Bella figlia dell'amore

0:00 Carmelo Lanzirotti (1906), 1:20 Enrico Caruso (1917), 2:45 Aureliano Pertile (1925), and 3:59 Beniamino Gigli (1927) sing 'Bella figlia dell'amore' from Verdi's 'Rigoletto' (the tenor opening up to the contralto's entrance).

This is the first time that I have featured four singers in one video. It was inspired by Caruso's tenor solo, probably recorded 25 January 1917.*

Vero e proprio belcanto: Carmelo Lanzirotti is an old-fashioned, nineteenth-century singer through and through, and this means his voice is used like an instrument, warmly and with passion. Volume is not the goal; exquisite line and color, maximum expressiveness (marcato), tasteful ornamentation and perfect legato are the hallmarks of bel canto.
In the early twentieth century, we had tenors capable of combining lyrical sweetness with stentorian declamation that ranges from a rich baritonal middle to a ringing upper register... and even of concluding with an (unwritten) embellishment: co_On-so-lar

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* "The inscription on the label [Victor Talking Machine Company] in the tenor's handwriting ('To Caruso by Enrico') suggests that the record was made at the singer's request as a personal lark. The original bears no numbers or matrix markings but was obviously intended as a complete and finished recording of only the tenor solo portion of the famous Quartet. It is a single-faced 10-inch pressing with a terminal safety groove of the type used in 1917. The fact that at least part of the cast for the Quartet was present in the studio (the contralto's first phrase is heard in the very last groove) suggests that the recording was taken at a rehearsal for a complete recording."
From:
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La rivedrà nell'estasi: Caruso - Pertile - Gigli:
Un dì felice: Fernando de Lucia - Tito Schipa - Beniamino Gigli:
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