I had no idea this '44 recording of Di Stefano singing this big aria existed. These earliest recordings taken in his early 20s are his vocal prime, where the voice works pretty much perfectly before his radical decline. This is a rare gem, the only substantial aria I'm aware of from this "golden age" of the first recording sessions. He sings it a semitone down.
![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iFfCUfaBJEs/mqdefault.jpg)