Nicola Rossi Lemeni - 1960 Nabucco Recordings - O, Chi Piange

Nicola Rossi Lemeni made his debut as Varlaam in Venice, 1946. Later that year, he scored a huge personal triumph as King Philip in “Don Carlo“. No less an authority than Toscanini expressed great excitement over the young basso's talents. By 1954, Rossi Lemeni's voice became erratic and often experienced bouts of hollow, wavery tone. Some critics wrote him off, but there were also periods where his voice came into its original magnificence. He made recordings of Zaccaria's arias from Nabucco in 1951 for EMI, where his singing was firm and fresh, only lacking sufficient weight in the lower register. In 1960, he recorded them again for George Singer and the Hamburg Radio Symphony Orchestra. These recordings find him in splendidly firm, beautifully focused voice with fuller low notes, a grand testament to the darkly arresting sound with which he held audiences spell-bound. “O, chi piange“ Zaccaria's aria from Act III of Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi. George Singe