Mario del Monaco - Che gelida manina (studio recording)

Mario del Monaco (1915-1982). Born in Florence, del Monaco was an Italian tenor and is regarded by his admirers as one of the greatest tenors of the 20th Century. He was internationally known for his powerful, metallic voice, earning him the nickname "brass bull of Milan."
Here del Monaco sings 'Che gelida manina' from Puccini's La Boheme. This is a relatively well known studio recording.

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• monaco
• mario
• Giacomo
• Puccino
• Italian
• tenor
• opera
• rodolfo
• la
• boheme
• che
• gelida
• manina

[Bobbyo60]

OK, I've now listened to this aria by Del Monaco, Pavoratti, Corelli, Gigli, Bjorling, and di Stefano and now ready to render a verdict.

And the winner is........ME, for having the good fortune to be able to hear all these wonderful men!!!

[tomzoricic]

As I said , the most magnificent high C in history of opera

[sugarbist]

@Heldenbariton1 Del Monaco NEVER had problems with his high notes.Lauri Volpe mentions that MDM had the best B-flats& Jerome Hines stated that you could chins on his B-flats.Del Monaco also hits a D-flat in the terzetto of Il Trovatore with Gencer& Bastianini.Remember as a dramatic tenor,there is no reason to have a high C, Your remark is really not accurate.Lanza was a lyric spinto& Pavarotti was a lyric tenor, whom both had good facility in the upper registers.MDM's hi notes were much larger.

[rockmeistro]

does anyone know how old MDM was in this recording?

[sugarbist]

@Thesiculus01 Many of Lanza'So called American songs were excellent& not mediocre at all.Lanza did many concerts & recordings that were always better than mediocre.Lanza's quality of voice was as good or better than any tenors.Lanza's voice was also pitched extremely well & like Bjorling Gigli Di Stefano Cortis, Lanza was incapable of uttering an ugly sound.Lanza , like Pavarotti was also responsible for making opera more popular by bringing it to the hearts of the people,Enjoy

[Maratta21]

Efectivamente Mario Lanza fue un gran estudiante de cantom pero jamás terminó de estudiar y La Scala siempre le cerró sus puertas esa fue la gran frustración de su vida. Esta última nunca le perdonó que diera a conocer este tipo de arte a través del cine.

[Thesiculus01]

Heldenbaritone.

You know opera fairly good, yet you mention Lanza has an excellent tenor?????

Lanza voice NEVER was perfected and in his life his performances were mediocre like his voice. However had he continue to train, he could have had a place in history (opera)

[SHICOFF1]

@heldenbaritone I would never compare him to Pav or lanza .He was a dramatic tenor not a yric spinto and when I heard him in house his top the high ones where big and great. Even Pav and Bjorling also, a great lyric tenor sang B's later, at times. MDM's voice was big and he sang Otello a role Pavoratti sang in Chicago but it was not for his voice really and he sang it when older in the concert version . MDM had a very big voice. I heard him in 1959 at the La Scala, in Otello his best role!

[SHICOFF1]

The LP and it was originally on ( LONDON 5121 Mono) starts with the Baritone Prologue from Pagliacci which he sings perfectly. I bought it brand new in Chicago over 50 years ago at Kenmac records on the North side. Mac a middle aged man then tenor's and we would play all the great recordings in the little private booths and then only decide to buy or not buy. Those where the days! He loved Lanza. I remember he would blast his records out into the street. Times where great!

[SHICOFF1]

@rockmeistro I bought this recording in the early 60's or late 50's. Mine is a Mono LP. recorded in the 50's as far as I know. London Records #5121 . I have another recital, studio LP also, that I bought later, it's Stereo in the 60's.

[SHICOFF1]

@gaytenor Excellent easy High C in this Studio rec. Later he did sing B's live of course. The Gencer Trov. video was Studio, sung with feeling and he could act on stage. Look how well- early anyhow he managed roles that where not dramatic and sang perfectly, like Ballo in 1946 and then went on to be a great Otello and that I heard him do in house, 1959. His C here is magnificent , better then some popular lyrics we know who where high C tenors! This is well sung. A Great dramatic tenor !

[SHICOFF1]

@sugarbist I agree with all you said here. Different greats for different roles.