What a difference four years makes! Decca’s Giuseppe di Stefano entry in The Singers series is made up of the tenor’s recordings from 1958 and 1962. The 1958 entries–all arrangements of traditional Sicilian songs–are quite enjoyable. There’s color in the voice and he sounds comfortable whether singing softly or belting it out. It’s not what it used to be, the loveliest lyric tenor since the heydays of Schipa and Gigli; but it’s still an adequate instrument. Four years later, at 41, an age when most tenors are hitting their stride, he recorded the 13 arias that comprise the remainder of the disc.
He shouldn’t have, nor should these performances have been inflicted on the public. They range from passable to awful. As Alan Blyth admits in his booklet notes, by 1961 “his golden years were behind him.” The tone has dried out, the colors evaporated into the wings of the opera houses in which he sang roles far too heavy for his vocal health. His range, which earlier encompassed full-bodied pianissimos through to gloriously tinted fortissimos, now is limited to unrelieved fortes. The singer whose tender expressiveness was so touching in stage-lover roles now insensitively bulls and bellows his way through the 13 arias. His “Celeste Aida” is an unsubtle romp ending with a nasty, held fortissimo. “Dio! me potevi scagliar” is as coarse a bit of scenery-chomping as I’ve heard. An emotional “Niun me tema” is disfigured by rattling sighs. There’s no peacefulness in “Quando le sere al placido” nor wonderment in “O paradiso”.
But why go on? There are some redeeming qualities in these effortful 1962 misfires, but they’re primarily limited to di Stefano’s spontaneity and ardor. I’d rather remember the dulcet-voiced young tenor who came from nowhere amid the dying embers of World War II to amaze with a voice made of honey. Or as Maria Callas’ partner on numerous complete opera recordings of the mid-1950s where he wed that distinctive voice to an emotional generosity that made it thrilling to hear. But sadly, this disc is best used for landfill.
