Beniamino Gigli - Love's Nocturne

[goldie0800]

What a treasure! Priceless, in my opinion. A beautiful melody and Gigli's marvellous voice. Thanks.

[Aetion]

Wonderful! Thank you for having posted this.

[danielleosimpson]

Wow! We love the phrasing! Great! Thanks for posting!

Daniel Léo Simpson

San Francisco Bay area

[ramqen951]

I find it strange that,although this lovely little melody has all the feel of a popular violin encore piece,it is not available as such on any cd that i know of.

[Ivanhoe2]

Another gem from your splendid 78rpm record player. Thanks for posting and best wishes Merrihew.

[CraigFrancisSoto]

I totally agree merrihew,this shows Gigli at his absolute best.His warm,sweet timbre and smooth legato were some of his trademarks.And his sobs don't bother me but I'm Italian and emotional.Che bellissima voce e bravo Gigli!

[acdfgeh]

C'est très beau. Quelle voix merveilleuse. Gigli est mon préféré.

[erzbet07]

What a gorgeous rendition of Drigo's LOVE'S SERENADE! Such a warm, rich, lovely voice Mr. Gigli had. This recording was great sounding too. Thank you for sharing a memorable voice with YOU TUBE.

[paulostroff99]

An artist to be treasured.Bravo!

[paulostroff99]

One of his many truly great performances.merrihew,you struck both oil and gold with this posting.Superb!

[VinylToVideo]

I bought this same record but by the time I got home from the shop the damn thing was broken.

[Prawkus]

A great old favourite sung beautifully. Thanks for sharing that with us.

[sagalat]

Just beautiful. Nice victrola, too. Yours? Thanks to you (and to Ankhsnammon for turning me on to this chanson d'arle)

[merrihew]

I'm sorry, I don't have it.

[Ankhsnammon]

the true name of this beautiful serenade is "I milioni d 'Àrlecchino".

please...do you have the toselli's "Rimpianto"?

Ankhsnammon

[AulicExclusiva]

I Milioni d' Arlecchino was the name of the ballet by Riccardo Drigo, 1846-1930, from which this Serenade is an excerpt. In the original, of course, it was an intrumental piece. Violinists love to play it.

This vocal version, the sheet music of which displays Gigli's portrait, is called Notturno d' Amore—Love's Nocturne.

It is one of the best examples of why Gigli was Il Supremo. His middle voice just brims over with honey and slides into the high register with the easiest splendour.

[Ankhsnammon]

Yes,I know.

but..overall...I feel...I feel like an amount of different emotions each time I hear this...

Melancholy,joy,pain,the sense of the past that never will return...my childhood...the sunny afternoons..the moon in my youth's window...

ankhsnammon

[merrihew]

I actually have a bit of Gigli. When he's good, he's very good - and some of his late records are good. I could post examples of his bad records but that's not fair. Part of my problem is that the singers I like most tend to be more of the German school rather than the Italian. I like to hear passion in music but the sobs just rub me the wrong way. I'm posting a couple more today - by request.

[crapfacejoe]

@merrihew If you prefer the German school of opera then you're not qualified to comment on any form of opera. You're either a tosser or a Nazi, you make the choice. Gigli on his own is bigger than German opera.

[merrihew]

@crapfacejoe There are plenty of Italian singers whom I like and plenty of German whom I don't. But you raise an interesting point. To what extent do you allow a singer's political behavior affect your interest in them. Although Gigli claimed to be politically naive, he was cozy with the Fascists and Nazis and as a result, had problems after the War.

[crapfacejoe]

@merrihew @merrihew Gigli and Carlo Buti were both fascist sympathizers and were national treasures. I think they are both great singers whatever their political ideals were. As far as German opera, it has nothing to do with Wagner ideals etc... Unless you're a hardcore German fanatic, you cannot tell me German opera is more enjoyable than Italian opera. I don't think it's just a matter of personal taste.

[merrihew]

@crapfacejoe What about German lieder? Are Neapolitan songs ion the same league?

[crapfacejoe]

@merrihew Absolutely, can't argue that. But when it comes to opera, it comes down to the language; Italian is just more musical than German...

[mrrk]

Magic singing. By the way if your not such a Gigli fan why do you have so many of his records??? :-)

[merrihew]

Yes, but its also only 1926. You can hear the beginnings of a VERY slight unevenness in the vibrato and sliding between notes, but the voice is so beautiful and the song is not so demanding. And he sings with just the right emotional balance.

[kspm01]

Still the two recently posted later Gigli recordings showed a great artist as well. I don't find a general rule on the base of which I could automatically reject his approach, even in more recent years.

[kspm01]

Now this proves well Gigli was not stuck in the mannerisms critics reproached him. Isn't this sublime?