No 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 and Pavarotti is because there were no critics constantly reminding the public that he was a once in a century artist.
His flaws vocal and personal matter not a whit. That he was at his best for barely a decade is irrelevant. He was a phenomenon. The most beautiful tenor voice I ever heard live or on record. His vocal insights and characterizations were unique. He found meaning in every syllable. You didn’t have to understand the language he was singing to understand what he was singing.
What made him a miracle was the combination of a voice of molten beauty combined with the emotional insight of the greatest of poets. Those who possess the one rarely have the other. That he had both sets him apart from all his coevals. It’s not that they don’t make ’em like this anymore, they didn’t make ’em like this before he was around.
Two of the performances I heard him sing at the old Met will probably defeat dementia. The first was Dec 9, 1955 – Faust. Monteux was the conductor. The diminuendo on the climactic high C caused pandemonium. Monteux put his baton on his lap and calmly sat on his stool until the audience cheered itself hoarse. The other was just a month later, January 13, 1956 – Tosca. The third act aria sounded just the way it does on the great recording under De Sabata. It was inimitable.
Ernest Hemingway once remarked that there was no order among great masterpieces. This is equally true of great performers, but Pippo was in a special category inhabited only by himself. When time permits I will post some sound files of those little bits of singing that show his unique ability to find meaning in what seemed to others mundane.
RIP
thank you for your comments about Pippo. There are so many comments from people that think they understand voice and dare to criticize Pippo’s voice. He was the most perfect voice ever and did not lose his voice because of heavy roles as some say smoking was the main cause on my website there is a photo of me and Pippo.
[…] Giuseppe Di Stefano 1921-2008 | Neil KurtzmanMar 4, 2008 … Jaco Pieterse says: July 12, 2009 at 3:47 am. thank you for your comments about Pippo. There are so many comments from people that think … […]
When I was a young man in the 1950’s I heard de Stefano sing,I thought by myself that the voice would not last ten years. It only lasted for about seven years. Why?
He was not covering the voice, he did not lift his soft palette, did not sing ON the breath, not supporting the breath, did not sing “forward.”
He did not sing “over” the note.
Jussi Bjorling, Sutherland, Leonard Warren, Julietta Somionato as examples, all did the above mentioned.
Regards