Virgilijus Noreika- a stunning Lamento di Federico

Virgilijus Noreika () For quite some time now I’ve been looking for a recording of Cilea’s “Lamento di Federico’ that could match Mario Lanza’s peerless version of 1955 (made for the Warner Bros. film “Serenade“). Well, here it is, courtesy of Lithuanian tenor Virgilijus Noreika. This is a very rare record, and for its discovery I owe a debt of gratitude to my good Youtube friend CraigFrancisSoto, who was gracious enough to provide me with a copy. Noreika, a graduate of the Lithuanian State Conservatory (1958) and longtime member of the Lithuanian Opera Theater, sings with a voice that is warm, plaintive, and beautifully modulated; his manner is earnest and genuinely heartbreaking. The opening phrases of ’E la solita storia’ are laden with pianissimos that are delicate without being wispy, but Noreika certainly does not stint on the climaxes (just listen to him fully unleash the voice on “vorrei poter tutto scordar“ and “Mi fai tan