Part II - Your Favorites: GREGORY KUNDE

THIS PART IS FOR YOUR FAVORITES! What do you think about Gregory Kunde? Please comment! Gregory Kunde, Tenor (born 1954) Gaetano Donizetti - La Favorita Spirito gentil (Recorded live 2002) My personal opinion: The discussion about the decline of singing is as old as singing itself. In every century and decade the mourning about a lost art was omnipresent in critic´s mouth. Many listeners reflecting back to the 1950s of the last century, back to Maria Callas and Renata Tebaldi, Jussi Bjoerling and Fritz Wunderlich. At this time, there was a yearning back to Caruso and Melba - and at their times critics praised the lost art of the castrati. It seems, present day not have to give us great opera-singers, especially tenors. But we don´t have to forget, the last 30 years saw a wonderful revival of Belcanto-Masterpieces. And with this, a new generation of fabulous tenors rose up: Chris Merritt (with only 1 nomination for this second Part), Salvatore Fisichella (none), Giuseppe Morino (none) and currently Juan Diego Florez (a singer in the line of light Rossini-Tenors) were only a few. Astonishingly most of them were ignored by your nominations, but one earned 19 solid votings: American tenor Gregory Kunde, probably the best specialist for difficult roles in italian and french Belcanto-repertory. With his appearance, general directors respired. Kunde was the right man to performe Berlioz´ "Benvenuto Cellini" and Arturo in Bellini´s "Puritani", welcome programm expansions.