Giuseppe di Stefano dies at the age of 86

Italian tenor Giuseppe di Stefano, one of the world's most beautiful tenor voices, died in his hom north of Milan today 3 March. He turned 86.

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Tuesday 8 April 2008
It is one month since Giuseppe di Stefano (1921-2008) passed away and we remember the great Sicilian tenor with an honorary Audio of the Month featuring 14 of his most memorable recordings. The article is written by Dr Neil Kurtzman.
AM: April 2008: Why Giuseppe di Stefano Was Unique

Friday 21 March 2008
The 2nd installment of "Winterstürme" is ready and includes further 6 renditions of the aria: Modest Menzinsky (1910), Riccardo Martin (1911), Cesare Vezzani, Lauritz Melchior (1931), Piero Pauli (1933) and Robert Dean Smith (2001). There is also a 2nd Mystery Voice.
AM: March 2008: Winterstürme, Part II


Tuesday 11 March 2008
Woody Allen once said about Wagner's music that he can't listen that much to it, "I start getting the urge to conquer Poland!" According to Mark Twain, "Wagner's music is better than it sounds." And this month it will sound on GT - Geoff Mallinson has chosen the aria "Winterstürme" from Wagner's Die Walküre and the tenors include: Viñas (1908), Borgatti (1914), Urlus (1915), Widdop (1926), Martinelli (1958) and Remedios (1973).
AM: March 2008: Winterstürme

Monday 3 March 2008
GIUSEPPE DI STEFANO DIES
Giuseppe di Stefano died today in his home in Santa Maria Hoe, north of Milan, The Associated Press reported today. He was 86 and had according to his widow never recovered from the injuries sustained in an attack at his family's villa in Kenya in November 2004. With the death of Luciano Pavarotti in September last year, two of the most beautiful tenor voices this century are gone.
Forum: Commemorative thread
GT Feature page


Friday 8 February 2008
Lovers of Lehar's music are in for a treat as Geoffrey Mallinson present the aria Dein ist mein ganzes Herz from the opera Das Land der Lächelns (The Land of Smiles). A vehicle for Tauber (1935) he is naturally among the tenors selected, and the list is completed by Dermota (1929), Schmidt (1929), Craig (1964), Krenn (1971), Rolf Björling (1980) and Bonisolli (1985). Happy reading and listening.
AM: February 2008: Dein ist mein ganzes Herz

Monday 28 January 2008
Birthday Wishes
All the best wishes to Maltese tenor Paul Asciak who turns 85 today, 28 January 2008. On the occasion, Michael Storrs Music launches a compilation CD with the tenor, gathering material from Asciak's career in the 1950s and appearing for the first time on CD. "It's a very happy moment," Asciak reported to the Times of Malta yesterday and added: "These are old soundtracks that used to be recorded from the audience. With today's technology the team has managed to remove the hiss to bring out the freshness and clarity of the voice. It's quite a mixture of emotions - while thrilled with the end result, at the same time you want to cling to its authenticity."
web: Paul Asciak official website
web: The Times of Malta
web: Michael Storrs Music Label

Saturday 5 January 2008
Happy New Year
Wishing you all the very best in 2008. As a follow-up to Colin Bain's article on the aesthetics of the recordings of Gigli, I am publishing Barry Ashpole's article in memory of Bain, who passed away in June 2007.
Article: Ashpole: Premium Beer & Vintage Port Wine: Reflections on Friendships Distant

Saturday 22 December 2007
Merry Christmas
My best wishes to all the readers of Grandi Tenori for Christmas and the coming year. As a little present, here is Geoff Mallinson's Christmas Special AM: Opera Duets. As is customary, it features tenors. To find out which, have a look at the article:
AM: Christmas 2007: Opera Duets

Wednesday 12 December 2007
Gigli
In June of this year, two important admirers, collectors and researchers of the art of Gigli passed away - the Canadian Joe Nunn and the Australian Colin Bain. Bain had recently collaborated with the editor of the ARSC (Assocation for Recorded Sound Collections) Journal, Barry R. Ashpole, in writing a much discussed paper on Gigli's relation to Fascism, and which was also published here at Grandi Tenori. Bain was also working on a biography on Gigli, a work he left unfinished. Reprinted here on the occasion of the 50th anniversay of the passing away of Gigli, is Bain's article on the aesthetics the recordings of Gigli.
Colin Bain: The Aesthetics of the Recordings of Beniamino Gigli

The Forum
3 months after the forum was announced to be discontinued, it reopens. After petitions to bring it back online the decision was finally taken to reactivate it. Members should be able to connect to it as before with their same usernames and passwords. A general message has been sent from the forum to all members, but we realise that many account email addresses may be outdated, why we enourage you to notify other members of the return of the Forum. The Grandi-Tenori.com Forum

Monday 10 December 2007: The Finnish Beniamino Gigli Association has released a CD in tribute to the Italian tenor, containing 9 songs from the second Helsinki-concert of Gigli (31 October 1954), an interview of Gigli in English on the Swedish radio on 10 February 1952, plus six favourite arias and and six italian songs from the peak of the tenor's career. More information on how to order the CD can be obtained from the Beniamino Gigli Associ-ation of Finland by visiting their website:
http://www.gigli.info/uk/bgcd06uk.htm.

Sunday 11 November 2007: The ordinary October AM became the November AM, but at least here it is: Ah! leve-toi soleil from Gounod's opera Romeo et Juliette, as usual sung by six tenors and a Mystery Voice. Geoffrey Mallinson presents the voices of Cesar Vezzani, Jussi Björling, José Luccioni, Nicolai Gedda, Rolando Villazón and Joseph Calleja. Audio of the Month

Friday 5 October 2007: In a week it would have been Luciano Pavarotti's 72nd birthday. Grandi Tenori celebrates the memory of the Italian tenor with a special feature Audio of the Month in parallel with our regular feature (which will be published later this month). The article has been written by Geoffrey Mallinson and features 10 tracks from Pavarotti's career, included two pieces from his 1961 debut in La Bohème. The article can be accessed here.

Thursday 13 September 2007: Just to confirm that the below message is authentic and not posted by a hacker. The Forum has been discontinued. A statement will follow. If you have any comments or questions, they can be forwarded to forum (at) grandi-tenori.com (substitute whitespaces and (at) with @).

The September AM is back online.

Tuesday 11 September 2007
Forum discontinued
After long considerations, I have decided to discontinue the Forum. Inaugurated in 2002, the service comes to an end after a 5 year run as it is no longer sustainable without proper funding. I regret the decision and would like thank all of the members that through their posts and time dedicated to the service have particpated in creating a fine and worthwhile community. Thank you!

Thursday 6 September 2007
Pavarotti dies at 71
Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007) succumbed to his illnes in the early hours today in his native Modena. He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in June 2006 and while treatment at some stage seemed positive, his condition detoriated during this summer. To many, he remains one of the greatest tenors this century.
» Official website

Wednesday 5 September 2007: The site is down again. I received this notification this morning:

"It has been brought to our attention that your site is being used to host phishing pages [...] we have temporarily suspended your service."

I will be back with more information.

Saturday 1 September 2007: Meyerbeer is material for the Audio of the Month for September, and the tenors Lazaro, Milona, Fleta, Cortis, Schmidt and Jobin sing the aria "O Paradiso" from the opera L'Africaine. Read the article here.