God bless his soul.

Just been listening to all the greats sing Nessun Dorma. IMHO this is the best. As close to a perfect voice as I've heard, in tone and ease. Easy to see how he was so beloved.

Thank you sharing. Its great to hear that he was such a nice and generous person along with his great voice.

Out of all the outstanding tenors who performed this aria, Richard Tuckers simply towers over them. It is the definitive version. It reaches a depth that can only be described as SOUL MOVING. Masculine, ROBUST, powerful, beautiful and simply HEROIC in delivery. Nobe does it better.

@@Shamsithaca He was treated all his fans so very well, I knew him for a long time, had dinner with him after he sang and will always miss him, and that big rich voice, as the greatest Spinto tenor I've ever heard in the opera house, as I did many times. RIP.

Bravo James! I echo your sentiments. Tucker was one of the all time greatest tenors as this live performance demonstrates. RIP Maestro Tucker!

The great Spinto tenor was best heard live in house, as I saw him many times and he had a very rich powerful voice, coupled with great technique that served him well for 30 years. Our great tenor Richard Tucker. RIP 1913-1975. @@joelweisberg

Agree!

He belongs with other great tenors, among the greatest: Pavarotti, Domingo, Gigli, Bjourling, Kaufmann, even Lanza and almost the Great Caruso.

Tucker was our greatest American "Spinto tenor" singing many Verismo and Lyric roles, yes 30 roles in 30 years, also he was well respected in Italy where he sang in several cities, including Milan at La Scala and in South America in many cities many there , he received the "Italian Commendatore" award from them, their high cultural award, he was very great in opera and concerts, Lanza who had a beautiful voice chose a different path to fame, Mario Lanza (and I'm a fan of his films, concerts and studio recordings) was not an opera singer by profession, he sang concerts, radio, TV, 8 Films between 1948 and his last film in 1958, but opera was not his profession, he was not by profession and opera singer, he had great potential for opera and being among the greatest, of course that is all opinions, we all hear differently and studio records and live recordings are different, live is a better test then studio, you can hear some live Lanza records in concerts, but as for opera he sang only once in a big major opera house in one major big opera, two performances of Butterfly as Pinkerton in 1948 at age 27, but also Fenton in the light opera "The Merry Wives Of Windsor" he sang it in the Berkshires, he made no complete opera recordings at all, but many arias and songs where recorded by him and the 8 films he made (he also had his demons with a fast life style) but in the one film , "The Student Prince" released in 1954, they at MGM had his voice dubbed in and the actor Edmund Purdum played the acting part, Mario had gained to much weight much weight for the film, but his singing in it was beautiful and superb, but no he was not a professional opera singer as Caruso, Martinelli , Gigli, Bjoerling, Tucker, Corelli, Pavarotti, Di Stefano Etc. All those and more made their living singing and recording complete opera's as Opera singers, Lanza was rather unique and was judged differently but it was a great operatic voice no doubt, he had great potential with a very fine tenor voice, some said he was very Hammy in popular songs, but nobody sang "Be My Love" and some other songs like Lanza could, anyhow he died at age 38 in 1959, in his best years. American Richard Tucker made his Met. opera debut in Jan. 1945 and by 1952 he was the leading tenor at the Met. in the Italian wing opera house, until he died in 1975, he sang over 740 performances there and 30 complete roles, hundreds more times in other major opera houses world wide including being popular in South America and sang also in Asia, Israel and Canada, he also was a great and popular Cantor, he died at age 61 in 1975 just two weeks after great singing as Canio in Pagliacci one of his last roles starting that roe in 1970. RIP. Richard Tucker

With due respect, Mr. Tucker's voice was a gift from G-d There is only one in his and my faith.

@@debradorfman7940 A Catholic man passes away and St. Peter greets him at the portals of heaven. He proceeds to show the Catholic man around heaven and passes an area saying to the man that this is where the Muslims are, and then the Hindu's and so on. But then St. Peter tells the man to stay quiet. The man asks why? St. Peter tells him,'' this is where the Jews are and they think they're the only ones here.

what a nice story! thanks for sharing this very personal and human memory of your son

Agreed and for his voice type, a Spinto I think for me he was #1.

At services during the high holiday' s, I often was there in Chicago, seeing him as the Cantor, I looked around at the many faces, moved by his emotional delivery and often saw those faces, both men and women at times with tears coming down, it was something seemingly from another world.----- RIP. Richard Tucker

@@shicoff1398 What an experience, how lucky you were to be at such service. My grandfather was a Cantor in Poland and I always cried too. There something so emotional about Jewish prayers. RIP

@@BytomGirl I heard Tucker also in opera over 20 times and knew him and his family well, I worked in the music field , RT had the greatest powerful and beautiful spinto voice I ever heard in over 63 years of opera going, I'm now past 80 and can tell you I saw them all, Corelli, MDM, Di Stefano, Bjoeling, Tagliavini and more also, do not let anyone make up false facts they know nothing about him .

"Bjoerling" is the American spelling, sorry above I misspelled his name.

@@BytomGirl Yes, true, did your grandfather escape the Nazis there?

Yes, the posters many of them are not into opera live in house, Mario Lanza had a fine natural beautiful voice but never sang the role of course, in fact by profession of course he was not an opera singer as such, he sang only once in a major opera house in a major opera, 1948 in Butterfly, just 2 performances, he went into film, concerts and radio, also it was not a great role for the great Lyric tenor Pavarotti, but was a signature role for Franco Corelli a great tenor as Calaf. his greatest most well known role . Tucker sang the opera on occasion with very good reviews at the Met. and in Texas, yes he did sing it with Nilsson, with good reviews, but his Forza, Chenier, Juive and Gioconda where even greater, among his greatest roles, with his Forza performances in the 1950's with Warren being exceptional and they are on you tube, I don't get on a singers post and flame him or her, it's rude--- I saw Tucker over 20 times and knew him personally--- he was the greatest Spinto tenor for me of them all, in house his voice was very large rich and round 100% even from the bottom to the top and he as with the great Dramatic tenor Mario Del Monaco was better live then in a studio, when people state so and so "was the best", of course it's just their own opinion, who cares, whoever you like is the best for us. It also depends on the role. The major professional critics agreed in reviews that Tucker was great, anybody can read reviews in the Archives, and in fact Tucker was one of the greatest of his voice type in the 1950'sand was "The leading tenor at the Met. opera Company". he sang well over 700 times there in 30 years from 1945 till he died in 1975 and hundreds more in Europe, South America and many major American houses, often on opening night for the ( Met. 7 times) and opening nights in Chicago, Calif. Italy, and in other places. The most important opinion is your own of course, and we all hear differently, no right or wrong. RIP.

Or just from people with a taste that differs from you, Mr. Crompton. It's clear to anyone that this is singing on a very high technical level - but that doesn't prevent some people for having other preferences when it comes to timbre and/or interpretation. For my taste this lacks some "emotion", no matter how great it is on a technical level.

kbh prinsesse Fair comment. This presentation was staged for TV. Here RT sang three selections interspersed with discussion between himself and the host. If there is any lack of emotion on Tucker's part, it may have more to do with the fact that the setting was quite informal, which may have contributed to a more relaxed delivery than what he was accustomed to giving from the opera stage, the setting where he always gave his best.

@@r.crompton2286 Or perhaps just that his style is less emotional than the style of other tenors singing Calaf.

@@kbhprinsesse Tucker is solid. It's just hard to listen to him and compare him to guys like Pavarotti and Lanza. Still very good in his own right though.

@@mattbudesa3038 indeed he is, but as I've written above he just may not be to some people's taste because they prefer a different approach. Just like some people may recognize that any random artist is gifted, yet they won't feel moved by this artist.

May his memory be for a blessing.

@@debradorfman7940 Yes.

they can have an opinion and fine, but if you didn't hear this man in the house , then you do not get it, he did not record well and anyone of course can say anything as for opinions, that dos not make facts, there is a park named after him in NYC . many complete opera's on major labels. MDM did not record well either, Pav. did and so did Jussi B. I saw them both and as you know as we have Talked about it-- and Corelli and Bjoerling I did see in over 63 years of opera going.

He was a magnificent tenor (a spinto) in his prime long years , born in 1913, in Brooklyn NY. died in 1975 of a heart attack. ------ RIP.

Even better than mostly europen tenors in my opinion.

@@rogerengblom5061 True! IMO the greatest Spinto tenor I've ever heard in house, saw him many times from 1961 on till late 1974 just before he died. RIP.

Correlli?

He was!

The CALAF of the XX century Franco CORELLI...you have to hear also CECCHELE...TUCKERS masterclass

@@sugarbist perhaps should get on a Corelli site and scream Tucker as he does here about Corelli.

@@guidogreco341 My favorite Cavalleria is with Cecchele, when he was 30 years old, but Cecchele did not have a very large voice in the opera house or at least at the Met. I think everyone is familiar that Corelli was a great Calaf. Your comment may reflect that people may forget this. But perhaps we can still appreciate other tenors in the role.

@@sugarbist Most of the comments here are positive about Tucker anyhow and why he posted it and said Bravo Corelli /MDM is unusual, no mention of Tucker it seems.

He is as emotional as he should be here, just fine and warm, the fact. is this isn't "Vest "La Giubba" where the tenor pours out his heart,. Tucker was one of the greatest of all time, that is not just my own opinion, and both the major critics of his day and singers he worked with like Tebaldi who said "He had roses in his throat" she also mentioned him as "Mr. terrific" she said he "Was terrific". if folks like and prefer others that's fine, as for me, he was a sensational spinto tenor. BYTW Cecchele was really great in the Cav. studio made film you mentioned, of course it's not a live Brdcst. and as far as the great Bjoerling, he was more lyric then spinto and so never sang the Turandot role live, but he made an excellent recording of it in the RCA studio in 1959 with Tebaldi and Nilsson. studio is a lot different than live .

Pavoratti was basically a Lyric tenor, this was not a great role for him live , as some others like Boheme, and other more Lyric roles .This is a role for big Spinto or even dramatic voices spinto Tucker, Corelli and dramatic Mario Del Monico, not a great role for Pavarotti live, but a great lyric tenor.

It depends role, as for the role "Calaf" Corelli was a king in that entire role on stage, (nobody was greater in his time in the role complete and live according to most critics, Bjoerling made a great recording of it complete but never did sing it live complete as his voice was a Lyric tenor basically and a bit small for the role on stage, so he did avoid it (but he was a singer of great perfection with great technique and free of most bad habits) as far as some other roles, they (Tucker and Corelli) both sang, like Boheme, then Tucker for me was preferred but that is my preference. and yes I saw both men sing it in house, Tucker in 1962 in Chicago and Corelli there also in 1965with Freni , of course some of Tucker's best roles Corelli didn't ever sing in any opera house, such as Ballo, Rigoletto and Manon Lescaut, I have heard and seen both men in the opera house and each in their own best roles, I find both among the many greatest of all time, the best is whom ever you prefer, there is no right or wrong. The best is whomever you prefer best, no right or wrong but as far as the complete role of Calaf Corelli was a king and in the 1950's in Forza Tucker and the great American Warren owned the role and both where our greatest two in their own voice types back then, Warren born in 1911 and Tucker in 1913. Tucker was also a very great Cantor in the Temple and sang in very important posts in both Chicago and NY, he was born in Brooklyn NY. the birth year was 1913, died in 1975 at age 61 of a heart attack . RIP.

​@@shicoff1398 спасибо за ваш интересный и развернутый комментарий.

Your so welcome! and BTW see Corelli (on Swedish TV, on you tube) with Nilsson, the great Swedish soprano "Turandot" in her time the excellent Turandot and where they both take turns singing, in their older age from the 1980's and are quite good, (they speak in English) it is very moving from two past greats, all gone today!

​@@shicoff1398 посмотрела с большим удовольствием и не раз. Какие они милые и видно, что рады друг другу. Они мне очень нравятся и в "Аиде", жаль, что могу только слушать, т.к. есть аудио, но не видео. А вообще, существует видео-запись "Аиды"?

@@leonardcohen5529 Yes, the 1949 (TV Video) "Toscanini" Tucker Aida, with Tucker, soprano Nelli and baritone Valdengo in the lead roles complete, and live in a concert performance, it is available commercially on DVD and the big aria from it "Celeste "Aida with Tucker is on You Tube on a Video..

Multi tasking.

Yes and he always was also a Cantor.

true, people never being in an opera house in their lives make up nonsense about Tucker as he was so good he is a threat to their idols, I don't care really but he did not record as great as he sounded in person, I saw him and both Corelli and Pavarotti many times, I worked in classical music and know that RT had a very big voice in person and a great one, so they can make up false facts, but read professional reviews and also the Italians loved him in Itay, so did Pav. who wrote the forward in the Tucker book by James Drake . RT sang over 700 times at the met. opera and totaled hundreds in other places, so the facts stand in print not made up BS, a bigger voice then great lyric tenor Pav. or fine movie singer Lanza with his great beautiful voice and he sang one complete opera in a major house in two shows in 1948, great yes, but more in concerts and films then opera in his life time, Tucker was a great tenor needed to be heard in the opera house. RIP.

Corelli owned the opera of course, it was his "signature" role, his greatest role, and here is just the aria, so many others sang it, some very well, but not all the opera (even small voiced Bocelli sang the aria) as Jussi Bjoerling also sang the aria but not ever the opera, he did record it though complete, Tucker did sing it complete and well occasionally, but his best roles where in other Operas, not Turandot, Bjoerling's signature role was Boheme no doubt, but he was basically a more lyric tenor then either Tucker or Corelli or dramatic De Monaco , I saw JB in 1958, (I was19 at the time) it wasn't as large a voice as on records or those two spinto tenors, or of course MDM, a big dramatic voice. I saw him and Corelli both also, also Tucker very often in house, anyhow this is about Tucker, and as you basically said, this was was very good (in his prime here) . RIP. Tucker 1913-1975

E' un si,non un la

They are gigantic, but this is about Tucker, grand tenor too.

they are not aware how great he was.

@@user-py1jg6bb2r yes!

@@shicoff1398 Italian tenors dominated across the board, especially tenors... but Richard Tucker is no less than Corelli in anyway, he enriched operatic in so many ways and makes American lineup a good standing across the world! Made in Brooklyn, USA...so proud!!

@@shicoff1398 Son wonderful to see your emails, thank you for many posting emails. I was heavily involved in work and was also deeply addicted into Olympic games(indoor team sports, such as volleyball...). I am back on Opera Channel. It is funny that some motivational speaker and health doctors recommend people to learn good singing or just shut down yourself in your car to sing loud, it is great for liver cleansing and good mood... I guess they now know that singers are pro good health. I thought of your grandfather of 100 years of age immediately when I saw that speech.

1964