Alfredo Kraus
Opera Heroes Series
(EMI)
Vassar, Auber, Bellini, Donizetti, Gounod..
This album is a collection of Alfredo Kraus's operatic performances (in studio or live) over a rather long span of time.
For me, Kraus's prime was in the early to mid-1970's, though he was a tenor of exceptionally long performing demise.
I had his early recording of Alfredo with Callas in the 1958 'La Traviata', and his 'Cosi fan Tutte' under Karl Boehm in 1961. The latter has one aria included in this album, as the entire recording was made under EMI.
Included in this collection is a rather late (when Kraus was past his 59th birthday) live performance of Donizetti's 'La Fille du Regiment' in France. Whoever claims that Kraus was not on par with Pavarotti (or Juan Diego Florez) in the role of Tonio has sadly forgotten that Pav never performed Tonio again since his mid-forties, and Florez has not yet reached 40.
If you compare Kraus with JDF, the main difference appears to be the ability to maintain the legato line even when moving rapidly from mid to low registers to the highest notes. For the voice student, I would recommend Kraus's technique to Florez's.
As for the claim of Kraus not owning a 'very' beautiful instrument, again, I'd urge the listener to dig up some of Kraus's earlier performances in the early 1970's. He definitely had a more beautiful voice than Florez! Only that his major legacy recorded by EMI caught him well past his prime.
Tracks :
1. La Boheme: Che gelida manina
2. Rigoletto: E il sol dell' anima
3. Rigoletto: Ella mi fu rapita!...Parmi veder le lagrime
4. Rigoletto: La donna e mobile
5. L'Elisir d'Amore: Una furtiva lagrima
6. Don Pasquale: Cerchero lontana terra...E se fia che ad altro oggeto
7. I Puritani: A te, o cara
8. Cosi fan tutte: Un' aura amorosa
9. Lucia di Lammermoor: Fra poco a me ricovero
10. La Traviata: Lunge da lei
11. Manon: En fermant le yeux
12. Manon: Je suis seul...Ah! fuyez, douce image
13. La Fille Du Regiment: Ah! mes amis...Pour mon ame
14. Romeo et Juliette: L'amour, l'amour...Ah! leve-toi, soleil!
15. La Muette de Portici: Amis, la matinee est belle
16. Werther: Tout mon ame est la!...Pourqoui me reveiller?
Alfredo Kraus isn't known as having a particularly beautiful voice. Instead he is singled out as being elegant. He is indeed elegant. Before listening to this disc I never realized how much ring his voice had and yes it is rather beautiful. Most if not all of the selections here are from full length recordings. The French selections are outstanding. Its hard to imagine a better interpretation (except for the Fille du Regiment aria- sorry, Pavarotti can't be beat there.) The Traviata cabaletta really sounds flat without the normal (interpolated I guess) ending on a high note. I wondered why Kraus would avoid it, but then I realized the conductor was Muti. The standout selection on this disc is A te, o cara from Puritani. Its absolutely incredible. U
-----------KWL---K---66---------------------
Kontodaten sind bei ebay hinterlegt!
Erstellt durch eBay Turbo Lister
Das kostenlose Einstell-Tool. Stellen Sie Ihre Artikel schnell und bequem ein und verwalten Sie Ihre aktiven Angebote.
CD !