Biancamaria Casoni sings Dalila’s seduction aria from SAMSON & DALILA in Italian. Ms. Casoni was my first-ever Cherubino in NOZZE DI FIGARO when the Rome Opera came to the (then) New Met in 1968.
I love the subtleties in Ms. Casoni’s interpretation; she makes Dalila’s aria intimately persuasive. Her phrasing and the softness of her timbre are alluring, and her long line and vocal control are impressive…especially as it’s a live performance.
Listen here.
I only heard the Italian basso Plinio Clabassi live once: in 1968, he sang Elmiro in Rossini’s OTELLO when the Rome Opera visited The Met. In my diary, I wrote that “…he made a big impression in a sort role…”
Born in 1919, Clabassi sang in an amateur men’s chorus before serving in the military during the Second World War; at that time, he started singing on local radio broadcasts for the RAI. After the war, he began to be invited to sing both opera and concerts at various Italian theatres. His career, which lasted 30 years, eventually took the basso to many European countries, to North and South America, as well as to South Africa and Australia.
Clabassi sang operas in many styles, from Paisiello to Pizzetti, but his concentration was on the works of Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, and Puccini. His voice had a unique timbre, and he cut a fine figure onstage. Clabassi was married to opera singer Rina Gigli (the daughter of Beniamino Gigli), with whom he appeared on a number of occasions, including a 1966 production of TURANDOT at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples.
Watch the basso as Raimondo in LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, announcing the murder of Lucia’s newly-wed husband.
Clabassi appeared on many recordings, both studio and live. Here he is delivering Monterone’s curse in RIGOLETTO:
Plinio Clabassi as Monterone ~ RIGOLETTO – with di Stefano and Gobbi
I always loved Clabassi’s voice, particularly on the studio recording of GIOCONDA with Zinka Milanov:
Plinio Clabassi – Sì morir ella de’! ~ GIOCONDA
Plinio Clabassi died in 1984. In May 2012, a new theatre in his native city of Sedegliano was named in his honour.
~ Oberon
Oberon's Glade 