Nicolai Gedda - Aleko - The Song of the Young Gypsy

Sound only -- Swedish tenor Nicolai Gedda sings the aria "The Song of the Young Gypsy" from the one-act opera Aleko (Алеко) by Sergei Rachmaninoff (Сергей Рахманинов).

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Nicolai
• Gedda
• Russian
• opera
• tenor
• aria
• Sergei
• Rachmaninoff
• Rachmaninov
• Rachmaninof
• Рахманинов
• Алеко
• опера
• tenore

[HerissonSH]

Замечательно!

[Liubimaya]

Умопомрачительно! Страстно, даже без видео - сексуально!

[mozzrt]

Yes that's true, not 'halfrussian' as many think, and as it said in Wikipedia before I changed it, lol. But Gedda knows best, and he says that his real mother was swedish and his REAL biological father was halfrussian. But the main thing isn't which country he belongs to, but what a great singer he is...

[SieurPlanchet]

It is of course true, that Gedda returned in Sweden only in 1934, when he was nine, but on the other hand he was in Russia (then still Soviet Union) for the first time only in 1980. It is also true that he was attached to the Russian people and culture, but, as i said, he considered himself Swede. I remember him saying so in a documentary and also in both his biographies he always speaks of his beautiful homeland and of happiness, when he was able to be in Stockholm.

[HoldeKunstBonnie]

Today on YouTube I had listened to clips of him speaking fluent German and Italian too. That's five, in addition to his virtual ownership of the French opera roles.

[HoldeKunstBonnie]

Interestingly, in his autobiography he often refers to having an essential Russian character. For example, he considers himself a melancholy person and attributes this to his Russian side. I'm sure he's very proud to be Swedish but he didn't really experience Swedish life till he was around ten years old when he had to learn Swedish all over again. From age 3 on his family lived in Leipzig in a community with lots of Russian emigres while his "father figure" was a cantor in a Russian church.

[SieurPlanchet]

Although he loved Russian opera, songs and literature and was in a way a world citizen, he considered himself Swedish.

[GeddaGirl]

Whether he is indeed Swedish or Russian will always be in question, for two reasons: first, he is both, and second, each culture will add their own biases and fight to call him their "own." But the beautiful thing about Gedda is that he transcends all cultures. He does justice to not one single country. Labeling him as "Swedish" or "Russian" just puts him in a box. He is neither; he is unique.

[Herur22]

His "step father" was Ustinov an he was never formally adopted by him. He was only one quarter Russian through one of his grandmothers.