Rigoletto High A Cage Match: La Maledizione!

Here is a presentation of a number of baritones from the past and present hitting the optional high A from the end of Rigoletto, at the end of the Rigoletto/Gilda "V'ho ingannato" duet. Verdi wrote the final line as Fb-Eb-Db. I don't know who the first baritone was to take it up to an Ab and resolve on Db, nor do I know who had the idea to one-up that guy and add a high A natural (technically, it's a B double flat), but whoever they were, they set an important precedent for all Rigolettos to come. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Nicolae Herlea
2. Leo Nucci
3. Paolo Gavanelli
4. Robert Merrill
5. Leonard Warren
6. Željko Lučić
7. Sherrill Milnes
8. Cornell MacNeil
9. Frederick Burchinal
10. Georg Tichy
And although they didn't go up to the A, any Rigoletto sing off would be incomplete without these last two definitive Rigolettos:
11. Titta Ruffo
12. Tito Gobbi

And before you start asking "Where's Bruson? Bastianini? Cappuccilli? Taddei? Protti? Pons? Quilico? Alvarez?" I'll let you know that I sought out recordings of all the greats, but Bruson sang it as written in all the recordings I could find of him, as did Cappuccilli, but I know there is a recording of him singing the high A out there somewhere, if you have it , please post it as a response. As far as I can tell, Taddei, Protti, Pons and Louis Quilico only hit the Ab. Bastianini, I don't know. Try as I might, I can't find a complete recording of Rigoletto with him. Post it as a response if you have it! As for Carlos Alvarez, he sings a killer high A at the end of the opera, but it's only available on DVD right now and I can't find it anywhere. Again, post it if you got it! There's also a complete recording out there with Rolando Panerai, but I don't know what he does because I don't really like him much. But feel free to share if you've got it!

ENJOY!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Verdi
• Rigoletto
• Finale
• final
• scene
• duet
• Act
• III
• IV
• High
• note
• Baritone
• aria
• cortigiani
• vil
• razza
• lassu
• nel
• in
• cielo
• ruffo
• merrill
• warren
• milnes
• herlea
• gobbi

[MrMattystar123]

C'mon did you hear Herlea?? am I deaf? Incredible.....!!!!!

[followthehatecrewild]

I think Milnes has the most stunning one, he goes up to the B which gives it this awesome tension, it gives me chills. I have the whole cd of that one (with pavarotti/sutherland etc.) and listening to the whole thing and then coming to the end and hearing that puts it in a totally different light, like i said. best i've heard.

[MrOpera67]

@martythetickler Agreed!

[124235346]

paolo gavanelli is not even a baritone lol... even placido domingo is more baritonish than him

[TheMaestro68]

Leo Nucci...numero uno!!!!

[ininacsot]

warren,nucci,gobbi,c'est un choix mais l'ensemble est superbe,merci

[Pawelp]

@followthehatecrewild I completely agree. Chills!

[martythetickler]

Damn, Gavanelli was drowned out by the orchestra. But he sounded really good.

[vashtiverous78]

it gives me the shivers..burrrrrr

[MrEricschlesinger]

Sherrill Milnes is the One, lets be fare guys he's nr One.

[klokheten]

@ArentWeSpecial No,as you say. It is not the note itself,though very taxing after an evening of high tessitura singing,that is the issue,but the effect it makes. The total ruin of Rigoletto´s life and his great despair comes out to a overwhelming effect with this high b. Maybe Milnes is not on complete solid ground in the low register in E morta! But the final scene of Rigoletto gets the final climax that makes the audience moved to the utmost.,

and Rigoletto will remain the nr 1 tragic piece.

[klokheten]

This is really a challenge for the listener. It really shows how many wonderful and complete baritones that has been around.

The two most ideal Rigoletto´s with both heart and voice for me will always be

Titta Ruffo and Leonard Warren.

For the mere power and gorgeous sound:

Nicolae Herlea and Sherrill Milnes.

For beauty and baritonal wealth:

Robert Merrill and Cornell Mcneill.

And of course Cappuccilli should be here too

as Stracciari,Galeffi,Franci and Inghilleri from the past. Great job!!