Virgilijus Noreika- Tombe degli avi miei...fra poco a me ricovero GORGEOUS!

Virgilijus Noreika (b.1935)

Given the very favorable reception accorded my previous Noreika entry ('E la solita storia' from Cilea's "L'Arlesiana"), as well as the relative paucity of his recordings on Youtube, I thought it time for another video of this wonderful artist. Once again, I would like to thank my good Youtube friend CraigFrancisSoto, who helped me track down Noreika's elusive recordings and hinted (repeatedly) at which arias he would like to see posted here. :)

Noreika, a graduate of the Lithuanian State Conservatory (1958) and longtime member of the Lithuanian Opera Theater, sings with a lirico-spinto voice that is warm, plaintive, and beautifully modulated. Its coruscating quality can be downright overwhelming, i.e. just sample the the electricity he generates in the climactic phrase "io della morte" between 3:51 and 3:59 here. Noreika's manner is earnest, emotionally demonstrative, and genuinely mournful throughout. The singer studied in Milan in the mid 1960's, and it shows- his Italian diction is very good, better than most of his Soviet peers.

Unfortunately, I am uncertain of the provenance or date of the recording, but it was likely made in the late 60's. The photo shows Noreika as Pinkerton, in a La Scala production from the 1965-66 season.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Lithuanian
• tenor
• Virgilijus
• Noreika
• Italian
• opera
• aria
• Fra
• poco
• me
• ricovero
• Lucia
• di
• Lammermoor
• Gaetano
• Donizetti

[bobb60]

Lots of WOW factor here. I've heard Pav and Krause in this music. I prefer Norieka. It's such a complete performance. The voice has a beautiful bloom with plenty in reserve.This is the famous aria that Pavarotti broke on the final "C" at La Scala.He raced to NY and gave a concert to prove that he could handle that note. It was the beginning of the downslide. I know Norieka appeared at La Scala. Shame we never saw him in NY.Today he would be considered a sensation. Many thanks to khankonchak.

[reyesmatute]

He was my master during a year in Caracas, he was trying to scape from the Soviet Union , fearing a Russian invassion to Lietuva. Tall, white haired like a Polar bear, kind, gentle, player and funny as a big child, with a strong voice of spinto tenor, I remeber him as a wonderfull artist, whose version of Niun mi tema of Verdi's Othelo is the best I ever heard. I thought I'd never see him again after he went back to Lietuva. Thanks for posting it!!!

[arayishvili]

great tenor

[abracadabranque]

Très honorable,même si tout peut ne pas plaire.L'aigu final manque de clarté,un peu bas et râpeux.

[AulicExclusiva]

Honourable, yes. And no more.

[steakopera]

Honorable performance.

[Lovelytenor1]

After hearing so many sing this so poorly & w/out the right style this was a real treat. He weights the top too much for his instrument & not the greatest vocal gift but the artistry/vocal skill sweeps all that aside.

I was told I was born 80 years too late to sing & the same is true of this tenor. Had he sung generations earlier he would have been a worldwide star.

[paulostroff99]

IU enjoy it even more now then when I commented on it 7 months ago. My love for it has not at all abated. Bravo! TY

[tomasjuhasz]

Very good tenor,he was alsou a teacher of famous tenor Sergej Larin.

[rrag00]

So amazing!

Khankonchak many thanks!!!