Title : The Very Best of Franco Corelli
Author : Bellini, Vincenzo
Release Date : 20030422
Binding : Audio CD
Regular Price : $16.98
Amazon.com Price : $13.99
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Buyer Reviews : When Franco Corelli was voted Favorite Tenor of the (20th) Century by members of the Bel Canto Society, he remarked that he was lucky the world had begun to forget Gigli. This digitally remastered EMI might persuade us that Corelli was being too modest. Listen as he spins out a sheer pianissimo in 'E lucevan le stele.' Listen to the huge, brilliant ring of 'Di quella pira' and 'Nessun dorma'--old tenor chestnuts I know, but Corelli makes them as vivid and new as the World's first dawn--and decide for yourself who had the most ravishing tenor of the past century.
And let us not forget his physical presence---Corelli was tall, dark, and handsome, and projected his character with an intensity that holds us in thrall even through the imperfect medium of video. If you don't already own his 'Forza' or 'Turandot'--well, what are you waiting for? A better voice? A greater presence? Forget it. It won't happen in your lifetime.
I wish there had been a little less Gounod and a little more Verdi on this two-CD recording. I most especially missed 'La vita e inferno all'infelice' and the tenor/baritone duet 'Solemne in quest'ora' from 'La Forza del Destino.' According to Stefan Zucker, Corelli lightened his voice in the 1960s, in order to sing the lyric French repertory, but his trademark diminuendo sounds flat and a bit dry rather than light at the end of 'L'amour, l'amour...Ah! lève-toi, soleil!' (Gounod's 'Roméo et Juliette' Act II). However, he more than redeems himself with a beautiful liquidity of tone in the following 'C'est là! Salut! tombeau!' from Act V.
The second CD comes to a close with some miscellaneous curiosities (for Corelli, at least), including Handel's 'Ombra mai fu,' Schubert's 'Ava Maria' (hoked up with a soprano chorus), and Ernesto de Curtis's 'Torna a Surriento.'
