The tenor role here is perhaps exemplary. Riccardo (Gustavo) seems to be always "living on the edge". Playing with irreverence, confidence and regardless of the dangers, like the conspiracy against him, the chance of being discovered in his forbidden love and the death he has been warned of by Ulrica. "Di' tu se fedele" finds him showing his playful mood and total disbelief towards the oracle. He is also a tormented man and with mixed feelings, as he loves and desires his friend's wife.

Di' tu se fedele
il flutto m'aspetta,
se molle di pianto
la donna diletta
dicendomi addio
tradì l'amor mio.
Con lacere vele
e l'alma in tempesta,
i solchi so franger
dell'onda funesta,
l'averno ed il cielo
irati sfidar.
Sollecita esplora,
divina gli eventi:
non possono i fulmini,
la rabbia de' venti,
la morte, l'amor
sviarmi dal mar

Sull'agile prora
che m'agita in grembo,
se scosso mi sveglio
ai fischi nel nembo,
ripeto fra i tuoni
le dolci canzoni
del tetto natio,
che i baci ricordan
dell'ultimo addio,
e tutte riaccendon
le forze del cor.
Su, dunque, risuoni
la tua profezia,
di ciò che può sorger
dal fato qual sia;
nell'anime nostre
non entra terror.

The decision on tenors for inclusion was very hard to make, as it implied the exclusion, for example, of Alessandro Bonci, Giovanni Martinelli and Jussi Björling, tenors who sang and recorded the barcarolle with fantastic results.

The tenor is preceded by a chord of the strings and a brief introduction carried by the woodwinds. Then we have the strings coming in and then the tenor, almost by the end of the sixth bar. Vocally, it is a very enchanting piece, but it presents many challenges to the singer. To sing it properly, the tenor needs a refined and romantic fraseggio, fine legato and vocal agility. There are "jumps" between lower and higher notes, and parts in which the tenor's voice must fly with subtlety over the written notes. There is also lot of room for vocal embellishment, for interpretative and expressive details. Many tenors have shown their creativity and sensitivity in different ways in this Barcarola.

According to the score markings, the Barcarola must be sung from the start con brio. There are some appoggiature (for example in "di tu se fede-e-ele"), that result in splendid vocal embellishments. There are many dynamic markings (surprising pianissimi, for example, in "dicendomi addio") and diminuendo ("tradir l'amor mio" is supposed to be sung morendo) that are most of the times only partially respected by the tenors.

There are dangerous leaps from high A flat (Lab 3) to low C (Do 2) in "iRA-ti sfidar" and "le FOR-ze del cor". This is a very surprising and interesting effect. The bad thing is that it is very difficult to sing accurately and smoothly, so most historic tenors have decided to sing middle C instead of low C (one octave difference). "Sollecita esplora..." and "su dunque..." must be leggerissimo and staccato assai, so the voice must really fly there, marking every note accurately and shortly. However, some conductors have decided to change it, to slow down the tempi and to let the phrases flow more naturally (also letting the tenors breathe with more tranquillity). Some parts ("la morte l'amor sviarmi dal mar", "nell'anime nostre non entra terror") must be sung con slancio, which allows tenors to express a dramatic moment.

Prior to Gigli, some tenors recorded excerpts from Ballo, including the Barcarola (Caruso and Bonci, for example), but the first complete recording of the opera featured Beniamino Gigli, Gino Bechi, Maria Caniglia and young Fedora Barbieri in 1943, under the conduction of Tulio Serafin. It is a gem of a recording with fantastic performances by Gigli and Barbieri (Fedora Barbieri was only 23 years old but she already sounded like a completely mature and dark mezzo).

Gigli's approach to the role is very "theatrical". Although he was absolutely able to sing fantastic bel canto lines, here he sounds sometimes closer to the tradition of interpretation of verismo than to true bel canto (in "è scherzo o è follia" we can actually hear him laugh, for example). By the time of this recording, his voice was past its prime but the timbre is still recognizable and we can still hear a beautiful voice, full of colours and even tenderness. He sounded like a very robust and strong-voiced Riccardo, above all around the middle of the range. Perhaps in the Barcarola, which can be regarded as one of the clearest bel canto passages in the opera, this dramatic and direct style may not be the most correct but, in its own way, it is certainly interesting, sounding like the rustic and manly singing of a fisherman. Most of the appoggiature are correctly sung. Singing con slancio was not a problem to him, so it is perfectly respected, in strong parts like "la morte l'amor..". "Sollecita esplora..." and "Su dunque.." are magnificent and vertiginous runs, played at a fast tempo and managed with skill and sureness. Although not all the dynamic markings are respected, the rendition is seductive and thrilling.

Luciano Pavarotti once said that, if allowed to sing only one role for the rest of his career, he would choose Riccardo of Ballo. We have many recordings of Pavarotti in the role, so it was not easy to choose one. I finally opted for his 1970 recording (with Renata Tebaldi's Amelia), because he was simply in fantastic voice at that time. His reading of the role was already interesting.

We can hear Pavarotti closer to bel canto style than Gigli, Di Stefano’s, etc. His fraseggio is splendid, diction very good and every syllable in the correct place. High notes are fine and easy. Vocal embellishments - written and not written - are managed perfectly. Appoggiature sound like trills, which are brighter than in other commented renditions (for example "al fischi dal ne-e-e-e-e-em-bo"). He tries to be respectful to the score markings. Accents and expression markings are correctly followed. Agility is not a problem, as he goes up and down through his vocal extension, with very homogeneous sound. Staccato singing ("sollecita...", "su dunque...") is secure, accurate and well defined. Sfumature are beautiful and smooth. As Gigli and di Stefano (and most tenors) do in this rendition, he never goes below low E flat.

Perhaps in one of his last recordings of real worth, Giuseppe Di Stefano sings his Riccardo with Maria Callas' Amelia (unfortunately not her best performance), Tito Gobbi's Renato and -again, as in Gigli's recording- Fedora Barbieri's Ulrica (she really owned this and many other roles for a long time, may be until Simionato came to the scene), under the conduction of Antonino Votto in 1956. Di Stefano's timbre is still velvety, amazingly beautiful and seduces the listener from the very beginning. Rather than strongly, he chooses to sing the first lines with moving sweetness. He diminishes the sound in "tradì l'amor mio" and takes strongly the next notes ("con lacere..."). While trills and embellishments were not as defined as in Pavarotti's rendition, subtleness in vocal lines, such as "le dolci canzoni", is simply splendid. Lines as "la morte l'amore.." and "nell'anime nostre.." are robust and dramatically taken. The rendition is mostly heart-felt and diction is crystal clear (you can write down the Italian lyrics out of his clear pronunciation).

Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas sang "Ballo" this year at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. Amelia was Andrea Gruber and Renato was Carlo Guelfi. It is a live "unofficial" recording, so the sound quality is far from the best.

Vargas' Riccardo is worthy and promising. He is perhaps the most suited tenor (vocally and technically) for the role, nowadays. His rendition of the Barcarola is very interesting, with much more attractive vocals, correct technique and stylish interpretation than, for example, Licitra (who has also sung the part, and even recorded the Barcarola). His past roles for tenore leggero is pretty obvious in his rendition, due to glorious agility and splendid fraseggio.

He sings a fine diminuendo in "tradì l'amor mio", and finally we are able to hear every note as written on the score. Unlike the other tenors reviewed, Vargas throws himself out of the window from a high A flat to a LOW C both times! And he does it very well. It is a surprising leap, and the transition is smooth. "Ripeto fra tuoni" and "le dolci canzoni del tetto natio..." are especially sweet intonations. The higher notes are ringing and fine in colours.

Thanks are due to Grandi Tenori.com and its editor, Joern Anthonisen, for this space. I enjoyed very much writing this text. Also thanks from the heart to Dr. Joseph Fragala for support and interesting discussions on many subjects.

My sincere apologies for the tenors who were not included in this analysis. In particular, Giovanni Martinelli, Alessandro Bonci, Jussi Björling, Carlo Bergonzi and José Carreras, whose renditions I have enjoyed in different measures.