Di Provenza il mar, il suol

[FrankPourcell]

Bravo !

[jcab2323]

Ruffo+beauty=Bastianini..

[a70sgirl]

The tenor is Paul Knowles, my father.

[cimatyogori150]

はんぱない！！

[tenordramaticitm2]

Great rendition!

[raphaelhudson]

Interesting, he sounds very lyrical here compared with his later cd recordings.

[Agorante]

One reason comparing Hvorstovsky and Bastianni is troublesome is that Bastianni was the kind baritone related to the bass whereas Hvorovstosky has a more tenor oriented voice. The great Siberian baritone throws in extra gleaming top notes while the great Siennese baritone rumbles and growls.

[ingriddoppler]

@Agorante ..."rumbles and growls " ????? I can and I do respect your preference for Mr. Hvorostovsky ( whoe´s "model" by the way (in his own words)has always been Mr. Bastianini) however , as to your comment ~ no offense ~I think there is something very wrong with your ears .

[Agorante]

@ingriddoppler

I'm sorry if the phrase "rumbles and growls" offends you. I wasn't meant as a criticism just a description. Bastianini is one of my favorite baritones.

[ingriddoppler]

@Agorante I appreciate your message and I apologize for having misinterpreted your comment !

[minnie888444]

Is this out of a whole show with La Traviata? Could you post the duet with the soprano, "Un di quando le veneri"?

[minnie888444]

The only trouble is that he is TOO handsome for the role! Maybe Violetta will reconsider...

[orovalleydude]

Thanks for posting. I think he sounds the most like Ruiffo of any post WWII baritones. A great voice.

[peppelyrics]

è fantastico... che voce pastosa e potente

[gencodiz]

di provenza's best performer...

[ruffoite]

great post, thank you. such nobility and beauty in this man's art.

[Aetion]

babyfairy, I totally agree with you and thank you for this posting.

[chico00566]

muito bom!!!

[mafelo9999]

Que bella voz

[minorSi]

Who was the contuctor?I noticed that the introduction has been cut off. Too shame..its very nice to hear this before the aria.And second he did an accelerando,completely out of the first tempo and simply out of the style of this beautilfull piece.Excellent interprator Bastianini.

[minorSi]

accelerando at 1:30

[cantante189]

Giuseppe Bamboschek

[cantante189]

i was replying to minorSi, but it put my comment first instead of in reply

[founder222]

I wish this video was a little louder but none the less the singers are great.

[HMW]

that Ab at 3:51 was amazing... so unexpected

[wongmartinez]

Thank you, baby fairy. I wish I had the time to enjoy each one of the videos you have posted. I have subscribed to your channel.

Once again, thank you!!!

[Mooorhe]

Shame about the legato...

[nisticom]

what do you mean?

[MonaMonda]

His legato is all but shameful... If you prefer slurring then stick to Battistini or similar singers!

[Aetion]

babyfairy, I agree with your comment and thank you posting this aria with the great Bastianini.

[riigoletto]

Ettore is one my all time fav. I love his tone and interpretation as Gerrad in Giordano's Chenier! bravissiom

[jayboytheplayboy]

Some strange cuts in this production. I love his high Ab just before exiting. If you're not going to sing the cavatina then belt out a high note.

[HMW]

hahaha nice.

[billyguns2]

I also want to say that Bastianini understood the "dome;" that is, that singing needs to have perfect balance between chest and head register, "gathered," refined, and ROUND ( as in "How now, brown cow.") The young singers of today blast everything out their mouths, sounding just one step removed from musical theatre belters. Bastianini sings gloriously. My favorite baritones are him, Warren, Merrill, Ruffo, de Luca, and Stracciari.

[billyguns2]

Bastianini had one of the most glorious sounds of any baritone I know; his voice actually physically excites me! He is absolutely unsurpassed in many roles. However, to be VERY picky, his legato is not as fine as it could be in this excerpt. Listen to Leonard Warren's recording from 1956 and you'll see what I mean.

[wotanman]

Billy, it sounds like you are afraid to admit that you crave an occasional rough sonic pounding...

[Operafiend22]

I think he sings it as Verdi wrote it. There are a lot of staccato markings in this aria.

[billyguns2]

A singer is not a drum, so therefor cannot sing a trur staccato; the staccato markings in Verdi also have slurs over them, indicating that the notes are to be pulsed within the legato line, but not separated. It is difficult to demonstrate this on a YouTube comment; if you hd a voice coaching with me, I could show you exactly what I mean. Listen to Leonard Warren. You completely ignore my lavish praise of Bastianini.

[Operafiend22]

First of all I do agree with your other comments about Bastianini, but I'm still confused about what part of this aria you think is not performed with enough legato.

[billyguns2]

Well, listen to the opening phrases; " e che pa ce col la suol" for example. The notes could be more artfully stitched together by a more efficient placement of each consonant: on ascending phrases by putting the consonant before the higher note, and on descending phrases by placing the consonants over and directed outwards on the bottom note. You see how difficult this is to explain on paper? Listen to Leonard Warren!

[bastianinisfan]

What a voice! Just watched his IL trovatore from 1963. in Tokyo, that video made me so so sorry for him.

[energyglobal]

Ninochka,

you are absoluely right !

Fantastic true baritone voice and what a cruel fate dying as an opera singer at young age from cancer of the vocal chord ! Terrible.

[aguacun]

AAaaah! At last!! A Baritone... voices in extintion... nowdays we have tenors whom didn; t learn how to sing the passaggio and the way of the top notes... or we have not nowdays good voice teachers?

[Kafkandinsky]

Baritone voices were always rare. Bass voices even more rare. Everyone wants to be a tenor now, but they forget a baritone is as equally important in an opera

[Ankhsnammon]

Baritones are the spine of opera!!!!

ever!!!!

ankhsnammon

[Ankhsnammon]

Yes,vwe have one...M. Vladimir chernov.he's the sole survivor of that "barytonale race" now in total extintion,sir!!!!

ankhsnammon

[Ankhsnammon]

Ettore was..oh,no!!He IS!!! one of the best...not only baritones...but singers in general,ever!!!!

ankhsnammon

[darewolf]

I've got a kick out of seen very young Beverly Sills at the curtain call.

Please post duet part with Bastianini and Sills.

I pray that they rest in peace.

[darewolf]

There are many baritones but I don't know anybody sung this good "Di Provenza" before and since Ettore.

I don't think anybody else like him ever.

Thank you for posting this Ettore's earliest TV appearance on March 3,1955.

[Ankhsnammon]

I know Warren,Bechi,tibbett,ruffo,Bat­tistini,Litsitsian(whom sung it in russian),and somebody else...but from the Platinum and Golden ages.

Today,we have only a baryton whom is really this,baryton:M.Vladimir chernov.

ankhsnammon

[EvaHartwig]

Lisitsian or Lissitsian or Lisizian

[Ankhsnammon]

I don't know what is the best form to tranlate the cyrillic characters...Excuse me,please...

ankhsnammon

[operalament]

hvorstovsky is superb

[Ankhsnammon]

Well,it's your opinion...and I respect it,of course.

but he NEVER can be better than Bastianini...please...you must accept it,my dear friend!!!

Bastianini(God bless forever his beautiful spirit!!)was a knight of scene...and he HAS the voice!!!!

with all my respects for you.

Ankhsnammon

[fcfecteau1231]

bastianini's voice continued to gain gravitas as he aged -- he is easily the most controlled and resonant of the "great baritones" -- the voice is hypnotic

[archiloque]

I think the tenor is the American tenor Paul Knowles.

[pknowlesson2]

The tenor is Paul Knowles. I am one of his sons and have never seen any video clips of my father's performances. Does anybody know if there is a complete version of this performance? Thanks Jon

[Operator66]

Dear Jon, what is left of this performance are some highlights and you'll find it on a DVD with Beverly Sills called "Beverly Sills made in America" - It´s great. Sincerely Marco

[archiloque]

I like everyone else can't thank you enough for this. Everytime I hear another wonderful Bastianini performance, it makes me very sad. But goog God, it is worht it !

[MrCafiero]

Great!!! I wish I would have heard him live.

[occhioverde71]

Grazie per aver inserito questo video... Bastianini, Gobbi, Bechi, Stabile, Corelli, la Tebaldi, la Callas staranno dando un concerto lassù in cielo. Ci mancano tanto e non ci sono cantanti di questo livello

[rmm413]

Thank you, thank you for posting this clip of the great Bastianini. BTW, who's the tenor?

[Costantino80]

Wow!!!!How could he have sang at 50 yeasr old!!

[temictocles88]

Oh thank you so much for sharing this ! God bless Ettore !

[ingriddoppler]

What a pleasure listening to this voice!I agree with you in saying "God bless Ettore"-he was one of the greatest Baritonos of all time-and also a wonderful Human beeing; this 25th of january will be the 40th anniversary of his death; he always will be missed !