For just singing arias from operas (not full opera) who would you say is the bes!
Question: My favourites are, Lanza, Pavarrotti, Bjorling, Bocelli, Gigli, Corelli. I think it is difficult to compare Caruso because of the quality of his recordings. I think on one off performances Mario Lanza can be soft, powerful and he seems to put more emotion into the songs, so I will go for him
Answers: My favourites are, Lanza, Pavarrotti, Bjorling, Bocelli, Gigli, Corelli. I think it is difficult to compare Caruso because of the quality of his recordings. I think on one off performances Mario Lanza can be soft, powerful and he seems to put more emotion into the songs, so I will go for him
Unfortunately, Hollywood got hold of Mario Lanza but still when I listen to his records I am shocked at his range and power, and I also agree that with Caruso, we really only have,someone who spoke to someone who heard Caruso sing, to go off. The others mentioned are all great tenors, also, Di Stefano, Carreras. I can easily listen to them all but my biggest collection is Mario lanza.
Even though Pavarotti has had all the hype it is widely held among those in the know that the greatest tenor of our age is Placido Domingo.
He has recorded an absolutely staggering amount of operas (over 400) and therefore his range is extremely wide and he can also act (unlike Pavorotti who was very wooden on stage and who could only really sing convincingly in the Italian repertoire).
Certainly, when posterity looks back at the late 20th century it will be Domingo whose name will be remembered while Pavarotti will just be a footnote.
bocelli or Russell Watson
Probably Domingo was more versatile and had a wider range of talents . But in his prime on just singing in his natural language then it is probably just Pavarotti
I agree it would be fantastic if we could actually have some proper recording of Caruso , because most commentators who have spoken to folks when alive and had heard him say he was superb , and obviously without the help of modernity , like microphones
Folks, why do we need a best?
When tenors sang in the early part of the 18th century, they went for speed, flexibility, and sweetness of tone. We hear that in the tenor roles of Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini. Even the German school, which includes the big roles of Florestan in Fidelio and Max in Freischutz, only call for a tenor with full voice capablities up to the high A. Everything over that was sung in falsetto or voix mixte. It was expected.
then, about 1850, A french tenor, Jean de Rezske, got the idea of training and singing his upper notes in full voice. At first, people were shocked and disgusted. It was termed bestial, not fit for fine society, etc. The full voice tenor, with his ringing high C is only 160 years old.
To be a tenor is like a being a tight-rope walker. It is a rare voice ( only deep basses are rarer), and with the scarcity of said voices, the demands and stress are enormous. Many tenors that have not been listed in these answers were just as amazing, only they were never recorded. We have such a limited amount of material, really.
Plus, there is no mention of anything but the "Italian" school of tenors. This is splitting hairs to no purpose.
Let us be grateful for every man who has the intelligence, guts, and training to share their gifts with us without needing a childish vote.
Mario Lanza for me too..I was runner up for the Mario lanza prize a few years ago and met his daughter...his voice was under-rated