Search Results for: Giuseppe Di stefano
Giuseppe Di Stefano – 100 Years
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 11th July 2021The third great tenor born in 1921 (July 24) was Giuseppe Di Stefano (1921-2008). Of all the tenors I heard in performance, Di Stefano had the most beautiful voice. He was also able to convey the emotional content of the music he sang with intensity and insight unmatched by any other tenor of his era….
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Giuseppe Di Stefano Video
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 11th November 2019Below is a video made by the late tenor shortly before he was beaten senseless by unknown assailants as he was exiting his car near his home in Kenya. The attack was in 2004; the singer never fully recovered and died in 2008. Di Stefano’s prime coincided almost exactly with that of Maria Callas with…
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Giuseppe Di Stefano – Candid Photos
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th October 2012The photos of Pippo were provided to me by Robert Cahen. The one, just below, with the late tenor and his cigarette holder is priceless. Note the gloves.
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Giuseppe di Stefano sings “Vainement, ma bien-aimée”
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 17th May 2011This recording by the inimitable Giuseppe Di Stefano singing the aubade from Édouard Lalo’s Le roi d’Ys is from a recital in Chicago in 1949. His voice is fresh and rich. He sings the piece in his unique style. Vainement ma bien aimee Below is a video of the tenor singing the same aria 24 years later. His voice at…
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Giuseppe Di Stefano: The Tenor of the Century – Almost
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 1st June 2010This article was written in 1997 more than a decade before the tenor’s death (Kurtzman NA: The Tenor of the Century – Almost. Lubbock Magazine (October):52-53, 1997). I’ve added a few sound files that I obviously couldn’t have put in the original version. Of all the words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these:…
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Giuseppe Di Stefano Sings Three Songs
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 30th August 2009The clip below presents the late great tenor singing three songs. His says that he’s going to sing thee Sicilian songs, but the clip is obviously edited as he sings one Sicilian song, then a Spanish song, followed by a short version of “Core ‘ngrato”. Pippo was 28 when this performance was recorded. The pianist…
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Why Giuseppe Di Stefano Was Unique
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd April 2008Giuseppe Di Stefano (1921-2008) occupies a special place on the list of the greatest tenors of the last century. I will try to show why with a few examples of his singing recorded when he was at his best. You will often hear singers and critics admit to admiring the “young” Di Stefano. When you do…
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Giuseppe Di Stefano 1921-2008
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 4th March 2008No great tenor seems to have spawned more ambivalence among opera lovers than the late Giuseppe Di Stefano. Even I’m showing it by leading with a negative. So let’s get it out in the open. He was the greatest Italian tenor I ever heard in performance. That he’s not a household name as are Callas…
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Giuseppe Verdi – 210th Birthday
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th October 2023Giuseppe Verdi was born October 9th (or 10th) 1813. Starting with the appearance of his third opera Nabucco in 1842 he has been the most popular of operatic composers. At first musical scholars were divided as to his artistic worth. Some thought him a popularizer who was not close to the artistic merit of Richard…
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Lucia Di Lammermoor in HD 2022
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 21st May 2022This was Donizetti’s bel canto masterpiece’s third HD telecast by the Met. The previous two were of Mary Zimmerman’s benighted production. Donizetti set the scene in the 17th century as did Walter Scott who wrote The Bride of Lammermoor on which the libretto is loosely based. Zimmerman moved the story to the 19th century. Australian…
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