Richard Tucker - Celeste Aida (Studio, now in stereo sound)

Been uploaded earlier, but now it's in stereo sound.
Richard Tucker (1913-1975) Born in Brooklyn, New York as Ruvn Ticker, Tucker was a Jewish American tenor. Tucker married the sister of tenor Jan Peerce, Sarah Perelmuth, who always attended Tucker's performances. Peerce and Tucker were famously rivals of each other.
Here Tucker sings a splendid rendition 'Celeste Aida' from Aida in a studio recording.
Note: 'Though his numerous recordings clearly reveal a great voice, they do not reproduce the visceral impact his voice had when heard live in the house. He was the opposite of his contemporary Jussi Björling. Björling sounds better on records than he did in performance -- his voice was not as big as seems on his recordings. Tucker was best experienced in person.' - grandi-tenori.com
In other words, there is no recording that does justice to the true brilliance of this man's voice. Never heard him live myself, he died before I was born, but I know a handful of people in New York who've frequented the Met for decades, and after hearing numerous great tenors through the years, they still insist Tucker was the greatest tenor of all time.
Thanks SheHadManHands for teaching me how to upload audio in stereo sound.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Richard
• Tucker
• celeste
• aida
• giuseppe
• verdi
• american
• tenor
• opera
• radames
• studio
• stereo

[Cesconegre]

Wonderful, but Bergonzi is better.

[GermanOperaSinger]

Indeed, in the studio he was. But live Tucker was by far the best.

[pearlmuth3]

bERGONZI WAS NOT BETTER BUT YES ON RECORDING HE SOUNDED VERY GOOD BUT WHEN MY FRIENDS WENT ALONG WITH ME THE FIRST TIME TO HEAR HIM WE ALL HAD THE REACTION AND THAT WAS A RATHER SMALL LYRIC TENOR WITH GREAT STYLE AND A RCH CREAMY SOUND BUT LITTLE HEFT FOR SOINTO RILES BUT HE ANSG VERY WELL BUT NOT TUCKER LIVE, NOT EVEN CLOSE. TUCKER WAS IN THE CORELLI DEL MONACO CLASS FOR VOCAL POWER. BERGONZI WAS A VOICE IN SIZE SIMILAR TO BJORLING AND EARLY PAVORATTI, HEARD THEM ALL LIVE

[boland7214]

I heard Richard Tucker for the first time at The Los Angeles Music Center-Doroty Chandler Pavilion. I sat in one of the very back seats high up in the upper balcony. His voice rang all through the auditorium all the way up to me....clear as a bell! He was/is a wonderful talent...singing his heart out for the audience. Wherever you are now, bravo to Richard Tucker!!!

[thlacy]

The first opera ever I saw was Richard Tucker in Aida in Houston, Texas in 1966 or 1967.

[gaytenor]

@SHICOFF1 All too often the anti-Tucker faithful forget that there is a wealth of material that attests to Tucker's greatness as a singer. Its almost like Tucker as the years passed and the voice got larger and larger should have asked the audience "Am I too loud, if so I'm sorry." I wish these idiots would get a life and understand that the opera house is not their living room. In the opera house you need to project not croon.

[SHICOFF1]

Well he would have been 13 anyhow, too young to remember much. I heard Jussi at 18 and really only the La Donna is fresh for me now 52 years later and I have a very good memory. He had little impact on an 18 year old then, now would be different. i don't buy all i read anyhow.

[SHICOFF1]

TUCKER NEVER SANG BALLO IN LONDON, ONLY TOSCA. He did sing also Tosca in Vien and got 22 curt. calls

[gaytenor]

I have been told that a very great tenor known for biting wit once remarked that "Carlo Bergonzi should sing Radames like I should do a high wire act." My source was a friend of the tenor in question, not Tucker by the way, and he provided the witty remark to me in private correspondence.

[gaytenor]

@iduefoscari Never sang Ballo in London! Tucker sang Tosca in 58 and La Juive in 1973. I have no idea what Verret could have learned from Bergonzi since she was a formally trained mezzo-soprano with very elevated musical taste. To my mind she would have wanted to consult Jan Peerce, Jussi Bjorling, or perhaps Nicolai Gedda all of whom were paragons of musicianship. Verret sang Mozart and Mahler in her recitals and then finished with folk music and operatic arias. Her technique was exceptional.

[gaytenor]

@SHICOFF1 If iduefoscari heard Tucker in Ballo it must have been a command performance for him alone since there is no record of said performance. As to Bergonzi as Chenier I have some live recordings that really illustrate an over parted tenor up against it. There is no way with his very carefully scaled top that he could have made a real impact even in a telephone booth.

[SHICOFF1]

@iduefoscari I think you may mean Tosca in 58 at Covent garden? I never heard of Tucker singing Ballo in London, if so I would love to get a recording of it. I have sat up in the upper Balcony in the nose bleed area of the huge Chicago house and at the big met house, both much bigger houses than Covent Garden and been thrilled by Tucker's big voice that bounced off the back wall when he opened up on top. Chicago seats close to 3,600 and the Met is Slightly larger. 

[iduefoscari]

@gaytenor I saw Richard Tucker in "Un Ballo" at Convent Garden in 1958 when I was a young teenager. I was lucky enough to sit in the stalls near the front and of course with Tuckers's powerfull voice it was a thrilling experience.BUT because I was lucky enough to be so close to the "action" I found Carlo Bergionzi something else.I once went to see a concert performance of "Chenier" and was sitting next to Shirley Verret. She told me that she still wanted to learn from Bergonzi.

[SHICOFF1]

Rt sang Mozart early, Flute and even the finicky Jackson in his book complimented him in Flute and Cosi. All live at the met. Fleder came in 1951 but in the 40's he also sang in Boris and in the Chicago opera theater, brdcst on WGN radio he sang in Student Prince, Gilbert and Sullivan, Eileen and even Otello and many more operetta's, all short versions for timing and in English. Every week it was brdcst. from downtown Chicago. He sang with Chicago even before the Met in 1944 and later.