Category Archives: Tenors

Salvatore Fisichella

Salvatore Fisichella was born in 1943 in Catania Sicily to a noble family distinguished in diplomacy, jurisprudence, philosophy, and theology since the 17th century. He was opera’s leading bel canto tenor for the last 30 years of the last century and into the first few years of the 21st century. Known for the elegance of his singing as well…


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Fritz Wunderlich

I’ve written a little about the great German tenor before but have not devoted a full post to him. Wunderlich was born in1930 and died in 1966 following a fall down a stone staircase which fractured his skull. He was just shy of his both his 36th birthday and his debut at the Metropolitan Opera….


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Cav & Pag – Corelli and Tucker Alternate Roles

Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci have been paired more often than Southwest Airlines has had recent on time flights. The two leading Italian style tenors at the Metropolitan Opera who sang the leading roles in these operas during the 1960s were Franco Corelli and Richard Tucker. Both had virile spinto tenors that…


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More on Mario Lanza

Mario Lanza has been dead for more than 60 years, yet with the passage of each one he seems to get even better. This is an excuse to post a few more of his recordings. What’s clear is the both the beauty of his voice and its ability to still resonate and move the listener….


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Jonathan Tetelman – Arias

Jonathan Tetelman is an American tenor (b 1988) who is making his presence felt at an increasing number of important opera venues. A schedule of his upcoming engagements is here. The tenor recently signed a recording contract with DGG and his first disc Arias has just been released. It’s very difficult to form an accurate…


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Limmie Pulliam

Limmie Pulliam is an American tenor who is just emerging to operatic prominence. As you’ll hear from the excerpts below he is a dramatic tenor ideally suited for the big Verdi tenor roles. Later this month he is due to sing three performances of the master’s Otello in a concert version with the Cleveland Symphony…


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Ben Heppner

This article was originally published here on May 29, 2019. It was damaged beyond repair such that I had to reconstruct it anew. Ben Heppner (b 1956) is a now retired Canadian tenor. At his peak, the 1990s, he was as fine a tenor as can be imagined. His career at the Met lasted from…


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Miguel Fleta

I’ve briefly touched on the singing of the Spanish tenor Miguel Fleta (1897-1938), but until now have not devoted a full piece to him. His career was as brief and brilliant as the firing of a flashbulb. I want to mostly focus on his singing rather than his story. There are several excellent biographical sketches…


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Ferruccio Tagliavini

Ferruccio Tagliavini (1913-95) was and Italian tenor famous for his mezza voce singing which was of exceptional sweetness. He made his debut in Florence in 1938 as Rodolfo in La Bohème. He was hailed as a successor to Beniamino Gigli and Tito Schipa, though his sound was much closer to the latter. Tagliavini was born…


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Michael Spyres Baritenor – Review

American tenor Michael Spyres has released a new album – Baritenor. It contains 18 selections which are presented in approximately the order in which they were written. They consist of arias composed for tenor, tenor or high baritone, and baritone. Spyres has always shown a unique ability to adjust the character of his timbre; he…


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