Placido Domingo Born 1941

Placido Domingo is a member of the elite "3 Tenors" which also included Luciano Pavarotti and Jose Carerras, Together they entertained hundreds of millions worldwide. Placido Domingo started out as a baritone and then became the wonderful Tenor we know him as, he has at least 120 plus roles in his repetoire.

Making him the Tenor with most learned roles at his disposal. Recently he has gone back to being a baritone, and also trained as a very fine conductor as well. Lets hear the great man right now.....



Wonderful Bravo Placido!



I think he is well worth another listen to....dont you ?



What can you say really except "WOW"

Vladimir Galouzine Born 1956

Vladimir Galouzine really made me sit up and listen, he has a really wonderful voice that is exciting to listen to. After leaving the Novosibirsk Conservatory in 1981, he intially appeared in Russian Operettas.
Then eight years later he sang the lead in "Gianni Schicci", and went on to do italian opera,s and various other things (and still does to my knowledge.

Lets hear him then, and you make your mind up about his voice.



Here is another for your enjoyment :)



I hope you agree with me, he really has got a lovely voice.

Jussi Bjorling 1911 - 1960

Jussi Bjorling was a swedish tenor, who graced many of the famous opera houses including of course the met in new york. He really was a force to be reckoned with (vocally) and dominated, along with a few others the early to middle parts of the 20th century.

He started singing aged four with the "Bjorling Male Quartet" and they performed in varied and wide places for eleven and a half years. Finally making his professional debut as the "Lamplighter" in Manon Lescaut in 1930,
Lets hear his truly beautiful voice right now singing Salut demeure from Faust.



That was a real pleasure to listen to, i am sure you will agree. Lets listen to one more from this Tenor Great. And this is a real world favourite duet, Jussi Björling & Robert Merrill / Pearl Fishers Duet.



Was that not just Heaven to listen to?

Carlo Bergonzi Born 1924

Carlo Bergonzi is an Italian Tenor, he is mainly connected with the Verdian roles. And is credited with keeping Verdi,s lesser known works alive, Essentially a lyric tenor with spinto capabilities, Bergonzi was loved during the peak of his career for his beautiful diction, smooth legato, warm timbre and elegant phrasing. Lets listen him with an Aria from "Luisa Miller" "Quando le sere al placido"



A truly beautiful voice, you cannot fail to be in awe of this performance.

Enrico Caruso 1873 - 1921

Enrico Caruso was the master at singing and really set the standard, His influence on future french and italian tenors is widely acclaimed by all, He also appeared an amazing 863 times at the Met in New York.

His tremendous record sales and extraordinary voice, celebrated for its power beauty, richness of tone and remarkable technique, made him arguably the greatest male operatic singer in history. Sadly he died in 1921 aged just 48, from a major viral infection. Lets hear the master at work....



Lets hear another (too good to miss out here)



And finally the sad piece, marking caruso,s funeral



The Tenor Voice is much richer and beautiful im sure, because of Enrico Caruso UA-13138331-5

A very interesting website about history of the tenor voice

While i was searching the internet i found this little gem about the history of the tenor voice, and is well worth visiting and taking a look. As i find these real useful reference sites i will include them because i feel it adds to our knowledge base of our favourite subject.

Steve Thorn

THE HISTORY OF THE TENOR VOICE

Jean De Reszke 1850 - 1925

Jean De Reszke was a polish tenor born into a well to do family in warsaw, and was one of if not the biggest male opera star of the late 19th century. He started out at a university studying but not for long as he switched and went to milan to study singing, where he made his first appearance as a baritone.

He did not quite make it as a baritone and so went into a period of further study, where he emerged as a tenor. his first reappearance at Madrid in 1879 it was as a tenor, in the title-role of Robert le Diable. he also reappeared in drury lane as radames in aida.

He went to london, paris and of course america, where from 1893 - 1899 he sang yearly at the metropolitan opera house. In 1904 he was forced to retire from the stage due to illness, where he travelled between nice and paris training voices.

Enrico Caruso (23 years his junior) took up the mantle of the worlds number one tenor, There is two very bad recordings of his voice and i have included them here despite the awful sounds. in parts you can still hear the quality of Jean De Reszke,s voice, but be warned you have to be patient and really want to hear him.






Although the recordings are very hard to listen to, i had patience and im glad i did, because here and there the beauty of his voice shined through.