I enjoy Alagna's singing and admire him for taking on this treacherous aria, even though it doesn't show him at his best. What I find odd is that NOBODY seems to have noticed that Alagna skipped two measures after the line "Kühle die Stirne" in the final phrases! It's amazing that conductor and orchestra were able to fill the gap so well.
Alagna, a tenor I admire enormously, is to be commended for taking this one, but it is a young man's aria--the poise required at this extreme tessitura is so treacherous. He's mature and his voice is no longer capable of the extremely high range and finesse the aria requires without resorting to crooning and yodeling. His intonation is spotty and the vocal line bulges as he moves in and out of falsetto and head voice. I could have done without some of the bawling. But he is an artist and tries his damndest. He is not helped by tempi that verges on a dirge. A modified bravo.
There are two forms of emission for the tenor voice: Modal, and falsetto. In modal form the full width of the vocal chords approximate. In falsetto only the edges vibrate. In the eighteenth century tenors sang with a combination, modal (normal voice) for most of the music and falsetto for the very top notes. Rubini sang this way. But fashions changed and soon tenors sang top notes as the said " from the chest". Donzelli sang a high B natural and then Duprez sang a high C. Soon everyone sang that way. I had a friend who sang countertenor. he claimed anyone with a good voice could sing countertenor with two weeks practice. But must operatic tenors today don't bother. I'm a low bass (Osmin, Sarastro, etc.) but I can sing a high C in falsetto. Anyone can although it hurts when I do it and it doesn't sound pleasant. In standard opera baritones and bass only sing falsetto for comic effects. This song is an exception. It is meant to have the top part sung in falsetto but Gedda and some others enter into the change in production better than Alagna does. He sings very beautifully but the change from one form of production to the other is too abrupt. Pavarotti when he goes for the "Palermo F" in the Puritani recording is even worse. These guys just haven't sung this sort of music enough in this way. They need more practice in smoothly transitioning. Some here have been unkind enough to call it yodeling.
Que belleza de canción, y que maravillosamente interpretada por el TENOR ROBERTO ALAGNA. Su voz suena dulce, alegre, argento y tersa. DIOS LO BENDIGA Y LE CONSERVE SU BELLA VOZ. AMEN.
Below the lyrics: Magische Töne, berauschender Duft! Küsse mich, milde Abendluft, Kühle die Stirne mir heilend und mild. Lindre die Qual, die das Herz mir erfüllt. Um mich schwebt ein zaubrischer Schein, Wie in Libanons dunklem Hain, Wo die Quelle sich lockend verlor. Magische Töne, berauschender Duft! Küsse mich, milde Abendluft, Kühle die Stirne mir heilend und mild.
Aria redoutable entre toutes par les qualités de maîtrise technique qu'elle requiert: contrôle total du souffle, de la longue ligne (super legato), de la couleur, du mixage des registres. Cet admirable ténor y parvient presque, nonobstant quelques accrocs (débrayage des cordes vocales à deux ou trois reprises _ d'aucuns diront coup de yodle _ et fléchissement de l'intonation).
Nearly impossible to compete Nicolai Gedda. Roberto performs very well. In lyric parts, he is very good. I do not copy why is trying Manrico and Radames
Enormously difficult music. I admire Alagna, but one phrase sounded like a yodel and the pitch throughout was not impeccable. His rendition of this on his just released cd, My Life is an Opera, received many negative comments. Our own home-grown tenor, Robert Swensen, does a magnificent job on this (on youtube).
Marly Harris Pitchy? No offense, but I guess he fooled the orchestra, too. I enjoyed Swensen's version, as you did, but he lacks the beauty and agility that Alagna has now, and seemingly has had for quite some time, qualities to be admired in a lyric tenor, not to mention any great singer. Nevertheless, you write well and thoughtfully, so I respect your right to chime in with your earnest reflections, a refreshing change from the vultures that so often preside on here with hopes of masking their dissimulations and agendas.
The reason it sounds like a yodel is, that it is a yodel! He leaves full voice and jumps into falsetto at some places, and that basically is called a yodel. I don't blame him though, as it is a very difficult aria and singing it live takes a lot of courage! If you want to hear the aria without any "yodel", then listen to Nicolai Gedda's rendition!
This aria is definitely out of Alagna's "comfort zone" but he needn't apologize. Of course after Gedda's recording most people assumed that was the "way to sing the aria" . There are a number of other performances on YT quite different from Gedda and I would admit that his is one of the most finished and artistic. Alas the more Gedda sang the more he aped provincial Italian tenors and his style became coarse and unattractive. I only saw him in concert and my memory of Amor te viata was distincly disappointing, brutal, loud and unlovely.
Here you can learn and hear - strictly compared with Nicolai GEDDA - what the art of singing - or better - perfect tecnic means. Maybe this Alagna had a bad day. But what he delivers is under ZERO.
Concerts give the singer more flexibility, but he butchered the tempo, drag the piece to a crawl, misused forte/piano, and delivered an overall bad interpretation. The only thing to aplaud is the high C but let's face it: one note doesn't make an aria.
Non sono del Suo parere. Roberto Alagna canta questa aria magnificamente e si capisce ogni parola. Perchè criticare sempre e fare confronti con altri cantanti? Godiamo di questa fantastica musica che è come balsamo sull'anima.
amoureuse de la voix , sublime , la chanson magnifique !partagée depuis longtemps , bravo Roberto ! merci !
Simply divine. Bewitching. What a splendid voice!!!
So incredibly beautiful. I love to listen to this in the evening at sunset.
MAGNIFIQUE CHANSON !bravo ROBERTO ! si bien chantée !
Magische Töne: c’est exactement ce que nous offre la voix de Roberto!
I enjoy Alagna's singing and admire him for taking on this treacherous aria, even though it doesn't show him at his best. What I find odd is that NOBODY seems to have noticed that Alagna skipped two measures after the line "Kühle die Stirne" in the final phrases! It's amazing that conductor and orchestra were able to fill the gap so well.
Alagna, a tenor I admire enormously, is to be commended for taking this one, but it is a young man's aria--the poise required at this extreme tessitura is so treacherous. He's mature and his voice is no longer capable of the extremely high range and finesse the aria requires without resorting to crooning and yodeling. His intonation is spotty and the vocal line bulges as he moves in and out of falsetto and head voice. I could have done without some of the bawling. But he is an artist and tries his damndest. He is not helped by tempi that verges on a dirge. A modified bravo.
Wouah!!!! Fantastique.
Absolutely Fantastic.
Totally agree! Stunning!
He is the BEST
Yes, yes Gedda is the best.
Absolutely admirable! Sir RA, you´re wonderful and thanks to didann1975 for sharing this video!
+mariann1982 I absolutely agree. Wonderful singing.
Grandisimo tenor
Fantastic!!!!!
QUE ARIA TAN DIFICIL!!!!MAGNIFICA, ESTUPENDAMENTE CANTADA POR ROBERTO ALAGNA. DIOS LE BENDIGA Y GUARDE ESA BELLA VOZ. AMEN.
great live perfomance. Gedda's is a recording.
There are two forms of emission for the tenor voice: Modal, and falsetto. In modal form the full width of the vocal chords approximate. In falsetto only the edges vibrate. In the eighteenth century tenors sang with a combination, modal (normal voice) for most of the music and falsetto for the very top notes. Rubini sang this way. But fashions changed and soon tenors sang top notes as the said " from the chest". Donzelli sang a high B natural and then Duprez sang a high C. Soon everyone sang that way.
I had a friend who sang countertenor. he claimed anyone with a good voice could sing countertenor with two weeks practice. But must operatic tenors today don't bother. I'm a low bass (Osmin, Sarastro, etc.) but I can sing a high C in falsetto. Anyone can although it hurts when I do it and it doesn't sound pleasant. In standard opera baritones and bass only sing falsetto for comic effects.
This song is an exception. It is meant to have the top part sung in falsetto but Gedda and some others enter into the change in production better than Alagna does. He sings very beautifully but the change from one form of production to the other is too abrupt. Pavarotti when he goes for the "Palermo F" in the Puritani recording is even worse. These guys just haven't sung this sort of music enough in this way. They need more practice in smoothly transitioning. Some here have been unkind enough to call it yodeling.
Bravo
musique la plus difficile pour la voix d' un ténor
Que belleza de canción, y que maravillosamente interpretada por el TENOR ROBERTO ALAGNA. Su voz suena dulce, alegre, argento y tersa. DIOS LO BENDIGA Y LE CONSERVE SU BELLA VOZ. AMEN.
Below the lyrics:
Magische Töne, berauschender Duft!
Küsse mich, milde Abendluft,
Kühle die Stirne mir heilend und mild.
Lindre die Qual, die das Herz mir erfüllt.
Um mich schwebt ein zaubrischer Schein,
Wie in Libanons dunklem Hain,
Wo die Quelle sich lockend verlor.
Magische Töne, berauschender Duft!
Küsse mich, milde Abendluft,
Kühle die Stirne mir heilend und mild.
BELO COMO SEMPRE EM SUA INTERPRETAÇÃO. DIFÍCIL ÁRIA EM ALEMÃO! BRAVISSIMO!
Elles sont sur internet en allemand et en anglais…
Vraiment genial, j'aimerais bien trouver les paroles de cette chanson.
Sinon on a la version de Caruso et surtout de Gedda ❤
This is gorgeous! I wish he'd stick to the beautiful lyric repertoire rather than singing the dramatic roles. He has nothing to prove by singing them.
GEDDA, GEDDA AND GEDDA AGAIN
Aria redoutable entre toutes par les qualités de maîtrise technique qu'elle requiert: contrôle total du souffle, de la longue ligne (super legato), de la couleur, du mixage des registres.
Cet admirable ténor y parvient presque, nonobstant quelques accrocs (débrayage des cordes vocales à deux ou trois reprises _ d'aucuns diront coup de yodle _ et fléchissement de l'intonation).
Dificil cantar esa aria.
Nearly impossible to compete Nicolai Gedda. Roberto performs very well. In lyric parts, he is very good. I do not copy why is trying Manrico and Radames
I'm sorry, but there were too many pitch problems and the phrasing was not coherent. Listen to Seiffert and Gedda.
Hi
viva GEDDA
Execrable! Gedda, only Gedda.
He struggled a lot.
Enormously difficult music. I admire Alagna, but one phrase sounded like a yodel and the pitch throughout was not impeccable. His rendition of this on his just released cd, My Life is an Opera, received many negative comments. Our own home-grown tenor, Robert Swensen, does a magnificent job on this (on youtube).
Marly Harris Pitchy? No offense, but I guess he fooled the orchestra, too. I enjoyed Swensen's version, as you did, but he lacks the beauty and agility that Alagna has now, and seemingly has had for quite some time, qualities to be admired in a lyric tenor, not to mention any great singer. Nevertheless, you write well and thoughtfully, so I respect your right to chime in with your earnest reflections, a refreshing change from the vultures that so often preside on here with hopes of masking their dissimulations and agendas.
The reason it sounds like a yodel is, that it is a yodel! He leaves full voice and jumps into falsetto at some places, and that basically is called a yodel. I don't blame him though, as it is a very difficult aria and singing it live takes a lot of courage! If you want to hear the aria without any "yodel", then listen to Nicolai Gedda's rendition!
extraordinaire N Gedda
Falling asleep ! One cannot do everything well! Please listen to Gedda or Bill Bliss!
I have just listened to Ben Bliss. He wins hands down
Once you've listened Gedda' performance anyone else sounds like a straydog barking at the Moon .
This aria is definitely out of Alagna's "comfort zone" but he needn't apologize. Of course after Gedda's recording most people assumed that was the "way to sing the aria" . There are a number of other performances on YT quite different from Gedda and I would admit that his is one of the most finished and artistic. Alas the more Gedda sang the more he aped provincial Italian tenors and his style became coarse and unattractive. I only saw him in concert and my memory of Amor te viata was distincly disappointing, brutal, loud and unlovely.
Here you can learn and hear - strictly compared with Nicolai GEDDA - what the art of singing - or better - perfect tecnic means. Maybe this Alagna had a bad day. But what he delivers is under ZERO.
Maybe your opinion is wrongful !😄
Concerts give the singer more flexibility, but he butchered the tempo, drag the piece to a crawl, misused forte/piano, and delivered an overall bad interpretation. The only thing to aplaud is the high C but let's face it: one note doesn't make an aria.
Non sono del Suo parere. Roberto Alagna canta questa aria magnificamente e si capisce ogni parola. Perchè criticare sempre e fare confronti con altri cantanti? Godiamo di questa fantastica musica che è come balsamo sull'anima.