Lebendige Vergangenheit: Pasquale Amato

On this CD:

1. Il barbière di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), opera Largo al factotum
Composed by Gioachino Rossini
Performed by Pasquale Amato

2. La favorita, opera Ah, l'alto ardor
Composed by Gaetano Donizetti
Performed by Pasquale Amato, Margarete Matzenauer

3. I due Foscari, opera O vecchio cor, che batti
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
Performed by Pasquale Amato

4. Rigoletto, opera Figlia ! Mio padre !
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
Performed by Pasquale Amato, Frieda Hempel

5. Rigoletto, opera Povero Rigoletto...Cortigiani
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
Performed by Pasquale Amato

6. La Traviata, opera Dite alla giovine
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
Performed by Pasquale Amato, Frieda Hempel

7. La Traviata, opera Di Provenza il mar
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
Performed by Pasquale Amato

8. Un ballo in maschera, opera Eri tu
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
Performed by Pasquale Amato

9. Otello, opera Inaffia l'ugolo !
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
Performed by Pasquale Amato, Angelo Bada

10. Otello, opera Credo in un Dio crudel
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
Performed by Pasquale Amato

11. Dinorah (Le pardon de Ploërmel), comic opera in 3 acts Sei vendicata assai
Composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer
Performed by Pasquale Amato

12. L' Africaine, grand opera in 5 acts Adamastor, re dell'onde profonde
Composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer
Performed by Pasquale Amato

13. Tosca, opera Tre sbirri...Una carozza
Composed by Giacomo Puccini
Performed by Pasquale Amato

14. Germania, opera Ferito prigionier
Composed by Alberto Franchetti
Performed by Pasquale Amato

15. Torna a Surriento for voice & piano (or orchestra)
Composed by Ernesto de Curtis
Performed by Pasquale Amato

16. Vola, vola !
Composed by de Christofaro
Performed by Pasquale Amato

17. Chiarastella
Composed by de Christofaro
Performed by Pasquale Amato

Tracks:

Lucia Di Lammermoor: Hai Tradito Il Cielo
Il Trovatore: Ah! Si, Ben Mio
Carmen: Il Fior Che Avevi A Me Tu Dato
Manon Lescaut: Donna Non Vidi Mai
Il Trovatore: Deserto Sulla Terra
Il Trovatore: Di Quella Pira
Carmen: Sei Tu? Son Io! - Giuseppe Taccani/Maria Capuana
La Gioconda: Cielo E Mar
Andrea Chenier: Un Di All'azzurro Spazio
Guglielmo Ratcliff: Quando Fanciulla Ancora
Guglielmo Ratcliff: Ombra Esescrata
Silvano: S'e Spento Il Sol
La Forza Del Destino: Le Minaccie, I Fieri Accenti - Giuseppe Taccani/Pasquale Amato
Manon Lescaut: Ah! Manon Mi Tradisce
Manon Lescaut: Guardate, Pazzo Son - Giuseppe Taccani/Pasquale Amato
I Pagliacci: Vesti La Giubba
Germani: Studenti, Udite
Rigoletto: Questa O Quella
Rigoletto: Ella Mi Fu Rapita
Rigoletto: La Donna E Mobile

Customer Reviews:

A shining, typically Italian voice.......2005-12-01

Taccani (1885-1959) had an outstanding spinto with real shine: a vivrant, truly exciting sound, clear as a bell. Like any Italian tenor, he had an occasional tendency to overdo things, but one forgives him for that luminosity of timbre and healthy personality; his singing was full of Mediterranean joy.

Among these 20 items there are 5 early Fonotipias (1907, 1909); 3 excerpts from the artist's complete 1916 Columbia Rigoletto (with the La Scala orchestra clearly heard, yet!) which Preiser has issued complete; 4 late-acoustic 1924 Columbias and 8 early-electric Columbias from 1927-28.

The later recordings are best. The early-electric gramophone caught his voice just right, and his energy and breath of phrasing come through very impressively. The Mascagni items are musically fascinating, historically important and very well sung. In verismo Taccani was a force of nature. I particularly enjoy his beautifully clear and aristocratic Italian enunciation. The "Cielo a mar" is a special pleasure. What voice, what authority, what grandezza!

His Verdi might seem over-emotional to some, but NOBODY, and I mean absolutely NOBODY, has this kind of voice today in rôles like Manrico in Trovatore or the Duke. Isn't it amazing that Taccani was born in the SAME YEAR as Martinelli and Pertile, and two years before Francesco Merli? Those were the days!

In the marvellous Carmen excerpts (the Flower song caressed with real tenderness, besides the requisite passion) we get to sample the torrential voice of Maria Capuana, a truly fabulous figure, who is Amneris in the Arangi-Lombardi Aïda and is otherwise rarely heard.

If you like the best and truest Italian silver in tenor singing, this CD is essential to you.