Finland's Tribute to Beniamino Gigli

The first release of a live concert (Helsinki, October 31, 1954, Enrico Sivieri, piano), an interview (Stockholm, February 10, 1952) plus songs and arias (1925 - 1938). CD, total running time, 80m. Listen to a sample: [audio mp3="/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Finland.mp3"][/audio] In setting playback level, please be aware that the performance starts softly and then gets louder. This CD was released by the Beniamino Gigli Association of Finland as a tribute to Gigli on the 50th anniversary of his death, November 30, 1957. It has four sections--some of his most celebrated aria recordings from 1929 - 36, some of his song recordings from 1925- 38, an interview in English from Stockholm, from 1952, and his only Finnish performance, from 1954. The booklet contains nine photos, reproduced with care, a three-page biography by Tero Halvorsen and a three-page article by Torsten Brander, "Beniamino Gigli in Finland."Brander is the founder of the Finnish Gigli association, the CD's producer and the author of Beniamino Gigli: il tenore di Recanati, published by the association. (A Finnish edition also is available.) In recognition of his work President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi gave Brander the title Commendatore dell'Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà Italiana. Recanati (Gigli's birthplace) made Brander an honorary citizen and he has been given various other awards and medals. For further details about the association, contact www.gigli.info (which has an English-language button). The studio recordings on this CD are classics and include the thrilling 1936 recording of the Arlesiana aria, lovingly transferred. Although many of Gigli's studio recordings ravish the ear, in general I prefer his live recordings because they brim with personality and oomph. Such is the case on this disc with Grieg's "Un rêve," from 1954. Gigli was 64 and retired half a year later. Some of his fortissimo high notes lack the bloom of yore and his breath span is shorter. His mezza voce, however, retained its luster. Note the honeyed high A-natural at the end of Rachmaninov's "In the Silence of the Night" (click on the audio-link above). In the interview Gigli tells a lie. When asked if U.S. critics ever compared him to Caruso, he replies that they did not, that they always considered him unique. In reality the critics frequently made the comparison--which irked Gigli considerably! --Stefan Zucker

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Track Listings: ARIAS 1. Mi par d'udir ancora (Les pêcheurs de perles/Bizet) Rosario Bourdon, cond.; Dec. 1929 2. Una furtiva lagrima (L'elisir d'amore/Donizetti) Rosario Bourdon, cond.; Dec. 1929 3. Oh dolce incanto (Manon/Massenet) John Barbirolli,cond.; June 1931 4. Che gelida manina (La bohème/Puccini) Eugene Goossens, cond.; July1931 5. E lucevan le stelle (Tosca/Puccini) Orchestra of La Scala, Franco Ghione, cond.; March 1934 6. È la solita storia del pastore (L'Arlesiana/Cilea) Orchestra of the Berlin State Opera/Bruno Seidler-Winkler, cond.; June 1936 SONGS 7. Mandulinata a Napule (Ernesto Tagliaferri) Nathanael Shilkret, cond.; April 1925 8. Rondine al nido (Vincenzo De Crescenzo) Nathanael Shilkret, cond.; Dec. 1926 9. Notte lunare (Albano Seismit-Doda) Bruno Reibold, cond.; Jan. 1929 10. Non ti scordar di me (Ernesto De Curtis) Orchestra of the Berlin State Opera/Alois Melichar, cond.; Oct. 1935 11. Agnus Dei (Georges Bizet) Orchestra of the Berlin State Opera and Chorus/Bruno Seidler-Winkler, cond.; March 1936 12. Ti voglio tanto bene (Ernesto De Curtis) Dino Olivieri, cond.; Feb. 1938 INTERVIEW 13. Interview of Gigli, in English, in Stockholm by Betty Burnett, Feb. 10, 1952, (7'16"). Sveriges Radio CONCERT IN HELSINKI with Enrico Sivieri, piano; October 31, 1954 14. O paradiso (L'Africaine/Meyerbeer) 15. Mi par d'udir ancora (Les pêcheurs de perles/Bizet) 16. Un Rêve (Grieg) 17. In the Silence of the Night (Rachmaninov) 18. Mattinata (Leoncavallo) 19. Il fior che avevi a me tu dato (Carmen/Bizet) 20. Ninna Nanna (Santiago Cittadini) 21. Povero pulcinella (Arturo Buzzi-Peccia) 22. Vesti la giubba (Pagliacci/Leoncavallo) The concert was recorded by YLE RADIO (Finnish Broadcasting Corporation).  Tracks 14 - 22 are released here for the first time.