Sandor Konya

The Art Of Sandor Konya (2CD)

The celebrated Hungarian tenor, Sándor Kónya (1923–2002), made regrettably few recordings. With a voice of "lirico-heroic splendour" (Andrew Porter, Opera magazine), he brought strength of purpose and real nobility to his portrayals on stage, with generously warm vocal projection. He was described by Opera magazine as "the finest Lohengrin since Franz Völker." Collected here are his three studio recital recordings – two for Deutsche Grammophon and one for American Decca (MCA).

They showcase Kónya in a selection of Puccini and Verdi arias, including (as was sometimes the practice in the late-1950s and early 1960s) four Verdi arias sung in German. The rare 1967 American Decca recording consists not of arias, but songs by two opera composers championed by Konya – Verdi and Wagner. Much of this material appears internationally on CD for the first time.

TRACK LIST

CD 1 GIACOMO PUCCINI Tosca 1 Recondita armonia (Act I) Giorgio Giorgetti, baritone La fanciulla del West 2 Una parola sola … Or son sei mesi (Act II) Madama Butterfly 3 Addio, fiorito asil (Act II) Giorgio Giorgetti, baritone Turandot 4 Non piangere Liù (Act I) 5 Emma Bruno, soprano 6 Giorgio Giorgetti, baritone Gianni Schicchi 7 Firenze è come un albero fiorito Manon Lescaut 8 Donna non vidi mai (Act I) La bohème 9 Che gelida manina (Act I) Turandot 10 Nessun dorma (Act III) La fanciulla del West 11 Ch’ella mi creda libero e lontano (Act III) Il tabarro 12 Hai ben ragione Tosca 13 E lucevan le stelle (Act III) Manon Lescaut 14 Che avvien! … Ah! non v’avvicinate … Guardate, pazzo son (Act III) Giorgio Giorgetti, baritone Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Antonino Votto GAETANO DONIZETTI L’elisir d’amore 15 Una furtiva lagrima (Act II) GIACOMO MEYERBEER L’Africaine 16 Mi batti il cor … O paradiso (Act IV) AMILCARE PONCHIELLI La Gioconda 17 Cielo e mar (Act II) FRIEDRICH VON FLOTOW Martha 18 Ach, so fromm (Act III) GIUSEPPE VERDI Aida 19 Celeste Aida (Act I) Il trovatore sung in German 20 Laβ die Sorgen entschwinden … Daβ nur für mich dein Herz erbebt (Act III) 21 Lodern zum Himmel (Act III) Bamberger Symphoniker Janos Kulka Rigoletto sung in German 22 Sie wurde mir entrissen … Ich seh die heiβen Zähren (Act II) 23 Ach wie so trügerisch (Act III) Berliner Philharmoniker Richard Kraus CD 2 GIUSEPPE VERDI from Sei Romanze, 1838 1 I Non t’accostare all’urna (Jacopo Vittorelli) 2 II More, Elisa, lo stanco poeta (Tommaso Bianchi) 3 III In solitaria stanza (Jacopo Vittorelli) from Sei Romanze, 1845 4 I Il tramonto (Andrea Maffei) 5 V Il mistero (Felice Romani) 6 Il poveretto (Manfredo Maggioni) from Sei Romanze, 1845 7 VI Brindisi (Andrea Maffei) RICHARD WAGNER 8 Karnevalslied Lieder für Singstimme und Klavier 9 IV Der Tannenbaum 10 II Die Rose Wesendonck Lieder 11 IV Schmerzen 12 V Träume 13 Die beiden Grenadiere Otto Guth, piano Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg 14 Am stillen Herd (Act I) 15 Morgenlich leuchtend (Act III) Lohengrin 16 In fernem Land, unnahbar euren Scritten (Act III) 17 Mein lieber Schwan (Act III) Berliner Philharmoniker Richard Kraus Sándor Kónya, tenor"