Articles by Daniele Godor

Obviously, if editors are serious about their work, you should never assume that they share the opinions of the authors they publish, at least not necessarily. A good case in point is that I keep the articles of Mr. Godor (all written at the time of this site's former owner): while I like his "Introuvables" articles much, and absolutely adore his commented Jussi Björling discography (certainly the best discography ever done anywhere or by anyone), I very emphatically disagree with many of his other views, particularly with those on Pavarotti and Del Monaco. (Pavarotti a very musical singer, able to shape the music in a much more refined way than the singers of the Caruso school? Del Monaco's Siegmund a disaster? These are judgements that belong to a very distant galaxy from where I live!)

But that's in fact, apart from the respect for the considerable work that the author has put into them, another good reason to keep those texts online: it's always more interesting to be confronted with (substantiated) views that you don't share, than to find your own opinions confirmed over and over.¹

• Jussi Björling – Commented discography
• Joseph Calleja – The False Messiah
• Mario Del Monaco – A critical approach
• Exotism and moral in Mascagni's Iris
• Luciano Pavarotti – The great illusionist
• Les introuvables du chant puccinien
• Opera for the German Reichsrundfunk
• Opera at the San Carlo
• Les introuvables de Set Svanholm
• Les introuvables du chant verdien
• Forza Italia! A Zeffirelli polemic in five acts and a prologue

1  "Substantiated" is however key here; it did not apply to two attempts at linking operatic history and contemporary political and social history, one on the role that Peter Anders played for the Nazi music business, and one attributing the post-WWII changes in vocal style and technique to political and social development. Both of them portrayed the 1945 Allied victory over the Nazis and the Italian fascists as a "catastrophe" and a "defeat" (instead of the triumph of liberty and humanity that it actually was), and the Allied warfare as "barbarous": that's neo-fascist resentment, hardly bettered by the brash antifascist ostentation those texts were otherwise bursting with. They're not going to be republished.
Surprisingly, and very relievingly, the article on the Nazi broadcasting corporation (the Reichsrundfunk) treats similar topics in a markedly different way; with the few additions that I've made to it (in red), I wholeheartedly recommend it.