Giuseppe Di Stefano: obit March 3, 2008. Too bad about the BBC photo. He was a great singer. Listen to the definitive 1953 Tosca, or the Toscanini Verdi Requiem.

I always thought his singing was a little tight and constricted, especially for an Italian; and maybe I was at least partly right, though he sang for decades. If I had been absolutely right, he would have lasted only a few years.

Here’s something to remember him by. Be sure to pay attention to the decrescendo on the high C.