Luciano Pavarotti - Cujus animam - *Live* 1967

Luciano Pavarotti sings Cujus animam from Rossini's Stabat Mater.

An alternative to the recent Bjorling post of this piece. It's very important to note that this one is live, this piece is incredibly difficult to sing. To sing it effectively (as Pavarotti does here) you need to be able to sing long legato lines flawlessly and be in complete control of your voice to handle the tessitura and torturous jump to the D flat.

Post your thoughts.

Carlo Maria Giulini conducted.

(picture from my personal collection)

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Pavarotti
• opera
• rossini
• luciano
• tenor
• stabat
• mater
• cujus
• animam

[halavey]

I think this is a radio show RAI ? perhaps, sound is very good.

[Mooorhe]

Yes it was broadcast by the RAI, but live with an audience (they go wild at the end). Verrett was also one of the soloists.

[halavey]

Same thing for JB I was 15 years old and we had a good B&W TV and it was jan.1956 and my dad taped off the TV the Boheme with Tebaldi, Bjorling the standard hour it was so great and up too then I thought Lanza was the greatest tenor ever but really had not heard many others and when Jussi hit that High B and finished Che Gelida I knew it was sung better the any I had heard . I at 15 was a jussi fam! but not a fanatic as Anna Lisa wrote in her book about some fans!

[Mooorhe]

How did your dad tape it back then? I didn't think they had VHS or anything.

[24yotenor]

It's I find it a hard argument to say that this is not one of the best tenor recordings in history.

[boredfriday]

The best Rossini's Stabat Mater interpretation ever.

[dogfacesoldier]

BRAVISSIMO PAV!!!

[wiseroldfart]

I have to say I'm surprised by this performance after hearing a young Bjorling sing it in the same key. I'd have to listen to both versions many times to pick a favorite. Pavarotti's voice flowed better here than it did on many of his recordings.

[MariaCaIIas]

Apart from the fact that Big P is magnificent and in fact as close to perfection as anyone can ever get, I find a more energetic Giulini here and for my taste much more sincere and wonderfully youthful in this recording than in his later one...

[Cissy97]

I note that Florez has NOT recorded this work, despite his huge affinity with Rossini.

[Cissy97]

Pav is Pav - live or what not, no problem for him who according to Jimmy Levine had very good vocal technique.

[SHICOFF1]

@Mooorhe Too answer your question put to halavey about tape recorders 2 years ago, my dad bought a Wilcox Gay tape recorder in 1954, the year before Jussi sang on that TV program. That was a popular not high end reel to reel tape recorder in the 50's along with a few others. The only tape I remember being really good was the Scotch brand and it was expensive in it's day. No, of course no Video recorders then.

[brendant19]

@jotiw1 Learn your new voice, and train like a bastard. It shouldn't have just disappeared, that's not how it works, but there does seem to be that impression going around.

[65attila]

Stunning thank you  for posting.

John

[TheVerdiBaritone]

Very fine, though unlike so many other singers in all ranges, Pavarotti DID continue to improve for at least a decade as his career continued.

[maxtanz]

perfetto