The recent tragic death of Alfredo Kraus, coupled with the impending end of the millennium, has resulted in some discussion of the lyric tenor of the century elsewhere on the Internet. There certainly are many candidates, and there is little doubt that Alfredo Kraus is one of the top contenders. But there are others, and I would like to take this opportunity to look at some of them.

But first, we need to set some eligibility guidelines....

• What qualifies a singer as a lyric tenor?
• What is the lyric tenor repertory?
• How long does the singer's career as a lyric tenor need to be? Or, to put it differently, does a singer's entire career need to be as a lyric tenor?

Then we shall look at the candidates in terms of their ......

• Breadth and depth of recorded repertory
• Vocal beauty
• Dramatic passion
• Ability to sing with elegance and style.
• Ability to meet the requirements of the lyric tenor's repertory

WHAT QUALIFIES A SINGER AS A LYRIC TENOR? We could answer this questions in two ways, i.e. by saying that his voice is between that in size and power of a tenore di grazia (sometimes referred to as a tenorino), and a lirico spinto. Or by saying that he is ideally suited to sing the repertory of a lyric tenor. But that is a quite a large repertory, and the abilities needed for a perfect Nemorino are different from those for a perfect Des Grieux. Therefore, we must ask...

WHAT IS THE REPERTORY OF THE LYRIC TENOR? This depends to an extent on one's outlook. Is French opera supreme, or is it Italian, or perhaps German ? I will look mainly at Italian opera, recognizing that Nicolai Gedda may be the best specialist in French lyric opera singing in the past 50 years, while Fritz Wunderlich reigns in the German. But, like Carreras, I feel that I have always preferred the Italian repertory, and it is proficiency in that repertory that matters most to me. However, most "Italian" lyric tenors were also expected to sing key roles from the French repertory (such as Nadir, Des Grieux, and Werther) and the German repertory (such as Lionel in Martha). Still, historically, the core of that repertory was bel canto operas like Puritani, Sonnambula, Favorita, Elisir d'amore, Lucia, Linda, Don Pasquale, and Lucrezia Borgia. Later works like Luisa Miller, Rigoletto, La Traviata, La Boheme, L'arlesiana, etc. also have to be considered.

I would not include The Barber of Seville and other Rossini operas because they are ideally interpreted by "tenorinos" on the one hand and "baritenors" on the other.. And it should also be pointed out that some of the operas created by Duprez can also be successfully sung by lirico spintos or even spintos. These include not only the previously listed Lucia and Favorita, but also Dom Sebastien. Other Duprez operas such as Les martyrs and La reine de Chypre are best left in the hands of a spinto tenor.

LENGTH OF CAREER. In terms of length of career as a lyric tenor, I don't think that that is a prime consideration. Voices often darken and take on more body with age, while some lyrics, especially the most successful ones, often are tempted to seek a heavier repertory, feeling that's where the money is. In fact, I can only think of three major lyric tenors who stayed true to their original calling throughout their careers: Tito Schipa, Dino Borgioli and Alfredo Kraus.

A LOOK AT SOME INDIVIDUAL LYRIC TENORS. Tito Schipa has a tremendous number of avid fans, and well may have been the defining artist for American audiences, since so much of his career was in the United States. There is no doubt that he had a lovely little voice, that he was stylish and elegant, and that he made many valuable recordings. But his one complete opera, the Don Pasquale, is flawed, in that the cabaletta, "E se fia che ad altro oggetto" is cut. Thus, instead of one full length aria and one brief aria (the lovely little serenade), we have one half aria and one brief aria. Now I do not know why it was cut. Perhaps it was a standard cut at the time. Perhaps the conductor wanted to leave it out. Or perhaps Schipa felt that he couldn't handle the tessitura. Be that as it may, Schipa was probably not the defining artist for individuals who value more vocal heft, even in lyric tenors, or a more brilliant top than was Schipa's. On the other hand, he is probably hard to beat when it comes to elegance.

Now, since I would not nominate Schipa as the lyric tenor of the century, who would I nominate? Well there certainly are many candidates, although some, like Di Stefano, Pavarotti and Carreras had shorter careers as a pure lyric tenor than Schipa did. There is no doubt in my mind that this is unfortunate, but I wasn't asked. And if I had been, I doubt if anybody would have paid attention.

Even though, all three of them (Di Stefano, Pavarotti and Carreras) recorded more complete operas from the lyric repertory than Schipa did. Thus, they all made more of an impression on the recorded repertory for lyric tenor than did Schipa. But let's not forget the young Chris Merritt, who soon switched to being a baritenor, and then to the heavier German repertory.

And then there are such golden age tenors as Anselmi, Borgioli and D'Alessio. They are all wonderful, especially Anselmi and Borgioli. Still, to me, at least, the contest is between the young Carreras, the young Pavarotti and Alfredo Kraus. And I will judge them only based on their recorded output--that being all we have to judge Schipa by.

In terms of interesting repertory, I would give the nod to Carreras, based largely on such Donizetti operas as Caterina Cornaro, Lucia, Elisir, and Roberto Devereux; early Verdi such as Due Foscari, I lombardi, Jerusalem, and Giorno di Regno; Rossini's Elisabetta and Pietra del paragone, and Massenet's Werther. All in all, a wonderful legacy.

Pavarotti was certainly no slouch - Capuleti e Montecchi, Puritani, Sonnambula, Beatrice di Tenda, Favorita, Fille du Regiment, Elisir, Lucia, Luisa Miller, I Lombardi. One only wishes he would have stayed in that repertory and sung (and recorded) Parisina, Don Sebastiano, Marino Faliero and a few more bel canto works. But he elected to go mainstream, and laughed all the way to the bank instead.

And we can be grateful to Kraus for wonderful recordings of Marina, Muette de Portici, Jolie Fille de Perth, Don Pasquale, and Lucrezia Borgia.

Still, I would submit that Carreras has the best of it as far as repertory for the lyric tenor is concerned, capped off by some recordings of rarities which are not likely to ever be equaled.

For vocal beauty, it's a close call between Pavarotti and Carreras. But that's a matter of taste,

For a brilliant top, it's a close call between the young Pavarotti and Kraus

For dramatic passion, I would say it's Carreras all the way. Which may well be the reason he, too, opted for a heavier repertory.

For elegance I would name Schipa, with Kraus not far behind him.

While I personally would select Carreras as the best of the three, I would be hard pressed to find cogent arguments to counter anyone who prefers Kraus or Pavarotti. Let us just be grateful that we had all three, plus, Di Stefano, Gedda, Wunderlich and Merritt to choose from in our lifetimes.

***If you want to get to know Tom better just visit his site at http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/8917/index.html.