January 4, 2009 at 7:40 P.M. Numerous essays have been altered by hackers. I am struggling to make the necessary corrections. An advertisement was imposed on this site:
"London Theater Tickets, ... http://www.londontheaterboxoffice.com/ ..."
Somehow, I do not think this advertisement is genuine.
Jonathan Kandell, "Giuseppe di Stefano, a Tenor Whose Career Flamed Out Too Early," in The New York Times, March 4, 2008, at p. B6.
If I were to select only one singer as the greatest Operatic tenor of the twentieth century, I would choose Giuseppe di Stefano. His death on Monday in Santa Maria Hoe, north of Milan is deeply distressing to me. I feel it as a personal loss. I say this although I have only enjoyed recordings of this singer's incredibly emotional, beautiful, and true renditions of Operas and arias. This man was a great actor, a brilliant interpreter of librettos, who was blessed with a voice of such astonishing beauty and communicative capacity as to defy description. I envy anyone who heard this tenor live in a theater.
The gold and blue colors in his voice during his early career have not been matched by any singer since ("the sunshine of Naples is in his voice," Callas said). Di Stefano's emotional richness has been equalled, perhaps, only by Pavarotti and Carreras at their best. Carreras said that Di Stefano was the most exciting and poignant interpreter of Operatic texts that he ever heard. Domingo was a close friend of Di Stefano's, who assisted with Deutsch Gramophone's final recordings and learned a great deal about phrasing from the Sicilian tenor described by Mr. Domingo, always, as "the Maestro." Pavarotti spoke of Di Stefano with the same reverence. There are a few singers for whom the only appropriate word is "magic." Di Stefano is one of them. (Either "Di Stefano" or "di Stefano" are acceptable, I believe.)
At a MET voice competition, Michael Fabiano sounded, to me, so similar to Di Stefano and Domingo in his early days that I hope to enjoy Mr. Fabiano's singing for many years to come. There is hope Opera fans.
Di Stefano was a lyrical-spinto tenor, who came to the great dramatic roles at the end of his career -- a career marred by flirtation with danger (safaris, race cars, beautiful women), delight in life's exquisite pleasures (wine lover, gourmet and chef, lover of many women -- including movie stars and divas, like Callas). I trust that the astute reader will appreciate my Nabokovian parentheses. Please be worthy of them.
Di Stefano was spared almost certain death by an Opera-loving doctor in his unit during World War II, which must have given him a feel for the priceless value of every minute of his existence. Hemingway was a friend, so was Picasso. Critics were not popular with this tenor. On one occasion, he said: "Let the critics sing and we criticize them!"
I recommend the Callas/DiStefano/Gobbi Tosca if you want to experience genius in triplicate. Domingo/Price/Milnes in the same Opera are on an equal level. Otherwise, it is slim pickings. No cast today can match those performances, in my opinion, anywhere in the world. Two recordings that must be in every Opera lover's collection are Decca-Dolby update of early arias recorded by Di Stefano, including "Cielo e' Mar" from La Gioconda and "Colpito qui m'avete ..." from Andrea Chenier.
No recording by anyone that I have heard of those two arias surpasses Di Stefano's achievement. The late Deutsch Gramophone collection, including his beloved interpretation of "Or son sei mesi ..." from La Fanciulla del West -- which is a very poignant aria for me that often features in my shower singing -- is not to be missed. Passion and musical intelligence were Di Stefano's fortes. My phrasing in singing this difficult aria by Puccini is influenced by Di Stefano. Naturally, the profound interpretation of the work is entirely my own.
Di Stefano's death was the result of an attack at his home in Kenya. Di Stefano fought off his attackers, despite his great age, while suffering a head wound that caused him to lapse into a coma that proved fatal. Di Stefano's finale was worthy of Manrico.
Bravo. Molto bravo.
