Top Ten Tenors

[Petrushka]

Shamelessly latching on to Alpie's soprano thread...

Placido Domingo
Wolfgang Windgassen
Richard Lewis
Keith Lewis
Rene Kollo
Fritz Wunderlich
Julius Patzak
Andreas Schager
Richard Tauber
Jonas Kaufmann

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Alexander Young
Richard Lewis,
Mario del Monaco
Carlo Bergonzi
Lucciano Pavarotti
Placido Domingo
Wynford Evans
Gigli
Arthur Davies
Wolfgang Windgassen

[Barbirollians]

Gigli
Bjorling
Kaufmann
Domingo
Pavarotti
Alfredo Kraus
Joseph Calleja ( underrated by too much crossover)
Lauritz Melchior
Wunderlich
Philip Langridge

[Madame Suggia]

Giuseppe Di Stefano
Set Svanholm
Jon Vickers
Alfredo Kraus
Wolfgang Windgassen
James King
Paul Agnew
Jean-Paul Fouchecourt
Carlo Bergonzi
Howard Crook

[Hornspieler]

Shamelessly latching on to Alpie's soprano thread...

Placido Domingo
Wolfgang Windgassen
Richard Lewis
Keith Lewis
Rene Kollo
Fritz Wunderlich
Julius Patzak
Andreas Schager
Richard Tauber
Jonas Kaufmann

So no space for Heddle Nash, Jussi Bjorling, Guiseppe di Stefano and Luigi Alva?

Hs

[Rolmill]

Carlo Bergonzi
Jussi Bjorling
Placido Domingo
Luciano Pavarotti
Tito Schipa
Giovanni Martinelli
John McCormack
Juan Diego Florez
Jonas Kaufmann
Anthony Rolfe Johnson

[Tony Halstead]

So no space for Heddle Nash, Jussi Bjorling, Guiseppe di Stefano and Luigi Alva?

Hs

Nor

Peter Pears
Robert Tear
Philip Langridge
Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Ian Partridge
Ian Bostridge
Peter Schreier
Jerry Hadley

[Petrushka]

So no space for Heddle Nash, Jussi Bjorling, Guiseppe di Stefano and Luigi Alva?

Hs

There are others on the lists of fellow forum members that I could equally have chosen. Perhaps it might have been more realistic to ask for 'Top 20 Tenors'.

We have your top 4, HS. Who are your others?

[Petrushka]

Nor

Peter Pears
Robert Tear
Philip Langridge
Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Ian Partridge
Ian Bostridge
Peter Schreier
Jerry Hadley

... or perhaps 'Top 100 Tenors'

[Mary Chambers]

Nor

Peter Pears
Robert Tear
Philip Langridge
Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Ian Partridge
Ian Bostridge
Peter Schreier
Jerry Hadley

I might miss Jerry Hadley out of that list. Otherwise it includes most of my favourites.

I'm not keen on Italian tenors. I prefer English or German, though it's probably partly because of repertoire. I'm sure there are other German tenors I'd include, but I can't think of their names at the moment.

[cloughie]

Not being keen on opera and preferring female voices in songs I will pass. Many tenors have too much vibrato and angst in pushing the high notes for me.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Not being keen on opera and preferring female voices in songs I will pass. Many tenors have too much vibrato and angst in pushing the high notes for me.

Yes - having thought of more than 30 "Top Ten Sopranos" (and resisting the temptation to add "Tony"), I'm having difficulty finding ten Tenors. I suppose:

Jon Vickers
Ian Partridge
Lorenz Melchior
Peter Pears
Fritz Wunderlich
Rene Kollo
Julius Patzak

...

... err ...

Stan Getz

(I don't think Strauss liked Tenors much, either - he gives the effete roles to the voice type).

[verismissimo]

Yes - having thought of more than 30 "Top Ten Sopranos" (and resisting the temptation to add "Tony"), I'm having difficulty finding ten Tenors. I suppose:

Jon Vickers
Ian Partridge
Lorenz Melchior
Peter Pears
Fritz Wunderlich
Rene Kollo
Julius Patzak

...

... err ...

Stan Getz

(I don't think Strauss liked Tenors much, either - he gives the effete roles to the voice type).

A few suggestions to flesh out your fine list, ferney:

Francesco Tamagno
Dmitri Smirnov
Enrico Caruso
Walter Widdop
Leo Slezak
Peter Anders

[Beef Oven!]

In order of merit:

1) Jussi Bjorling
2) Beniamino Gigli
3) Giuseppe Di Stefano
4) Tito Schifa
5) Enrico Caruso
6) Carlo Bergonzi
7) Fritz Wunderlicht
8) luciano Pavarotti
9) Jose Carreras
10) take your pick

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Bjorling - yes!

(And Nicolai Gedda).