Ettore Bastianini (1922-1967)

The life of baritone Ettore Bastianini was cut tragically short by throat cancer. His performances in the later stages of his career reflected a dryer sound owing to this unfortunate health crisis. Most audiences and critics were not aware of his condition and were less than kind in reviewing his vocal state in performance.
The voice is darker like a bass, but definitely Italian in it's chiaroscuro balance. He trained for a long time as a bass, then took seven months away from performing to transition to baritone. Therefore, much of the color retains a more bass-like timbre. The first baritone role he essayed was Giorgio Germont in "La traviata".

He was a great singer, who demonstrated beauty of tone and intelligent phrasing. It is too sad that we never got to see how this wonderful artist would have developed further.







This recording of Largo was made during the midst of his health crisis:

Claudia Muzio (1889-1936)

Claudia Muzio was the Renata Tebaldi of her day. Her earliest teacher created the title role of Maddalena in Verdi's Rigoletto. Muzio herself created the role of Georgette in Il Tabarro. She sang with the greatest tenors of her day, and was held in highest regard by her colleagues.

While frequently criticized for her sometime overindulgent dynamic choices, she was a strong actress, and a beloved star.

Eva Marton (1943- )

Eva Marton is a Hungarian dramatic soprano best known for her roles in Tosca, Turandot, and Wagnerian Opera.

One of my favorite recordings of hers is of the opera Violanta, an unknown by Korngold. The love duet at the end of this opera is one of the most STUNNING duets of 20th century opera.







The "Violanta" excerpt:

Antonio Cortis (1891-1952)

Cortis was a Spanish tenor who was known for being "the little Caruso". In fact, Caruso encouraged him to make a career in New York City. The voice is potent and is wedded to an innate musicality. He is best known for his roles in verismo opera. His is one of the most beautiful voices recorded on disc.

Here are some representative clips:

La Stupenda Joan Sutherland (1926- )

Joan Sutherland possessed a voice of tremendous size and fiendish agility. Starting as a mezzo-soprano, her husband Richard Bonynge worked with her to reveal the true nature of her voice: a dramatic coloratura. While she made a huge splash as Lucia di Lammermoor, she would also make brief forays into more dramatic repertoire. She even recorded a phenomenal version of Turandot that has been highly acclaimed by critics as one of the definitive recordings of that opera.

She was a dramatic shift in the bel canto repertoire from her predecessor, Maria Callas. While Callas pursued the dramatic ends of these heroines, Sutherland thrilled audiences with the athleticism of her coloratura. In fact, Callas and Sutherland were once in talks to perform in an opera together: Meyerbeer's epic Gli Ugonotti (Les Huguenots) at La Scala. This pairing never came to fruition, but Joan did record and perform the opera several times.

Here are some clips showing Joan in her natural element, and some more adventurous repertoire:

Tito Schipa (1888-1965)

Another of my favorites, the tenor Tito Schipa. He never resorted to shouting or any of the other veristic effects that were so common at this time in vocal history. The tone is veiled, slightly misty but totally beautiful.

To celebrate Jeanette MacDonald's birthday -

Here are some clips.

Now, let's get one thing straight: I LOVE Jeanette MacDonald. A LOT of people malign her voice and her chirpy singing. But I'll tell you one thing. If you see Maytime, and you still are stone cold - then you need to seriously examine yourself. Sure, these movies are sentimental and kitschy, one might even say - CAMPY - (gasp!). But when you boil away all the stereotypes and let yourself be transported by Jeanette's silvery voice, you'll understand why she was the Queen of the Movies in the mid to late 30s.

She inspired a generation of singers and actors, Joan Sutherland, Maria Callas, Betty White, Carol Burnett, and numerous others.

Here are some clips from her most celebrated films:

New Moon (1940)





Naughty Marietta (1935)






Rose Marie (1936)





And the unforgettable Maytime (1937)





In this film MGM produced a "fake" opera based on Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony. (It's sound a lot better than any modern opera churned out in the last 20 years!)