Oberon's Glade

Tag: Bonaldo Giaiotti

  • Bonaldo Giaiotti ~ Il lacerato spirito

    Snapshot

    The great Italian basso Bonaldo Giaiotti sings Fiesco’s lament “Il lacerato spirito” from Verdi’s SIMON BOCCANEGRA.

    Watch and listen here.  

  • Bruna Baglioni ~ Judgement Scene

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    Mezzo-soprano Bruna Baglioni (above) is Amneris in this concert performance of the Judgement Scene from Verdi’s AIDA given at Brescia, date unknown. Nicola Martinucci is Radames, and Bonaldo Giaiotti sings Ramfis.

    Watch and listen here.

    Ms. Baglioni, a native of Frascati, Italy, made her operatic debut at Bologna in 1974 as Leonora in LA FAVORITA. She sang at opera houses throughout Italy, and at Vienna, London, Barcelona, and The Bolshoi. Her roles were many: Verdi’s Fenena, Ulrica, Azucena, Eboli, Amneris; Olga in EUGEN ONEGIN, Adalgisa, both Laura and La Cieca in LA GIOCONDA, Charlotte in WERTHER, Carmen, the Princesse de Bouillon in ADRIANA LECOUVREUR, Dalila, the title-role in Giordano’s FEDORA, and the Gran Vestale in the Spontini opera.

    In 1978, I saw Bruna Baglioni in the role of Azucena at The Bushnell in Hartford, Connecticut. The production, sets and costumes, conducting, and the other principal singers were all at a rather provincial level, but Ms. Baglioni was superb: “…she rose above the many flaws of the performance to create a truly potent Azucena…the role is a gift really, and the singer seized upon it with power and subtlety in both her singing and acting. She won the evening’s biggest applause for her Act II monologue in which her strong tops and impressive chest voice were put forth to fine dramatic effect. Her duets with Manrico, and her scene with di Luna, were the highlights of the evening, and she successfully captured both the terror and repose of the old gypsy in the opera’s final scene, ending the evening strongly with fine high B-flat. Had her colleagues attained a similar level, this would have been an exciting performance indeed.”

    In that same year, Ms. Baglioni made her debut at The Met as Laura in LA GIOCONDA. Her other Met roles were Santuzza, Eboli, Dalila, and Leonora in LA FAVORITA. In 1982, she sang Laura again in a GIOCONDA series; I saw her in the role twice. At the first, she more than held her own in a powerhouse cast led by Eva Marton and Placido Domingo. A couple weeks later, she sang Laura opposite Galina Savova and Domingo, and it was again a very exhilarating performance.

  • Bonaldo Giaiotti Has Passed Away

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    ~ Author: Oberon

    Bonaldo Giaiotti (photo above) was my favorite basso. Though he sang at a time when several wonderful bassos were to be heard at both of the houses at Lincoln Center – Tozzi, Siepi, Hines, Treigle, Ghiaurov, Raimondi, Moll, and Ramey, among others – there was something about Giaiotti’s voice that I simply loved. Even in relatively brief roles like the Commendatore in DON GIOVANNI or Monterone in RIGOLETTO, he always made a distinctive mark.

    Over a span of nearly 30 years – beginning with his Met debut as the High Priest in NABUCCO on opening night, 1960, and concluding with a performance of Don Basilio in BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA in 1989 – Giaiotti sang more than 400 performances with the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City and on tour.

    I first saw Giaiotti onstage in what was to become one of his signature roles – Timur in TURANDOT – at the Old Met in 1965. He performed it over 50 times with The Met, and countless times worldwide. How movingly Giaiotti conveyed the character’s heartbreak:

    Bonaldo Giaiotti as Timur in Puccini’s TURANDOT

    In 1964, Giaiotti sang a magnificent Banco in Verdi’s MACBETH on a Texaco/Met broadcast.

    Bonaldo Giaiotti – Come dal ciel precipita ~ MACBETH

    Once the New Met had opened in 1966, I saw Giaiotti often in such roles as Timur, Colline in BOHEME, Ramfis in AIDA, Raimondo in LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, and King Henry in LOHENGRIN. He was particularly impressive as Alvise in LA GIOCONDA where he more than held his own amidst such powerhouse co-stars as Tebaldi, Corelli or Tucker, MacNeil, and Cossotto.

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    Roles Giaiotti sang at The Met less frequently – and in which I sadly never saw him – included Mephistopheles in FAUST, Prince Gremin in EUGENE ONEGIN, Philip II in DON CARLO, and Sarastro in ZAUBERFLOETE.

    Here are more samples of Giaiotti’s singing:

    Franco Corelli & Bonaldo Giaiotti – Nume custode e vindice ~ AIDA – Rome 1966

    LOHENGRIN – King Henry’s address & finale Act I – Bonaldo Giaiotti – w Kollo – McIntyre – Lorengar – M Dunn – Met bcast 1976

    Though not of the best sound quality, this aria from BOCCANEGRA shows the basso’s ability to bring down the house:

    BOCCANEGRA aria – Bonaldo Giaiotti – NY 1968

    Would that we had an Italian basso today of Giaiotti’s caliber and versatility.

    ~ Oberon