Gravitational anomaly

Yes there seems to have been some sort of gravitational anomaly in Italy in the early ottocento. All the tenors sank to Naples and the basses floated up to the northern Italian cities.

Consider the casts of the northern Italian Rossini operas - Barber and Cenerentola. One tenor and three high basses (Figaro, Bartolo, Basilio and Magnifico, Dandini, and Alidoro). Then consider Armida - seven tenor roles and one minor bass part.

Armida is the most popular topic in all opera. There have been nearly 100 opera or ballet versions including works by Lully, Gluck, Salieri, Haydn, and Dvorak.

Most of the tenor parts are doubled like Masetto-Commendatore so that only four tenors can manage. Oddly the lead tenor Rinaldo has no aria but the second and third tenors have very big challenging arias.

This concert performance gives us Bruce Ford as Rinaldo, Raul Gimenez, and Juan Carmona.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Armida
• Bruce
• Ford
• Rossini
• Raul
• Gimenez

[LindoroAlmaviva11]

Raul Gimenez from the highest league. I heard also Ford and Gimenez live. Ford , of course, has a remarkable voice, but in his voice there are no colors. Raul Gimenez has wonderful pianissimo, beauty of overtones. No one have legato like Raul Gimenez. In Raul voice lots of colors. Ford voice is very monotonous without emotion. Well and as actor Raul Gimenez is unique. in live performance it is very important. I am sorry for comparison.

[Agorante]

@LindoroAlmaviva11 You obviously know what you are talking about but we will have to disagree on matters of taste. I just don't find Gimenez's voice to be particularly attractive.

Among the Rossini tenors there are those with unattractive voices - Merritt, Matteuzzi, Blake, and Morino. Those with attractive voices - Ford, Lopardo, Kunde and Florez. Gimenez is between these two groups IMHO.

[oscarnotwild]

Senor Gimenez is a very fine Rossini tenor. He is in the same league as Mr. Ford.

[leotbrown]

Here you can realize what is a voice endowed with a nice ring. In the finale Ford's voice just floats easily above the orchestra and overshadows the other two tenors. Since I heard him singing Crociato in Egitto I thought he's a really good baritenore.

[coryisawake]

Ford's control and musicianship are so admirable!

[cart792]

I've always liked the denser voice and Gimenez in the record seemed to me a light tenor, but after I heard Raul Gimenez in Dе Grieux , I ascertained that Gimenez can be different. .His voice has not been light, his voice was lyrical, but at the same time powerful . Raul just a great master, and for each composer whom he performed, he found a different sound.

[viv3147]

@phatphace Truth is, I think if he was singing the same thing in the Deutche Oper Berlin or any other big but not oversized house he would be heard just fine. The met is oversized, even though where I sat wasn't far, its was still far back compared to any normal size theater. The tambre Brownlee has is magnificant, some dont like his vibrato and said its wobbly, like a tremelo, I find it attractive. He is still fantastic despite what I heard, and he at least sings Rossini with full body

[phatphace]

@viv3147 Its such a shame that an individual with such incredible vocal ability can still face physiological shortcomings (I had considered him perhaps one of the greatest recorded Rossini tenors and certainly the superior of Florez). Youtube recordings must be rather forgiving in that case. Thank you for that insight.

[viv3147]

@Agorante do you study sls technique or the "complete singing" technique? Those schools teach the words edge and a lot about the science of singing.  Anyway on the whole Ford and Giminez thing, Giminez is fantastic, really, but hes the exact kind of tenor i dont really like, far to light for me. I dont know if its technique or natural ability, i think technique personally, but i like a full manly voice like fords. that bein said, Ford does not have many colors, I now see that, great tone thoug

[Agorante]

@viv3147

Thank you for your testimony. I love Brownlee's YouTube videos but I did suspect that heard live his voice might be less impressive. Opera singer's acheive carrying power through the "Singer's Formant" a resonance peak at around 2800Hz. This is the "edge" in the voice that some have and some don't. Microphones and post processing can be made to add the formant. Pavarotti and Björling had big formants.

[viv3147]

@phatphace i loved brownlee until i saw him live in this same role. the man was not made for the stage of the met. fantastic voice and technique really, but the reason juan diego does better than him, amongst im sure many other reasons, is the fact that despite the small size of juans voice, it goes right over the orchestra because its so overtonal. i saw armida a year ago and brownlee was the only one whos voice was really often lost in the orchestra. and i was not sitting so far.

[phatphace]

@viv3147 I'm sorry, but anyone who faults the voice of Lawrence Brownlee must have ample justification. However, i do agree; Ford was never as highly acclaimed on the world stage as he deserved to be.

[viv3147]

3:44-4:52 WOW. hes a rossini tenor singing like that. god why is lawrence brownlee and juan diego getting more attention