Pavarotti / di Stefano - Ah fuyez douce image (live)

I’ve had some requests to do some comparisons of different singers singing the same roles. This is also somewhat inspired by Mr. ’ShawDAMAN’s ’D...I’ve had some requests to do some comparisons of different singers singing the same roles. This is also somewhat inspired by Mr. ’ShawDAMAN’s ’Dueling tenors’ posts. Anyways, here are two great Italian lyric tenors singing the role of Des Grieux in a very beautiful French opera, Manon. The aria is ’Ah fuyez douce image’, or in Italian, ’Ah dispair vision’. Giuseppe di Stefano sings it in French in a 1951 broadcast production (although this seems to have been recorded in the prompter’s box). Luciano Pavarotti sings it in Italian in a 1969 production. This particular aria with its killer tessitura is one of the most difficult to sing in the repertoire. Even more difficult than hitting all the notes without cracking is the fact that one has to sing the passages convincingly, paying particular attention to the phrasing and dynamics. I’m