Search - Mario del Monaco :: Decca Recitals 1952-1969 [Germany]

Priceless piece

J. Moreno | Mexico | 05/24/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In this CD?s you are going to find a treasure of Opera!!!



You can here a special Mario del Monaco, his is not singing Otello, he is singing Napolitanas, and another opera arias!! in different years of his life.



For me it is one of the best pieces in my own collection!!! you can here Del Monaco in a good shape (vocal) in 1952-59 an then in 1962 with a different technique for sure he was proving but it wasn?t to nice the sound then in 1963 he had an car accident (he was in hospital for a year) and then he record again in 1964 and you can heard Del Monaco?s different sound, as the begining of his career, a little light voice but going again as the dramatic and heroic that we know about him. Then in 1969 you can heard mature Del Monaco with a perfect high notes and good center voice, a little open notes (not much) more than in his beginig but very good sound, i think the worst period of Del Monaco was 1961-62 cause he was trying different technique but he came back to his original technique and he was outstanding!! For sure he was one of the best singers ever!!! until this days.

You must have this CD?s in your collection!!!!!"

DelMonaco Decca Recitals

R. J. Ravera | 08/25/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This 5 CD set of DelMonaco Decca recordings is an outstanding compendium of this great Italian tenor's work during the period 1952-1969. What is outstanding about this collection is that it includes not only operatic arias but Neapolitan songs and other popular songs as well. The only downside to these recordings is that DelMonaco's stentorian style did not fit well with the recording studio sound limitations and therefore do not do justice to the beauty of his voice. The recording of Otello under Von Karajan is perhaps one exception. There are also other historical recordings of DelMonaco on CD singing live performances and one can immediately hear and sense the dramatic power and vocal ability that has in my opinion not been heard since. I saw and heard DelMonaco live at the old Metropolitan Opera and in particular recall a 1957 performance of Otello with Renata Tebaldi and Leonard Warren. DelMonaco's voice, crystal clear, filled the house with ringing tones that easily reached to the "standees" who were positioned behind the Family Circle, almost at the ceiling of the Met. Critics of DelMonaco's recordings always miss the point that a falsetto tone that is used to great effect on a recording cannot often be heard over an orchestra in a live performance. Furthermore, his stentorian style did not interfere with his seriousness as an artist and his insightful interpretations. I have had the priviledge of hearing Corelli, Pavarotti and Domingo live and quite simply none of these great tenors matched DelMonaco for the intensity of his vocal and dramatic ability."

The Perfect Set

Conrado F. Bhering | 09/23/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can easily say that Mario del Monaco is the greatest tenor ever. He was the only Otello, the only Chenier, the only Radamès and a legendary Canio! This new box set represents perfectly his whole career. Congratulations to DECCA.

I'm very glad I could buy it at amazon.com



This is definetely a must have!"