Franco Corelli: The Unknown Recordings

Franco Corelli was in a class by himself from the mid 1950s until the early '70s, when he was a leading tenor in most of the world's great opera houses. And to this day, no tenor voice has surfaced with such a huge, steely, brilliant top, dark, handsome middle and bottom--and sheer animal magnetism. His bad habits--scooping up to notes, aspirating vowels, holding on to high notes too long--would be a joy to hear again if the voice attached to them were as glorious as Corelli's. This short (45 minutes) CD contains arias never before released for one reason or another. They were recorded in '65 and '67, when the tenor was at his peak and if you've forgotten--or never experienced--his sound, the visceral excitement will knock you out. The Boheme and Trovatore selections each contain high Cs which just don't exist in any current tenor's throat, and elsewhere, his beautiful sound is always a joy--bad habits and all. The Le Cid and Forza arias are particularly thrilling. And the price is absolutely right. --Robert Levine