Giovanni Martinelli - Che Gelida Manina (1926)

[deutschefach]

What this selection shows is that spinto tenors of the past sang just like their lyric brothers. They did not overload the voice with color which is the error most modern tenors prefer. Martinelli never sings white but his voice is clear regardless of the volume level. This is a choice. There are no hearable register adjustments. His voice is not sweet like a peach but as a nobility of sound that would fit the spinto rep like a glove. 

[SHICOFF1]

@gaytenor Yes he lasted a long time and lived to be an old man. AS TENORS go he was among the best but today young people, so many of them want blown up modern sound sadly. In opera houses if the singer has a small voice and looks good I have the feeling they sometimes amplify the sound to help the singer out. Back in the old days that would never happen.

[gaytenor]

Martinelli deserves to be better known to this generation. His performance total at the Met and on tour reached 1,000 performances according to Grove. The legato line is smooth as silk and his upper register was easy and gifted with a clarion ring that made him an ideal Andrea Chenier, Radames, Don Alvaro, etc.

[SHICOFF1]

HE COULD SING OTELLO OR BOHEME AND HERE IN HIS MID 30'S. LET'S HEAR THE BIG ITALIAN TENORS LIKE CORELLI, LAURI VOLPI, PERTILE, MASINI, PENNO OR DEL MONACO SING LYRICALLY AS BEAUTIFULLY AS THIS? IT WOULD TAKE CARUSO AS ITALIAN SPINTO'S GO TO RIVAL HIM IN MOST OF HIS ROLES IN HIS PRIME. HE WAS FANTASTIC AND WAS CALLED AT THE MET. THE LION!

[nadaniente115a]

Thanks for posting! Magnifique!

[Aetion]

Thanks for the nice post. This high C made Martinelli famous!

[rosaponselleart]

what a voice! thaks a lot!

r.

[ROYCTHOMAS]

Victor "Orthophonic" was one of the first electronic recording systems. Although narrow in bandwidth, it was ideally suited for tenors. I've always thought that Marinelli's greatest recordings were from 1926 on through the mid 1930's. Che Gelida Manina is beautiful, but my all time Martinelli classic is "No Pagliaccio Non Son, recordied early 1927.) - Roy Thomas

[monpitt500]

Good recording for the time

[XP11XP]

Magnificent!