Above: Piero Cappuccilli as Michele in Puccini’s IL TABARRO at La Scala, 1983.
Watch and listen here.
Piero Cappuccilli – Michele
Sylvia Sass – Giorgetta
Nicola Martinucci – Luigi
Sergio Bertocchi – Il ‘Tinca’
Aldo Bramante – Il ‘Talpa’
Eleonora Jankovic – La frugola
Ernesto Gavazzi – Venditore di canzonette
Vito Gobbi – Voce interna
Jeda Valtriani – Voce interna
Bruno Brando – Un amante
Conductor: Gianandrea Gavazzeni
The Italian baritone Aldo Protti (1920-1995) was a native of Cremona. He studied at Parma, and made his operatic debut in 1948, at the Teatro Pergolesi in Jesi, as Rossini’s Figaro. Within two years, he was at La Scala, singing Amonasro in AIDA. From that point forward, Protti sang in Italy’s leading theaters as well as making guest appearances in Vienna; he participated in several broadcasts for the RAI, and in 1957 sang at Lyric Opera of Chicago as Barnaba (GIOCONDA) and Marcello (BOHEME).
Protti made important recordings for Decca, including a 1954 OTELLO with del Monaco and Tebaldi, Alberto Erede conducting. When Herbert von Karajan planned his stereo-remake of that Verdi opera for Decca in 1961, Ettore Bastianini was chosen to sing Iago. But Bastianini had failed to learn the part, so Karajan called upon Protti to repeat the role; the baritone surpassed his earlier recorded portrayal both vocally and in terms of characterization.
In 1985, at the age of 65, Protti sang a single performance as Rigoletto at The Met. He then joined the Company on tour, singing the role in six cities (including in Boston, where his Gilda was Roberta Peters in her final performance with The Met). He sang Rigoletto twice more, in concert form, with The Met in the Parks.
Rigoletto was Protti’s most frequent role, which he performed 425 times in all; Scarpia, Count di Luna, and and Iago each figured prominently in his repertoire, with 100 performances of each role in his résumé.
Also Protti passed away at Cremona in 1995.
Aldo Protti – Prologo ~ PAGLIACCI
Aldo Protti – OTELLO ~ Credo – Karajan cond
~ Oberon
The Italian baritone Aldo Protti (1920-1995) was a native of Cremona. He studied at Parma, and made his operatic debut in 1948, at the Teatro Pergolesi in Jesi, as Rossini’s Figaro. Within two years, he was at La Scala, singing Amonasro in AIDA. From that point forward, Protti sang in Italy’s leading theaters as well as making guest appearances in Vienna; he participated in several broadcasts for the RAI, and in 1957 sang at Lyric Opera of Chicago as Barnaba (GIOCONDA) and Marcello (BOHEME).
Protti made important recordings for Decca, including a 1954 OTELLO with del Monaco and Tebaldi, Alberto Erede conducting. When Herbert von Karajan planned his stereo-remake of that Verdi opera for Decca in 1961, Ettore Bastianini was chosen to sing Iago. But Bastianini had failed to learn the part, so Karajan called upon Protti to repeat the role; the baritone surpassed his earlier recorded portrayal both vocally and in terms of characterization.
In 1985, at the age of 65, Protti sang a single performance as Rigoletto at The Met. He then joined the Company on tour, singing the role in six cities (including in Boston, where his Gilda was Roberta Peters in her final performance with The Met). He sang Rigoletto twice more, in concert form, with The Met in the Parks.
Rigoletto was Protti’s most frequent role, which he performed 425 times in all; Scarpia, Count di Luna, and and Iago each figured prominently in his repertoire, with 100 performances of each role in his résumé.
Also Protti passed away at Cremona in 1995.
Aldo Protti – Prologo ~ PAGLIACCI
Aldo Protti – OTELLO ~ Credo – Karajan cond
~ Oberon
Giovanna Casolla (above) sings Minnie in a 1991 performance of Puccini’s LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST from La Scala. Giuseppe Giacomini is Dick Johnson and Jean-Philippe Lafont is Jack Rance. Lorin Maazel conducts.
Listen here.
Above: soprano Anna Tomowa-Sintow
Maestro Claudio Abbado conducts the orchestra and chorus of La Scala in a performance of the Verdi REQUIEM given at Tokyo in 1981. The soloists are Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Lucia Valentini-Terrani, Veriano Lucchetti, and Nicolai Ghiaurov.
Watch and listen here.
February 23rd, 2022 – I have just read of the death of the Italian soprano Antonietta Stella; she passed away on this date at the age of 92.
In 1950, she made her operatic debut at Spoleto as Leonora in TROVATORE and soon after was singing at the opera houses of Rome, Florence, Naples, Parma, Turin, Catania, Venice, and the Arena di Verona.
Above: Antonietta Stella as Leonora in TROVATORE
In 1954, Ms. Stella debuted at the Teatro alla La Scala in Milan as Desdemona in OTELLO; she continued to sing at La Scala thru 1963 in the great soprano roles of Verdi and Puccini, and as Maddalena in ANDREA CHENIER. In 1955, she made debuts at the Wiener Staatsoper, the Royal Opera House in London, the Paris Opera, La Monnaie, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
She came to the Metropolitan Opera in 1956 as Aida, and went on to sing there thru 1960 as Cio-Cio-San, Violetta, Tosca, Elisabetta in DON CARLO, Leonora in TROVATORE,and Amelia in BALLO IN MASCHERA.
Above: Antonietta Stella and Eugenio Fernandi in the Aoyama BUTTERFLY at The Met
In 1958, Ms. Stella portrayed the title-character in Yoshio Aoyama’s classic production of MADAMA BUTTERFLY; the production remained in the Met repertoire thru the 1990s.
Antonietta Stella – Un bel di – BUTTERFLY – Met bcast 1958
Among Antonietta Stella’s commercial recordings, her DON CARLO (with Flaviano Labo, Fiorenza Cossotto, and Boris Christoff), her TROVATORE (with Cossotto and Carlo Bergonzi), and especially her ANDREA CHENIER (with Franco Corelliand Mario Sereni) are my special favorites. She is also heard on several “pirate” recordings.
Ms. Stella sang Minnie in the televised Japanese premiere performance of Puccini’s FANCIULLA DEL WEST (The Girl of the Golden West) given at Tokyo on November 2nd, 1963. The NHK Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Oliviero De Fabritiis.
Watch and listen here.
CAST:
Minnie: Antonietta Stella
Dick Johnson: Gastone Limarilli
Jack Rance: Anselmo Colzani
Nick: Mario Guggia
Ashby/Jake Wallace: Bruno Marangoni
Sonora: Arturo La Porta
Wowkle: Anna Di Stasio
Sid/Billy Jackrabbit/Jose Castro: Giorgio Onesti
Trin: Antonio Saba
Bello: Marco Scotti
Harry: Augusto Pedroni
Joe: Antonio Pirino
Happy: Paolo Mazzotta
Larkens: Mario Rinaudo
Postman: Takeshi Nakamura
And here is part of the Act II duet of Violetta and Germont from TRAVIATA with Ms. Stella and Tito Gobbi:
Antonietta Stella & Tito Gobbi – Dite alla giovine ~ TRAVIATA
Above: Matthias Hölle as Sarastro
Riccardo Muti conducts Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in a performance from La Scala 1995.
Watch and iisten here,
CAST
Tamino – Paul Groves; Pamina – Andrea Rost; The Queen of the Night – Victoria Loukianetz; Sarastro – Matthias Hölle; Papageno – Simon Keenlyside; An Old Woman/Papagena – Lisa Larsson; First Lady – Adina Nitescu; Second Lady – Petra Lang; Third Lady – Lioba Braun; Monostatos – Sergio Bertocchi; The Three Spirits – Matthias Ritter, Johannes Pohl and Michael Sapara (soloist of the Tölzer Knabenchor); The Speaker and First Priest – Anthony Michaels-Moore; Second Priest – Christian Baumgärtel; First Man in Armor – Carlo Allemano; Second Man in Armor – Marek Gasztecki; First Slave and Priest – Michael Thomas; Second Slave – Georges Kern; Third Slave and Priest – Roman Kollmer
Conductor – Riccardo Muti
The great Italian tenor Giuseppe Giacomini has passed away at the age of 80.
Giacomini made his operatic debut in 1966 at Vercelli as Pinkerton. and was soon singing throughout Italy. His international career commenced at Berlin in 1970, which led to engagements at Lisbon, Barcelona, Munich, and in Vienna, where he received the title Kammersänger.
He triumphed at La Scala, in Turin, and in Rome, and made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1976, with debuts at Paris and Covent Garden following soon after.
Giacomini is featured on the Metropolitan Opera’s DVD of LA FORZA DEL DESTINO with Leontyne Price, and on commercial recordings as Turiddu (opposite Jessye Norman), Pollione (with Renata Scotto), Otello (with Dame Margaret Price), and he is Cavaradossi on the Muti TOSCA with Carol Vaness.
The tenor celebrated his 60th birthday singing in TOSCA at Covent Garden, and in 2010 he toured China with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra.
I first saw Giuseppe Giacomini onstage (his US debut) at The Bushnell in Hartford, where he appeared in an exciting FANCIULLA DEL WEST opposite Radmila Bakočević in 1975. At the 1987 Richard Tucker Gala, Giacomini brought down the house twice with his singing of the final scene of ANDREA CHENIER with Eva Marton, and with his powerhouse performance as Otello in the Act II duet with Sherrill Milnes; during the applause that followed, Mr. Milnes bestowed a comradely kiss on the tenor’s cheek. Watch and listen here.
On December 10th, 1988, Giacomini gave a thrilling performance as Canio in PAGLIACCI at a Met matinee. The tenor – along with Diana Soviero (Nedda) and Juan Pons (Tonio) – was simply on fire, his top notes blazing into the hall. During the bows, a crowd gathered at the orchestra railing – like in the old days – to scream their heads off for the singers. I was so elated to be part of it.
As it turned out, that PAGLIACCI was Giuseppe Giacomini’s last Met performance.
Giuseppe Giacomini – Un tal gioco – PAGLIACCI – Met bcast 1988
There’s lots of Giacomini to be found on YouTube; here are a few of my favorite things:
Giuseppe Giacomini sings Calaf’s aria “Non piangere Liu” from TURANDOT from a Paris Opera production in 1981. Watch and listen here.
The tenor sings the Improviso from ANDREA CHENIER here…
…and Calaf’s “Nessun dorma” from a 1989 Moscow concert here…with an encore!
And here’s Giacomini as Radames…
Giuseppe Giacomini ~ Celeste Aida ~ Chicago 1988
…and in the final duet from ANDREA CHENIER, with Ghena Dimitrova:
ANDREA CHENIER ~ final duet – Ghena Dimitrova & Giuseppe Giacomini
Above: Gianni Raimondi as Rodolfo in LA BOHEME
Tenor Gianni Raimondi was born at Bologna in 1923. He made his operatic debut in 1947 as the Duke in RIGOLETTO and was soon singing in opera houses throughout Italy. His career expanded to Nice, Marseille, Monte Carlo, Paris, London…
…and La Scala, where, in 1956, Mr. Raimondi made his debut in Luchino Visconti now-legendary production of LA TRAVIATA starring Maria Callas.
Callas and Raimondi (above) reunited the following year as Anna and Percy in Donizetti’s ANNA BOLENA. 1957 also marked the tenor’s debut at Vienna, where he was to appear regularly for twenty seasons.
In 1963, the Vienna State Opera’s production of LA BOHEME, under the direction of Herbert von Karajan, was filmed for posterity; Mirella Freni and Gianni Raimondi appeared as Mimi and Rodolfo. The performance is available on DVD.
Having debuted at San Francisco (1957) and the Teatro Colon (1959), Mr. Raimondi made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Rodolfo in BOHEME in 1965, opposite Ms. Freni.
Above: Freni and Raimondi in BOHEME
BOHEME was the only opera I saw Raimondi in at The Met. The performance was in September 1968, and his Mimi was Teresa Stratas; they were among the most moving of all the many interpreters of these roles I have seen thru the decades. My diary says the tenor was “…terrific…great upper range…beautiful portrayal…”
Mr. Raimondi remained at the Met until 1969; his other roles there were Pinkerton, Donizetti’s Edgardo, Faust, the Duke of Mantua, and Mario Cavaradossi. In 1968, the tenor joined Regine Crespin and Gabriel Bacquier in a thrilling broadcast performance of TOSCA, with Zubin Mehta conducting.
In the 1970s, Raimondi took on the spinto tenor roles in NORMA, I MASNADIERI, I VESPRI SIVILIANI, and SIMON BOCCANEGRA.
Following his retirement from the stage, the tenor lived in his villa by the sea at Riccione. He passed away in 2008.
Here is a collection of arias sung by Gianni Raimondi…some of these take a few seconds to start:
Gianni Raimondi – GIOCONDA aria
Gianni Raimondi – Recondita armonia ~ TOSCA
Gianni Raimondi ~ Nessun dorma – TURANDOT
~ Oberon
Liane Synek (above) was an Austrian dramatic operatic soprano. She based her career in Germany, at such opera centers as Wiesbaden, Cologne, and the Staatsoper Berlin and the Cologne Opera, She appeared at international major opera houses and festivals, including Covent Garden, La Scala, and as the Bayreuth Festival.
A somewhat erratic singer, Synek took on opera’s most demanding roles – including Turandot, Elektra, Isolde, and the Brünnhildes – and threw herself into the music with abandon: her top notes could thrill.
Over time, collectors have taken an interest in Synek’s “live” recordings; quite a few have surfaced, and can be found at Opera Depot.
Here is Liane Synek in the great scene from Act III of DIE WALKURE wherein Brünnhilde attempts to explain to her father Wotan why she disobeyed his expressed command that Hunding should prevail in his fight against Siegmund. The performance, in surprisingly good sound, is from Montevideo 1959; Wilhelm Schirp sings Wotan.
Liane Synek – War es so schmählich ~ WALKURE – with Wilhelm Schirp – Montevideo 1959
Oberon's Glade 