quote:

Originally posted by marilyn:
[qb]MIKE.....RJ IS RIGHT ABOUT THAT SONG. IT IS BEAUTIFUL. IT IS ON EITHER HIS "SOGNO" CD OR THE "ROMANZA" CD. BOTH OF THESE CD'S ARE EXCEPTIONALLY DELIGHTFUL. I BELIEVE YOU WOULD LIKE BOCELLI. NEITHER OF THESE CD'S ARE OPERA. THEY ARE STRICTLY ITALIAN LOVE SONGS. I DON'T UNDERSTAND ITALIAN, BUT FOR SOME REASON HIS MUSIC GETS RIGHT THROUGH TO THE HEART.[/qb]

It's on the Romanza CD. But Bocelli is not an opera singer. Brightman is. Neither one of them would be successful in opera. To be able to sing opera correctly, you need a lot of vocal training. No microphones in opera, you must project. Bocelli doesn't have the training but Brightman does. Unfortunately, Sarah Brightman has a "small voice" that does not project well. If you want to tryt out opera, listen to Richard Leech(tenor) Renee Fleming(lyric spinto soprano)Elizabeth Futral(lyric coloratura soprano)Susan Graham(mezzo soprano)Sam Ramey(bass baritone). Or to compare what an opera class voice is compared to Bocelli's listen to Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti or Jose Carrera.

DENNIS.....BOCELLI IS ALSO AN OPERA SINGER. HE HAS HAD TRAINING. I HAVE 2 CD'S OF HIM DOING ALL OPERA, AND HE IS WONDERFUL. HE IS MULTI-TALENTED...DOING OPERA AND POP LOVE SONGS!

There are opera singers who can do a good transition into pop. Does anyone remember Eileen Farrell? She is an excellent example. She can do opera, musical comedy and pop and really sound great in all genres.

On the other hand, has anyone heard Placido Domingo doing popular songs? His pop songs sound like he's singing an operatic aria.

I like him singing opera, but I don't care for his rendition of popular songs. He is very talented, though. He is also an excellent pianist and an excellent conductor of orchestras.

Marilyn, is your brother still singing? Is he a tenor or baritone?

I don't know if Bocelli was trained or not, I just know he sounds beautiful. Pavarotti is in a league of his own, unbelievable sound.

quote:

Originally posted by marilyn:
[qb]DENNIS.....BOCELLI IS ALSO AN OPERA SINGER. HE HAS HAD TRAINING. I HAVE 2 CD'S OF HIM DOING ALL OPERA, AND HE IS WONDERFUL. HE IS MULTI-TALENTED...DOING OPERA AND POP LOVE SONGS![/qb]

He had 2 years of training with Franco Corelli but compare that to what others have had. I think Bocelli is a excellent singer, but he can't compare to many other singers in opera.

MIMI.....YES MY BROTHER STILL SINGS AND HE IS ALSO CANTORING AND TEACHING. HE JUST RECENTLY MADE A CD OF LADINO SONGS. LADINO IS THE LANGUAGE OF THE SEPHARDIC JEWS. HE IS A BARITONE.HE WAS MENTORED BY ROBERT MERRILL.

TO MY THINKING, BOCELLI IS ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL. WHEN IT COMES TO PAVAROTTI AND DOMINGO, I LOVE PLACIDO DOMINGO. I CAN TAKE OR LEAVE PAVAROTTI. I KNOW HE IS A GREAT TENOR, BUT I JUST HAPPEN TO LIKE DOMINGO BETTER.

WHEN ANDREA BOCELLI SINGS, I FEEL AS IF I UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING HE IS SINGING.

I like Andrea Bocelli too. When he sings Time to say Goodbye I feel like I'm being taken to a different plane.

I like opera but I don't love it. I can only listen to it for a little while before I need to hear something else.

I doubt that Bocelli had only 2 years of training. Maybe he studied with Corelli for 2 years, but I am sure he has had other training with other mentors besides Corelli.

Marilyn, Robert Merrill was my favorite baritone. He could sing anything so beautifully. He was such a down to earth person. And to think he was going to be a baseball player before he decided to become a singer. Baseball was his first love.

If I had to choose between Pavarotti and Domingo, I would say Domingo. Domingo is much more artistic than Pavarotti, although they are both good.

Some of my favorite singers are Rosa Ponsel, Jussi Bjorling, Franco Corelli, Tito Schipa, Beniamino (sp?) Gigli, Renee Fleming, Richard Leech, Sam Ramey, and others.

Dennis, Did you ever hear Jussi Bjorling?

quote:

Originally posted by Mimi:
[qb]

Dennis, Did you ever hear Jussi Bjorling?[/qb]

Yes Mimi, I have many recordings of his and I have a documentary called the Legendary Tenors 0n DVD which is about Bjorling, Gigli & Caruso.

Mimi, I'm glad you like Richard Leech, he's my favorite tenor.

A few years ago I went to see him at Carnegie Hall in a concert entitled A Tribute to Mario Lanza. When the concert ended, people started to leave and he came out on stage and started tgo sing O Sole Mio. The audience stopped dead in their tracks and just stood there listening. After he finished he received a standing ovation that must have lasted at least 10 minutes.
Here's a link to some sound clips of Richard Leech
http://www.richardleech.com/audio.html

Dennis, That must have been exciting. I haven't heard Leech very much, just once, if I remember correctly, but when I heard him he impressed me very much. I loved what he did. and I love Carnegie Hall. I think it's such a beautiful hall.

Do you think that the singers back in the 40s and 50s were so much more superior than the singers of today? I don't think we'll ever hear another Bjorling, Gigli, Schipa, Ponsell, Merrill, etc.

I don't think the singers of the 40's or 50's were superior than those of today. I think Renee Fleming is one of the greatest sopranos of all time. Placido Domingo is already a legend. I think every era produces great singers. I admit most of my favorites are from the past, but then they are the singers of my youth: Franco Corelli, Robert Merrill, Leontyne Price, Renata Tebaldi, Renata Scotto to name a few.

Thank you for that link. I just played it. Leech sounds wonderful. What a voice! Boheme is one of my favorites, also Turandot. I just loved his Non Ti Scordar Di Me. Thank you, Dennis for giving me the opportunity to hear this voice again.

Re: singers of today. I agree there are excellent singers today, but they are few and far between. Renee Fleming is one of them. I think she is terrific. And I love Placedo Domingo. Besides singing, he also is a pianist and a conductor. I still lean toward the other era. Maybe it's because it brings back memories.

One of my favorite singers was not strictly an opera singer per se but had a great voice for Italian folk songs as well: Giuseppe DiStefano. I do have an old album of him singing some opera classics. Anyone out there familiar with him?

DiStefano was definitely an opera singer. He was one of the leading tenors of the Metropolitan Opera House back in the 50s or 60s I believe. I am sure he has done other types of music too. Many opera singers don't just do opera. They do other types of music too.

Mimi, as an interesting sidelight, I may be related to the tenor Giuseppe Russitano from Palermo, Sicily. Giuseppe Russitano sang the part of Fenton in the Metropolitan Opera's premier of "Falstaff" way back near the turn of the last century. By the early 1900's, he returned to Sicily and he faded into history.

DENNIS....I JUST LISTENED TO RICHARD LEECH SING BY ACCESSING YOUR LINK. YES....HE IS WONDERFUL! HE HAS A MUCH STRONGER VOICE THAN BOCELLI. THANKS FOR INTRODUCING ME TO MR. LEECH. I WILL BE LOOKING FOR HIS MUSIC. BUT, I STILL LOVE BOCELLI TOO.

Giuseppe DiStefano made his regional Italian opera debut in 1946 in Manon. Debuted at La Scala in 1947 in Manon,Metropolitan debut in 1948 in Rigoletto, Edinburgh debut in 1957 in L'elisir d'amore,Covent Garden debut in 1961 in Tosca.
He performed at the Met many times, most notably in Faust(20 times), La Boheme (18 times)Des Grieux (12 times) and Rigoletto (10 times). Most definitely an opera singer