Nicolai Gedda has died

[Alan Howe]

The great tenor has died. Here's a suitable tribute to an extremely versatile artist:
http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/obituary/1685/Nicolai-Gedda-1925-2017

[adriano]

Gedda belongs to these great immortals; a simply incredible and cultivated artist with a wonderful and cultivated voice. Many singers today should learn from him!
I met him last in 1986 in a out-ouf-Zurich-town church recital, and he was very nice to me. He allowed my to tape down his performance.

[Alan Howe]

Strangely, he isn't one of my personal favourites among singers. His voice could vary a lot from recording to recording, sometimes sounding strained, at others as full-bodied as one could imagine. I particularly love his renditions of Werther (Massenet) and des Grieux (Massenet: Manon), which may, perhaps, indicate which corner of the repertoire he was strongest in.

[adriano]

Yes, Alan, he was great in the French repertoire - and this, naturally, during his best years. I also admired him as a German operetta singer.

[Ilja]

The recording of Berlioz' Damnation de Faust that he appeared in (conducted by Georges Prêtre) belongs to my favorite things of all. Sorry to learn that he's died.

[adriano]

Yes, Ilja. The only things in that recording - as far as I can remember - is that it is cut and that Janet Baker (although with her usual lovely voice) is a total bore.

[scottevan]

I heard the news just today; an incomparable artist.

To me, his renditions of the great tenor arias from Goldmark's "Queen of Sheba," Adam's "Postilion de Longemau," Bizet's "Pearl Fishers," and any of the great German and French operettas stand head and shoulders above other versions. It was an LP of Gedda singing Russian folk songs that first caught my attention. Any of these are worth seeking out.

[Alan Howe]

I'd agree, except for the Adam - in this Helge Rosvaenge is for me nonpareil. That top D at 2:17...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZUzFk8R03Y

Mind you, Gedda is fantastic too.

[Jimfin]

My first and maybe favourite Gerontius

[Alan Howe]

Good, yes. But Heddle Nash?

[scottevan]

>I'd agree, except for the Adam - in this Helge Rosvaenge is for me nonpareil. That top D at 2:17...

Indeed, that top D puts Rosvaenge's version in another realm of the stratosphere altogether; thanks for sharing, Alan. Should mention that Gedda recorded it in both French and German, and for the life of me I can't decide which is better.

Gedda's rendition of Arnold's barnstorming Act 4 aria from Rossini's Guillaume Tell is also, to my ears, the definitive version. 

[Alan Howe]

Nah, Pavarotti! Humbly...