Description

GIOVANNI BATTISTA DE NEGRI (NIZZA MONFERRATO, PIEMONTE, 1850 –TORINO, 1924)

 

 

 

He was born at Nizza Monferrato in 1850. Son of a business family, probably he would never have discovered that he had a fine voice were it not that he sang a snatch from Marchetti’s Ruy Bias one night in Alessandria, for his friends’ amusement. The applause which greeted this unlooked-for revelation induced Dc Negri to begin serious study. In 1878, after two years, he made his debut in Poliuto at Bergamo.

The great operatic stages were at that time reserved for those tenors with prodigious voices, whose very names, to the opera-crazy, were charged with dynamite: Fancelli, Sani, Aramburo, Perotic, Mierzwiski, Niccolini. Then there was Tamagno, not yet Otello, but already the most powerful, titanic and exciting of all. The admiration in which the public held these colossi or, to be more precise, these stupendous voices (for none of the seven were, artistically speaking, interpreters of magical skill) made the path of a young dramatic tenor very thorny. Dc Negri was in fact forced to confine himself to the brushwood and thickets of provincial theatres, and when, after five years of Norma, Ballo in Maschera and Aida in the Veneto countryside and the secondary towns of AustroHungary, he arrived finally at the Sari Carlo of Naples (January, 1884), he almost felt that his career was over. This difficult and reserved public received the young tenor’s Lucrezia Borgia with hostility. However, when De Negri sang in Traviata things were better, and contracts for the Fenice, for the Regio of Turin and the Reale of Madrid followed. The next two splendid years were due to this one Neapolitan success, achieved at the expense of so much effort. Fame came a little late. It came when it was realised that to become a protagonist for Oteilo was a desperate venture. Even the great Stagno was defeated by this terrible role. But De Negri defied it. He had a full, magnificent middle register, and if his high notes were not comparable with those of Tamagno, the impassioned vigour of his singing and acting restored the equilibrium. In the Death Scene, in fact, Dc Negri proved the victor.

The records of the tenor Dc Negri are amongst the rarest of all in the collecting world and, again, IRCC are to be congratulated upon their” find” ; it was re-recorded from a practically mint-condition Zonophone of 1902 in which he sings part of the final scene from .Wornia—Ah troppo tardi t’ho conosciutawith a powerful and well-controlled voice. Judging by what we hear on this record Dc Negri must have been an exceptionally fine tenor, for it is a rare experience to hear such singing . . a verification of the oft-repeated assertion as to the superiority of the great voices of the past over those we hear today. Having listened to practically all the great tenors of the early 1900’s I am of the opinion that, with the single exception of the immortal Caruso, De Negri’s voice—as heard here—is the finest within my experience. I can pay him no greater compliment.

 

Chronology of some appearances

 

1876 Bergamo Teatro Riccardi Poliuto (Poliuto)

1879 Agram Teatro Nazionale Ugonotti (Raoul)

1880 Livorno Teatro Floridi Norma (Pollione)

1883 Messina Teatro Vittorio Emanuele Favorita (Fernando)

1889 Torino Teatro Regio Gioconda (Enzo)

1883 Messina Teatro Vittorio Emanuele Ernani (Ernani)

1885 Vienna Carl Theater Rigoletto (Duke)

1887 Torino Teatro Regio Otello (Otello)

1888 Genova Teatro Carlo Felice Otello (Otello)

1888 Torino Teatro Regio Tannhauser (Tannhauser)

1889 Torino Teatro Regio Gioconda (Enzo)

1889 Genova Teatro Carlo Felice Otello (Otello)

1899 Buenos Aires Opera Ernani (Ernani)

1899 Montevideo Teatro Solis Ernani (Ernani)

1890 Bologna Teatro del Corso Cavalleria rusticana (Turiddu)

1891 San Pietroburgo Teatro Hunter Ernani (Ernani)

1891 San Pietroburgo Teatro Hunter Gioconda (Enzo)

1891 Milano Teatro La Scala Tannhauser (Tannhauser)

1892 Trieste Teatro Verdi Tannhauser (Tannhauser)

1895 Milano Teatro alla Scala Guglielmo Ratcliff (Guglielmo)

1895 Brescia Teatro Grande Guglielmo Ratcliff (Guglielmo)

1895 Genova Teatro Carlo Felice Tannhauser (Tannhauser)

1896 Genova Teatro Carlo Felice Guglielmo Ratcliff (Guglielmo)

1896 Milano Teatro alla Scala Guglielmo Ratcliff (Guglielmo)

1897 Trieste Teatro Verdi Tannhauser (Tannhauser)

 

 

ALFREDO ZONGHI (TOLENTINO, 1864 – VENICE, 14 MARCH, 1913)

 

 

 

He trained under Pedrotti at the Conservatory of Pesaro and debuted in 1888 in Faenza. Married to mezzo-soprano Tilde Carotini, he tragically passed away in Venice due to a spontaneous artery rupture while preparing for a concert.

 

Chronology of Appearances

 

1888 Bergamo, Teatro Riccardi Carmen (Don José)

1890 Matelica, Teatro Condominiale Don Pasquale (Ernesto)

1892 Pisa, Teatro Verdi Gioconda (Enzo)

1894 Arezzo, Teatro Petrarca Pagliacci (Canio)

1896 Alessandria, Teatro Municipale L’amico Fritz (Fritz)

1899 Chieti, Teatro Marruccino Fedora (Loris)

1902 San Francisco, Opera House Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo)

1904 Napoli, Teatro Bellini La Traviata (Alfredo)

1907 Valencia, Teatro Principal Die Walküre (Siegmund)

1910 Madrid, Teatro Reale Götterdämmerung (Siegfried)

1912 Venezia, Teatro La Fenice Das Rheingold (Loge)

 

 

GIUSEPPE TRICARIO (SPARANISE, CASERTA, 1866 – NEW YORK CITY, 1930)

 

 

 

Nixon – Return  of Opera Company

The return engagement of a section of San Carlo Grand Opera Company at the Nixon this week will give Pittsburgh opera lovers their last chance this season of hearing grand opera in italian. The company brings with it most of the stars who made its performaces such a success here before, and will present several singers new to this city. Sig. Giuseppe Tricario, a dramatic tenor who was formerly with the Boston Opera Company, will appear in ”Aida” and ”Pagliacci”, in which roles his acting is said to be remarkably fine.

The Gazette Times – Apr 18, 1915

 

Chronology of some appearances

 

1900 Napoli Teatro Bellini Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo)

1903 Torino Teatro Balbo Africana (Vasco de Gama)

1905 Amsterdam Palais Voor Volksvkijt Trovatore (Manrico)

1908 Barletta Teatro Curci Jone di E. Petrella (Glauco)

1912 Cremona Teatro Ponchielli Otello (Otello)

1914 New York Lexington Opera House Aida (Radames)

1920 Philadelphia Teatro Metropolitan Forza del destino (Alvaro)

 

 

RINO OLDRATI (MILANO, 1890 – ?)

 

 

 

Probably, he made his debut in 1922 at Faenza in Norma. It seems that his repertoire was limited to Norma and Sansone e Dalila.

 

Chronology of some appearances

 

1922 Faenza Teatro Masini Norma (Pollione)

1924 Napoli Teatro San Carlo Samsone e Dalida (Sansone)

1925 Novara Teatro Coccia Norma (Pollione)

1926 Parma Teatro Regio Sansone e Dalida (Sansone)

1927 Treviso Teatro Sociale Norma (Pollione)

1928 Milano Teatro Dal Verme Norma (Pollione)

1929 Bari Teatro Petruzzelli Norma (Pollione)

 

GINO VANNUTELLI

 

 

 

He first studied at the school of the renowned actor Luigi Monti and began his career as an actor in the company of Italia Vitaliani. Later, he pursued singing under the guidance of maestro Marucelli and made his operatic debut in 1899 at the Teatro Reale in Malta as Guglielmo in A. Thomas’s Mignon.

While performing with Giulio Marchetti’s operetta company, he was discovered by the manager Giacobazzi, who engaged him for an extensive tour in South America that kept him away from Italy for four years. Upon returning to Italy, he resumed performing in operettas, consistently appearing with the finest companies. Eventually, he founded his own operetta company, solidifying his position in the world of music and theater.

 

Chronology of some appearances

 

1899 Malta Teatro Reale Mignon (Guglielmo)

1900 Malta Teatro Reale Pagliacci (Canio)

1901 Cagliari Politeama Regina Margherita Dinorah (Corentino)

1902 Parma Politeama Reinach Barbiere di Siviglia di G.Paisiello (Almaviva)

1906 Caracas Teatro Municipal Boheme (Rodolfo)

1912 Parma Politeama Reinach Compagnia operette Vecla

1918 Parma Politeama Reinach Compagnia operette Vannutelli

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Giovanni Battista De Negri Otello (Verdi) Niun mi tema 1561(1561-1) Zonophone, Milano 1903

Giovanni Battista De Negri Otello (Verdi) Niun mi tema 1561(1561-2) Zonophone, Milano 1903

Giovanni Battista De Negri Asra (Rubinstein) X-1563 Zonophone, Milano 1903

Giovanni Battista De Negri Norma (Bellini) Ah troppo tardi X-1564 (1564-1) Zonophone, Milano 1903

Giovanni Battista De Negri Norma (Bellini) Ah troppo tardi X-1564 (1564-2) Zonophone, Milano 1903

Giovanni Battista De Negri Otello (Verdi) Ora e per sempre addio 1566 (1566) Transposed down a semitone to G Zonophone, Milano 1903

Alfredo Zonghi Fedora (Giordano) Amor ti vieta 92165 XPh3060 Fonotipia, Milano 1908-03-10

Alfredo Zonghi Hans le joueur de flute (Ganne) Mio Guglielmo (w. Vecla) (as Zoferdal) 92200 Fonotipia, Milano 1908-01-01

Alfredo Zonghi Hans le joueur de flute (Ganne) Non siete più bambole Perdon, Signor! (w. Vecla) (as Zoferdal) 92187 Fonotipia, Milano 1908-01-01

Alfredo Zonghi La gran via (Valverde) Io sono gran ladrone (w. Corradetti & De Neno) (as Zoferdal) 62121 xPh 2481 Fonotipia, Milano 1907-03-06

Alfredo Zonghi Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) Vesti la giubba 92164 XPh3059 Fonotipia, Milano 1908-03-10

Giuseppe Tricario Samsone e Dalila (Saint-Saens) Figli miei v’arrestate D 4420 41766 Columbia, Milano

Giuseppe Tricario Otello (Verdi) Ora e per sempre addio D 9292 41767 Columbia, Milano

Giuseppe Tricario Otello (Verdi) Niun mi tema D 9292 41768 Columbia, Milano

Giuseppe Tricario Samsone e Dalila (Saint-Saens) Spezza i ceppi D 4420 41771 Columbia, Milano

Giuseppe Tricario Norma (Bellini) Meco all’altar 71 Phonodisc Mondial, Milano

Giuseppe Tricario Norma (Bellini) Me protegge 70 Phonodisc Mondial, Milano

Rino Oldrati Norma (Bellini) Deh! Non volerli vittime  with Vera Amerighi-Rutili and Antonio Righetti  120206 b Odeon Fonotipia, Milano 1929-12-16

Rino Oldrati Norma (Bellini) Qual cor tradisti with Vera Amerighi Rutili 120206 XXPho6544 Odeon Fonotipia, Milano 1929-12-16

Gino Vannutelli Amor di principe (Eysler) Io vo’ lanciarti (w. Vecla) 92869 XPh4780 Fonotipia, Milano 1911-12-15

Gino Vannutelli Lustige Witwe (Lehár) Due figli di re (w. Vecla) 92181 XPh3152 Fonotipia, Milano 1908-04-16

Gino Vannutelli Lustige Witwe (Lehár) Haja, vieni un po’ a guardar (w. Vecla) 92180 XPh3128 Fonotipia, Milano 1908-04-08

Gino Vannutelli Lustige Witwe (Lehár) Sceglierà ogni dama (w. Vecla & Corradetti (as Fercor)) 92553 XPh4037 Fonotipia, Milano 1909-07-03

Gino Vannutelli Lustige Witwe (Lehár) Venite orsù, sirene 92559 XPh3997 Fonotipia, Milano 1909-06-26

Gino Vannutelli Walzertraum (Straus) Ma questo è un sogno (w. Vecla & Corradetti (as Fercor)) 92554 XPh4038 Fonotipia, Milano 1909-07-03