Saturday, July 31, 2010
1904 Addio fiorito asil -- role created by Zenatello
![](http://www.weblaopera.com/blog_efemerides/imgs/Feb22/Zenatello%20Giovanni.gif")
Giovanni Zenatello (2 February 1876 - 11 February 1949) was an Italian opera singer. Born in Verona, he enjoyed an international career as a dramatic tenor of the first rank.
Zenatello showed musical promise from a young age.
His singing teacher in Verona originally tried to train him as a baritone, but he never felt comfortable in this range and later switched to the higher tenor register.
Nonetheless, it was as a baritone that he made his professional debut at Belluno in 1898.
His tenor debut (as Canio in Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci) did not come until the following year, at Naples.
Zenatello's operatic career gathered momentum during the early years of the 20th century, and on February 17, 1904, he created the role of Pinkerton in the world premiere of Puccini's Madama Butterfly at La Scala, Milan.
La Scala was Italy's leading opera house, and he remained a member of its company of singers until 1907.
He also sang at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, in 1905-06, 1908–09 and 1926; at the Manhattan Opera House in 1907-1910; and with the New York Metropolitan Opera company, on tour, replacing Enrico Caruso, in 1909.
He sang often, too, in South America and Mexico and in various cities of Continental Europe.
Zenatello's voice had matured into that of a clarion-voiced dramatic tenor during his La Scala years, and he succeeded Francesco Tamagno (1850–1905) as the world's greatest exponent of Giuseppe Verdi's Otello.
He performed this extremely taxing role more than 300 times during his career and recorded highly acclaimed extracts from the work.
After a final stage appearance (in New York City) in 1933, Zenatello retired from opera and taught singing.
Lily Pons was one of his pupils.
As to his private life, he lived with the Spanish mezzo-soprano Maria Gay from 1906 until her death in 1943.
They were often described as husband and wife although they may never have actually married.
In 1913, Zenatello was instrumental in having the Verona Arena, built originally by the ancient Romans, restored and turned into a world famous open-air venue for opera performances.
That same year the arena was used to mount a grand production of Aida, marking the centenary of Verdi's birth.
In 1947, Zenatello arranged for a promising young soprano named Maria Callas to appear at the arena's Summer Festival in Amilcare Ponchielli's operatic masterpiece, La Gioconda.
This appearance would give Callas invaluable exposure in Italy and help set her on the path to future stardom.
Zenatello died in New York City in 1949, aged 73.
Zenatello left an important musical legacy in the form of a considerable number of commercial recordings of his voice, made both acoustically and, after 1925, with the aid of microphone technology.
His first discs were made in Italy by The Gramophone Company in 1903, followed by a long series for Fonotipia Records. Later, he recorded for the Columbia, Edison and HMV labels.
These recordings of operatic arias, duets and ensembles, as well as of a few song titles, have been reissued on CD in recent years, most notably by the English firms Pearl and Symposium Records and the Austrian Preiser label.
They reflect the wide range of his repertoire and confirm the impressive power, thrust and ardency of his singing at its best.
A radio interview with an elderly Zenatello, recorded in 1947, includes a creditable (if transposed dowanwards, due to the singer's age) performance of the aria Niun mi tema from Otello. This interview was reissued in the 1960s and can be heard on CD.
Roles created
1903: Vassili in Siberia (Giordano).
1903: Init in Oceàna (Antonio Smareglia)
1904: Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (Giacomo Puccini).
Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, (Oxford University Press), 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5
Scott, Michael (1977), The Record of Singing, Volume One, (Duckworth, London), 243 pages, ISBN 0 7156 1030 9.
[edit] External links
History of the Tenor - Sound Clips and Narration
1853 Di quella pira -- role created by Firenze-born tenor C. Baucarde
Carlo Baucardé or Boucardé (1825–1883) was an Italian operatic tenor who sang leading roles throughout Italy, as well as in London, Madrid, Paris, and New York.
He is most remembered today for creating the role of Manrico in Verdi's opera Il trovatore and the title role in Donizetti's Poliuto.
Carlo Baucardé was born in Florence to a family of French origin.
According to contemporary accounts, he had originally been employed in the palace kitchen of the Grand Duke of Tuscany where he first attracted attention by his talent for cookery, and later by his talent for singing which enabled him to receive musical training.[1]
His earliest known appearance was in Florence in 1847 as Carlo ("Il bravo") in Mercadante's Il bravo.[2]
Between 1848 and 1850, he sang frequently in Naples at the Teatro San Carlo.
He appeared in three operas by Verdi, all in their first performances at that theatre: I Lombardi alla prima crociata as Arvino (1848), Macbeth as Malcolm (1849) , and I masnadieri as Carlo (1849).
He also sang there in the premiere of Donizetti's Poliuto in the title role (1848) and in the theatre's first performance of his La favorita as Fernando (1850).[3]
Baucardé made his London debut to considerable popular acclaim as Oronte in I Lombardi alla prima crociata during the 1850 season of Italian opera at Her Majesty's Theatre.
During that season he also performed the leading tenor roles in Verdi's I due Foscari, Bellini's I puritani, and Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia. Benjamin Lumley, the Director of Her Majesty's Theatre at the time, wrote of Baucardé
Nothing was expected, yet great results were achieved. With a charmingly sweet, but still robust voice of wonderful extension; with a style wherein the use of the falsetto was at once sparingly and judiciously employed, this young artist won easily upon a public accustomed to give a preference to natural gifts over the display of skill. Not that Baucarde was deficient in skill; on the contrary, his " school" was excellent. As an actor he rose scarcely above mediocrity, but any deficiency in this respect was overlooked in the splendour of his "organ". [4]
In 1851, Baucardé sang the title tole in the world premiere of Gualtiero Sanelli's Camoëns at the Teatro Regio in Turin where he also sang Gualtiero in Bellini's Il pirata (1852), Arturo Talbot in his I puritani (1852), and the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's Rigoletto (1852).
Baucardé achieved particular success as the Duke, both in Turin and elsewhere.[5]
Verdi then cast Baucardé as the first Manrico in Il trovatore, although he had previously wanted Raffaele Mirate for the role.[6]
The premiere at the Teatro Apollo in Rome on 19 January 1853 was a great success not only for Verdi, but also for Baucardé.
************************ DI QUELLA PIRA ********************
His popular acclaim in the role increased when
he substituted a high C
for the original G in the finale of
"Di quella pira"
during a later performance of Trovatore in Florence.[7]
---------------
He went on to sing Manrico for the Paris premiere of the opera on 23 December 1854 at the Théâtre-Italien.
The following month, he again appeared at the Théâtre-Italien in the title role of Pacini's now forgotten opera, L'ultimo dei Clodovei.[8]
Despite his great popularity in Italy, Baucardé failed to impress one British observer, Frances Minto Elliot.
Writing under the pseudonym "Florentia", she described his 1854 Rome performance in Lucrezia Borgia thus:
"Boucarde is a fat and stupid Gennaro, the real and veritable "pescatore ignobile",[9] and not the high-bred, unmistakable patrician Mario appears, even in his dingy dress."
"There is not a grain of romance about Boucarde, and his voice is no more comparable to Mario's silvery tones than his appearance."
"The fact is, he drinks like a fish, and is rapidly ruining a naturally fine organ."
"He made a good point in giving the words "Era mia madre, ah! misera", with an expression of deep pathos that brought down rounds of applause, and a particular kind of roar peculiar to a gratified Italian crowd, very savage and bloodthirsty to the ears, reminding one of revolutions and all kinds of horrors.[10]"
Baucardé was married to a prominent, but notoriously temperamental soprano, Augusta Albertini (1827-1898) and often sang with her.
When she was proposed for the role of Mina in the 1857 premiere casting of Verdi's Aroldo, Verdi wrote to his librettist Francesco Maria Piave:
"In short, as regards Albertini, I tell you, no. I've had more than enough of her husband, and I don't want anything more to do with lunatics. [11]"
From 1859 to 1860, the couple sang at the Academy of Music in New York, but the venture was not successful.
By then, Baucardé was past his prime.
He retired from the stage in 1863 and died in his native Florence on 22 January 1883.
1.^ Lumley (1864) p. 275
2.^ Lawrence (1999) p. 552
3.^ Casaglia
4.^ Lumley (1864) p. 275
5.^ Rescigno (2001) p. 85
6.^ Phillips-Matz (1993) p. 308. Raffaele Mirate (1815-1885) created the role of the Duke in the world premiere of Rigoletto.
7.^ Rescigno (2001) p. 86
8.^ Casaglia
9.^ Italian, literally "ill-bred fisherman"
10.^ quoted from Florentia (1854) p. 412
11.^ Letter from Giuseppe Verdi to Francesco Maria Piave, 31 October 1856, quoted in Rescigno (2001) p. 86. Original Italian:
"Intanto, ti dico per l'Albertini, no. Ne ho avuto abbastanza di suo marito e non voglio più avere che fare coi matti."
[edit] References
Casaglia, Gherardo, Almanacco Amadeus. Accessed 7 March 2009.
Florentia, "Diary of a first Winter in Rome – 1854", in The New Monthly Magazine Vol. 101, Richard Bentley, London, 1854.
Lawrence, Vera Brodsky, Strong on Music: Repercussions, 1857-1862, 2nd Edition, University of Chicago Press, 1999. ISBN 0226470156
Lumley, Benjamin, Reminiscences of the Opera, Hurst and Blackett, 1864.
Phillips-Matz, Mary Jane, Verdi: A Biography, Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN 0193132044
Rescigno, Eduardo, Dizionario verdiano, Biblioteca universale Rizzoli, 2001. ISBN 8817866288,
1896 Un di all'azurro spazio -- Giordano "A. C." role created by Borgatti
Giuseppe Borgatti (born Cento, March 17, 1871—died Reno di Leggiuno, October 18, 1950) was an Italian dramatic tenor with an outstanding voice.
He created the title role in Umberto Giordano's opera Andrea Chénier and became famous for his performances of the music of Richard Wagner.
Borgatti sang leading roles at La Scala, Milan, from 1896 until 1914, but deteriorating eyesight caused by the disease glaucoma put a premature end to his stage career.
Borgatti was born into a poor rural family from the Province of Ferrara in northern Italy and grew up illiterate, according to the music-performance historian John Rosselli.
This handicap did not prevent Borgatti from finding work as a bricklayer/stone-cutter.
He was also called up by the authorities to discharge a compulsory period of military service.
Luckily, a wealthy patron happened to hear him sing.
Struck by the inherent quality of Borgatti's voice, the patron arranged for him to have professional singing lessons and acquire basic educational skills.
His voice teachers included Alessandro Busi in Bologna and, later, Carlo d'Ormeville.
In 1892 (some sources say 1893), Borgatti made his operatic debut at Castelfranco Veneto, singing the role of "Dottore Faust" in the opera of the same name by Charles Gounod. (Cavatina: "Salve, dimora casta e pura").
A string of performances at other Italian opera houses ensued in mainly lyric parts.
Eighteen ninety-four saw Borgatti successfully undertake the role of the Chevalier des Grieux in a notable production in Venice of Giacomo Puccini's Manon Lescaut."
"Donna non vidi mai simile a questa".
Later that same year he appeared at another major venue, the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan, as Lohengrin (his first assumption of a Wagnerian part).
His career was now gaining real momentum but he would not become a major opera star until 1896 when, at Milan's La Scala, he sang in the premiere performance of Andrea Chénier to great acclaim.
"Un di all'azzuro spazio"
Although Borgatti continued to appear in a number of Italian operas after 1896, earning particular renown for his performances in works by Giuseppe Verdi, Puccini and the verismo composers, he fell strongly under the spell of Wagner's music dramas.
He worked closely with La Scala's principal conductor, Arturo Toscanini, from 1898 through into the early 1900s, and proceeded to master all the main tenor parts of the Wagnerian repertoire, namely, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, Walther, Tristan, Siegmund, Siegfried and, finally, Parsifal.
---------------- IN BUENOS AYRES ----------
In 1898, he toured South America with a first-class troupe of Italian singers which included his fellow tenor Francesco Tamagno (the creator of the role of Otello in Verdi's opera), the soprano Luisa Tetrazzini and the baritones Mario Sammarco and Eugenio Giraldoni.
He also visited Spain and Russia.
Then, in 1901, he took part in a "grand concert" at La Scala that had been organised to mark the recent death of Verdi.
Toscanini conducted the concert and among the array of soloists participating in it with Borgatti were Tamagno and the rising tenor star Enrico Caruso.
Borgatti became the first Italian tenor invited to sing at Germany's Bayreuth Festival in 1904. Both Cosima Wagner (the composer's widow and the festival's director) and the important Wagnerian conductor Hans Richter praised Borgatti's voice and artistry.
In 1906, he made a different venture into the field of German opera when he sang Herod in the La Scala premiere of Salome by Richard Strauss.
******************************************************
Good looking, intelligent and robustly built, Borgatti is said to have possessed abundant reserves of stamina and strong histrionic ability in addition to a smooth, limpid voice of large size.
******************************************************
Critics lauded him, too, for the clarity of his diction and the beauty of his phrasing.
**************************
Oddly enough, despite his exceptional attainments as a singer and interpretive artist, he never performed in London or New York City.
************************
At the height of his career, in 1907, Borgatti began losing his sight due to glaucoma. This affliction grew steadily worse, obliging him to retire from the operatic stage seven years after its onset, even though his voice was still in prime condition. He kept giving concerts, however.
The theatre in his home town of Cento was named in his honour in 1924.
By this juncture, he was blind in both eyes.
His last public performance occurred in Bologna in 1928.
He taught singing in Milan following the curtailment of his opera house career.
His best known pupils were the English lyric tenor Heddle Nash (1894–1961) and the German baritone Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender (1897–1978).
Borgatti married one of his singing teachers, Elena Cuccoli.
They had a daughter, Renata Borgatti (1894–1964), who became a concert pianist.
Borgatti died at a resort town near Italy's Lake Maggiore in 1950, aged 79.
Giuseppe Borgatti's impressive singing is preserved on fewer than 20 acoustic discs that he made in Milan for Fonotipia Records and the Pathé company in 1905 and 1919 respectively.
They include extracts from four different operatic works by Wagner, all sung in Italian, and one aria each by Verdi ("Niun me tema" from Otello) and Puccini ("E lucevan le stelle" from Tosca.
Borgatti had been La Scala's original Cavaradossi in 1900.
For some reason, he recorded nothing from his breakthrough opera, Andrea Chénier, or from some of the other Italian operas with which he had become especially associated, such as Mefistofele, Aida, La traviata, La Gioconda, Pagliacci, Manon Lescaut and Fedora.
He did, however, commit to wax his interpretations of two short examples of lieder by Robert Schumann.
Like the Wagner pieces, they are sung in Italian.
All Borgatti's surviving acoustic recordings are available on CD re-issues.
In 1928, he recorded several rare sides electrically for the Columbia company.
Scott, Michael, The Record of Singing, Volume 1, Duckworth, London, published 1977.
Rosenthal, Harold & Warrack, John, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, second edition, Oxford University Press, London, published 1979.
Steane, John, The Grand Tradition: Seventy Years of Singing on Record, 1900-1970, Duckworth, London, 1974.
Freestone, John, liner notes to Symposium Records, UK, Compact Disc 1199, published 1997.
Rosselli, John, Singers of Italian Opera, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, published 1992 and reprinted 1995.
Phillips-Matz, Mary Jane, Puccini: A Biography, Northeastern University Press, Boston, published 2002.
This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the Italian Wikipedia.
Biographical sketch
1851 La donna e mobile, ella mi fui rapita, questa o quella -- roles created by Raffele Mirate
Raffaele Mirate (3 September 1815 - November 1895) was a celebrated Italian operatic tenor who had an active career from the 1830s through the 1860s.
Known for his intelligent phrasing and bright and powerful vocal timbre, he was regarded as an outstanding interpreter of the tenor roles in the early and middle period operas of Giuseppe Verdi.
He notably created the role of the Duke of Mantua in in the world premiere of Verdi's Rigoletto in 1851.
He was also a highly regaurded interpreter of bel canto roles, excelling in the operas of Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Gioachino Rossini.[1]
Born in Naples, Mirate was a pupil of Alessandro Busti and the famous castrato Girolamo Crescentini at the Regio Collegio di Musica.
His first opera performance was in a school production in 1834.
His official opera début came three years later at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples as the title hero in Donizetti's Torquato Tasso.
From 1836 through 1839 he worked primarily in Naples, although he did appear as a guest performer at the Teatro San Cassiano in Venice as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor.[1]
In 1839 Mirate arrived at the Théâtre Italien in Paris where he attracted wide acclaim singing roles in operas by Donizetti, Rossini, and Bellini.
He made his first appearance at La Scala in 1840 as Amenofi in Rossini's Mosè in Egitto to great success.
In 1844 he was again a guest at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris.
In 1845 he was heard at the Teatro Argentina in Rome as Jacopo in I due Foscari and Charles VII in Giovanna d'Arco.
The librettist Francesco Maria Piave, who was a frequent collaborator with Verdi, was in attendance at these Rome performances and likened Mirate's voice to the great lyric tenor, Napoleone Moriani.[1]
During the late 1840s and early 1850s, Mirate was busy singing at the opera houses of Venice, Genoa and Milan.
In 1848 he participated in the world premiere of Carlo Boniforti's Giovanna di Fiandra at La Scala.
*************************************
***************LA DONNA E MOBILE*******************
By 1850 he was the highest paid singer at La Fenice, and it is at this house that he portrayed the role with which he became most identified, the Duke in Verdi's Rigoletto.
His performance of the bravura aria "La donna è mobile" was hailed as the highlight of the opera's premiere performance on 11 March 1851.
A more commanding Duke than some subsequent tenors, he went on to perform the role over 190 times during the rest of his career.[1]
***************
Mirate sang at several more premieres at La Fenice, including portraying Don Carlo in Antonio Buzzolla's Elisabetta di Valois (1850), Don Alvaro in Francesco Malipiero's Fernando Cortez (1851), and Arminio in Giovanni Pacini's La punizione (1854). He also appeared in numerous world premieres at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples during the 1850s, including Admeto in Giuseppe Staffa's Alceste (1852), the title role in Nicola De Giosa's Guido Colmar (1852), Cassandro in Saverio Mercadante's Statira (1853), the title role in Ferdinando Tommasi's Guido Colmar (1855), and a role in the premiere of Giovanni Pacini's Margherita Pusterla (1856). In 1857 he portrayed Casimiro in the premiere of Emanuele Muzio's La sorrentina at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna.[2]
From 1854-55, Mirate performed with great success at La Scala, notably singing Manrico in Verdi's Il trovatore to the approval of the composer.
************************** MIRATE IN BUENOS AYRES ************************
He sang in Boston and New York in 1856 and then at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires during that houses first season in 1857.
He returned to Buenos Aires in 1860, also making appearances in Montevideo and Rio de Janeiro while he was in South America.
He retired in 1861, but came out of retirement two year later to sing at the Teatro di San Carlo from 1863–1866. While there he sang in two world premieres, portraying Rodrigo in Errico Petrella's Celinda and Icilio in Mercadante's Virginia. He died in Sorrento in 1895 at the age of 80.[1]
1.^ a b c d e Raffaele Biography at operissimo.com (in German)
2.^ www.amadeusonline.net
1926 Nessun dorma; non piangere, Liu -- roles created by M. Fleta
"img src="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/ldFw1vNHVA4/default.jpg">
1865 O Paradiso -- role created by Emilio Naudin
Emilio Naudin was first tenor to enjoy a great empathy with the public. A remarkable artiste, with great artistic feeling. He had a voice that was described as “a high, wide-ranging tenor di forza”.
1849 "Mi tradia" (Settimio Malvezzi) "Luisa Miller"
Quando le sere al placido
Chiaror d'un ciel stellato
Meco figgea nell'etere
Lo sguardo innamorato,
E questa mano stringermi
Dalla sua man sentia...
E questa mano stringermi
Dalla sua man sentia...
Ah! Ah! Ah! mi tradia!
Ah! mi tradia!
Allor, ch'io muto, estatico
Da' labbri suoi pendea,
Ed ella in suono angelico,
"amo, amo te sol" dicea,
Tal che sembrò 1'empireo
Aprirsi all'alma mia!
In suono angelico,
"amo te sol" dicea.
Ah! Ah! Ah! mi tradia!
Ah! mi tradia!
Ah! mi tradia!
Mi tradia!
In suono angelico,
"T'amo" dicea.
Ah! mi tradia!
1843 -- "Sogno soave e casto" role created by Mario
first produced on 3 January 1843 at the Comédie-Italienne in Paris.
1892 Ah, non mi ridestar
Massenet's "Werther" did not receive any performance until it premiered at the Imperial Theatre Hofoper in Vienna on February 16, 1892, in a German version.
1863 I Pescatori di perle --
first performed on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique (Théâtre-Lyrique du Châtelet) in Paris.
1875 Il fiore che avevi me giutato
The opera premiered at the Opéra-Comique of Paris on 3 March 1875
The role was created in French
It was often sung in Italian.
The role was created in French
It was often sung in Italian.
1900 "E lucevan le stelle", "Recondita armonia" -- role created by Emilio de Marchi -- who visited Buenos Ayres in 1890
"Tosca" premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900.
Emilio de Marchi, born January 6, 1861, Voghera – died March 20, 1917, Milan, was an Italian operatic tenor.
He enjoyed a significant international career during the late 19th century and early 20th century, appearing at major theatres on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 1900, he entered musical history as the creator of the role of painter "Mario Cavaradossi" in Giacomo Puccini's Tosca.
Today, however, he is largely forgotten because unlike many of his contemporaries, he did not leave a legacy of commercial gramophone or phonograph recordings.
De Marchi came from Northern Italy's Lombardy region.
His voice was discovered during military service and he received professional singing lessons.
In 1886, He made his operatic debut in Milan, at the Teatro Dal Verme, as Alfredo in Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata.
Dei miei bollenti spiriti.
-------
Over the next few years he appeared at leading houses throughout Italy and Spain and was a member of a distinguished Italian operatic company which visited Buenos Aires in 1890.
-------
He debuted at Italy's leading opera house, La Scala, Milan, in 1898 as Stolzing in an Italian-language version of Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger.
He proved a success at La Scala and was chosen by the composer Puccini to sing the coveted role of Cavaradossi in the first performance of Tosca, which occurred at Rome's Teatro Costanzi on January 14, 1900.
------------------
(A rising young tenor star named Enrico Caruso, 12 years De Marchi's junior, had hoped to create Cavaradossi; but in the end, Puccini, although greatly impressed by Caruso's voice, decided to entrust the part to the more experienced singer.)
-------------------
De Marchi sang Cavaradossi again at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1901.
Cavaradossi was also his debut role the following year at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
During his New York sojourn, he sang the title role in the premiere Met production of Verdi's Ernani, which was mounted in 1903.
His other Met roles were Radames,
Alfredo,
Rodolfo,
Riccardo,
Turiddu,
Canio and
Don Jose.
He returned to Italy and, among a number of mainstream Italian operatic parts, sang Max in Weber's Der Freischütz and Licinius in Spontini's La Vestale during his final seasons at La Scala.
Milan was the scene of his death at the early age of 56.
De Marchi did not make any commercial recordings but he can be heard in a few fragments from Tosca that were recorded during a live performance at the Met in January 1903, with soprano Emma Eames as Tosca and baritone Antonio Scotti as Scarpia, and Luigi Mancinelli conducting.
Despite the primitive quality of these Mapleson Cylinders, De Marchi's lyric-dramatic voice sounds strong, steady and attractive, and it rings out impressively in the opera's Torture Scene.
He is also audible in excerpts from Aida and Cavalleria Rusticana (the latter with soprano Emma Calvé).
The Mapleson Cylinder fragments have been re-issued on CD by Symposium Records (catalogue number 1284).
Grove Music Online, J.B. Steane (June 2008)
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, Second Edition, Harold Rosenthal & John Warrack (London, 1980)
The Great Caruso, Michael Scott (London, 1988)
1816, Ecco ridente in cielo -- role created by Manuel Garcia
Rossini, "Barbier di Siviglia". The première (under the title Almaviva, or the Useless Precaution) took place on 20 February 1816,
at the Teatro Argentina, Rome.
Role created by Manuel Garcia.
Manuel del Pópulo Vicente Rodriguez García, born 21 January 1775, died 10 June 1832, sometimes known as Manuel García father, was a noted Spanish opera singer, composer, impresario and singing teacher.
García was born in Seville, Spain. In 1808 he went to Paris with a reputation already gained as a tenor at Madrid and Cadiz. By 1808, when he appeared in the opera Griselda in Paris, he was already known as a composer of light operas. He lived in Naples, performing in Rossini's operas. These included the premières of Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra and The Barber of Seville, in which he created the role of Count Almaviva. In 1816, he visited Paris and London. Between 1819 and 1823, he lived in Paris, and sang in The Barber of Seville, Otello, Don Giovanni, and other popular favorites. Until 1824 he was of high repute in London and Paris.
His eldest daughter was the celebrated mezzo-soprano Maria Malibran, and his second daughter was the famous Pauline Viardot, one of the most astonishing musicians of the 19th century. He had a son, Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García, a baritone, who became an even more famous teacher than his father.
In 1826 he and his company visited the United States. They staged the first performances of Italian opera in New York. The García family took all the main parts in performances of The Barber of Seville, with García as Almaviva, his second wife Joaquina Sitchez, alias "la Briones", as Berta, Manuel jr as Figaro, and Maria as Rosina (Pauline was still very young at this time). In other performances Signor Crivelli, the English son of Gaetano Crivelli, used to act the second tenor. Mozart's greatest librettist, Lorenzo Da Ponte, was in America and encouraged the company to perform Don Giovanni, which was given its first American performance in the presence of its librettist, with García singing the title role, la Briones as Donna Elvira, Maria as Zerlina, Signor Crivelli as Don Ottavio and Manuel jr as Leporello.[1]
They also performed in Mexico, and García recounted in his memoirs that while on the road between Mexico and Vera Cruz, he was robbed of all his money by brigands.
Garcia spent his final years in Paris as a teacher of singing, his voice being greatly impaired by age as well as fatigue. He is considered one of the most brilliant tenors of the 19th century.
In spite of his Spanish origins, Manuel García became the paragon of the Italian-style tenor of the beginning of the 19th century, who had baritonal characteristics and is presently sometimes called, mainly in Italy, baritenore (cf baritenor). García possessed, however, an unusual vocal compass: the parts written for him by Rossini generally tend to be higher than those written for other baritonal tenors like Andrea Nozzari or Domenico Donzelli, and, according to Paolo Scudo's testimony [2], it was García, and not Gilbert-Louis Duprez, who was the first singer able to utter the would-be “C from the chest”, although García is not reported to have ever sung it in public (which is not surprising given his eighteenth century artistic background). Despite his very wide range, he cannot be regarded as a tenore contraltino, and when he had, for instance, to confront Lindoro's role in L'italiana in Algeri, and, in particular, "the very high tessitura and the prevailingly syllabic composition of [his entrance aria] 'Languir per una bella', he would lower it by a tone and a half, singing it in C major instead of E flat".[3] García was able to cope with real baritone parts as well. His phonation technique was superfine and allowed him exceptional virtuoso skills, with fluent and rapid vocalization and an impressive forceful trill. He was also able to master falsetto vocal phonation to such a point that, in a tonadilla of his, he could perform a duet with himself, where he sang both the tenor and the soprano parts.
Having an extravagant, even violent, personality and despotic attitudes even towards his children (who were also his pupils), he transported onto the stage something of his personal character, making his performances as Otello and Don Giovanni memorable, but he also succeeded in bridling his exuberance and in getting the style under perfect control, so that he could render his Mozart Count Almaviva a real, proud and elegant, grandee of Spain. [4].
The following list (cf inf External links - Amadeus Almanac) may not be complete, but it is intended to note the most significant moments in Manuel García’s career after his arrival in Italy. The symbol (*) indicates premieres, while the symbol (**) marks other notable performances, especially including town/theatre premieres.
Achille Ifigenia in Aulide [5] tragedia-opera (2nd version) [performed in Italian] Christoph Willibald Gluck Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo 15 August 1812 (**)
Achille Ecuba tragedia per musica Nicola Antonio Manfroce Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo 13 December 1812 (*)
Oitone Gaulo ed Oitone melodramma serio Pietro Generali Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo 9 March 1813 (*)
Califfo Isaun Il califfo di Bagdad opera comica Manuel García Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo 8 November 1813 (**)
Egeo Medea in Corinto [6] melodramma tragico (1st version) Simon Mayr Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo 28 November 1813 (*)
Endimione Diana ed Endimione cantata Manuel García Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo 9 February 1814 (*)
Alceo Partenope festa teatrale Giuseppe Farinelli Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo 15 August 1814 (*)
Don Rodrigo Donna Caritea, regina di Spagna dramma serio per musica Giuseppe Farinelli Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo 16 September 1814 (*)
Dallaton La donzella di Raab opera seria Manuel García Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo 4 November 1814 (*)
Enrico V La gioventù di Enrico Quinto opera Ferdinand Hérold Naples, Teatro del Fondo della Separazione 5 January 1815 (*)
Ataliba Cora [7] opera seria Simon Mayr Real Teatro San Carlo di Napoli 27 Marzo 1815 (*)
Don Basilio Le nozze di Figaro opera buffa Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo 11 May 1815 (**)
Norfolk Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra dramma per musica Gioachino Rossini Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo 4 October 1815 (*)
Almaviva Almaviva ossia L'inutile precauzione (Il barbiere di Siviglia) dramma comico Gioachino Rossini Rome, Teatro della Torre Argentina 20 February 1816 (*)
Jago Otello dramma tragico per musica (1st version) Gioachino Rossini Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo 18 January 1817 (**)
Lindoro L'italiana in Algeri melodramma buffo Gioachino Rossini Paris, Salle Louvois du Théâtre-Italien 1 February 1817 (**)
Torvaldo Torvaldo e Dorliska dramma lirico semiserio Gioachino Rossini Paris, Salle Louvois du Théâtre-Italien 21 November 1820 (**)
Giocondo La pietra del paragone melodramma giocoso (revision) Gioachino Rossini Paris, Salle Louvois du Théâtre-Italien 5 April 1821 (**)
Otello Otello dramma tragico per musica (1st version) Gioachino Rossini Paris, Salle Louvois du Théâtre-Italien 5 June 1821 (**)
Norfolk Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra dramma per musica Gioachino Rossini Paris, Salle Louvois du Théâtre-Italien 10 March 1822 (**)
Florestan Florestan ou Le conseil des dix opéra Manuel García Paris, Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique 26 June 1822 (*)
Aaron Mosè in Egitto azione tragico-sacra (3rd version) Gioachino Rossini Paris, Salle Louvois du Théâtre-Italien 20 October 1822 (**)
Ilo Zelmira dramma serio per musica (2nd version) Gioachino Rossini London, King's Theatre in the Haymarket 24 January 1824 (**)
Agorante Ricciardo e Zoraide dramma per musica (1st version) Gioachino Rossini London, King's Theatre in the Haymarket 24 March 1824 (**)
Idreno Semiramide melodramma tragico Gioachino Rossini London, King's Theatre in the Haymarket 15 July 1824 (**)
Almaviva Il barbiere di Siviglia dramma giocoso Gioachino Rossini New York, Park Theatre 29 November 1825 (**)
Otello Otello dramma tragico per musica (1st version) Gioachino Rossini New York, Park Theatre 7 February 1826 (**)
Narciso Il turco in Italia dramma buffo per musica (opera buffa, 2nd version) Gioachino Rossini New York, Park Theatre 14 March 1826 (**)
Don Giovanni Don Giovanni opera buffa Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart New York, Park Theatre 23 May 1826 (**)
Ramiro La Cenerentola melodramma giocoso Gioachino Rossini New York, Park Theatre 27 June 1827 (**)
Selected works
El majo y la maja
La declaración
El seductor arrepentido
Quien porfía mucho alcanza
El criado fingido
El trapisondista
El poeta calculista
El preso
Los ripios del maestro Adán
Il califfo di Bagdad
Le prince d’occasion
Il fazzoletto
La figlia dell'aria
La mort du Tasse
La meunière
Florestan
Astuzie e prudenza
La buona famiglia
Il lupo d’Ostenda
Tancredi Romeo
El Abufar
Semiramis
Xaira
El gitano por amor
Don Chisciotte
El zapatero de Bagdad
Los maridos solteros
L'isola disabitata
1.^ cf External links: Musical criticism.com and Amadeus Almanac
2.^ Paolo Scudo was a major critic of the Revue des Deux Mondes - cf. Caruselli, S. (ed), "op cit", vol II, p 398 (article: "Duprez")
3.^ Celletti, R.,op cit, p 166, note 1.
4.^ Caruselli, S. (ed), op cit, vol II, p 506, ad nomen
5.^ in this Italian version of Gluck’s opera, the parts of taille , were, as then rather usual, performed by baritonal tenors: Nozzari sang the role of Agamemnon and Gaetano Chizzola that of Patrocle, while García himself was entrusted with the haute-contre part of Achille .
6.^ this opera was a real festival of baritonal tenors: besides the three cited in the preceding note, there appeared Domenico Donzelli, too, in the rôle of Tideo; a child of Medea’s was mimed by a five-year-old little girl who was to become most famous by the name of Maria Malibran.
7.^ it was, in fact, a rearrangement of the dramma per musica "Alonso e Cora", premièred at Milan's La Scala on 26 December 1803.
References
James Radomski: Manuel García (1775 - 1832); chronicle of the life of a bel canto tenor at the dawn of romanticism. Oxford; New York: Oxford Univ. Press 2000. ISBN 0-19-816373-8
Teresa Radomski (Ed.): L'isola disabitata. Partitur. Middleton, Wisc.: A-R Ed., 2006. Serie: Recent researches in the music of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; 42. ISBN 0-89579-594-9; ISBN 9-780-89679-594-6.
Rodolfo Celletti, Storia del belcanto, Discanto Edizioni, Fiesole, 1983
Salvatore Caruselli (ed), Grande enciclopedia della musica lirica, Longanesi & C. Periodici S.p.A., Rome
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.
[edit] External links
Musical criticism.com
Manuel García Biography and free download of music.
Amadeus Almanac, accessed 1 March 2009
1876 "Cielo e mare" -- role of Enzo created by
'La Gioconda' was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on 8 April 1876.
Role of Enzo created by J. Gayarre
GAYARRE:
Sebastián Julián Gayarre Garjón was born January 9, 1844 in Roncal, Navarre, died on January 2, 1890 in Madrid, better known as Julián Gayarre, was a Spanish opera singer who created the role of Marcello in Donizetti's Il Duca d'Alba and
Enzo
in Ponchielli's La Gioconda.
Although he faced competition for this title from the likes of Giovanni Mario, Enrico Tamberlik and Angelo Masini, Gayarre was regarded by many contemporary critics as the supreme tenor of his day.
[1]
The man who was to become one of Europe's most celebrated singers was born and raised in the small Pyrenean town of Roncal.
The third child of Mariano Gayarre and Maria Ramona Garjón, a couple of modest means, he left school at 13 to work as a shepherd. When he was 15, his father sent him to Pamplona to work in a small store. It was there that he had his first contact with music. It was a passion that would cost him his job when he was fired for leaving the store to follow a band that was parading in the street outside. He then worked as a blacksmith in the village of Lumbier and later in Pamplona at the Pinaqui foundry. One of his fellow workers, who heard him singing as he worked, encouraged him to join the Orfeón Pamplonés, the city's newly formed choir directed by Joaquin Maya. Maya took him on as first tenor and introduced him to the celebrated music teacher and composer, Hilarión Eslava. Eslava, struck by the beautiful timbre of the yet untrained voice, arranged a scholarship for Gayarre to study at the Madrid Royal Conservatory. His first public performance was in 1867 with a zarzuela company in Tudela under the stage name of "Sandoval". After leaving the conservatory in 1868, he sang in the chorus of zarzuela productions in Madrid, but after being dismissed by the theatre manager, Joaquín Gaztambide, he returned penniless to Roncal.
Encouraged by Hilarión Eslava, his admirers, led by Conrado García, one of the founders of the Orfeón Pamplonés organized a successful recital in Pamplona which persuaded the Provincial Council of Navarre to grant him funds to pursue further studies with Giuseppe Gerli at
the Milan Conservatory.
In 1869, shortly after commencing his studies in Milan, Gayarre made his operatic debut as Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore in Varese.
Particularly renowned for his interpretation of Fernando in La Favorita, he was also considered by critics of the time, especially in Italy, to be an excellent actor with a commanding stage presence. [2]
Gayarre's earliest successes and fame came from his performances in the major opera houses of Italy, where he created the role of Marcello in Il Duca d'Alba in 1871 and Enzo in the 1876 premiere of La Gioconda.
CIELO E MARE.
However, he was soon highly in demand in Paris and London as well as his native Spain. Gayarre also sang in Lisbon, Vienna and Saint Petersburg and toured Brazil and Argentina with the Spanish contralto Elena Sanz, a frequent stage partner, especially at La Scala.
Towards the end of his career, in 1887, he sang Sobinin in the first London performance of Glinka's A Life for the Tsar.
Gayarre sang a very broad repertoire ranging from bel canto to Wagner. In the 1870/71 season at the Teatro Regio di Parma, he sang with great success in a trio of Verdi operas, I Lombardi alla prima crociata, Un ballo in maschera and Rigoletto.[3].
In October 1872 at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, he sang Amenophis in Rossini's Moïse et Pharaon. Only a month later, he sang the title role in Wagner's Tannhäuser there, its first performance in Italy. Gayarre's other great Wagnerian role was Lohengrin which he sang in its first ever performance at the Teatro Real in Madrid in 1881.
However, the following year he was back in the bel canto repertoire with performances of I puritani and La favorita at Valladolid's Teatro Calderón.
Gayarre was also a noted interpreter of the French repertoire including Gounod's Faust and Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots, Le prophète and L'Africaine.
The peak of Gayarre's career was in the years 1873-1886 after which he was plagued by recurrent respiratory illness, and his voice began to deteriorate.
On December 8, 1889 at the Teatro Real in Madrid, he appeared on stage for the last time in Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles, where his voice cracked noticeably in Nadir's aria, 'Je crois entendre encore'. It was reported that he knelt down murmuring "No puedo cantar más" ("I cannot sing anymore") and disappeared into the wings. He was eventually called back to the stage by the sympathetic audience, but he was heard to say, "Esto se acabó" ("This is the end").[4]
He died 25 days later at the age of 45 and was buried in the cemetery of Roncal, very near the house where he was born.
In 1901, his grave was marked with an elaborate marble and bronze mausoleum by the noted Spanish sculptor, Mariano Benlliure.[5], and two years later, Pamplona renamed its Teatro Principal in his honor.
Gayarre is also commemorated in Pamplona with a biennial competition for young singers, El Concurso Internacional de Canto Julián Gayarre.
There have been several Spanish films based on his life, most notably:
El Canto del ruiseñor (1932),
directed by Carlos San Martín with José Romeu as Gayarre
Gayarre (1959) directed by Domingo Viladomat with Alfredo Kraus as Gayarre.
Romanza Final (1986) directed by José María Forqué with José Carreras as Gayarre.
All of them contain some fictional or semi-fictional elements, particularly Romanza Final.
Julián Gayarre circa 1880"The stage artist's glory is like the dream of one night. A painter, a poet, a composer leaves behind his works. From us, what is left?... Nothing, absolutely nothing. One generation that says to another: 'How Gayarre sang!'... When my throat says to me: 'I can no longer sing', what will remain of Gayarre? A name that will last as long as the people who heard me, but after that no one. Believe me, Julio my friend, our glory does not last longer, nor is it worth more, than cigar smoke." — Julián Gayarre in a letter to Julio Enciso[6]
-----
There are no known recordings of Gayarre, who died when sound recording technology was still in its earliest infancy.
----
What we know of his voice comes from contemporary accounts such as the following which are summarized in the 1963 Ricordi Enciclopedia della musica:[7]
"Gayarre's voice was slightly guttural and at times could show hardness in the very high notes and an uncertain attack. Nevertheless, it was full, resonant and extraordinarily fascinating. He was distinguished for his breath control, extremely clear diction, vibrant and passionate tone and for his ability to both soften and strengthen that tone. The way he produced contrasts of colour and intensity was incomparable. Yet he sometimes over-used unexpected contrasts of fortissimo and pianissimo and he also seemed to sometimes slow down the tempo excessively."
"When he sang La favorita at La Scala on 2 January 1876, the audience was harsh and indifferent. However, the next day, the critic, Filippi, wrote that the Milanese audience had been present not at the debut of a tenor but at the 'consecration of a genius of singing.'"
"In the decade 1876-1886 the critic, Leone Forti, wrote:
'He is a tenor who sings. We were no longer accustomed to it, we had forgotten what it was like. In addition to this, he is a tenor with a slim physique, whose way of moving and gestures are those of a real man. [...] He has the gift of uniting the colours of three different tenors, blending then together to create something uniquely his own.'"
1.^ Rosenthal, H. and Warrack, J. (1979) The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press. p. 187
2.^ Corrieri, A.: Gazzetta musicale di Milano, N. 36, September 7, 1890, p. 573; La Gazzetta di Parma, January 4, 1890
3.^ La Gazzetta di Parma, January 4, 1890
4.^ Rosenthal, H. and Warrack, J. (1979) The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press. p. 187; La Gazzetta di Parma, January 4, 1890
5.^ Official Web Site - Government of Navarre Department of Culture and Tourism (accessed 28 March 2007)
6.^ Translated from the original Spanish: "la gloria del artista de teatro es como el sueño de una noche; un pintor, un poeta, un compositor dejan sus obras. De nosotros ¿qué queda?...Nada, absolutamente nada. Una generación que dice a la otra: ¡Cómo cantaba Gayarre!...Cuando mi garganta diga: ya no puedo más, ¿qué quedara de Gayarre? Un nombre que durará mientras duren los que me oyeron, pero después ni aun eso. Créeme, pues amigo Julio, que nuestra gloria no vale ni dura el humo de un cigarro." Published in Enciso, J.: 1891, Memorias de Julián Gayarre
7.^ Translated from the original Italian
Biographies of Julián Gayarre
Florentino Hernández Girbal, 1955, Julián Gayarre, el Tenor de la Voz de Ángel, Barcelona: Ediciones Lira.
Julio Enciso Robledo, (1891) 1990, Memorias de Julián Gayarre, Bilbao: Laida Edición e Imagen.
José María Sanjuán Urmeneta, 1991, Gayarre, Navarre: Fondo de Publicaciones del Gobierno de Navarra.
Óscar J. Muñoz Salvoch, 1999, Julián Gayarre, como el de casa ninguno, Roncal: Fundación Julián Gayarre
[edit] External links
La Fundación Julián Gayarre The official site of the Julián Gayarre Foundation (in Spanish and Basque) has extensive biographical information and photo galleries.
Photograph of Gayarre by Matthew Brady The photograph of Gayarre is on a double plate with one of Ernesto Nicolini. Gayarre's is to the left.
El Concurso Internacional de Canto Julián Gayarre
Julián Gayarre, Como el de casa, ninguno (web site devoted to Muñoz Salvoch's biography of Gayarre)
Photograph and detailed description of Gayarre's tomb (in Spanish)
Role of Enzo created by J. Gayarre
GAYARRE:
Sebastián Julián Gayarre Garjón was born January 9, 1844 in Roncal, Navarre, died on January 2, 1890 in Madrid, better known as Julián Gayarre, was a Spanish opera singer who created the role of Marcello in Donizetti's Il Duca d'Alba and
Enzo
in Ponchielli's La Gioconda.
Although he faced competition for this title from the likes of Giovanni Mario, Enrico Tamberlik and Angelo Masini, Gayarre was regarded by many contemporary critics as the supreme tenor of his day.
[1]
The man who was to become one of Europe's most celebrated singers was born and raised in the small Pyrenean town of Roncal.
The third child of Mariano Gayarre and Maria Ramona Garjón, a couple of modest means, he left school at 13 to work as a shepherd. When he was 15, his father sent him to Pamplona to work in a small store. It was there that he had his first contact with music. It was a passion that would cost him his job when he was fired for leaving the store to follow a band that was parading in the street outside. He then worked as a blacksmith in the village of Lumbier and later in Pamplona at the Pinaqui foundry. One of his fellow workers, who heard him singing as he worked, encouraged him to join the Orfeón Pamplonés, the city's newly formed choir directed by Joaquin Maya. Maya took him on as first tenor and introduced him to the celebrated music teacher and composer, Hilarión Eslava. Eslava, struck by the beautiful timbre of the yet untrained voice, arranged a scholarship for Gayarre to study at the Madrid Royal Conservatory. His first public performance was in 1867 with a zarzuela company in Tudela under the stage name of "Sandoval". After leaving the conservatory in 1868, he sang in the chorus of zarzuela productions in Madrid, but after being dismissed by the theatre manager, Joaquín Gaztambide, he returned penniless to Roncal.
Encouraged by Hilarión Eslava, his admirers, led by Conrado García, one of the founders of the Orfeón Pamplonés organized a successful recital in Pamplona which persuaded the Provincial Council of Navarre to grant him funds to pursue further studies with Giuseppe Gerli at
the Milan Conservatory.
In 1869, shortly after commencing his studies in Milan, Gayarre made his operatic debut as Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore in Varese.
Particularly renowned for his interpretation of Fernando in La Favorita, he was also considered by critics of the time, especially in Italy, to be an excellent actor with a commanding stage presence. [2]
Gayarre's earliest successes and fame came from his performances in the major opera houses of Italy, where he created the role of Marcello in Il Duca d'Alba in 1871 and Enzo in the 1876 premiere of La Gioconda.
CIELO E MARE.
However, he was soon highly in demand in Paris and London as well as his native Spain. Gayarre also sang in Lisbon, Vienna and Saint Petersburg and toured Brazil and Argentina with the Spanish contralto Elena Sanz, a frequent stage partner, especially at La Scala.
Towards the end of his career, in 1887, he sang Sobinin in the first London performance of Glinka's A Life for the Tsar.
Gayarre sang a very broad repertoire ranging from bel canto to Wagner. In the 1870/71 season at the Teatro Regio di Parma, he sang with great success in a trio of Verdi operas, I Lombardi alla prima crociata, Un ballo in maschera and Rigoletto.[3].
In October 1872 at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, he sang Amenophis in Rossini's Moïse et Pharaon. Only a month later, he sang the title role in Wagner's Tannhäuser there, its first performance in Italy. Gayarre's other great Wagnerian role was Lohengrin which he sang in its first ever performance at the Teatro Real in Madrid in 1881.
However, the following year he was back in the bel canto repertoire with performances of I puritani and La favorita at Valladolid's Teatro Calderón.
Gayarre was also a noted interpreter of the French repertoire including Gounod's Faust and Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots, Le prophète and L'Africaine.
The peak of Gayarre's career was in the years 1873-1886 after which he was plagued by recurrent respiratory illness, and his voice began to deteriorate.
On December 8, 1889 at the Teatro Real in Madrid, he appeared on stage for the last time in Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles, where his voice cracked noticeably in Nadir's aria, 'Je crois entendre encore'. It was reported that he knelt down murmuring "No puedo cantar más" ("I cannot sing anymore") and disappeared into the wings. He was eventually called back to the stage by the sympathetic audience, but he was heard to say, "Esto se acabó" ("This is the end").[4]
He died 25 days later at the age of 45 and was buried in the cemetery of Roncal, very near the house where he was born.
In 1901, his grave was marked with an elaborate marble and bronze mausoleum by the noted Spanish sculptor, Mariano Benlliure.[5], and two years later, Pamplona renamed its Teatro Principal in his honor.
Gayarre is also commemorated in Pamplona with a biennial competition for young singers, El Concurso Internacional de Canto Julián Gayarre.
There have been several Spanish films based on his life, most notably:
El Canto del ruiseñor (1932),
directed by Carlos San Martín with José Romeu as Gayarre
Gayarre (1959) directed by Domingo Viladomat with Alfredo Kraus as Gayarre.
Romanza Final (1986) directed by José María Forqué with José Carreras as Gayarre.
All of them contain some fictional or semi-fictional elements, particularly Romanza Final.
Julián Gayarre circa 1880"The stage artist's glory is like the dream of one night. A painter, a poet, a composer leaves behind his works. From us, what is left?... Nothing, absolutely nothing. One generation that says to another: 'How Gayarre sang!'... When my throat says to me: 'I can no longer sing', what will remain of Gayarre? A name that will last as long as the people who heard me, but after that no one. Believe me, Julio my friend, our glory does not last longer, nor is it worth more, than cigar smoke." — Julián Gayarre in a letter to Julio Enciso[6]
-----
There are no known recordings of Gayarre, who died when sound recording technology was still in its earliest infancy.
----
What we know of his voice comes from contemporary accounts such as the following which are summarized in the 1963 Ricordi Enciclopedia della musica:[7]
"Gayarre's voice was slightly guttural and at times could show hardness in the very high notes and an uncertain attack. Nevertheless, it was full, resonant and extraordinarily fascinating. He was distinguished for his breath control, extremely clear diction, vibrant and passionate tone and for his ability to both soften and strengthen that tone. The way he produced contrasts of colour and intensity was incomparable. Yet he sometimes over-used unexpected contrasts of fortissimo and pianissimo and he also seemed to sometimes slow down the tempo excessively."
"When he sang La favorita at La Scala on 2 January 1876, the audience was harsh and indifferent. However, the next day, the critic, Filippi, wrote that the Milanese audience had been present not at the debut of a tenor but at the 'consecration of a genius of singing.'"
"In the decade 1876-1886 the critic, Leone Forti, wrote:
'He is a tenor who sings. We were no longer accustomed to it, we had forgotten what it was like. In addition to this, he is a tenor with a slim physique, whose way of moving and gestures are those of a real man. [...] He has the gift of uniting the colours of three different tenors, blending then together to create something uniquely his own.'"
1.^ Rosenthal, H. and Warrack, J. (1979) The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press. p. 187
2.^ Corrieri, A.: Gazzetta musicale di Milano, N. 36, September 7, 1890, p. 573; La Gazzetta di Parma, January 4, 1890
3.^ La Gazzetta di Parma, January 4, 1890
4.^ Rosenthal, H. and Warrack, J. (1979) The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press. p. 187; La Gazzetta di Parma, January 4, 1890
5.^ Official Web Site - Government of Navarre Department of Culture and Tourism (accessed 28 March 2007)
6.^ Translated from the original Spanish: "la gloria del artista de teatro es como el sueño de una noche; un pintor, un poeta, un compositor dejan sus obras. De nosotros ¿qué queda?...Nada, absolutamente nada. Una generación que dice a la otra: ¡Cómo cantaba Gayarre!...Cuando mi garganta diga: ya no puedo más, ¿qué quedara de Gayarre? Un nombre que durará mientras duren los que me oyeron, pero después ni aun eso. Créeme, pues amigo Julio, que nuestra gloria no vale ni dura el humo de un cigarro." Published in Enciso, J.: 1891, Memorias de Julián Gayarre
7.^ Translated from the original Italian
Biographies of Julián Gayarre
Florentino Hernández Girbal, 1955, Julián Gayarre, el Tenor de la Voz de Ángel, Barcelona: Ediciones Lira.
Julio Enciso Robledo, (1891) 1990, Memorias de Julián Gayarre, Bilbao: Laida Edición e Imagen.
José María Sanjuán Urmeneta, 1991, Gayarre, Navarre: Fondo de Publicaciones del Gobierno de Navarra.
Óscar J. Muñoz Salvoch, 1999, Julián Gayarre, como el de casa ninguno, Roncal: Fundación Julián Gayarre
[edit] External links
La Fundación Julián Gayarre The official site of the Julián Gayarre Foundation (in Spanish and Basque) has extensive biographical information and photo galleries.
Photograph of Gayarre by Matthew Brady The photograph of Gayarre is on a double plate with one of Ernesto Nicolini. Gayarre's is to the left.
El Concurso Internacional de Canto Julián Gayarre
Julián Gayarre, Como el de casa, ninguno (web site devoted to Muñoz Salvoch's biography of Gayarre)
Photograph and detailed description of Gayarre's tomb (in Spanish)
1987 Testa adorata -- Leoncavallo, role created by G. Beduschi
The opera received its premiere at the Teatro la Fenice, Venice on May 6, 1897.
Giovanni Beduschi created the role of Marcello.
Giovanni Beduschi created the role of Marcello.
1897 -- E la solita storia del pastore -- Cilea (role of Federico created by Caruso)
L'arlesiana is an opera in three acts by Francesco Cilea to an Italian libretto by Leopoldo Marenco. It was originally written in four acts, and was first performed on 27 November 1897 at the Teatro Lirico di Milano
1898 "Amor ti vieta" Caruso
Giordano's "Fedora" opened at the
Teatro Lirico
Milano
Date: November 17, 1898
Loris Ipanov created by Caruso.
Teatro Lirico
Milano
Date: November 17, 1898
Loris Ipanov created by Caruso.
1935 Creadeasi misera --
PURITANI, at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris, January 24, 1835.
Role created by Rubini.
Role created by Rubini.
1911 Di rigore armato il seno -- role created by Fritz Soot
German tenor.
He studied with Karl Scheidemantel in Dresden and made his début there in 1908 as Tonio (La fille du régiment).
While at Dresden he created the Italian Tenor in Der Rosenkavalier ( 1911 ).
Di rigore armato il seno
piano reduction.
He was a member of the Stuttgart Opera (1918–22), then moved to the Berlin Staatsoper, where his creations included the Drum Major in Wozzeck ( 1925 ). He was also the first Berlin Laca in Jenůfa ( 1924 ), Mephistopheles in Doktor Faust ( 1927 ) and Babinski in Švanda the Bagpiper ( 1929 ).
But it was as a Richard Wagner tenor that he was best known; in 1924 and 1925 he sang Siegmund, Siegfried, Tristan, Erik and Walther at Covent Garden, and later sang Parsifal.
His repertory also included Palestrina and Otello.
He returned to the Berlin Staatsoper after World War II and continued to sing character roles there until 1952 , taking part in the première of Paul Dessau's Die Verurteilung des Lukullus ( 1951 ).
Read more:
Fritz Soot [Friedrich Soot] (Wilhelm Soot) Biography - Tenor, Berlin, Included, 1925, Staatsoper, 1924, Sang, and Dresden http://arts.jrank.org/pages/8918/Fritz-Soot-Friedrich-Soot-(-Wilhelm-Soot-).html#ixzz0vHbkf7NP
He studied with Karl Scheidemantel in Dresden and made his début there in 1908 as Tonio (La fille du régiment).
While at Dresden he created the Italian Tenor in Der Rosenkavalier ( 1911 ).
Di rigore armato il seno
piano reduction.
He was a member of the Stuttgart Opera (1918–22), then moved to the Berlin Staatsoper, where his creations included the Drum Major in Wozzeck ( 1925 ). He was also the first Berlin Laca in Jenůfa ( 1924 ), Mephistopheles in Doktor Faust ( 1927 ) and Babinski in Švanda the Bagpiper ( 1929 ).
But it was as a Richard Wagner tenor that he was best known; in 1924 and 1925 he sang Siegmund, Siegfried, Tristan, Erik and Walther at Covent Garden, and later sang Parsifal.
His repertory also included Palestrina and Otello.
He returned to the Berlin Staatsoper after World War II and continued to sing character roles there until 1952 , taking part in the première of Paul Dessau's Die Verurteilung des Lukullus ( 1951 ).
Read more:
Fritz Soot [Friedrich Soot] (Wilhelm Soot) Biography - Tenor, Berlin, Included, 1925, Staatsoper, 1924, Sang, and Dresden http://arts.jrank.org/pages/8918/Fritz-Soot-Friedrich-Soot-(-Wilhelm-Soot-).html#ixzz0vHbkf7NP
Di rigore armato il seno (1911, Rosencavalier)
"Rosenkavalier" was first performed at the Königliches Opernhaus, Dresden
Date: 26 January 1911.
Date: 26 January 1911.
"Quanto e bella" and "Una furtiva lagrima"
Elisire d'amore (Donizetti) opened at the
Teatro della Canobbiana,
Milano,
on 12 May 1832.
Teatro della Canobbiana,
Milano,
on 12 May 1832.
"Chiudo gli occhi nel pensiero allor laggiu m'aletta" (1885, Manon)
"Manon" by Massenet was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on January 19, 1884. It was sung in Italian more often, though.
"Salve, dimora, casta e pura" (From Faust, 1859)
Gounod's "Fausto" debuted at the Théâtre Lyrique (Théâtre-Historique, Opèra-National, Boulevard du Temple) in Paris on March 19, 1859.
It was usually sung in Italian.
It was usually sung in Italian.
"M'appari"
From wiki:
Lyonel's Act 3 romanza, M'appari tutt'amor, was not originally written for "Martha" but for "L'âme en peine" (Grand Opéra, Paris 1846 -- one year before "Martha"), and was first interpolated into Martha only in 1865 at the first Paris production.
Lyonel's Act 3 romanza, M'appari tutt'amor, was not originally written for "Martha" but for "L'âme en peine" (Grand Opéra, Paris 1846 -- one year before "Martha"), and was first interpolated into Martha only in 1865 at the first Paris production.
"M'appari tutt'amor" first included in 1965
As Kobbe notes, it was at the Théâtre Lyrique, Paris that on 16 December 1865 'M'appari' was first included, as drawn from Flotow's L'âme en peine.
Which I think was a good idea.
Which I think was a good idea.
"M'appari tutt'amor" (1847, Flotow)
The first performance of "Martha" took place at the Kärntnertor Theatre, Vienna on 25 Nov. 1847. Other early productions which followed included those at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 4 July 1849.
It was sung by B. Gigli at the Teatro Colon, Buenos Ayres.
It was sung by B. Gigli at the Teatro Colon, Buenos Ayres.
Purpose of this blog
I will try to make use of the 'labels' down here on each post to have the DATES of the operas. Hopefully, if one then clicks labels, one gets a chronology.
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