Mario del Monaco

Mario del Monaco

born on 27/7/1915 in Firenze, Toscana, Italy

died on 16/10/1982 in Venezia, Veneto, Italy

Mario Del Monaco

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Mario Del Monaco

Mario Del Monaco (July 27, 1915October 16, 1982)[1] was an Italian operatic tenor earning worldwide acclaim for his powerful voice.

Biography

Del Monaco was born in Florence to a musical upper-class family.[2] As a young boy he studied the violin but had a passion for singing. He graduated from the Rossini Conservatory at Pesaro, where he first met and sang with Renata Tebaldi, with whom he would form something of an operatic dream team of the 1950s. His early mentors as a singer included Arturo Melocchi, his teacher at Pesaro, and Maestro Raffaelli, who recognized his talent and helped launch his career.

That career began in earnest with Del Monaco's debut on December 31, 1940, as Pinkerton at the Puccini Theater in Milan. (His initial appearance in an opera had occurred the previous year, however, in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana in Pesaro.) He sang in Italy during the Second World War and married, in 1941, Rina Filipini. In 1946, he appeared at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, for the first time. During the ensuing years he became famous not only in London but also across the operatic world for his powerful, metallic voice. It was almost heldentenor-like in scope but Del Monaco was no Wagnerian, confining his activities overwhelmingly to the Italian repertoire.

Del Monaco sang at the New York Metropolitan Opera from 1951 to 1959, enjoying particular success in dramatic Verdi parts such as Radamès. He soon established himself as one of four Italian tenor superstars who reached the peak of their fame in the 1950s and '60s, the others being Giuseppe Di Stefano, Carlo Bergonzi and Franco Corelli. Del Monaco's trademark roles during this period were Giordano's Andrea Chénier and Verdi's Otello. He first tackled Otello in 1950 and kept refining his interpretation throughout his career. It is said that he sang Otello an astonishing 427 times. However, the book published by Elisabetta Romagnolo, Mario Del Monaco, Monumentum aere perennius, Azzali 2002, lists only 218 appearances by him as Otello, which is a more realistic figure. Aptly, the tenor was buried in his Otello costume. Although Otello was his best role, throughout his career, Del Monaco sang a number of other roles with great acclaim, for example: Canio in Pagliacci (Leoncavallo), Radames in Aida (Verdi), Don Jose in Carmen (Bizet), Chenier in Andrea Chénier (Giordano), Manrico in Il trovatore (Verdi), Samson in Samson and Delilah (Saint-Saëns), and Don Alvaro in La forza del destino (Verdi).

Del Monaco made his first recordings in Milan in 1948 for HMV. Later, he was partnered by Renata Tebaldi in a long series of Verdi and Puccini operas recorded for Decca. On the same label was his 1969 recording of Giordano's Fedora, opposite Magda Olivero and Tito Gobbi.

His ringing voice and virile appearance earned him the nickname of the "Brass Bull of Milan".[3] Despite his idomatic phrasing, he was still widely criticized for being unsubtle and unyielding in his vocal interpretations. In this regard, the soprano Magda Olivero noted in a recent interview that:

"When del Monaco and I sang Francesca da Rimini together at La Scala [in 1959] he explained his whole vocal technique to me. When he finished I said, "My dear del Monaco, if I had to put into practice all the things youve told me, Id stop singing right away and just disappear." The technique was so complicated: you push the larynx down, then you push this up, then you do thatin short, it made my head spin just to hear everything he did.

"We recorded Francesca excerpts together [in 1969]. Francesca has a beautiful phrase, "Paolo, datemi pace," marked "piano," and then Paolo enters with "Inghirlandata di violette," which also should be sung softly, delicately. Instead, del Monaco was terriblehe bellowed the phrase [she imitates him and laughs]! When he listened to the playback he exclaimed, "I cant believe it! After that soft poetic phrase I come in and what do I sound likea boxer punching with his fists!" He recorded the phrase again, but the second attempt was more or less the same because he was incapable of singing piano. He was furious with himself because he wanted to. He tried everything, but his technique would not permit him to sing softly since it totally was based on the muscles." [4]

In 1975 he retired from the stage. He died in Mestre as a result of nephritis.

Del Monaco belonged to a once flourishing lineage of dramatic tenors born in Italy. Famous predecessors of his included Francesco Tamagno, Francesco Signorini, Giuseppe Borgatti, Giovanni Zenatello, Edoardo Ferrari-Fontana, Bernardo de Muro, Giovanni Martinelli, Aureliano Pertile and Francesco Merli, among others.

His niece Donella Del Monaco, a soprano, is the singer of Opus Avantra.

Discography

Studio recordings for Decca

All stereo unless otherwise indicated.

[Composer - Opera (year of recording) - other singers - conductor.]

  • Bellini - Norma (1967) - Souliotis, Cossotto, Cava - Varviso.
  • Bizet - Carmen (1963) - Resnik, Sutherland, Krause - Schippers.
  • Boito - Mefistofele (1959) - Tebaldi, Siepi - Serafin.
  • Catalani - La Wally (1968) - Tebaldi, Cappuccilli, Diaz - Cleva.
  • Cilea - Adriana Lecouvreur (1961) - Tebaldi, Simionato, Fioravanti - Capuana.
  • Giordano - Andrea Chenier (1957) - Tebaldi, Bastianini - Gavazzeni.
  • Giordano - Fedora (1969) - Olivero, Gobbi - Gardelli.
  • Leoncavallo - Pagliacci (1960) - Tucci, MacNeil, Capecchi - Molinari-Pradelli.
  • Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana (1953, mono) - Nicolai, Protti - Ghione.
  • Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana (1960) - Simionato, MacNeil, Satre - Serafin.
  • Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana (1966) - Souliotis, Gobbi - Varviso.
  • Ponchielli - La Gioconda (1957/8) - Cerquetti, Simionato, Bastianini, Siepi - Gavazzeni.
  • Puccini - Il Tabarro (1962) - Tebaldi, Merrill - Gardelli.
  • Puccini - La fanciulla del West (1958) - Tebaldi, MacNeil, Tozzi - Capuana.
  • Puccini - Tosca (1959) - Tebaldi, London - Molinari-Pradelli.
  • Puccini - Turandot (1955) - Borkh, Tebaldi - Erede.
  • Puccini - Manon Lescaut (1954) - Tebaldi, Corena - Molinari-Pradelli.
  • Verdi - Aida (1952, mono) - Tebaldi, Stignani, Protti - Erede.
  • Verdi - Il Trovatore (1956) - Tebaldi, Simionato, Savarese - Erede.
  • Verdi - La Forza del Destino (1955) - Tebaldi, Bastianini, Siepi, Simionato, Corena - Molinari-Pradelli.
  • Verdi - Otello (1954) - Tebaldi, Protti - Erede.
  • Verdi - Otello (1961) - Tebaldi, Protti - Karajan.
  • Verdi - Rigoletto (1954, mono) - Gueden, Simionato, Protti, Siepi - Erede.

Live

[Composer - Opera (year and place of the performance) - other singers - conductor - label(s).]

  • Bizet - Carmen (1959, Moscow) - Archipova, Lisitsian - Melik-Pashayev - Myto.
  • Giordano - Andrea Chenier (1955, Milan) - Callas, Protti, Amadini - Votto - Opera d'Oro.
  • Giordano - Andrea Chenier (1961, Tokyo) - Tebaldi, Protti - Capuana - Opera d'Oro.
  • Leoncavallo - Pagliacci (1959, Moscow) - L. Maslennikova, Ivanov - Nebolsin - Myto.
  • Leoncavallo - Pagliacci (1959, New York) - Amara, Warren, Sereni - Mitropoulos - Walhall.
  • Leoncavallo - Pagliacci (1961, Tokyo) - Tucci, Protti - Morelli - Gala.
  • Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana (1961, Tokyo) - Simionato - Morelli - Gala.
  • Verdi - Ernani (1956, New York) - Milanov, Warren, Siepi - Mitropoulos - Andromeda, Myto.
  • Verdi - Ernani (1957, Florence) - Cerquetti, Bastianini, Christoff - Mitropoulos - Opera d'Oro.
  • Verdi - Ernani (1960, Naples) - Roberti, Bastianini, Rossi-Lemeni - Previtali - Andromeda.
  • Verdi - La Forza del Destino (1953, Florence) - Tebaldi, Protti, Siepi, Barbieri, Capecchi - Mitropoulos - Accademia, Foyer.
  • Verdi - Otello (1955, New York) - Warren, Tebaldi - Stiedry - Walhall.
  • Verdi - Otello (1958, New York) - Warren, de los Angeles - Cleva - Myto.
  • Verdi - Otello (Tokyo, 1959) - Gobbi, Tucci - Erede - Opera d'Oro.

Compilation albums

  • Mario del Monaco: Decca Recitals 1952-1969 - 5 CDs, all studio - opera arias, sacred music, Neapolitan, Spanish and English songs.
  • Mario del Monaco: Grandi Voci - DECCA, 19 tracks, all studio - excellent selection of his finest arias (mostly Verdi and Puccini, but also including 'Vesti la giubba') plus three popular songs (including 'Granada').
  • The Singers: Mario del Monaco - DECCA, 17 tracks - mostly opera arias (Puccini, Wagner, Bellini, Verdi) plus a few popular/sacred pieces.
  • Mario del Monaco: Opera Arias - Testament, 23 tracks - collection of early mono recordings; rather wilder than later remakes.
  • Mario del Monaco: Granada: Canzoni e Serenate - Replay, 14 tracks - fine compilation of popular Italian canzonettas plus 'Granada'.
  • Mario del Monaco: Historical Recordings 1950-1960 - Gala, 23 tracks - priceless live recordings of unparalled intensity; extremely poor presentation with no dates or locations given.
  • Mario Del Monaco: Live - IDIS, 8 tracks - all live recordings, 195157; mostly arias from Verdi (Ernani, Il Trovatore, La Forza del Destino, Aida) plus Pollione's aria from Bellini's Norma.

Videography

Video recordings released on DVD; Live performances unless otherwise stated.

[Composer - Opera (year and place of the performance) - other singers - conductor - label.]

  • Giordano - Andrea Chenier (1955, Milan) - Stella, Taddei - A. Questa - RAI Milano - Bel Canto Society (no subtitles!).
  • Leoncavallo - Pagliacci (1961, Tokyo) - Tucci, Protti - Morelli - Vai.
  • Verdi - Il Trovatore (1958, Milano, film) - Gencer, Bastianini, Barbieri - Previtali - Hardy Classics.
  • Verdi - Otello (Tokyo, 1959) - Gobbi, Tucci - Erede - Vai.
  • Verdi - Otello (Rome, 1958, film) - Capecchi, Carteri - Serafin - Hardy Classics.

In popular culture

  • One of his recordings of "Vesti la giubba" from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci was used in the 1989 comedy film Cookie.

References

  1. Roland Turner (1982). The Annual Obituary, St. Martin's. URL accessed 7 July 2013.
  2. (1958) Current Biography Yearbook, H. W. Wilson Company. URL accessed 7 July 2013.
  3. Jeannie Williams (1 May 2007). Jon Vickers: A Hero's Life, p. 165, UPNE. URL accessed 7 July 2013.
  4. Bel Canto Society

Further reading

  • Gianni Gori, Mario Del Monaco: mille guerrier m'inseguono..., con prologo di Marzio Pieri, coll. Grandi Voci 1, 2008, Zecchini Editore, pagg. 206 con discografia consigliata
  • Harold Rosenthal and John Warrack, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera (Second Edition), Oxford University Press, 1980, page 126.

External links

  • Mario Del Monaco Official International Website - "A non-profit website created in memory of the greatest dramatic tenor of the 20th Century."
  • History of the Tenor - Sound Clips and Narration
This page was last modified 12.02.2014 11:50:05

This article uses material from the article Mario Del Monaco from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.