It is almost impossible to talk of beautiful voices in general without mentioning the name of Fritz Wunderlich. For a man whose life was cut so tragically short (only a week before his 36th birthday), this German tenor is regarded by many to be one of the greatest singers of the century. To many people, the name Wunderlich is synonymous with a single role: Tamino in Mozarts 'Die Zauberflöte'. In remembrance of this great singer on his would be 78th birthday today (26 September), I would like to share two of his renditions of Taminos famous aria Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön' in Act 1. One from the famous 1964 recording, and another from a slightly less well known 1960 recording. We can clearly hear from these two recordings how much the technique and voice had progressed in the course of a mere four years. One can only speculate what Wunderlich could have accomplished had he lived longer. His contemporaries would never have had a chance with him...at least they would not have enjoyed the success they did without him. Strictly speaking of lyric tenor voices, Wunderlich could have been the greatest of them all.
The more I listen, the more I am inclined to say this is the single most beautiful lyric tenor voice I have ever heard.