khankonchak's video: Virgilijus Noreika- Tombe degli avi miei fra poco a me ricovero GORGEOUS

Virgilijus Noreika (b.1935) Given the very favorable reception accorded my previous Noreika entry ('E la solita storia' from Cilea's "L'Arlesiana"), as well as the relative paucity of his recordings on Youtube, I thought it time for another video of this wonderful artist. Once again, I would like to thank my good Youtube friend CraigFrancisSoto, who helped me track down Noreika's elusive recordings and hinted (repeatedly) at which arias he would like to see posted here. :) Noreika, a graduate of the Lithuanian State Conservatory (1958) and longtime member of the Lithuanian Opera Theater, sings with a lirico-spinto voice that is warm, plaintive, and beautifully modulated. Its coruscating quality can be downright overwhelming, i.e. just sample the the electricity he generates in the climactic phrase "io della morte" between 3:51 and 3:59 here. Noreika's manner is earnest, emotionally demonstrative, and genuinely mournful throughout. The singer studied in Milan in the mid 1960's, and it shows- his Italian diction is very good, better than most of his Soviet peers. Unfortunately, I am uncertain of the provenance or date of the recording, but it was likely made in the late 60's. The photo shows Noreika as Pinkerton, in a La Scala production from the 1965-66 season.