Visitors' comments

I have received so many wonderful responses from visitors to this page, that I have decided to publish some of them (with permission of course)! A special thank you to all who have shared your passion for Di Stefano!

Hello Jennifer! I was very pleased to find your homepage regarding "Pippo". I am from Vienna where he sang for many years at the State Opera. I fell in love with this magnificent artist when I was 13 years old, this was 1964. I was lucky to see and hear him in many of his roles, like Cavaradossi, Alvaro, Canio, Riccardo. After the performances I waited together with many other fans at the stage door and we escorted him to his hotel where he stayed. I remember the last evening at our opera when he sang only the first act of "Tosca". He had a terrible cold, and some phrases he was only able to speak. For the next two acts they had to find another tenor. But we girls from the standing room left the house weeping. After that he never again appeared at the stage of the Vienna State Opera.
In 1967 he came back to sing "Sou Chong" in "Das Land des Laechelns", which is an operetta by Lehar, at the famous "Theater an der Wien". He did that en suite for two months. I attended 26 performances. After that I also went to Prague to see two more. In Germany he sang "Zarewitsch".
The last occasion I saw him personally was in 1978. He followed an invitation of the "Friends of the Vienna State Opera", where he gave a two hour interview and also sang one song which was "Non t'amo piu". I was in heaven!! Afterwards I was able to take a picture together with my six-year-old daughter which is the favorite decoration in my living-room since 19 years.
There was never again another tenor who was enchanting like him.
With all my best wishes for you - Margit Hegenbart hegen@iiasa.ac.at

I too am a dedicated Di Stefano Fan. To me he is the greatest tenor to ever take to the opera stage, he is also a master of Neopolitan and Sicilian songs. I currently own all of the recordings you listed, and several you do not have listed (many of them vinyl).

Giuseppe Di Stefano A chicago-Myto -1 mcd 924.67
Mamma- Replay music - RMCD4050
There is a new Testament Disc #1096
Der Zarewitsch- Koch Schwann- 3-1273-2

If you like Di Stefano you definetely have your Opera tastes right, he is absolutely the best.

Hi
My name is Laska, I live in Alexandria, Va and boy am I glad I found your web site. I just returned from a solo vacation in Vienna, Austria. Didn't know anyone there or speak the language, so what did I do when I wasn't checking out museums and sucking down coffee...I went to the Staatsoper. The first time I ended up there by default...It was cold and wet. I ran under one of the many "porches", saw some people in a line and decided to be a Leming. Little did I know that that night would have such a HUGH effect on me. I ended up, with my Leming friends seeing Wozzeck for $5.00. I had never seen an opera. I mean I knew what opera was but that was about it. Saw Die Walkure and Turandot the following nights for the lovely price of $5.00. (had very sore feet). Anyway this opera thing was really groovey. (Had good karma...met quite a few people affiliated with opera on my trip...But being Vienna I think that is natural)
ANYWAY, when I got back home a purchased a few CD's (I listen to the radio, so I actually had to get a CD player too...but I was hooked.) The first CD I purchased was "Nights at the Opera". I listened to it quite a few times before bothering to see who was singing what, bla bla bla. I was drawn to two voices B. Gigli and G. di Stefano. I gotta tell yea the minute I heard "e lucean le stelle" I almost lost myself. It was so beautifull, sounded likeaa lullaby (sp). "No. pagliaccioo non son!" knocked me off my ass! That's when I discovered G. Di Stefano. None of my friends are interested in opera let alone some old guy named Guiseppe. I'm still a Pearl Jam chick, but I think a metamorphises is about to take place.
Where can one go to get a crash course on opera? Is the DC opera very good. The tickets seem expensive. Standing room is $15.00!
I feel like a damned virgin, looking at the world in a whole new light. I used to write angry punk poetry now I'm writting libretto's. Hahaha
Thank you for your space.

I'm so glad to see that someone has started a Home Page dedicated to who, I believe, was the greatest Tenor voice of all time, Giuseppe Di Stefano. A couple of recordings you may have missed are a 1950 live performance of Donizetti's La Favorita Di Stefano does "Spirto Gentil" so well it gets encored and sings a high D flat to die for on the opening Tenor aria in the opera, it comes right after the overture) and a 1950 "Werther" by Massenet (I believe Di Stefano excelled in the works of both of these composers, as well as Bellini). Also another fact about Di Stefano, the Master Tenor Jussi Bjoerling once said about Di Stefano that he could be the greatest Tenor of all time. Di Stefano's voice can be heard in the movie Serpico , with Al Pacino, singing the arie "E Lucevan le Stelle", from the von Karajan recording.
Thanks again for the Di Stefano Home Page. Keep it up.
Rod Tierman RTIE@chevron.com

Hi I just happened to bump into your web page by accident and I am very happy to know that you have found the greatest lyric tenor that ever sang. I have been a Di Stefano fan since the mid fifties and can't begin to describe the pleasure I get from listening to his records. It's a shame that he ruined his voice by trying to sing roles that were not suited for him, but I guess he wanted more than he was capable of. One set of discs that I did not see on your list and is a must in Di Stefano collections is a two disc set on BIOGRAPHIES IN MUSIC number BIM 704-2 called THE GLORY OF ITALY. THESE ARE LIVE RECORDINGS dating between 1948 and 1956. It has in it a recording of SALUT DEMEURE from Faust that is the most incredible piece of singing that I have ever heard. Find it It's worth the effort to look for these discs.
Ralph LARL@EROLS.COM

Would you like to contribute to this page? Email me at

jmloyd@wam.umd.edu