Mattia Battistini -Si può? - I Pagliacci - Leoncavallo

[Kenshin22able]

if we have a baritone like Batistini in nowdays the famous tenors should announce him king of opera

[MrCafiero]

@Lichtwolf86 ROFL! That is just a testament to how horrible the vocal education system has become now days. They no nothing about great singing and voice training and instead corrupt young talent into believing nonsense. Battistini was regarded as the KING of baritones. World wide. He is one of the voices that the greatest conductors and singers in history discuss as legendary. He is one of the FOUNDERS of operatic singing. You need to get a clue

[martpast1]

@Lichtwolf86 u r totally wrong. i guess that u r not native Italian speaker. and i guess that Italians would say :he pronounces as old Italian people, 150 years ago. and there is not one Italian pronunciation . like in Germany--as well. Hitler speaks not as Germans now he is also Austrian , not German . why he speaks like he wants to kill u with his voice? --because in Germany until 1933 in schools was taught hard attack in pronunciation-ask old German teachers.

[martpast1]

@Lichtwolf86 now--modern singers in opera normally pronounce so badly that almost no words are there. not Pavarotti or Domingo but average singers. and high notes are going to kill them. this man was the king of all baritones of the world till Titta Ruffo came. and in his young years there were basses with coloratura technique. they could make trell , stacatto so on like coloratura soprano now. he sings beautifully. easily and in romantic style some places. also--u should imagine real voice

[martpast1]

@Lichtwolf86 because its old recording. but still its clear. they were paid very well in old times. real kings gave them real precious stones as gifts and gold things. not for bad singing. tell me better have u ever heard sound of Stradivari's or Amato's violin? because it costs 1000 000 dollar sometimes and not because its old piece of wood.

[hobo1975]

@Lichtwolf86 you must be deaf.

[HappyHounde]

beautiful. just great. our bari's now could use a little more of Me. Battistini!

[sopogoshadze]

he was, he is, he will great baritone.

[tidaliumpelo]

le goût d'aujourd'hui est au voix de baryton sombré, mais ce n'est que le goût d'aujourd'hui ! Ce que nous entendons là est une superbe voix de baryton que les jeunes chanteurs devraient écouter plus souvent!

[piasecznik]

It's hard to believe that this is the same singer as in the 1902 Fin ch'han dal vino.

Either the recordings back then were even worse than I thought- but a recording can't really swallow interpretation, right?-, or someone punched him in the nose directly before he recorded the Mozart.

[paulostroff99]

Awesome! One of the very best ever. TY.

[lewashcliffe]

Thank you so much, MrC, for continuing to bring to us such wonderful recordings of truly great singing. This kind of vocal education is unsurpassed for demonstrating characteristics of the greatest singers that is so lost in vocal education today at universities and conservatories. Present-day baritones and bassos, especially, sing with such thickness (tongue constriction) and heaviness that clarity of diction is lost, and sounds so ugly. Again, thank you.

[hobo1975]

i just hate vocal classification full stop.great singers are not limited by fach,only the mediocre singer needs a classification.

[MrCafiero]

@hobo1975 I agree. And most great singers are more than one fach.

[vstasov]

Beautiful. Many thanks.

[patefon39]

thank

[stevevandien]

Battistini's voice wasn't huge -- though it wasn't small, either -- but it obviously carried well, thanks to its registral balance and vowel clarity. No woofiness in this sound. And his full, soaring high notes are to die for:) --

[hobo1975]

@stevevandien actuall his was was very big!

[stevevandien]

Thanks much!

[MrCafiero]

Funnily enough, someone was telling me he knew an older Russian soprano who heard Battistini in Russia. She said his voice was so loud it could cause pain.

[stevevandien]

I'd bet that Battistini's voice was so well resonated that it could indeed hurt a listener's ears if he/she were relatively close to the stage:) ---

[MrCafiero]

Why do you do that? Try to "qualify" it? It was big and loud. Period.

[stevevandien]

OK, only in the sense that it wasn't the full-blown dramatic baritone that we hear in Ruffo, Stracciari, Amato, for example. I'm not saying that a lyric voice can't be big and loud. But it won't be as big and loud as a DRAMATIC voice. That's all I was trying to say.

[MrCafiero]

I agree completely.

[hobo1975]

i disagree,batistinni had the ultimate baritone voice and was a s big as dramatic as any! read your history!

how do u know he wasnt as "dramatic" as the other three,how can you tell?were u there?why do people have to qualify singers by how dramatic they are,is your taste as superficial as your knowledge?

[MrCafiero]

You can easily read reviews of Battistini compared to someone like Ruffo and Granforte. Their voices were dramatic and bigger than Battistini - not to say Battistini's voice wasn't big. It was, but not AS big and heavy as those two. Anyway, he was great.

[mosifchi]

That was amazing! Thank you so much for posting it.

[meltzerboy]

What clear, well-focused singing this is, performed by a true master! Battistini is a legendary baritone from the age of Patti. His technique is astonishing, his tone tenor-like and slightly nasal but full of character, and his interpretations idiosyncratic but compelling. As Steane points out, Battistini was grounded in the finest bel canto technique, which enabled him to alter the line for dramatic purposes. My feeling is he is showing off, but with a voice like that we can hardly blame him.

[picapin]

Thanks for posting this rare jewel!! What an interesting performance!!