Great Singers Clips and Photos II

Picking up from the Toscanini documentary, this is Part Three. There are 8 sections. I will continue to post them as Great Performers post them.

This is Ponselle in Trovatore with Stracciari, a superb baritone in the “Mira d’accerba lagrime” thru to the fine.

Simionato and Del Monaco in a fiery clip from 1959 Carmen in Tokyo.

Gigli sings Four Songs in a MINI recital just for us!

Magda speaks about two great colleagues, Gigli and Schipa.
“Gigli also had this great technique. One time he told me an interesting thing: ‘If I had to teach singing, I would ruin all my pupils because I would want to obtain sounds like mine. To obtain my sounds from my pupils I would have to make them open their notes, open the sounds - very dangerous indeed. I have these colours, these sounds, but they are perfectly supported upon the breath.’”

“Schipa was very smooth. He used to tell me, ‘The words fall on my lips and the breath makes them carry.’ That’s a simple thing, but ever so difficult to put into action! But it’s a thing that I have learnt and when I have occasion I also repeat it to young singers. Remember that the words are little, never big, that they fall on the lips and the breath makes them travel.”

Schipa playing guitar in a rare clip from a lost movie.

Farewell to the Old Met clips; last concert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMjIawvVs2M&feature=related Part One
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEBsHtbeBBc&feature=related Part Two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6Xc4Td8iC0 Part Three

An interesting discussion about Bel Canto.

At 85 Lauri Volpi still enchants. and…provokes. “The voice must be a conduit of the soul.”

Including three gentlemen who “sang” with their instruments. Heifetz, Rubinstein, and Piatagorsky
in a shumann trio.

Mr. Bergonzi in rehearsal for his first assumption of the role of Otello.2000. The night of his debut he was ill for the performance but evident here is the fabulous phrasing, the complete understanding of the text and his mixture with the colors of Verdi’s orchestration.Very beautiful and a lesson in singing.

Alfredo Kraus a truly great lyrico tenore quasi drammatico, gives a fabulous discussion on technique.
He sang until his death in his early 70’s. A great artist, and wonderful “teacher” based on this example alone.