This scene from Act II of Tosca is one of the Cavaradossi's defining moments. It starts with a completely exposed high note which should be held as long as possible, followed by an extremely dramatic arietta.
Presented chronologically, the twelve contestants are:
1. Beniamino Gigli, 1938 (with Maria Caniglia as Tosca and Armando Borgioli as Scarpia)
2. Jussi Bjoerling, 1957 (with Zinka Milanov and Leonard Warren)
3. Franco Corelli, 1957 (with Zinka Milanov and Giangiacomo Guelfi)
4. Mario del Monaco, 1959 (with Renata Tebaldi and George London)
5. Giuseppe di Stefano, 1962 (with Leontyne Price and Giuseppe Taddei)
6. Renato Cioni, 1964 (with Maria Callas and Tito Gobbi)
7. Jose Carreras, 1976 (with Montserrat Caballe and Ingvar Wixell)
8. Placido Domingo, 1981 (with Renata Scotto and Renato Bruson)
9. Luciano Pavarotti, 1985 (with Ghena Dimitrova and Ingvar Wixell)
10. Giacomo Aragall, 1986 (with Kiri te Kanawa and Leo Nucci)
11. Giorgio Lamberti, 1990 (with Nelly Miricioiu and Silvano Carroli)
12. Roberto Alagna, 2001 (with Angela Gheorghiu and Ruggero Raimondi)
There's more! Click on the responses to hear Richard Tucker, Neil Shicoff, Salvatore Licitra, Gianfranco Cecchele and others!
Did I forget anyone? If you have any other favourites, post them!