After Opera di Roma's historical Traviata we can only bow our heads in appreciation for the two great artists who graced the Roman stage with their presence, and show our readers two examples of their extraordinary talent.
Singer no. 1: Maestro Renato Bruson (you know, the one who last night got all the standing ovations and the requests for an encore and he granted them, not the other one) in Ravenna's 1991 Traviata, showing the world how you sing "Di Provenza il mar, il suol" -- diction, emissione, color, acting. Like, everything.
Download the .mp3 file here (link expires in a week)
A rapidshare series of links for the files that compose the (very lo-fi, it's VHS transfer) DVD is here, courtesy of the always tasty La Tertulia Del Foyer.
Singer no. 2: Gheorghiu singing some Rumanian pop song with a Stefan Banica, jr., which we found via the blawg of our carissimo amico Parsifal, Greek's hottest export since la meravigliosa signora Elena Suliotis (whom we'll post about very soon -- Suliotis, not Parsifal, he has this post already).
The answer, of course, to our dear readers: who would you rather ask an encore from, 1 or 2?