Franco Corelli - Sings Neapolitan SongsCD - ADD
EMI 1986
This classic recording captures the great Franco Corelli in his absolute prime and the highly emotional nature of these songs suits his gifts perfectly. No other tenor in these songs has matched this intense performance loaded with emotion. Mostly the songs deal with sadness and some with despair. Corelli brings a weepy and at times sobbing sound complete with glottal sighs and heaving breaths. If it's possible to sing through tears Corelli proves it. It's as if the music called for a huge outpouring of emotion and then added the musical tones on top of it as an afterthought. But of course these songs are full of beautiful melody. The orchestral arrangements are at times over the top of good taste but full of vigor and lush romantic sound. For this genre of song there is no better performance from an Italian tenor. Caruso started the interpretive tradition with these songs. Benjamino Gigli brought a sweetness of tone to these songs. Di Stefano made a fine recording of them with an authentic Neopolitan dialect. In recent times Bergonzi and Pavarotti made respectable recordings of them. But Corelli remains the quintessential Italian tenor with a powerful and thrilling top range to his voice and an inimitable legato to his lines. His vocal control is remarkable with his ability to scale his big voice down to the finest of pianissimi. Most of all, the emotional content is there in the notes. It is totally convincing and believable. Once you hear this recording you will not be satisfied with any other recording of these songs. --Amazon customer
