Giacomo Lauri-Volpi - Il Sogno (Private recording, 1959)

Giacomo Lauri-Volpi (1892-1979) spent a great deal of time making personal recordings in his home during his later years. The great tenor would grab an opera score from the shelf, open it to his favorite passages and sing to his own amusing accompaniment as a friend recorded it. Between 1955 and 1971, he recorded dozens of selections from a variety of works. In this recording from 1959, Lauri-Volpi sings Des Grieux's dream aria, "En ferment les yeux" (sung in Italian as "Chiudo gli occhi") from Massenet's opera Manon. The sixty-seven year old tenor is in excellent voice and remember...he's seated at the piano as he sings this.