Best Tenors Of All Time: Top 10 Greatest
Discover our selection of the best tenors of all time including Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and Enrico Caruso.
Who are the greatest tenors of all time? Trying to pin down any Top Ten list is bound to cause disagreement – and so it should – but we’ve discussed and debated and compiled our selection of the greatest tenors. Scroll down to discover our list of the best tenors, including Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, and Enrico Caruso.
Listen to the Best of Pavarotti on Apple Music and Spotify.
Enrico Caruso (1873-1921)
This Italian tenor Enrico Caruso was the first star of the gramophone and the first recording artist to sell a million copies. It’s no surprise. His sensational voice, impressive power, and art-meets-heart artistry are still a benchmark for all subsequent tenors. He premiered roles for all the major composers of his day, including Puccini. He was also fond of practical jokes, and, as the story goes, once slipped a hot sausage into the palm of diva-ish soprano Nellie Melba during the aria ‘Che gelida manina’ (‘Your tiny hand is frozen’) in La Bohème. She didn’t find it funny.
Lauritz Melchior (1890-1973)
The Danish singer Lauritz Melchior was a tenor who began his career as a baritone, but as soon as he retrained as a tenor, he skipped over the middling-heavy roles and instantly became the most admired Heldentenor (the kind of power-blasting tenor who can sing Wagner) of the last century. His voice had a dark resonance with clarion top notes and – best of all – was unbelievably huge and tireless. His career was at its peak between the 1920s and 1940s, but he was still singing successfully until his 70th birthday. He also had a great sense of fun, and appeared in five Hollywood musicals.
Beniamino Gigli (1890-1957)
Upon the death of Enrico Caruso in 1921, Beniamino Gigli was hailed as his obvious successor, and he excelled in many of the same roles at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. His beautifully sweet voice was smaller than Caruso’s, but had a similar ‘spin’ which allowed it to ring out into an auditorium with thrilling power. (He understandably disliked the term ‘Caruso Secondo,’ preferring the moniker ‘Gigli Primo’). He made over 20 films, and continued to sing into his sixties.
Jussi Björling (1911-60)
Pavarotti once said that he admired the voice of Swedish tenor Jussi Björling more than any other, and modeled his performances on Björling’s recordings. It’s not hard to see why. Björling’s sound was pure and clear, and swelled out magically the higher and louder it rose. He sang mainly lyric roles (these are roles which are not too heavy, and not too fast) such as Rodolfo (La Bohème), Roméo (Roméo et Juliette), and Gounod’s Faust, and made them his own. His life was cut tragically short by alcoholism.
Nicolai Gedda (1925 – 2017)
Swedish tenor Nicolai Gedda was the pre-eminent Mozart singer of the last century, famed for his beautifully polished and even sound, his exquisite phrasing, and his musical intelligence. After he auditioned for the famous record producer Walter Legge in 1948, Legge made him the unofficial ‘house tenor’ of EMI, and he recorded hundreds of discs for the company, including some heavier roles that were not ideally suited to him. Fluent in Swedish, Russian, German, French, English, Italian, Spanish, and Latin he sang operas and recitals comfortably in all of these tongues. He was still recording roles at the age of 78.
Jon Vickers (1926 – 2015)
The Canadian tenor Jon Vickers was blessed not only with a huge voice and thrilling sound but with great acting skills too, and his performances as Tristan have become the stuff of legend. He also became firmly associated with the difficult role of Aeneas in Berlioz’s Les Troyens (The Trojans) when the opera was finally given a full staging 1957. His Peter Grimes is still the benchmark for performers today. Because his career flourished during the golden age of stereo recording, many of his most famous roles are on disc, and they are still highly prized.
Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007)
With his instantly recognisable silvery tone, easy top notes and vocal agility, Luciano Pavarotti was an ideal candidate for lighter roles and he became the most commercially successful tenor of the 20th century. With canny management, he also became a household name outside the realms of opera, and his ‘Three Tenors’ concert with Plácido Domingo and José Carreras was one of the most significant phenomena in recent classical music history. Alas, his ongoing battle with his waistline did nothing to dispel the preconception that all opera singers are overweight.
Plácido Domingo (b.1941)
Plácido Domingo is the most versatile tenor, with the longest and most wide-ranging career in history. He started as a baritone in operetta, moved up to sing light tenor parts, then heavier roles, and then even added Wagner to his repertoire. He now sings major baritone roles again, conducts operas, and administrates an opera company. He’s also a star in lighter music and crossover. A phenomenon, and a legend in his own lifetime.
Jonas Kaufmann (b.1969)
Combining the holy trinity of brooding good looks, charismatic stage presence and a powerful and versatile voice, German tenor Jonas Kaufmann seems to be the prince-in-waiting to Domingo’s Superman. He is superb in Italian opera, the almost baritonal heft to his voice means he is also outstanding in Wagner, and has been described as “the most important, versatile tenor of his generation” by The New York Times.
Juan Diego Flórez (b.1973)
There has never been a recorded tenor with such a secure high sound, glistening timbre or fearsome talent for rat-a-tat coloratura as the Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez. These gifts have even had an effect on lyric repertoire, and now operas that were previously considered too difficult to sing have come back onto stages again. It hasn’t hurt his career that he’s slim and pleasingly photogenic.
UK English
B C Pick
September 25, 2019 at 2:19 pm
what about jose carreras mario lanza and many more?
Eamon Gaffney
June 6, 2020 at 12:36 am
I agree, and also John MaCormack probably the finest tenor of them all was not mentioned
Eamon Gaffney
Ernest Pinto
September 18, 2020 at 6:58 pm
I believe Mario Lanza was the best of the best bar none
Verna Aslin
October 19, 2020 at 7:30 am
YES! And he was the inspiration for Pavarotti, Carreras and Domingo, as they freely acknowledged.
Tony Flores
April 3, 2021 at 12:08 am
Mario Lanza in my opinion and after hearing bits and pieces of many tenors Lanza sang with more feeling than the others. I have a good tenor voice at the age of 92!
Pjkoko
January 9, 2021 at 10:45 pm
There was only one great tenor and that was Caruso. The rest had faults although they were good musicians.
Clyde Dekle
January 28, 2021 at 8:28 pm
Best is of course subjective however, to approach from a little different prospective, I respectfully suggest that one can find no better tenor than Enzo de Muro Lomanto.For starters try 1929 Lucia,and also prepare to hear the “ none better” soprano and baritone, and orchestral rendition ever! Really remarkable!
Clyde Dekle
March 13, 2021 at 5:27 pm
Interesting to note top choices, pretty good, better than most. For a little different perspective rather than usual “competitive” ratings, find me a tenor better than Enzo de Muro Lomanto-start with his 1929 (34?)Lucia, and for even more interest find a better soprano or baritone than in that performance- not likely you can.While you are at it, could there be a better operatic orchestra, or conductor?Really a remarkable production with the best of the best.
Where are they now?
MAX PHILLIP LEVINE
October 22, 2019 at 10:38 pm
SO MANY OTHERS WERE /EQUAL – DEL MONACO OTHELLO, FRANCO CORELLI PAGLIACCI CARLO BERGONZI LYRIC ARTISTRY ALFREDO KRAUSE ELEGANT YOUR LIST ACCENTUATES BROAD CAPABILITIES SUCH AS DOMINGO AND GEDDA /BUT THERE ARE RIVETING PERFORMANCES BY OTHERS NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN
steve galantiere
November 17, 2019 at 3:58 pm
Not accurate– all this is just opinion surely, even mine is but there are some mistakes above here— Pav’s fav. Voice was not Jussi Bjorling’s, ( I met and asked PAV. THAT IN 1981) . yes he liked JB’s technique, perhaps best but his fav. “voice” was Young Di Stefano not Bjorling’s he was his favorite tenor– yes he was diplomatic when in Sweden and said about JB I’m only human but read Pav’s book about his fav. voice, Di Stefano, also other great singers and voices among them Tucker, Del Monaco and and Corelli should be here, Gedda great but limited too more lyric roles as was Florez of course. Tucker the really great spinto in his time, MDM the greatest dramatic, Corelli a king of spinto’s in his time and Di Stefano early –a grat lyric Italian voice that was beautiful, his and Gigli’s of course– but Jussi also and the great Swedish artist of perfection of course. BTW —Alfredo Kraus is spelled this way, no E . Yes Max I agree, also in opera Otello is spelled with no H . Bjorling was basically lyric or later lyric spinto, it was
Amos
April 1, 2020 at 3:30 am
you kidding me? Jonas Kaufmann? He is a great baritone. has no business singing tenor; sorry his tenor voice ( which he doesn’t have) is disgusting
Jonathan
April 20, 2020 at 1:10 pm
Corelli was always my favourite until I discovered Giuseppe Giacomini on YouTube. Completely blown away, like discovering Birgit Nilsson for the first time, except I was in my late 40s not 20s. Can’t understand how I hadn’t heard of him before but clearly I’m not alone!!
Claus
April 22, 2020 at 9:55 pm
Simply no, by far the best and natural tenor voice is Fritz Wunderlich; if there is something like perfection it is Wunderlich singing Mahler song of the earth; why is Kaufmann on that list? More a baritone and I think overrated.
Joan
October 10, 2020 at 11:23 pm
Totally agreed!! Thanks.
Nelie Lebron-Robles
June 28, 2020 at 6:57 pm
You misses Antonio Paoli, the Tenor of Kins and the King of Tenors.
Phil Monty
August 8, 2020 at 10:32 am
How could you not mention a Mario Lanza? His voice was perfection.
Geoffrey Riggs
September 10, 2020 at 1:59 am
I would say the longest and most wide-ranging tenor career extant on disc would arguably be Jacques Urlus, even though Placido Domingo is plainly a formidable competitor for that title. But Urlus, with a recorded repertoire that encompassed everything from Mozart and Rossini to the French Grand Opera heroes like Jean and Raoul to the Verdi Otello to Tristan and both Siegfrieds to oratorio and Mahler, and with a resiliency that facilitated his continued mastery of heroic parts like Tristan into his 60s, established benchmarks that may be unique.
Of course, this breadth of achievement is not confined only to Urlus. But Urlus arguably sustained this staggering breadth in repertoire at a combined level of vocal consistency, longevity and continued versatility unmatched in any other career. In this respect, his closest competitors certainly include Domingo, but they also include Jean De Reszke, Francesco Vignas, Ivan Yershov and Leo Slezak. A highly select and ambitious group! I feel respect is owed Vignas, Slezak and Domingo. But on a personal level, the touching humanity I hear especially in De Reszke, Yershov and Urlus moves me more than in the other three.
So, eccentric as it may seem, I would put aside three undoubtedly versatile artists in this list like Gedda, Domingo, and Kaufmann for De Reszke, Yershov and Urlus instead. As for Italians beyond Caruso and Pavarotti (who both have to be in there), there are times when both Aureliano Pertile and Franco Corelli, despite their inconsistencies, attain a depth of musical expression that surpasses Gigli, in my view. Since Corelli had the more charismatic sound of the two, I would probably retain Corelli and put aside Gigli and Pertile. For lighter rep, much as I admire Florez, the finest lyric tenor for me is also my favorite of all, Richard Tauber. I have no problem with the other five already chosen.
Leon Howard
May 14, 2021 at 8:46 am
For me it is Franco Corelli who must be included. But then surely it is the particular repertoire various tenors excel at that may have significant bearing on this short list. And do not forget the audio tech which can be so influential.
Donna Marie
June 2, 2021 at 4:38 am
Mario Lanza played Caruso. He was perfection! He was such a awesome tenor. He had a sweetness to his voice. It’s was a darn shame he got sucked into that horrible Hollywood scene! Ruined everything. Sad
brian o callaghan
October 25, 2021 at 12:47 pm
As an Irishman I am dismayed that Count J McCormack is omitted as well as Tito Schipa the beautiful Neapolitan lyric tenor.In the case of the latter his voice range was defined and only certain melodies suited his more gentle vocal cords.With Mc Cormack any objective listener would have to acknowledge this tenors range and incredible vocal skill.His ability to hold high C,s was remarkable and his sincere and authentic singing style conveyed a sense of truthfulness that few other tenors could match.He sang before the era of wonderful acoustic and studio development putting him at a “contemporary disadvantage”His voice admittedly would not have been suited to the “heavier roles or operas as there was a gentleness in his voice.I have been listening to his dulcet tones for 60 years and his voice still brings tears to my eyes.I simply love him and want him in the top 5 per favor!!!!!! Please make it happen!!!!!
Richard Tomback
January 7, 2022 at 8:45 pm
Hi,
I would suggest to all the above opera lovers to listen to the following few selections, recorded by the greatest tenor of them all, Giovanni Martinelli. The selections are as follows: Come Rudgiada al Cespite from Ernani, Ideale, Serenata by Mascagni, and
Ah Mathilde with Marcel Journey, from Rossini William Tell. Also,
If a copy can be secured, listen to his live Pagliacci performances from 1934 and 1936, There is not a single in all of recorded history who sang with such dignity and passion as the incomparable Giovanni Martinelli
Richard Tomback
January 7, 2022 at 8:47 pm
Hi,
I would suggest to all the above opera lovers to listen to the following few selections, recorded by the greatest tenor of them all, Giovanni Martinelli. The selections are as follows: Come Rudgiada al Cespite from Ernani, Ideale, Serenata by Mascagni, and
Ah Mathilde with Marcel Journey, from Rossini William Tell. Also,
If a copy can be secured, listen to his live Pagliacci performances from 1934 and 1936, There is not a single tenor in all of recorded history who sang with such dignity and passion as the incomparable0 Giovanni Martinelli
Daniel Roder
February 7, 2022 at 6:35 am
Combination of beauty power feeling pronunciation nobody comes close to Mario Lanza! Sang opera to love songs million dollar recordings great movies. Let’s see Pavarotti or other tenors sing the love song “ A Kiss “ like Mario probably wouldn’t try! What about “ Be My Love “ nobody would come close to Mario the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard! Bravo Mario!!!
lentigo
August 19, 2022 at 4:56 am
“of all time”? You mean of the last century alone.
Gail Bradstock
November 18, 2022 at 11:41 pm
No one can compare with Mario Lanza. His voice was like no other and he sang with feeling and expression. I believe he was better than Caruso and all the others mentioned.
Diouglas Bateman
February 6, 2023 at 6:24 pm
This is a good list, Highlighting the singer’s attributes without being judgemental. How for instance, can one compare Juan-Diego Florez with Jon Vickers? Pavarotti and Domingo were equally good at doing what they did best and Nicolai Gedda was a superb linguist with a high D to match any, and so many more great singers not mentioned here that I will refrain from making my list of those missing, as everyone who loves opera and voice production will have their own. No, there is no one best, it is a disservice to art to judge and rank it as if it were sport.
William Cecil McDonald
March 16, 2023 at 11:09 am
How sad that Fritz Wunderlich has been forgotten already. You Tube provides sufficient evidence to put him, as the BBC does, in the top five. What gives with this list?
Hale
March 24, 2023 at 12:10 am
If Kaufmann is representative of his generation, then his generation is absolute garbage, and I’m not being harsh really.
Mishap
April 20, 2023 at 9:57 pm
The fact that Florez and Kaufman is included, shows that this person knows nothing absolutely nothing about singing opera or the history of opera. On top of that, to include Kaufman and and Jon Vickers above real Italian dramatic tenor voices such as Franco Corelli and Mario Del Monaco, is a crime.
This is not a serious list, it is obviously meant to appeal to people who don’t really follow opera.
Ed Jacobs
December 2, 2023 at 4:54 am
In the post-war period, the greatest opera tenors were Mario del Monaco, Jussi Bjorling and Franco Corelli, who shared the FIRST place on the podium. There is no doubt about it. In second place are Carlo Bergonzi, Giuseppe di Stefano, Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Richard Tucker and the little-known Bulgarian Nikola Nikolov. In third place I see Alfredo Kraus, Nicolai Gedda, Juan Diego Florez. Do not look at the order in which I mentioned them here. You also need to compare their recordings when they were of a similar age. Do not compare MDM at 50 with Corelli at 36. Franco Corelli had a big advantage by studying del Monaco’s recordings and then trying to “improve” them by expanding his own high notes. Mario del Monaco has not had a chance like this since he was 6 years older. Nicolai Gedda had a great technique, but I did not like his “metallic” color of his voice. Juan Diego Florez, who is already 50 years old, has a very beautiful lyrical voice and stage presence. He should not try to engage in heavier repertoire. I saw he did it. This is bad and will destroy his voice, as Di Stefano once did when singing in Il Trovatore, La Forza Destino and Gioconda. Even retired Tito Schipa, who was alive at the time, criticized him. Carlo Bergonzi actually could have even been in first place. He sometimes competed with Jussi Bjorling. Bulgarian dramatic tenor Nikola Nikolov made a huge impression in Europe in the 1960s. These were his best years. I have many of his recordings and I can say that his Nessun Dorma is one of the best I have heard. However, he did not have much luck on American soil. I can honestly assure you all that Nikolov deserves a very high place in the history of vocals. I do not understand the current admiration over Jonas Kaufmann. His voice is uneven and his technique is poor. For me Kaufmann is terrible… Kaufmann should not be even mentioned here on this forum.
Tony
January 7, 2024 at 2:04 pm
Nobody mentions Giuseppe do Stefano!!! Amazing lapse.