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TalBlack,

Unfortunately, Caruso did not live long enough for his voice to be caught in all of its splendour by recordings. What remains is only a glimpse of his greatness. But I am perfectly willing to accept the words of those who heard him first hand that his voice was one of a kind. But there was some great singing back in the day - just after Caruso came Gigli and a personal favorite, French tenor Georges Thill. Their recordings from the 1930s are spine tingling.

Here’s a fun Caruso story I ran across a while back:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,800850,00.html?iid=chix-sphere

My favorite singer ever is Kirsten Flagstad. She peaked in the 1930s, so when listening to her recordings, you still have to imagine just exactly how it sounded. Not until the 1950s did recording techniques improve to the point that big operatic voices were approximated well.

p.s. In this thread, I for the first time disclosed that I am a musician. Since I am responding to you, I might as well throw in the fact that, while in high school, I was the Houston chess champion. Strangely enough, this rather impressive accomplishment never helped me score chicks, so I rarely bring it up.

My grandfather heard Caruso on numerous occasions. There were no microphones, no amplification. Virtually all of Caruso’s recordings were done by singing into a horn. You moved your heard closer or farther from the horn to adjust the volume.
My grandfather said that when he heard him sing, you could pick up the vibrations through your feet and through the arm-rests on the chairs.

The point is, Paul Potts has a fine voice. And he has great character. That's what makes this story compelling.

He has obviously worked very hard with limited resources to develop his voice to the greatest degree possible. That's a quiet heroism all too rare these days.

In a way, he reminds me of Django Reinhardt. Django suffered burns to hit fretting hand when he was young that left two fingers permanently fused. Despite these physical limitations, he developed a fluid style of amazing dexterity and technique. He is justly listed among the very greatest of jazz guitarists.

Are there guitarists who can play with greater precision and speed? Absolutely. There are thousands. I know a few guitarists personally who are technically better. But none of them plays with the matchless heart and impeccable phrasing of of the hand-crippled Django.

When I heard this clip, I was moved in a way I have only been moved by a piece of music only two or three other times. There was a spirit animating his performance that placed it far above and beyond the mere notes that he sung.

Paul Potts may never become a world class recording star. But he has a fine, wonderful voice, and a story that shames "greater" and more self-important musicians. He has made his mark in the history of opera even if he never sings another note.

“””My favorite singer ever is Kirsten Flagstad. She peaked in the 1930s, so when listening to her recordings, you still have to imagine just exactly how it sounded. Not until the 1950s did recording techniques improve to the point that big operatic voices were approximated well.””’

Maybe it’s just me but I have no trouble hearing what is there irrespective of the bandwidth or fidelity or lack thereof. I have a studio and record singers and prepare tracks for mastering, so I have a little history. But even back in my teens, long before i got into recording or writing I could tell from that Caruso wax cylinder that a HELL of a voice produced it. In the modern era I think young Pav. was pretty impressive. A lot of that ‘silver’.

“””””p.s. In this thread, I for the first time disclosed that I am a musician. Since I am responding to you, I might as well throw in the fact that, while in high school, I was the Houston chess champion. Strangely enough, this rather impressive accomplishment never helped me score chicks, so I rarely bring it up””””

Shoulda’ told them you played guitar, dude!