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.
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
Recording Producers: Hans Weber (Puccini); Wolfgang Lohse (L’elisir d’amore, L’Africaine, La Gioconda, Aida, Martha, Il trovatore); Klaus Fischer-Dieskau (Rigoletto, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Lohengrin)
Balance Engineers: Heinz Wildhagen (Puccini); Walther A. Wettler (L’elisir d’amore, L’Africaine, La Gioconda, Aida, Martha, Il trovatore); Gerd Henjes (Rigoletto); Harald Baudis (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Lohengrin)
Recording Locations: Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin, Germany, March 1959 (Rigoletto, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Lohengrin); Kulturraum, Bamberg, Germany, March 1960 (L’elisir d’amore, L’Africaine, La Gioconda, Aida, Martha, Il trovatore); Teatro Comunale, Florence, Italy, March 1962 (Puccini); unknown, June 1967 (Verdi and Wagner songs)
‘Konya has a fine voice, a very beautiful, firm, pure tenor [in the Wagner songs] … The voice also sounds well in the seven Verdi songs … Konya does have a feeling for line, for joining note to note, and the sheer sound of his manly voice is a pleasure. The recording is excellent and voice and piano are well balanced.’ (Verdi & Wagner songs) Gramophone, September 1968