Andrea Bocelli has a beautiful baritone voice: Bryn Terfel is a bass-baritone. I especially like Bryn singing Welsh songs and Andrea singing this piece and "Con Te Partiro" and "Pie Jesu."
so true. and so simple, though no-one ever says it. I wish he would just sing lieder or musicals or something along those lines. Every time he is in a duet with a real opera singer his voice gets inevitably drowned which is slightly saddening. Singing a duet with Terfel in his case is tantamount to self-harming...
Nett! Herr Bocelli geht zwar nicht direkt unter, seine Technik ist hervorragend, aber es fehlt doch das tragfähige Fundament, der "Dampf", der Schmelz, der geschmeidig gespannte Bogen, den Herr Terfel souverän vorgibt. Wie gesagt: Nett.
Actually, despite many comments below to the contrary, I mark this an "A". Bocelli is not an operatic singer nor does he possess what we call "big voice" in opera (unlike Terfel), but despite all that, he obviously put a lot in prepping for this and the effort paid in the end. Sure, you stand him up beside one of the greatest present operatic baritones, one with tremendously powerfull voice, but Bocelli still stands his ground. He is not so prominent in the duet (and I have heard ones where the tenor kills the baritone, too), but I have heard this duet in some 40 variations and Bocelli is by far in the better half! Not five-star operatic-great, but not bad at all either.
Navid Namini Lol, not only Bocelli is not an operatic tenor, but he is not an operatic voice or operatic performer at all. His biography states he did appear in several operas in several smaller opera houses in the early 90's, but in my account he did perform very few times in total in his life (live operatic performances, quite long ago). Recitals and concertos of operatic airs with microphones and amplification do not count, that is not opera. He himself claims he records albums with operatic works, but recording in studios, again, is not what the musical world calls "performing opera". You do not need a voice to record in a studio (a simple fact these days). I do not mean to hurt anyone's feelings, but Bryn Terfel is an operatic singer while Andrea Bocelli is a pop and studio singer.
Navid Namini Lol, I will not allow this to become personal, I know who I am and what I do and I know what an opera singer is or isnt. But this is not about me, this is about Andrea Bocelli. He probably did perform in those operas (I did not know about Carmen and Pagliacci), but if you look up the data, he often performed four or five performances. So, in his long singing career, he performed an opera what... 20 evenings? If you know your grandfather and if you know what an opera singer is, then you cannot sincerely defend the idea that Andra Bocelli does not calim himself, which is that he is an operatic singer. This is even not my original idea, after listening to many of his performances I just have to concur with what is generally perceived in operatic circles in Europe, which is: Bocelli is no operatic singer. Having performed 20 times during lifetime in an opera does not an operatic singer make. He is a pop singer. He likes singing operatic pieces in concertos (amplification) andd on recording (amplification, digital procesisng). Terfrel is an actual operatic singer. So is Allen, Kaufmann, D'Arcangelo, Alagna. Not Andra Bocelli.
Milan Kucera My problem with this recording, aside from the fact that Bocelli is not an opera singer as you say, is the way Terfel's voice is distorted by the amplification. It's a shame that Terfel had to be miked just because Bocelli needed to be amplified. By the way, you were polite in your assessment of Bocelli. Alas, it's also true that these days anyone can be a singer in a studio recording. There can be endless "takes" and then a recording is spliced together with the best parts from these multiple versions. Loads of reverb and other electronic enhancements can be added to cover up a less than pleasant and/or uneven voice too. One of the things I like best about attending live operas is the fact that you get to hear magnificent voices that are not amplified or enhanced in any way.
The finniest thing is that mens voices at that concert sounded better from a mobile phone camera than from professional. Shame on you sound director!!!!
No, Bocelli is not right for opera, but he's got a nice voice that people love. He's also well-trained. And, a singer as good (and smart) as Terfel knows how to sing so he doesn't overwhelm his duet partner. (Also, Terfel obviously respects Bocelli or he wouldn't be there.)
Sfem Classics This recording doesn't exactly show off Terfel to best advantage. His big operatic voice is distorted because of the microphone that Bocelli can't sing without. If Terfel had sung this with an opera singer, neither one of them would have been amplified. In a studio recording more of an effort could have been made to equalize Terfe;'s and Bocelli's voices. There's a Christmas album out there with a duet between operatic bass, Samuel Ramey (who has a big, beautiful, powerful voice) and pop and jazz singer, Sarah Vaughn. Vaughn was a brilliant singer, but she had a small voice, which is ordinarily not a problem for a non-opera singer, as microphones are used all the time in musical genres other than opera. This Christmas duet is amplified, but in a rather primitive sounding effort to equalize the voices (This recording is several decades old.), Vaughn sounds just fine up close to the mic, but Ramey sounds like they had him stand somewhere out in the back 40.
Both Terfel and Bocelli have beautiful voices. Outstanding performance. Bravo!!! Andrea Bocelli is awesome
Wow.!!! My wife and I have always loved this piece of music. These two are very good. Thank you for sharing it.
I just love this duet. It introduced me to Terfel. Great artist!!!!!
so beautiful.....love Bryn's voice
Absolutely beautiful!!!
Thank you for sharing!
i like Boselli's song.Hi is great singer.Beautiful duet.Гоё байна, жинхэнэ дуулах гэдэг энэ байх даа,
amazing singer :)
well said and sooo true!!
Magnifico, como me gusta esta canción.
that awesome moment when he puts his arm on Bryn for the final sequence =)
I like it! Having always considered Merrill's recordings with Tucker and Bjoerling the best of the lot...well, this works for me!
Andrea Bocelli has a beautiful baritone voice: Bryn Terfel is a bass-baritone. I especially like Bryn singing Welsh songs and Andrea singing this piece and "Con Te Partiro" and "Pie Jesu."
Thank god for Bjoerling & Merrill!
This piece is so beautiful ... it's like a goddess to me. I've always thought of it compared to Botticelli's 'Birth of Venus'
Bryn Terfel am byth.
I would love to see Juan Diego Flores and placido Domingo do this aria
so true. and so simple, though no-one ever says it. I wish he would just sing lieder or musicals or something along those lines. Every time he is in a duet with a real opera singer his voice gets inevitably drowned which is slightly saddening. Singing a duet with Terfel in his case is tantamount to self-harming...
So Andrea's not the finest in opera.
The PEOPLE love him, his voice, his spirit, THE MAN.
He has surpassed all others in purchases of his recordings.
what is this song about ?
Nett! Herr Bocelli geht zwar nicht direkt unter, seine Technik ist hervorragend, aber es fehlt doch das tragfähige Fundament, der "Dampf", der Schmelz, der geschmeidig gespannte Bogen, den Herr Terfel souverän vorgibt. Wie gesagt: Nett.
Actually, despite many comments below to the contrary, I mark this an "A". Bocelli is not an operatic singer nor does he possess what we call "big voice" in opera (unlike Terfel), but despite all that, he obviously put a lot in prepping for this and the effort paid in the end. Sure, you stand him up beside one of the greatest present operatic baritones, one with tremendously powerfull voice, but Bocelli still stands his ground. He is not so prominent in the duet (and I have heard ones where the tenor kills the baritone, too), but I have heard this duet in some 40 variations and Bocelli is by far in the better half! Not five-star operatic-great, but not bad at all either.
Bocelli isn't a Baritone though, so why compare him with one? This piece is about the harmony.
Jerry Ludlow
Come on Jerry, read more carefully.
Navid Namini Lol, not only Bocelli is not an operatic tenor, but he is not an operatic voice or operatic performer at all. His biography states he did appear in several operas in several smaller opera houses in the early 90's, but in my account he did perform very few times in total in his life (live operatic performances, quite long ago). Recitals and concertos of operatic airs with microphones and amplification do not count, that is not opera. He himself claims he records albums with operatic works, but recording in studios, again, is not what the musical world calls "performing opera". You do not need a voice to record in a studio (a simple fact these days). I do not mean to hurt anyone's feelings, but Bryn Terfel is an operatic singer while Andrea Bocelli is a pop and studio singer.
Navid Namini Lol, I will not allow this to become personal, I know who I am and what I do and I know what an opera singer is or isnt. But this is not about me, this is about Andrea Bocelli. He probably did perform in those operas (I did not know about Carmen and Pagliacci), but if you look up the data, he often performed four or five performances. So, in his long singing career, he performed an opera what... 20 evenings? If you know your grandfather and if you know what an opera singer is, then you cannot sincerely defend the idea that Andra Bocelli does not calim himself, which is that he is an operatic singer. This is even not my original idea, after listening to many of his performances I just have to concur with what is generally perceived in operatic circles in Europe, which is: Bocelli is no operatic singer. Having performed 20 times during lifetime in an opera does not an operatic singer make. He is a pop singer. He likes singing operatic pieces in concertos (amplification) andd on recording (amplification, digital procesisng). Terfrel is an actual operatic singer. So is Allen, Kaufmann, D'Arcangelo, Alagna. Not Andra Bocelli.
Milan Kucera My problem with this recording, aside from the fact that Bocelli is not an opera singer as you say, is the way Terfel's voice is distorted by the amplification. It's a shame that Terfel had to be miked just because Bocelli needed to be amplified. By the way, you were polite in your assessment of Bocelli. Alas, it's also true that these days anyone can be a singer in a studio recording. There can be endless "takes" and then a recording is spliced together with the best parts from these multiple versions. Loads of reverb and other electronic enhancements can be added to cover up a less than pleasant and/or uneven voice too. One of the things I like best about attending live operas is the fact that you get to hear magnificent voices that are not amplified or enhanced in any way.
The finniest thing is that mens voices at that concert sounded better from a mobile phone camera than from professional. Shame on you sound director!!!!
No, Bocelli is not right for opera, but he's got a nice voice that people love. He's also well-trained.
And, a singer as good (and smart) as Terfel knows how to sing so he doesn't overwhelm his duet partner. (Also, Terfel obviously respects Bocelli or he wouldn't be there.)
Bocelli's voice is beautiful, but can't carry this duet.
haaay domingo, where are you? i think terfel whith domingo better. domingo forever
Sfem Classics This recording doesn't exactly show off Terfel to best advantage. His big operatic voice is distorted because of the microphone that Bocelli can't sing without. If Terfel had sung this with an opera singer, neither one of them would have been amplified. In a studio recording more of an effort could have been made to equalize Terfe;'s and Bocelli's voices. There's a Christmas album out there with a duet between operatic bass, Samuel Ramey (who has a big, beautiful, powerful voice) and pop and jazz singer, Sarah Vaughn. Vaughn was a brilliant singer, but she had a small voice, which is ordinarily not a problem for a non-opera singer, as microphones are used all the time in musical genres other than opera. This Christmas duet is amplified, but in a rather primitive sounding effort to equalize the voices (This recording is several decades old.), Vaughn sounds just fine up close to the mic, but Ramey sounds like they had him stand somewhere out in the back 40.
Bocelli s voice is beautiful,but not good for Opera.