Tino Rossi - Pearlfishers - Romance de Nadir

Tino Rossi (1907-1983) singing an aria from Bizet's Pearlfishers in 1936. A small but extraordinarily beautiful voice. He was immensely popular as a pop singer from the early 30's until his death.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Tino
• Rossi
• Bizet
• Pearlfishers
• Victor
• Orthophonic

[TheInimitableKaka]

It took me a bit to figure it out, but I know Tino Rossi, and this is not his voice. Close, but the vibrato is noticeably fast

[merrihew]

@TheInimitableKaka You obviously have a good ear. Most French Columbias of this era were recorded at 80 which would speed up the sound by an additional 2 % if that were correct! And it clearly is not. A very frustrating prpblem. I love Tino Rossi and have hundreds of his records ( mostly on LP and CD). I especially appreciate interest from listeners as young as you.

[TheInimitableKaka]

This is way sped up...look up any other version of him singing this

[merrihew]

@TheInimitableKaka The time limitations of a 10" disc recorded for a pop audience rather than a classical one.

[merrihew]

@TheInimitableKaka I have a CD reissue of this same record which plays about 7 seconds longer than the posting which means that it is about 2 % fast. It was played at 78.26 RPM but pre-War recordings can vary a bit in speed - especially European pressings. Many Columbia products were recorded at 80 RPM. Without a score and an in tune piano there's no way I can know the correct speed for sure unless it has been published (as in the case of Caruso records for ex.)..

[merrihew]

You're right. I should have checked more than one source. Thanks.

[irenedu06]

J'ai rarement entendu quelque chose d'aussi beau.

La voix semble venir des cieux.

[Passentes]

la beauté pure d'un temps perdu

[chrisz78]

@chrisz78 "here" should be "hear" in the above message, sorry!

[chrisz78]

@merrihew Consulting the score wouldn't help here as Rossi transposes down into G major (like Caruso on his later version, and many tenors since). The score is in A which is near-impossibly high (Caruso tried in his 1903 version with piano, and the voice alomst cracks during the last phrase!). What we here in the video is something like A-flat, but it should go down to G, and suddenly Tino will sound like a man and no longer like Mickey Mouse!

[chrisz78]

@merrihew Sorry to say so, but while the fact remains that the record is played back too fast, the reason is (obviously) that the original recording was made SLOWER than usual, around 75rpm. THIS is true for most if not all French Columbias and Odeons from circa 1930 right into the 1950s. I have rarely found any French disc running faster than 78 for correct pitch, but many that should run somewhat slow to sound right (e.g. Montand's "Les feuilles mortes" and Piaf's "La vie en rose").

[fabrice77347]

Une voix de rève descendu des cieux des monts olympes qui vous transperce et qui vous envoute.....Je ne suis pas de votre génération cher tino, j'ai bien d'autres idoles et d'autres styles de musique mais quand je vous écoute, je suis dans un autre monde, un autre univers, un monde à part comme on en fait plus.....

[1vinchies]

Maravilloso

[TheInimitableKaka]

@merrihew No, I mean this is being played at the wrong speed. I have this exact same recording (same nuances and breaths) but it's a step or two lower and about 15 seconds longer.