The Prologue from Pagliacci - Nicolae Herlea

[MrEricschlesinger]

Sorry, not as good as Sherrill Milnes.

[du6053]

Gorgeous voice- well sung. Thanks Peter...

[Erdrick345]

Alice, Pavarotti is NOT the standard for a "tenorial" voice. He pales in comparason to the true greats, such as Caruso, Bjoerling, and Gigli. I don't understand this cult of personality around him. Maybe you were enamored by his clutching of that hankerchief. Domingo has a richer and more powerful voice than he. saw him once live at the Met with Sutherland in Traviata and compared to Sutherland one could hardly hear him.

[aliceSAURUS1]

This is the best interpretation I ever heard...the very particular timbre accompanied by that velvety legato to die for (and many,many other qualities of this voice) put Herlea in the "genius" class. Some other names are mentioned here, with a clear intention of comparison...all I can say is: I feel sorry for their ears. Pavarotti is the standard for tenorial voice and Herlea for the baritonal voice

Thanks to youtube to make it possible this kind of posting.

[Essentialvargas]

ah mon diieu! What a technic, what a warm voice!

Bravo maestro Herlea!

[TheAdmiringFool]

The voice, the magesterial singing, and the beguiling tear in the voice make this an unforgettable rendition. Simply one of the best!

[ah332]

not one of the best! THE BEST!

[GregJebailybaritone]

@TheAdmiringFool I love this response!!! Very, very well put.

[31122051]

Bellissimo.

[Erdrick345]

Fine interpretation..up there with Gobi, Warren, Merrill

[ElisabettaVS]

When was it recorded?

[peterboldizsar]

I don't know for sure, but somewhere in the sixties I figure

[ElisabettaVS]

Because he sounds really nice.

[ElisabettaVS]

his voice.... wow. this is a very good recording. he sounds great!

[ah332]

when was this recorded?

[vimafeca]

Uma voz potente, melodiosa e bonita.

Soberba interpretação, carregada de dramatismo como requer a personagem (Tonio) de "Il Pagliacci".

[bodiloto]

+- 0 !!!!

[larvael32]

ONE OF THE BEST BARITONES I EVER HEARD!

[paddyswok]

If you are a singer by profession, and therefore understand the physical process of singing this kind of repertoire, you realise that this is, on every level, as good as it gets. If there was to be Singer of the World competition, and all of the singers in history could compete, I would lay my money on Herlea taking first prize, because it lacks absolutely nothing, even offers more than we could ever expect. I am truly grateful to have discovered him through YouTube. Many thanks to the poster...

[orsothecat]

Thanks for making me aware of this posting. Takes me back to his Met performance; standing at the back of the house and gripping the rail to steady myself at the sheen, the beauty and the strength of his high notes which, to tell the truth, were even better than on this excellent recording.

[egymagyar1111111]

how I envy you to be present there

[Katiuszkasanda]

Baryton exceptionnel!Superbe phrasé legato,aigus très faciles,bravo!

[mosessohn]

dont be so harsh judging,i am happy to hear my youth hero opers singers, and i thinkthere are others exactlylike.me ,bravopeter ca l-ai pus in tube, iti multumesc

[Gbrunet25]

God, his voice is pure Velvet!!!!!

[orsothecat]

I saw Herlea's Met debut in Don Carlo in 1965with Corelli. (It was Grace Bumbry's debut peformance too). The audience went nuts for him. People rushed the stage shouting his name at the end of the opera to get him back on stage. . . to no avail. He was retained the following year to do Rigoletto's (one was a radio broadcast) and Tonio, which I saw in the house. His high notes were astounding - far better than on this selection. They had a halo around them.

[Agorante]

Some years ago or so I was doing Zuniga in Carmen. There was a discussion about who was the best baritone so I made up a cassette tape called "World's Best Baritone". Most of these baritones were totally unknown to the singers. I didn't include identifications.

This was one of the selections. Nobody got it. Who could this guy possibly be? No unknown is this good. Nobody got Straciari's Largo either. The real stumper was "Come Due Tizzi Accesi" from "L'arlesiana" sung by Barry Anderson.

[leadoffeohippus]

If Gedda was a baritone, he would sound like this guy.

[brodsky96]

ok! the beginning of my comment was: I listened to Ruffo, he IS one of the greatest, no doubt!!! but I would not compare... what I wanted to say about Herlea is that his voice is "dark" and very rich in timbre and yet getting high the voice opens up.....

[brodsky96]

I have seen Herlea many times life.... the life experience is tremendous: his high notes - but not only them - were able to concentrate time and space to a kind of musical monade....

[brodsky96]

the voice opens up and gets "solar"... its like walking in a cavern and finding the solar light at the entrance/exit of it... the voice opens up but in the same time gets tight... perfect concentration of a blrilliant vocal quality!!! it reminds me of the drama in high notes of Caruso... or Corelli, even if I dont want to COMPARE.... they all are unique!)...

[macciboma]

In assoluto il baritono da me ritenuto il migliore che io conosca. voce magnifica. recita sensibile, vale la pena di ascoltarlo in Don Carlos grazie. Walter.

[Glenmed]

Absolutely outstanding and thrilling. Quite simply a voice and a half.

[marokt]

In the quality of the voice you can compare Warren only with Herlea and Alexander Sved. A great voice with great characterization.

[kgus123]

Yet another first-rate Tonio. We YouTube viewers are a lucky lot. Thank you for this.

[Polytes1]

I finally saw Pagliacci live last week, and I must say that although the baritone portraying Tonio that night was good, Herlea was not outmatched in the least.

[lvb555]

This makes me weep! I can't stop listening to it!

[Polytes1]

Same here. What a talent!

[cantorandopera]

I never heard of him til he got Youtubed.  This is gorgeous. Such a beautiful and expressive voice. His manipulation of chest and head is fabulous. And how bout those high notes!!!

[bcdoherty82]

Glad you got to know of maestro herlea, probably the greatest and most unsung baritone ever. You should also hear him sing this when he was younger. You can get it on CD.

[michaeletshaw]

Merrill was a good baritone; Herlea was a great one. But no-one will ever surpass the Pagliacci Prologue sung by the one and only, the incomparable Titta Ruffo.

[macciboma]

Voce espresiva piena completa,

del tipo e qalità di Enrico Caruso,

per me il migliore baritono.

[macciboma]

Voce meravigliosa mai sentito una

migliore interpretazione grandiosa.

grazie di avercela proposta.

[greenstboy]

Beautiful and powerful! I thought Warren owned this aria. But Herlea superior here. Warm legato and effortless high notes. Sorry, Leonard.

[meltzerboy]

Very good voice and singing, but I prefer Merrill and Warren. And, insofar as the last note is concerned, listen to the old Battistini record if you wish to hear a truly clarion tone. But my very favorite performance in regard to both voice and artistry is Amato's.

[dtao12]

Very good, but I liked the Milnes video on Youtube better -- excellent singing plus the live performance video (unlike the blue screen for Herlea)

[Manosisto]

That is unbeliveable! This Baritone has quality on his singing and a Huge voice!I Wish I could hear him on stage or see him on a video!!!Amazing!

[Marianc83]

wow!

[rbf1945]

Comparing Herlea to Merrill is not quite accurate. Herlea's tessitura may be more refined that Merrill, but Merrill's head tones blast one out of his seat!

[bcdoherty82]

No they don't! God what is wrong with peoples hearing? Watch Merrill's interpretation and compare his tight, puny Ab at the end of this aria to Herlea's ringing easy top. Come on man..... you have ears. The only reason Herlea's star didn't massively outshine Merrill's back then is because he was being monitered by the russians and wasn't able to promote himself or sign any deals with american record labels. Do some serious listening. I love Merrill, but Herlea was in a different league.

[Glenmed]

This is a huge baritone voice and thrilling in its resonance. It is wholly different from the sheer beauty of Merrill's. Gobbi was second to none as an actor/singer, as was Callas (no mystery that they performed together so much and were so convincing in their roles). Herlea could not convince me that he is a scheming clown. Nor does any singer sound to be in better health than Herlea in "O Carlo, ascolta" (he is supposed to be dying!).

[Galilea13]

Just great!!! What a huge voice!!!

[griffff07]

Incredible, what a beast of a voice!  But i prefer Robert Merrill by a mile!

[bcdoherty82]

This is probably the best baritone voice I've ever heard..... no baritone has a top end like Herlea! Not even Hvorostovsky! I get chills. Please, Gobbi isn't even in the same universe.

[Barabanych]

By the way, did you hear Mario Baziola as Prologue? May be the most beautiful voice ever, but no match to Gobbi & Herlea.

[ValentinVasiliu]

Basiola was great , but ..... there is a major difference in phrasing and quality of tone, beside the difference of generation and the recording technical capabilities of their times.

[Barabanych]

Herlea had different voice when I first saw him. His appearance from a huge bass drum was shown many times in USSR. Fenomenal acting and singing, but pretty flat voice. Sorry, but that first impression stayed with me all my life. On this record he sounds completely different. Yet, Basiola's voice and singing quality are more in my liking and Gobbi's acting is incomparable, IMHO.

[ValentinVasiliu]

the same recording when Herlea was coming out from the bass drum has been seen in many countries and it happened that i saw that. there he was younger than in this recording and sounded perfect. i can't help you to with hearing . I am not an ENT doctor, but I think you can't hear right. this singer used enough contrasts in phrasing and was perfect in tune, so go back to Basiola and enjoy listening to him. all the best!

[Barabanych]

There's nothing wrong with my hearing, and I'm not alone in opinion that Herlea's voice changed with years. Plus, I said nothing about his being in or out of tune. I said his acting and voice were fantastic but appeared flat (colorless) to me back then. Recording may have been the problem. But, as I said, I stick to my opinion. And you don't have to be snarky.

[brodsky96]

sorry! you can criticize everything on Herlea, but not FLATTNESS! listen to my postings of fragments of "Rigoletto"...

[Barabanych]

No fights. Question: did you hear Gobbi as Prologue in the "Mad about opera"? of the Belcanto Society. Nobody to compare with him there.I don't know how to upload that clip, maybe it's impossible. His high notes resonate as nothing else. Herlea's voice is fuller, but Gobbi, after all, had pretty poor voice.

[raphaelhudson]

Plenty of people say that Gobbi had a poor voice, i think they are almost all rehearsing comments from others. Gobbi's voice is fantastic, he has marvellous open top notes, and power throughout the range, combined with a pleasing tone and beautiful control of timbre. Most of the videos on youtube are from when gobbi was very young. If you want to hear his mature voice listen to the cd "Tito Gobbi masterclass", the Ab on that is huge.

[Barabanych]

Well, thank you for the comment. Of course, I'm no vocal specialist. I used to listen to Gobbi when I was a boy, sometime back in 50's. I still consider him the greatest baritono & an actor ever. As for the voice quality, I not only second G.Lauri-Volpi, I judge myself. Almost any famous baritono had better material. I think it's the ability to use it that made him the great.

[peterboldizsar]

It is true that his voice darkened and got more mature as he grew older, but as to Tito Gobbi topping Herlea's rendition....well as an actor yes, but as far as singing, and the high notes are concerned i don't think so. Gobbi's high notes don't come out, they don't break through, it is as if they remained somewhere in the back. Remember though, that this is just my opinion, i don't want to start a fight with anybody. :)

[razvanartaxerxe]

Asa e, Boldizsár, tata! Poti sa start a fight, nu te teme.

Urechea-i ureche. Köszi szépen!

[Barabanych]

Only Gobbi tops this. I saw Herlea many years back in a Prologue video clip from Romania. Great actor he was. His voice changed though. It was more flat and thin, less overtones. Here it's mature and deep.

[orestesavalos]

GREAT ! ... GREAT ! ... GREAT

[oprom]

GREAT ! ... GREAT ! ... GREAT !!!

Five stars PLUS !