Toscanini Says So: How Aida’s father should sing. Giuseppe Valdengo - Ciel! mio padre - 1949 LIVE

From The Real Toscanini: Musicians Reveal the Maestro () Valdengo wrote about his audition for the role of Amonasro in the NBC concert version of Aida in 1949: “Toscanini began playing the bars before the entrance of the prisoners in the second act. I began and sang as well as I could. Between rushing to get to the audition and my agitation, I don’t even know how my voice could have come out. As I sang, the Maestro’s face became darker and darker, but I dragged forward with the sole hope of being able to finish quickly … When I got to the phrase ‘Rivedrai le foreste imbalsamate,’ Toscanini had had enough and he stopped. He remained for a very long time looking at me, peering at me in a strange and ominous way, almost as if he wanted to throw me out the door, then he shouted, ‘You are ruined! What did you do with your beautiful voice, your breathing, your mezza voce, your diction that was so clear? You lost everything!’ With those hard words Toscanini had destroyed me and