First of all an enormous THANK YOU to pearlmuth3, who generously sent this recording to me and requested the upload. Until now this recording has never been posted anywhere on the Internet.

Richard Tucker sings here the aria 'Tombe degli avi miei' from the final act of Lucia di Lammermoor. Spectacular in every possible way. Live 1961 with Joan Sutherland as Lucia.

Richard Tucker (1913-1975) Born in Brooklyn, New York as Ruvn (Reuben?...anyhow, they called him Ruby) Ticker, Tucker was a Jewish American tenor. Tucker married the sister of tenor Jan Peerce (Perelmuth), Sarah Perelmuth, who always attended Tucker's performances. Peerce and Tucker were famously rivals of each other.

Tucker died of a heart attack in Kalamazoo, Michigan, after a rehearsal with Bob Merrill. He is the only person who has ever had his funeral on the stage of the Met.

Note: 'Though his numerous recordings clearly reveal a great voice, they do not reproduce the visceral impact his voice had when heard live in the house. He was the opposite of his contemporary Jussi Björling. Björling sounds better on records than he did in performance -- his voice was not as big as seems on his recordings. Tucker was best experienced in person.' - grandi-tenori.com

In other words, there is no recording that does justice to the true brilliance of this man's voice. Never heard him live myself, he died before I was born, but I know a handful of people in New York who've frequented the Met for decades, and after hearing numerous great tenors through the years, they still insist Tucker was the greatest of them all.

Other Tucker live performances:
1. Cavalleria
[ Ссылка ]
2. Pagliacci
[ Ссылка ]
3. Carmen
[ Ссылка ]
4. Trovatore
[ Ссылка ]
5. Tosca
[ Ссылка ]

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