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Bel Canto Society Newsletter
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New on DVD: Corelli in Concert plus in-depth interviews |
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Corelli in Concert plus in-depth interviews (1971). Venturi, cond. Rigoletto, Chénier, Africana, Bohème, Fanciulla, Cid + songs. 52m. Color. Collectors Edition: 64-p. booklet enclosed, includes rare photos. DVD DVD Bonuses: DVD #D091 US$18.95 John Ardoin, reviewing in The Dallas Morning News "Today we speak of the Three Tenors, but 25 years ago there was only one tenor—Franco Corelli. Since he retired from the stage, there has been no adequate Radamès, Manrico or Andrea Chénier. This recital was taped in color in 1971, with Mr. Corelli in marvelous form. Arias from a half-dozen operas are paired with a handful of Neapolitan songs. A major souvenir of a giant singer." On this tape Franco is very much himself. He sings to the audience as he sang to me in his living room—with the same gestures and mannerisms. And they love it! He flings himself into the encores with wild abandon. Gives spinal chills. The most personality of any Corelli video. Corelli's Rubato Listen to Corelli play with the tempo in Ernesto De Curtis's "Tu ca nun chiagne." He introduces ritards and accelerations. Or listen to F. Paolo Tosti's "'A Vucchella," where Corelli twice eases back into tempo after (unduly) long fermatas. Yet he told me, "I didn't do rubato for fear of being squadrato [not with the conductor's beat]." In this concert he is squadrato in "O paradiso," on the word "paradiso." The reality may have been that he was willing to sing with flexibility of tempo when with piano accompaniment, as in the De Curtis and Tosti songs, in which he sings with piano after the orchestra has left the stage. His Bobbing Larynx and Dropped Jaw Voice teacher Giovanni Battista Lamperti maintained, in Vocal Wisdom: The Maxims of Giovanni Battista Lamperti by William Earl Brown, "Though the larynx need not be held muscularly fixed in one position, for either upper or lower register, it should remain quiescent throughout a song," also that a singer should open his mouth "as wide as finger thickness." Corelli adopted an unrelated approach. In accordance with his modification of Melocchi's method, in soft passages his larynx "floated" up, in loud passages down. More, by 1971, Corelli had come to sing with his mouth wide open and jaw dropped to the maximum, on high notes, in particular--as is apparent in this concert. His Scatto At the end of "Un dì all'azzurro spazio" and the end of "Tu ca nun chiagne" Corelli sings with scatto (punch), which is a reason he is so exciting. --Stefan Zucker Booklet Table of Contents Chapter Points: Corelli in Concert If you are a Corelli fan you will find this video indispensable. Many of his fans--women, in particular--say it is their favorite of all his tapes. Click for additional reviews of this and other Corelli titles by Richard Fawkes in Opera Now. Comments from a Customer "I was thrilled to tears to receive a gift of Corelli in Concert--what a voice and what a treasure of a video!"--Austin William Hutchison, Hampstead, London, UK |
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