspettan gli amici" and never sings the G-natural!

  • @mimsings It is normal to do the key shift in the middle. Just for your information.

  • @Melomondo I just asked the assistant conductor at the MET on Thursday evening about this. He said that it was uncommon. It certainly is not acceptable ALL THE TIME. So your use of the word "normal" is pretty misleading. The MET uses some tricks like this only if absolutely necessary. It was expressed to me that this was by no means a common thing.

  • @Melomondo I just asked the assistant conductor at the MET on Thursday evening about this. He said that it was uncommon. It certainly is not acceptable ALL THE TIME. So your use of the word "normal" is pretty misleading. The MET uses some tricks like this only if absolutely necessary. It was expressed to me that this was by no means a common thing.

  • @mimsings Yes, but if the singers have to transpose the duet, it is normally done in the middle and not from the beginning of the duet. You can check it on many recordings. I did not mean to say that it is normal to transpose but if it happens it is normal to do it in the middle.

  • @Luck1au ROFL who are you? Probably some frustrated tenor. Pathetic.

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  • He had a small voice, constricted and forced. He can almost not be heard against the massive, open, free and fat voice of Tebaldi. Only Tucker could rival Tebaldi in volume, thanks to the Stanley method he applied. 

  • @Baritanist , not only Tucker. What about Corelli?

  • @VickiGaye Yes, Corelli had a big voice and squillo. But on the top notes, Tucker was bigger, at times he even blew Tebaldi away.

  • @Baritanist One is not supposed to blow the soprano away. All Bjoerlings female counterparts told of how he always tuned in his voice to blend perfectly. Tuckers voice was big but beauty is a very personal thing...

  • @mozzrt That does not change that Bjoerling's voice was constricted and small. You can hear it perfectly in this video. Tebaldi on the other hand has this beautiful chiaroscuro and tons of squillo.

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  • @Baritanist Went back and looked at your channel. You are obsessed by 'big' voices. As for your sounding like the young MacNeil...MacNeil considered Bjoerling the greatest singer ever, but thats not the point. Show me a 'Critics list' where Tucker is placed above Bjoerling. You won't find anyone. I think Caruso was greater and also Melchior, but the voice of Tucker is hardly hailed by gognoscente is it? Big and bold, you could say that of Del Monaco, the foremost yeller of all...

  • absolutely fabulous. thanks for this.

  • Straordinari.

  • Die Tebaldi ist einfach nur großartig, aber Jussi, den ich so sehr verehre, ist hier nicht mehr so strahlend und überzeugend. Aber immer noch besser, als sehr viele andere!

    Vielen Dank für dieses feine Video!

  • Splendide

  • Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh Bjoerling

  • Now that's a graceful soprano voice I can listen to all day. I don't know maybe there is something wrong with my ears, but I have to say I find most sopranos too hysterically high pitched! Sometimes I can't even bear with their spoken parts.

    But thank God artists like Renata Tebaldi and Maria Callas have proven that shrieking and squeaking are NOT inevitable traits of this vocal range.

    And on Björling's part, well, do I even have to bother you with my comment? ;-)

  • If you want to know if todays singers are as good, go to *O Soave fanciulla* with big stars Netrebko and Vargas. It's AWFUL. False, ugly voices etc. You don't notice it so easily but listening straight after these masters, you will almost scream with horror. It's almost impossible to listen to after this. Sadly...

  • @mozzrt Maybe not too hard to notice either. The first time I returned to listen to today's opera stars after having a wonderful experience with a few legends of the past, here's what I felt (to my astonishment): inaudible, irrelevantly high or loud, little sense of style, and some sounded more like pop singer than operatic singers. and I'm not even in the music business!

    I'm still not boycotting the newer ones and I try to be open to different renditions but so far = rather disappointing

  • @RoyKa2010 Yes thats very sad, the 'quasipop' style a la Brightmann and Il Divo is almost incorporated in opera these days. Luckily there are a few out there, Heppner, Damrau et al. But the era of great singing in the 40s, 50s and the 60s will never be equalled: Alva, Wunderlich, Callas, Verrett, Nilsson, Di Stefano, Flagstad, Bjoerling, Tebaldi, Stignani among many many others. We will never again see a Mozart singer like Alva...and Nilsson is considered the last great Wagner soprano.

  • @mozzrt Oh, yes, thank God for the likes of Ben Heppner and Diana Damrau, who made me wonder why I have been hearing so much about Netrebko when a soprano like is around. I also liked Florez in some roles. He seems to hold Kraus as his role model, which is a good sign.

    But I'd also have to agree with you on that golden era with all those great artists. The perfection achieved in those days feels so elusive and surreal today. Are we to blame technology for this downturn, or the audience, or...?

  • @RoyKa2010 I don't know really. It's sad. Netrebko´is pretty enough, but that's it. As for Diego Florez he is truly great, perhaps the best of them all nowadays. I only fear that the talented will turn into circus acts as Pavarotti, Domingo and the likes. And Bocelli/Potts are so more sucessful than the real artists.

  • @mozzrt

    But maybee they like the fantastik video producer's here on you-tube

    have opened 100 million's sence's fore the fabule's art that opera is

    I mean howe many have a chans to visit the fantastik opera house's

    life?

    I very thankfoul to Maistro Pavarotti, Domingo and Carrera fore

    there popular cotribiution off the art.

    We hade a dialog on a musik high schole in north Skandinava

    and resalt=If Mozart hade elektrik intrument he would juse it?

  • @tjallew I agree. I have many opera videos, but I feel that the artists of today lack the true felling somehow. There are exceptions though. As for Pavarotti, he was splendid, but that '3 tenors circus' was appalling to me.I do not feel that Mozart would have used electronic instruments, he had a sensitive ear. I think that electronical instruments are quite 'soulless' and never listen to them myself. However one can never be sure of what Mozart would have done. God Bless You.

  • @mozzrt Most thankfoul fore your answer I realy love reading the commenth's on you-tub so mutch knowledge and life experience in them. Yesterday me and my friend's hade a dialog about akustik and maybee different  felling from Opera event's in Globen ore the City-hall in Stockholm. It's maybee become a more clasik experience in the City-hall ( Blå-salen place fore Nobel celebreation). But Globen have enormus space+mutch more publik We simply donth see a end off that dialog-God bless you to
  • @mozzrt I think Mozart and Beethoven would have loved electronic intruments!

    As deaf as he was, Beethoven especially would have leapt at something you could turn up in volume. The variety of sounds available from a modern keyboard would have greatly pleased the travelling Mozart. A lump of brass is equally "soulless" until it is formed into a trumpet or horn. The soul is always with the instrumentalist NOT the instrument.

  • The music is heavenly and it's sung by two angels who visited us for a while.

  • Callas is awsome in her way. But as for belcanto of the highest order, noone touches Tebaldi. Here two angels in heaven are singing, who can better that?

  • I think it would sound better if he sand with Callas, but she is ok too :-)

  • @RonaldBarone Callas does not have a gorgeous voice like

    Tebaldi - Callas will not go well with Bjoeling her voice

    is not rich enough IMO

  • Absolutely incredible. Flawless performance

  • I'm not an expert but I've listened to absolutely lots & lots of opera/singers/all kinds of music & these two just stand out as being my favourites.

  • Two of the finest singers to ever grace

    the stage of any opera house in the

    world.

  • Björling äger! ingen kommer nånsinn i närheten av honom så enkelt e det

  • Genius. I

  • To all above: Swedes are obsessed about the consumption or non-consumption of alcohol. It is really a national psychosis. As for Jussi Björling, who cares? He was a great tenor and a great artist. See how he supports Tebaldi in the video above. What more do we need to know ....

  • @VivaRenata Alcohol is great. Great men drink alcohol. So indeed. What more need we know.

    /Borlängebo

  • @ComradeDragon Hej Borlängebo. Vilka idiotiska kommentarer dyker upp här - man kan ju inte annat än uppskatta dessa underbara artister! Hoppas du haft en God Jul --- hälsningar från Skåne där vi äntligen fått se lite snö och kyla.

  • She has voice wonderful! i like her very much!!!

  • maravilloso!!!!!!

  • oooooooooooooh is sooo goood

  • so who is the greatest of the last century? gigli? caruso? bjoerling?

    i place my bet on bjoerling for sheer beauty of voice AND musicianship.

    i told him this in 1958........he did not argue with me and thanked me for the compliment.

    unfortunately, he drank himself to death.

  • Drinker or not drinker, here he is in fine shape, regardless.

  • Just a quick family anecdote. My father is a retired prof. of biochemistry and MD. He went back and forth between Sweden and the US in the 50's and eventually transferred the whole family to the US. On one of his trips in the 50's, going by ocean liner which was cheaper, Jussi was on the boat. He was inebriated a lot of the time and therefore my dad was on the front pages with a big cage of experimental mice when they landed. Great story but who cares? JUssi was amazing.

  • These two the best! I listening to such geniuses of song.

  • You are shooting from the hip.

    Organs that are most exposed of alcohol abuse is primarily the stomach, liver and pancreas.

    Jussi died of heart failure (age:49) and so did also his son Rolf (age:65).

    Jussi's brothers were not so old when they died; Gösta 45 Olof 56.

  • i can only imagine what the point is that you are trying to make here...

    nonetheless, your english is atrocious...the correct manner of speaking is "organs that are most exposed of alcohol abuse ARE primarily

    the stomach....etc"

    why is it that today s speakers constantly confuse singular and plural...are they really this uneducated? incredible!!!

  • I am sorry for the misstake.

    Lucky I and you, that you were able too imagine" the message, very well done.

    Hence, you have now the possibility to think about it.

  • yes, that is good

  • @davecotuit "I" is spelt with a big I(i). There are some other faults in your writing too, but let's not get into that now, I'm really not in the mood. Please don't blame yourself for your mistakes, not everyone can be as educated as I am.

  • oh pshaw!!! can t let a good fight go unanswered can i?

    btw, spelling has NOTHING to do with capitalized letters...that is a separate issue entirely......

    i don t bother with capitalized letters because frankly in this environment, who cares? i m not, after all, writing a doctoral dissertation at harvard! hahaha

    who s blaming anyone for their mistakes? tis a mystery to me what you re getting at with that comment....

    have a great day!

  • @davecotuit Well, I and i are really two different things. As for spelling and capitalization I don't care. As long as the comment is still understandable, who gives a crap.

    I just thought I'd correct you in your mistakes since you corrected others not being perfect your writing yourself. As for a fight, I would not call it that, more of something of a fun conversation. I heard somewhere "You can't correct someone grammatically without making an error in your own sentence"

  • @davecotuit Also, have a good day yourself! And if you celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas! May you receive happiness and luck enough to last for the whole next year!

  • well, first, i don t recall correcting others but if i did i did....and i don t pretend to be "accurate" in this forum...

    but when i see someone say for example "there IS five boxes on the table" i will say something about it...

    have a MERRY CHRISTMAS TOO!!!!!!!!

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  • Devastatingly beautiful.

  • Joseph Calleja sounds just like Jussi Bjoerling, same sound and timbre.

  • There is a huge difference, considering timbre and technique.

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  • Borlänge isn't one Swedens 'best' towns. It was voted as Swedens ugliest some decades ago, it has no real structure, no interesting history, not a bunch of great buildings, and after the idiotic Cupolen, the inner city fades away. Falun is much better.

  • Right!

  • what can i say? fading memory comes flooding back.

    i like these two

  • Singing like this just doesn't exist anymore... when will great singers like this come again?

  • Sometimes a composer changes a score. Which version is the original?

    Both the singing and the acting are wonderful. Those two overweight, middle-aged people become young lovers before our eyes, and we smile, and become drawn to them because they are genuinely drawn to each other.

  • lord...Angels must have escaped from heaven to record this moment....

  • Both are about as good as any two in history. Wow !!

  • Uno più bravo dell'altro. Splendido video.

  • I know what I like and I like this very much. I do not even consider anything else-- these two singers are about as close to heaven as you are going to get.

  • BUT WHY does he have to scream a high C Puccini wrote an E for the tenor and a high C for the soprano. They are in love, and leave in an embrace (that is called harmony) not screaming at the to top of their lungs.

    Note, I own 5 scores of this opera and have conducted this a number of times. why can't we respect Puccini's wishes?

  • He sings it because audiences demand it and so do managers.

    Can someone disable the Cut/Paste on this turkey's PC please?

  • You are right abouthe high C, however, it is pretty traditional. Also, in this recording, it has been transposed down a 1/2 step. Beautiful singers!

  • SI NATURALE!!!!!!

  • Wonderful !!

  • Wow! i love Jussi and this woman has a full set of lungs to go with his! What an amazing duet :)

  • Dude! You CANNOT call her "this woman" she is a legend, and her name is Renata Tebaldi!

  • lol, bit over the top.... :S

  • it is so sad to me that three of the top six most viewed versions of this duet include netrebko.... please, give me THIS any day.

  • La Tebaldi the best of best!

    j'adore!

  • May God bless forever Miss Tebaldi !!

  • He has, and He will forever . At least I owe her thanks for communicating His greatness. I am sure many others feel the same. !

  • Well, i love these two together- not just the magnificent voices (that bring out the goosebumps) but also because Jussi's natural manner here is far preferable to over-emoting that rings false.

  • Jussi is the man !!!!!!

  • I admire this man's voice above all other tenors I have heard. He gives me chills.

  • @jimsboy1 There is no other!

  • High C in the end...

  • ..."at" the end of the first act...

  • Word

  • No one has mentioned the key change, which she negotiates. To me, it doesn't really matter. Also, contrary to popular opinion, I like his acting. It was so natural here.

  • We have this on DVD... ahh... I love it. How perfect their voices were then.

  • In those days tenors where not expected very much for acting but for singing, not like today. Tucker, Gigli, Bjorling, Peerce,Bergonzi, Kraus where not actors really but boy could they sing! Then came along Domingo and Shicoff who where good actors.

  • the voice that'swhat counts !!! we know the story anyway,which is not the strongest side of any opera.

    Like the great violinist,just stood there on stage and played like Engels: Heifetz,Stern,oistrach,Milstei­n,Menuhin and many more.Now just little girls with light underwear and no sound at all !! or guys unshaven and super arrogant,playing 200 concerts a year and say nothing in their expensive borrowed Strads.

  • Actually there were great singing actors 100 years ago (Chaliapin, Farrar, Olivero, e.g.) and there are plenty of poor singing actors today. I think that really talented singing actors have ALWAYS been exceptional. They were exceptional 100 years ago and they are exceptional now. That opera singers are better actors today is a myth that continues to be perpetuated but its not supported by the actual evidence.

  • But you must admit that they don't sing like they used to!

  • Right on target, but see the next comment too! They certainly don't sing like they used too. Opera today seems to be the director's medium.

  • They sing absolute beautiful. He with his silver voice en she like an angel.The acting of Jussi reminds me of Beniamino Gigli !

    Hans NL

  • Two of the very greatest singers, both in their prime. Who could ask for, or expect, anything better than this?

  • These are my favorite singers of this particular piece. I don't know why but I like the way they sing together the best out of all the couples that have done this. I especially like the end when they are heard from a distance (though not as much in this particular recording). I can't wait to see this is in April!

  • Her singing is so sweet and powerfull. And she acts beatifully. Bjorling excellent too, even if I don't like so much his acting.

  • They both belong to another singers class. The most important thing in opera was always the voice and the most eximious singers did that, sing. Acting was not so important because nobody who loved opera did go to see the singers walking or moving around the stage. No one will claim ´cause they were not actors at all.

  • Just this afternoon, I heard di Stefano say that the most important thing in opera was the drama: the music and singing support the drama.

  • Quel merveilleux frissons d'extase nous donnent ces deux grandes voix

  • I agree,pearlmuth, more blend with two such powerful voices, could have been such a remarkable forte.

  • Bjoerling and Tebadi are wonderful thanks for this posting

  • These are two flawless singers.What perfection. how sad that we cannot hear this today in the Opera Houses. The great singers are all gone.

  • MY GOD WHAT A VOICE BEAUTYFULL

  • In 1955 Bjoerling and Tebaldi sang a Recital at Carneige hall together with Bernstein at the piano. This has never been released. The review stated that JB had a cold but sang well. Tebaldi, young and wonderful. They sang the entire tomb scene from Aida and last act of Manon lescaut I believe, among arias and other duets. Hope it someday comes out somehow.

  • I agree, it would be wonderful if it were released, on CD or on youtube. Thankyou for the information.

  • Yes, Acselferson, Correct, she was young and very fine, interesting JB sang it also on a studio Rec. (Duet)1941 swedish sop. and they both sang ending piano. Great. Heard Tebaldi do it with Tucker in 1970 at the met. Both full voice though, (Big) wish we had them back. By then Two great veterans!

  • Wonderful, nice high B at the end but wish Renata with her big beautiful voice had sung ending more Piano to blend with Bjoerling who was overpowered by her forte.

  • pearlmuth3: Exactly on the spot! Björling was a gentle tenor and Tebaldi regretfully is not cooperating in this duette but intent on showing off her remarkable vocal power in an ill-chosen moment of grandezza. Her singing is impeccable but she´s doing her own show.Both are too forte at ending the piece.

  • This is a beautiful, but not terribly sophisticated duet in th

  • flawless.

  • This is where Tebaldi shows Björling who´s ruling. In an effort to show off her singing powers she completly loses sense of the carachter of Mimi and stubbornly persists to

    project her barvura. It´s a pity! Björling was a wonderful tenor who she should have respected.

  • Björling sings flawlessly. The best Mimi I ever heard in this particular aria is Montserrat Caballe who does wonders with her pianissimi together with Domingo.Tebaldi, an excellent singer, tries her best to outsing Björling and regretfully she manages...

  • Why there are no voices thus now? Wonderful video. Thanks

  • simply breathtaking

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  • To Vaimusic.....Hello i'm glad to see that i am not the only one thar appreciates good music. I myself have two box sets of records from Jussi Bjorling..first one: The Art of Jussi Bjorling Which includes some of his Early Swedish Recordings from 1929 - 1936 and the second one The Golden Voice of Jussi Bjorling. I would like to share this music with You Tube so that other people can hear that what i hear, can you help...Mulchames

  • Love Bjorling, but I would have loved to hear Tebaldi with Carreras' voice.

  • You'd think Rodolfo would be the one going in for the kiss (1:32) but it's Mimi wanting to smootch first, then she changes her mind. Heh heh

    Either way, great singing from La Tebaldi and Bjorling.

  • Yes, Great singing! Remember this is a stage performance, where all gestures are exagerrated.Many thanks to violinthief for posting this wonderful clip.

  • Renata sei eccezionale

  • D'accordo!e cosí rimane. Un saluto dalla Svezia.

  • to answer, this scene is often transposed, as it is the case still here, and very often with the scene. In all the cases of figure, it against C is optional (so normal here)...

  • So unforgettable !!! Cheers, ~Sergio.

  • Jussi Bjorling was the finest tenor ever.Even the late wife of Caruso crowned him as the new Caruso.Only Gigli,and di Stefano were in his league.Renata was one of the best as well!Bravo.

  • THANK YOU!! he WAS the greatest!!!

    lucky me, i heard him live in 2 recitals and at the metropolitan opera in verdi s DON CARLO...

    his autograph is the most precious thing i have along side horowitz and rubinstein.

  • *Sighs* WHERE are such VOICES today?

  • Good question! It's not only about natural,"God-given" talent, but about the aesthetics of musical taste and tradition that cultivate such singing. The tuning of "A" by orchestras has been changed to a higher level. Go to the home page of Tebaldi, where you can find some interviews that explain her view on modern musical aesthetics. Thanks for your comment.

  • Hey, vaimusic, don't ypu has Jussi e Tebaldi in Che Gelida Manina?

  • I always felt Renata Tebaldi was a great great soprano on records, but keep reading that she was not a great actress (as compared to Maria Callas).

    But based on this clip, I think she was more than adequate. Her facial expressions are in character. I love the way her Mimi curtsies to Rodolfo when she offers her arm ("obidisco, signor").

    And of course, her voice and singing are superb. Ditto for the great Bjoerling, although he's a bad actor

  • You have to see Tebaldi with Bjorling in Che Ge

    lida Manina ! She did not sings but acts superbly!And what a wonderful, beautiful woman!

  • Good comment. I think the media-generated rivalry between Tebaldi and Callas gave many the impression that Tebaldi had the beautiful (but limited) voice and Callas had the great dramatic performance. This video shows that Tebaldi's acting was adequate, as you say, more so since she suffered from polio since her youth. This affected her ability to perform on stage, and it is touching to see her compensating for her handicap in this clip.

  • For "lrhjussifan" the tenor sings an F and the soprano a C. Buy the score, it's great fun! I love following along with the operas I watch.

  • I have heard older recordings in which Jussi sings a lower final note, while the soprano sings the high final note. There are probably good reasons for doing that, but I am not knowledgeable enough to know what they are.

  • Because that is the way Puccini wrote it. Go look at the score! Singing the matching C is a common practica thing evolved by decades of egotistical tenors (HAHA)!

  • Thank you for an intelligent observation! Do not have the score at home, but will certainly take a look when in a library. To me, it is a sad sign of the degeneration of musical knowledge and culture that those short top notes are so very interesting. Apparently,as you say, when they are not even indicated by the composer.

  • the reason the C was transposed was that this was i live performance it was broadcast direct .

  • For me, the greatest Mimi and Rodolfo of all time, both in their glorious prime. Those idiots who say Tebaldi couldn't act have only to see this video!

  • Thankyou!

  • In some of his performances Bjorling really muffs his pronunciation, but in this - even though I'm not as familiar with it as with some other aria's - he really is amazing. His visual performance is really natural here too and makes for compelling viewing.

    Really great opera.