To hundreds of thousands of people all over the world
Franco Corelli was the archetype of a matinee idol: tall, slim,
with
film-star looks and charisma - a rarity indeed among tenors.
He was the undisputed star at La Scala and later the Met and
he was a popular guest at Covent Garden and the Vienna State
Opera. He sang in his youth but had no aspiration to be a professional
singer and worked for a number of years after his university
exam for local government. Friends encouraged him to take singing
lessons and in 1951, shortly after his thirtieth birthday he
took part in a singing competition, which led to a stage debut
just a couple of months later. And he jumped in at the deep end,
singing Don José in
Carmen at Spoleto. Within months
he advanced to the Rome Opera and then the field was open. Two
years after that lucky competition he was already Pollione opposite
Maria Callas’s Norma in Rome and on 7 December 1954 he
made his La Scala debut on the opening performance of the season,
in
La vestale, again opposite Callas. His Met debut in
January 1961 was also spectacular. He sang Manrico in
Il trovatore opposite
another house debutant, Leontyne Price. This night has gone into
the history-books as one of the most applauded performances ever.
Ms Price had 42 curtain calls and though I have no statistics
concerning Corelli I presume he wasn’t far behind. Throughout
the nineteen-sixties he held his position as the greatest Italian
tenor hero - though Mario Del Monaco was a keen rival - and as
late as 1973 he was still in reasonably fine fettle at a televised
concert in Tokyo together with Renata Tebaldi. OK, he seems rather
blasé at times but he makes amends with some fine Italian
songs (see
review).
Some of the arias and songs on that recital programme are also
featured on the present compilation.
I don’t think it was very wise to open the first disc with
A
te, o cara from Bellini’s
I puritani. I can’t
think this role was in his stage repertoire. It requires a lyric
bel canto tenor with extraordinary height. Corelli sings with
glorious tone, fine legato and beautiful pianissimos at the end
of phrases. But he also exaggerates accents, he slides up to
notes, top notes are held forever and he inserts some sobs, though
admittedly rather moderate. Gedda and Kraus from Corelli’s
generation and Pavarotti from the next are more in tune with
the requirements.
Much the same characteristics can be found in Pollione’s
aria from
Norma, but this
is a role for a dramatic
tenor and few have surpassed him fort intensity. Domingo is more
tasteful but hasn’t the raw power, Todorovich live in Berlin
runs him closer (see
review)
and I believe Giacomini on the Sony set with Renata Scotto is
superb too. Anyway the cabaletta
Me protegge is gloriously
sung by Corelli in one of his first complete sets. Donizetti
was hardly Corellis’s cup of tea either but after an intense
recitative the aria
Spirto gentil is in many respects
sensitively sung but as usual he grabs every opportunity to show
off. Like Giuseppe Di Stefano he is never bland - rather over
the top sometimes - but unlike the Sicilian he has the voice
and the stamina to bring off even the most strenuous arias. Manrico
was one of his great roles and the two showpieces that round
off act III find him, warths and all, at his most effective -
just listen to how he scales down to a beautiful pianissimo just
before the end of
Ah si, ben mio.
Di quella pira is
as brilliant as it could be.
This scene is from a complete recording while the following six
arias are from recital records. In Rodolfo’s aria from
Luisa
Miller he is too blustery - Bergonzi is the touchstone here
- but Alvaro in
La forza del destino is better suited
to his tenore robusto and this is a fine reading. Macduff in
Macbeth was
his last new role in 1973 and the great aria is one of his best
achievements on this recital from 1967. On the aforementioned
Tokyo DVD he sings
La donna e mobile at a practically
constant fortissimo. The version here is of the same kind, glorious
but unsubtle. The
Ernani scene is another knockout version.
The aria from
Un ballo in maschera is a strange mixture.
The orchestra was recorded in London in 1958, while Corelli recorded
the vocal part six years later in Milan. It is rather tastefully
sung but considering the comparatively late date of recording
the voice is surprisingly feebly recorded and there is some overload.
It has to be said that for benchmark recordings of all six arias
Bergonzi is preferable but there is still a certain tingle factor
about Corelli.
I bought the complete
Aida recording when it was issued
in 1967 and it is in many ways a superb version. Corelli’s
Celeste
Aida is a reading to treasure, not least for final B flat,
starting fortissimo and then being gradually and seamlessly fined
down to a beautiful pianissimo. The end of the Nile scene finds
him in heroic form and Birgit Nilsson seems almost like a soubrette
by his side to begin with. The confrontations between Nilsson
and Corelli in the opera houses are legendary and it seems they
have brought this rivalry into the Rome studio as well. Sparks
are really flying when Ms Nilsson lets loose and the trio is
completed with Mario Sereni’s strong-voiced and sonorous
Amonasro.
Raoul in
Les Huguenots was a role he sang only once at
La Scala. In bygone days many of the legendary tenors had this
aria on their repertoire and like Corelli here they usually sang
it in Italian. There is a most beautiful introduction for solo
cello and the instrument is also heard at the beginning of the
aria proper. The singing is as brilliant as one is ever likely
to hear again. Another even greater rarity is the tenor aria
from Catalani’s
Loreley, from which one occasionally
can hear a soprano aria, but
Nel verde maggio is a lovely
spring song well worth reviving, at least for recital purposes.
On CD 2
Cielo e mar is powerful but sung with too many
intrusive ‘h’s.
L’anima ho stanca is
however one of his most stylish and beautifully sung arias and
when we come to the inseparable
Cavalleria rusticana and
Pagliacci Corelli
is on his home ground.
Viva il vino is a show piece but
Mamma
quell vino e generoso is one of the most emotionally charged
arias in the opera literature. Here it begins off-stage before
he comes into full focus. There is a great risk that the tenor
becomes too lachrymose but Corelli largely avoids this and turns
in a reading to set beside Björling or Bergonzi - and more
heroic than either.
Pagliacci was his first complete opera for EMI, set down
a month and a half before the more famous
Norma. He is
heard here in three key scenes: early in act I, where
Un tal
gioco is sung with melting tone, almost on a par with Bergonzi’s
early Cetra recording.
Vesti la giubba is again comparable
to Bergonzi’s, though a size larger. Tears at the end can’t
be avoided but up till then it is almost classically stylish.
No,
Pagliaccio non son finally, and to the bitter end, is impossible
to play ‘straight, which would be in opposition to the
whole idea with verismo. But even here Corelli keeps a certain
mental distance but he has all the power in the world for the
climaxes. With Met stalwart Lucine Amara a strong Nedda this
is one of the most bloodcurdling recordings of this finale.
Emotions aplenty are to be found also in the Puccini arias, where
E
lucevan le stelle is memorably sung with a spectacular diminuendo
in the middle of the aria. These arias are also from a recital
record. He recorded
Tosca complete opposite Birgit Nilsson,
but that was for Decca. For EMI they did
Turandot, however,
and this is a classic. Corelli is tasteful in his first act aria
- tasteful but glorious - and EMI generously gives us the rest
of the act as well, the great ensemble and chorus where we also
hear Calaf’s three beats on the gong.
Nessun dorma is …glorious
- there is no other word for it - and the duet with the icy princess
and the unknown prince is the expected combat of giants.
The title role in
Andrea Chenier was also ideally suited
to Corelli’s voice and the five excerpts here give us a
large portion of the tenor role. He is at the top of his form
and Antonietta Stella is almost in the Tebaldi class in the concluding
duet
CD 3 opens with excerpts from two French operas. He recorded
Carmen for
RCA (and much later for Eurodisc) and
Faust for Decca
and besides that there was the complete
Roméo et Juliette for
EMI. Corelli’s Roméo was hardly one of his greatest
assumptions and one need only play the famous tenor aria
Ah!
lève-toi, soleil and compare it with Björling,
Gedda and Alagna to hear what is missing. Corelli is far too
coarse and unsubtle and this becomes even more apparent when
his Juliet is the lovely Mirella Freni, one of the very best
sopranos in French repertoire forty years ago. He is much better
in the aria from Massenet’s
Le Cid. There is an
exaggerated portamento at the beginning of the aria and some
over-energetic declamation, but he sings with beautiful tone
and long unbroken phrases. Domingo on the complete CBS/Sony set
from the 1970s, though no master of French either, is more stylish
but Corelli’s glowing final phrases are stunning. In the
Tokyo recital this aria was also one of his best efforts.
The rest of this disc and the whole of CD 4 are occupied by non-operatic
material. There are swings and roundabouts here. Schubert’s
Ave
Maria sung as though it was a verismo aria and with a soupy
chorus of angels and harp to match is hardly desert island music
and the famous entrance aria from Handel’s
Serse has
little of baroque about it. Rolando Villazon on his new all-Handel
recital (due for review before long) shows that it can be sung
stylishly by a modern operatic tenor.
Ingemisco from Verdi’s
Requiem is, howevwe,
sung with deep understanding and some marvellous pianissimo shadings.
His use of portamento to such a degree can always be questioned
but by and large this is a fine reading. The jaunty
Domine
Deus from Rossini’s
Petite Messe Solennelle -
which is neither
petite nor
solennelle - is sung
with restraint, and though the bombastic orchestral prelude to
Granada is
ill-boding, the singing of this one-time Mario Lanza hit is splendid
and free from histrionics. The following songs are little known,
some of the arrangements are a bit over-blown and Corelli doesn’t
always invest them with the nuances he is able to. But it is
honest, full-throated and in the main tasteful singing of a kind
and quality that is encountered only a few times in one’s
lifetime.
Carrettiere by the conductor of the first session
is a song that Corelli seems to have a special affection for
- it stands out as the most personal in the whole programme.
Porquoi
fermer ton Coeur is also Corelli at his best.
There are some ups and downs also on the last disc, where
Mammina
mia is adorned by a terrible ladies’chorus. Many of
these songs are also unhackneyed and they are well constructed
with attractive melodies but they do not always possess that
extra that makes for instance
Torna a Surriento so memorable.
Personally
I got a liking for Falvo’s
Dicitencello vuje and
the Spanish flavour of
Guapparia. Lama’s
Silenzio,
cantatore is another favourite and actually all the songs
from the Milan sessions in October and December 1961 (CD 4 tr.
13-23) find Corelli in exceptionally fine voice and a stylish
delivery to match.
A vucchella may not measure up with
Tito Gobbi’s light and airy recording from around 1964,
but he sings it with piano and Corelli also makes the melody
die away at the end very elegantly.
There can be no doubt that Franco Corelli was the possessor of
one of the most glorious voices of the second half of the last
century and even though his sense for style wasn’t always
on a par with his vocal capacity he was no mean artist. This
compilation includes a few performances show him to less than
his greatest advantage but the majority of the titles present
the very best of him. The whole set is a worthy tribute to this
most heroic of Italian tenors and at the price shouldn’t
be missed by anyone with a liking for grand tenor singing.
Göran Forsling
Full Tracklisting
CD 1 [75:42]
Vincenzo BELLINI (1801 - 1835)
1.
A te, o cara (I puritani, Act I) [3:33]
Philharmonia Orchestra/Franco Ferraris
rec. 29 June and 1, 3, 5, 13 July 1961 and 8 September 1962 at
Kingsway Hall, London
2.
Meco all’altar di Venere …Me protegge, me
difende (Norma, Act I) [6:08]
Piero de Palma (tenor), Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala
di Milano/Tullio Serafin
rec. 5-16 September 1960 at Teatro alla Scala, MIlan
Gaetano DONIZETTI (1797 - 1848)
3.
Favorita del Re! …Spirto gentil (La favorita,
Act IV) [4:53]
see track 1
Giuseppe VERDI (1813 - 1901)
4.
Ah si, ben mio …Di quella pira (Il trovatore,
Act III) [7:09]
Gabriella Tucci (soprano), Angelo Mercuriali (tenor), Coro e
Orchestra del Teatro dell’Opera di Roma/Thomas Schippers
rec. 6-12, 14, 17, 19, 31 July and 7 August 1964 at the Opera
House, Rome
5.
Oh! fede negar potessi …Quando le sere placido (Luisa
Miller, Act II) [5:16]
6.
La vita è inferno …O tu che in seno agli
angeli (La forza del destino, Act III) [6:33]
7.
O figli, o figli miei! …Ah! la paterna mano (Macbeth,
Act IV) [3:47]
8.
La donna e mobile (Rigoletto, Act III) [2:26]
9.
Mercé diletti amici …Come rugiada …Oh,
tu che l’alma adora (Ernani, Act I) [4:52]
New Philharmonia Orchestra/Franco Ferraris
rec. 15, 17, 20, 25 February 1967 at KIngsway Hall, London
10.
Forse la soglia attinse …Ma se m’è forza
perderti (Un ballo in maschera, Act III) [5:09]
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Eduardo Pedrazzoli
rec. 26, 30 September and 3-4 October 1958 at Kingsway Hall (orchestra)
and 25, 28 September 1964 at Basilica Santa Eufemia, Milan (voice)
Aida
11.
Se quell guerrier io fossi! …Celeste Aida (Act
I)[4:43]
12.
Pur ti riveggo, mia dolce Aida …Ma dimmi (Act
III) [12:26]
Birgit Nilsson (soprano) (12), Grace Bumbry (mezzo) (12, Mario
Sereni (baritone) (12), Bonaldo Giaiotti (bass) (12), Orchestra
del Teatro dell’Opera di Roma/Zubin Mehta
rec. 21 June - 6 July 1967 at the Opera House, Rome
Giacomo MEYERBEER (1791 - 1864)
13.
Non lunge della torre …BIanca al par di neve alpine (Les
Huguenots, Act I) [5:21]
see track 1
Alfredo CATALANI (1854 - 1893)
14.
Nel verde maggio (Loreley, Act I) [2:23]
see tracks 5-9
CD 2 [76:08]
Amilcare PONCHIELLI (1834 - 1886)
1.
Cielo e mar! (La Gioconda, Act II) [4:42]
Francesco CILEA (1866 - 1950)
2.
L’anima ho stanca (Adriana Lecouvreur, Act II)
[2:19]
see CD 1 tr. 1
Pietro MASCAGNI (1863 - 1945)
Cavalleria rusticana
3.
Intanto amici …Viva il vino spumeggiante [2:53]
4.
Mamma, quell vino è generoso [4:05]
Adriana Lazzarini (3) and Corinna Vozza (4) (mezzos), Coro e
Orchestra del Teatro dell’Opera di Roma/Gabriele Santini
rec. 1-5 July 1962 at the Opera House, Rome
Ruggero LEONCAVALLO (1858 - 1919)
Pagliacci
5.
Un grande spettacolo …Un tal gioco (Act I) [5:14]
6.
Recitar! …Vesti la giubba (Act I) [3:46]
7.
No, Pagliaccio non son (Act II) [6:22]
Lucine Amara (soprano) (5 and 7), Mario Spina (tenor) (5 and
7), Tito Gobbi (baritone) (5 and 7), Mario Zanasi (baritone)
(7) Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano/Lovro von
Matačic
rec. 27 June - 7 July 1960 at Teatro alla Scala, Milano
Giacomo PUCCINI (1858 - 1924)
8.
Donna non vidi mai (Manon Lescaut, Act I) [2:32]
Tosca
9.
Recondita armonia (Act I) [3:00]
10.
E lucevan le stele (Act III) [3:23]
see CD 1 tr. 1
Turandot
11.
Non piangere, Liù …Ah! per l’ultima
volta (act I) [4:39]
12.
Nessun dorma (Act III) [2:51]
13.
Principessa di morte! (Act III) [5:30]
Renata Scotto (soprano) (11), Birgit Nilsson (soprano) (13),
Franco Ricciardi and Piero de Palma (tenors) (11), Bonaldo Giaiotti
and Guido Mazzini (basses) (11) Coro e Orchestra del Teatro dell’Opera
di Roma/Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
rec. 24 June and 2, 5, 8, 10, 12, 13, 16 July 1965 at the Opera
House, Rome
Umberto GIORDANO (1867 - 1948)
Andrea Chénier
14.
Colpito …Un di all’azzurro spazio (Act
I) [5:37]
15.
Credo a una posanza arcane (Act II) [3:23]
16.
Legray! …Andrea Chénier! …Si, fui
soldato (Act III) [3:15]
17.
Come un bel di di maggio (Act IV) [3:21
18.
Vicino a te (Act IV) [7:58]
Antonietta Stella (soprano) (16 and 18), Mario Sereni (baritone)
(16), Paolo Pedani (16) and Giuseppe Modesti (15 and 16) (Basses),
Coro e Orchestra del Teatro dell’Opera di Roma/Gabriele
Santini
rec. 25-27, 30 June and 1, 2 July 1963 at the Opera House Rome
CD 3 [78:12]
Jules MASSENET (1842 - 1912)
1.
Ah! tout est bien fini …Ô souverain, ô juge, ô père (Le
Cid, Act III) [4:49]
see CD 1 Tr. 5-9
Charles GOUNOD (1818 - 1893)
Roméo et Juliette
2.
Ange adorable (Act I) [4:32]
3.
L’amour …Ah! Lève-toi, soleil! (Act
II) [4:35]
4.
Ô nuit divine! (Act II) [8:20]
5.
C’est là! Salut! tombeau! (Act V) [6:28]
Mirella Freni (soprano) (4), Orchestre du Théâtre
National de l’Opéra de Paris/Alain Lombard
rec. 20 June - 6 July 1968 at Salle Wagram, Paris
Franz SCHUBERT (1797 - 1828)
6.
Ave Maria D839 [2:20]
George Frideric HANDEL (1685 - 1759)
7.
Frondi tenere …Ombra mai fu (Serse, Act I) [4:02]
Giuseppe VERDI
8.
Ingemisco (Requiem) [4:22]
Gioachino ROSSINI (1792 - 1868)
9.
Domine Deus (Petite Messe Solennelle [4:22]
Agustin LARA (1900 - 1970)
10.
Granada [4:36]
Stefano DONAUDY (1879 - 1925)
11.
Vaghissima sembianza [3:55]
Ernesto de CURTIS (1875 - 1937)
12.
Ti voglio tanto bene [2:59]
Renato CAIRONE
13.
Mon ciel, c’est toi [2:27]
Eduardo PEDRAZZOLI
14.
Il canto della rinuncia [4:27]
Raffaele MINGARDO (1923 - 1978)
15.
Carrettiere [3:41]
Giovanni BERRAFATO
16.
Tu lo sai [3:33]
Chorus and Orchestra/Raffaele Mingardo
rec. 6, 19 June and 16, 21 September 1963 in Milan (6-9); 18
May 1964 and 16, 17 June and 27 September 1965 in Rome (10-16)
Renato CAIRONE
17.
Pourquoi fermer ton Coeur? [3:57]
Luigi DENZA (1846 - 1922)
18.
Sit u m’amais [3:59]
Orchestra/Franco Ferraris
rec. 14, 16, 26 October and 21 December 1961 in Milan
CD 4 [78:32]
Luigi TORTORELLA
1.
Mammina mia [3:55]
José SERRANO (1873 - 1941)
2.
Te quiero, morena (El trust de los tenorios) [2:56]
see CD 3 tr 10-16
Salvatore CARDILLO (1874 - 1947)
3.
Core ‘ngrato [3:33]
Ernesto de CURTIS
4.
Senza nisciuno [3:25]
Luigi TORTORELLA
5.
Addà turnà [3:39]
Vincenzo d’ANNIBALE
6.
‘O paese d’‘o sole [3:33]
Gaetano Errico PENNINO
7.
Pecchè? [3:56]
Anon.
8.
Fenesta che lucive [3:48]
Ernesto TAGLIAFERRI (1889 - 1937)
9.
Piscatore ‘e Pusilleco [3:19]
Ernesto de CURTIS
10.
Tu, ca nun chiagne! [3:10]
Eduardo Di CAPUA (1865 - 1917)
11.
I’te vurria vasà [4:05]
Ernesto de CURTIS
12.
Torna a Surriento [3:46]
Rodolfo FALVO (1874 - 1936)
13.
Dicitencello vuje [3:36]
14.
Guapparia [2:18]
Gaetano LAMA (1886 - 1050)
15.
Silenzio cantatore [3:21]
Ernesto de CURTIS
16.
Voce ‘e notte! [3:07]
Salvatore GAMBARDELLA
17.
‘O marenariello [3:51]
Vincenzo VALENTE (1855 - 1921) and Ernesto TAGLIAFERRI
18.
Passione [4:06]
Eduardo Di CAPUA
19.
O sole mio [3:20]
Enrico CANNIO (1874 - 1949)
20.
‘O surdato ‘nnammerato [2:00]
Francesco Paolo TOSTI (1846 - 1916)
21.
‘A vucchella [3:00]
Nicola VALENTE (1881 - 1946)
22.
Torna! [3:08]
23.
Addio, mia bella Napoli [3:24]
Orchestra/Franco Ferraris
rec. 7, 9, 11 July 1961, No. 1 Studio, Abbey Road, London (3-12)
and 14, 16, 26 October and 21 December 1961 in Milan (13-23)
Franco Corelli (tenor)
EMI CLASSICS ICON 50999 2 64887 2 1 [4 CDs: 75:42 + 76:08
+ 78:12 + 78:32]
Franco Corelli
(tenor) 
