Houston Romeo and current listening...

Heard the taped broadcast of the Romeo and Juliette from Houston on WQXR today. Missed the first act but caught the marriage scene and all that followed. Without the having a cast list I was able to recognize Vargas's voice in about 2 notes. I was not able to identify the soprano... Martinez. I thought she sang very well. At first I thought the voice was on the heavy side for a Juliette but she really nailed the Poison aria. Vargas has always had a tendency to push sharp but he is so musical that I almost don't mind it. It is a good voice...certainly one of the better tenors that we have now in the world of opera. I saw him do the opening night Romeo at the Met. That night he really sang the balcony scene well. Sorry to have missed it in this broadcast.

Recently picked up the Nimbus release of Titta Ruffo. De Luca apparently was quoted as saying, "Non e una voce, e un miracolo!." I remember the first time I heard the voice while in college. There was a masterclass of sorts in which a man brought in a Victrola and played us 78s of Caruso, DeLuca and Ruffo. I remember, at the time, thinking how well Ruffo's voice matched that of Caruso. The quality was quite similar in things like the "Si per ciel" from Otello. At the time, I had not yet been acquainted with that opera and at not knowing the piece, had difficulty identifying who was who! It has been a pleasure becoming acquainted with this voice.

The teacher that taught me the most was a student of DeLuca and once related a story of when DeLuca and Ruffo were singing together in South America. DeLuca told him (my teacher) that he felt so inadequate singing Malatesta with his 'peep, peep voice' while Ruffo was tearing up the house as Rigoletto.

While they both studied with Persichini at the Academy of St. Cecilia in Rome, apparently Ruffo did not work well with the master teacher (who also taught Battastini). As related to me, it was a 'natural' voice and he actually blew it out rather quickly. Contrast that with DeLuca who sang well right up to his 70s.

And no, Il Vecchio is not 'OlderSchool' ... Veck is just old school and finding great amusement in the pontifications currently running on (and on and on) on the CS bulletin board.