Corelli had it all–movie-star looks, a true tenore di forza voice, passionate singing that drove audiences to a frenzy, and the intelligence to explore repertoire from Handel to Prokofiev. He could be insensitive though, bulling his way through roles in the stereotypical manner of the runaway star tenor, and rarely delivering the kind of soft singing necessary to make love duets convincing. He reached stardom in the 1950s and was still in fairly good vocal shape when he retired in the mid-1970s, although the first track on this disc, the Act 1 love duet from Verdi’s Otello, finds him in less than prime vocal estate, tonally wooden and with a disturbing wobble on sustained notes. You can readily hear the difference between that 1972 live-from-the-Met track and the golden tones he poured forth a few months later in the scene from Ponchielli’s La Gioconda that follows. His Tosca arias, “Recondita armonia” and “E lucevan le stele”, lifted from his complete recording under Lorin Maazel, are sung with more muscle than necessary, but with such a rainbow of vocal colors that complaints would be churlish. They’re also sung with superb control, including an admirable diminuendo in “E lucevan le stele”.
For this disc Decca departs from the standard format of the series. While other releases consist of discreet arias and songs, this one has full scenes and duets–an odd decision for a CD showcasing a singer. There’s a side benefit though, in that Corelli is partnered by Renata Tebaldi in the Gioconda, Manon Lescaut, and Francesca da Rimini selections, and by Teresa Zylis-Gara in the Otello love duet, while Nicolai Ghiaurov’s Slavic Devil joins for Gounod’s Faust–so you get a quick tour of some leading singers of the period along with the star tenor. The disc closes with Corelli’s rendition of “Salut! Demeure chaste et pure”, sung in barely passable French and, given the verismo style of the singing, in the apparent belief that Gounod’s Faust was written by Puccini (Corelli’s underlining of “chaste” is sure to bring giggles). Like other titles in the series, there are features including texts and translations that can only be accessed on your computer. And like the others, there’s a truckload of exciting singing to be heard.
