Description

CARLO ALBANI  (TRIESTE, 1873 – ROME, 1924)

 

 

 

 

Carlo Albani, the stage name of Charles-François Berquier, was a French-Italian dramatic tenor whose career extended over more than two decades and took him to opera houses and concert stages throughout Europe and the Americas. Born in Trieste on 12 June 1873, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he was the son of Victor-François Berquier and Angèle Thérèse Borri. Contemporary French documentation identifies him under his birth name and gives 1873 as his year of birth, although some later sources give 1872.

Born into an Italian-French family, Berquier was educated musically in Paris, where he studied singing with the celebrated tenor and pedagogue Enrico Delle Sedie. His early career was initially pursued under his real name. French theatrical records document him as a Priest in Ernest Reyer’s Salammbô in 1900 and as Bois-Rosé in Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots in 1901.

Albani’s international operatic career began in South America. According to the established chronology of his performances, he made his debut in 1901 at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago de Chile, singing Radamès in Verdi’s Aida. In 1902 he appeared at the Teatro Duse in Bologna as Manrico in Il trovatore, and in 1903 he sang Aida at the Teatro Municipal in San José, Costa Rica. He subsequently performed in several major centers in Italy and the Americas.

His Italian career included appearances at the Teatro Sociale in Brescia as Manrico in 1904, the Teatro Lirico in Milan as Don Alvaro in La forza del destino in 1905, the Teatro Coccia in Novara as Giovanni in Giovanni Gallurese in 1906, and the Teatro Bellini in Naples as Canio in Pagliacci in 1907. The role of Giovanni in Italo Montemezzi’s Giovanni Gallurese became one of the less conventional but recurring elements of his repertoire.

His international career also brought him to North America. In 1908 he appeared in Philadelphia as Don José in Bizet’s Carmen. During the same period, he became involved in one of the most curious episodes of his career, involving the powerful American impresario Oscar Hammerstein.

Hammerstein engaged Albani for the Manhattan Opera Company in New York, where the tenor was scheduled to sing Manrico in Il trovatore. The engagement ended abruptly. According to accounts preserved by Marston Records, the press reacted unfavorably to Albani, and after his second performance he disappeared, effectively breaching his contract and leaving the company without its scheduled Manrico. He subsequently appeared with the San Carlo Opera Company in Boston, where the dispute with Hammerstein followed him. An officer of the law attended one of his performances in connection with the legal proceedings. The episode effectively brought Albani’s American operatic career to an end.

The affair acquired an almost theatrical character. A later account describes how an officer was sent to arrest Albani during a Boston performance and remained concealed behind the stage scenery until the end of the performance. Whatever embellishments may have entered later retellings, the underlying dispute with Hammerstein is independently recorded in accounts of Albani’s American career.

Albani subsequently concentrated his activities in Europe. His career was particularly significant in France and Italy, and in 1910 he sang Radamès in Aida at the Paris Opéra, performing the role in French. This was an important recognition of his status as an international dramatic tenor. He later reprised Radamès at Rome’s Teatro Costanzi in 1916, where he also appeared as Manrico in Il trovatore and Don Alvaro in La forza del destino. The historical archive of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma documents his appearances there in Aida, Il trovatore, La forza del destino, Pagliacci and Tosca during the 1915–1917 seasons.

A particularly important detail concerning Albani’s professional identity is documented in December 1910. The French theatrical journal Le Ménestrel, in its issue of 24 December 1910, reported that a tenor known as Carlo Albani, then engaged at the Politeama Chiarelli in Turin, had been arrested at a hotel on a charge of theft. According to the report, silver plates and cutlery, napkins and other small objects allegedly taken from restaurants were found among his possessions. Most importantly for the reconstruction of his biography, the newspaper stated that among his papers was a passport issued by the French authorities identifying him as Charles-François Berquier, born in Trieste in 1873 and then residing in Paris.

This contemporary report is particularly valuable because it provides direct documentary evidence linking the stage name Carlo Albani with his birth identity. It also confirms the 1873 birth year independently of later biographical sources. The episode should therefore be regarded not merely as an anecdote but as an important piece of evidence in establishing Albani’s identity and biography.

Albani continued to appear extensively in Italy after 1910. His documented engagements included Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca at the Politeama Chiarella in Turin in 1910; Radamès in Aida at the Politeama Duca di Genova in La Spezia in 1911; Don Alvaro in La forza del destino at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari in 1912; and a concert at the Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna in 1913.

In 1914 he returned to Giovanni Gallurese at the Teatro Fraschini in Pavia. In 1915 he sang the title role in Verdi’s Ernani at the Teatro Carcano in Milan, followed in 1916 by Samson in Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila. In 1917 he appeared as Don José in Carmen at the Teatro Rossini in Venice, and in 1918 returned to Ernani at the Teatro Sangiorgi in Catania. In 1919 he again sang Manrico in Il trovatore at the Politeama Verdi in Cremona.

During the 1920s his appearances became less frequent, although he continued to undertake demanding dramatic roles. In 1920 he sang Riccardo in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera at the Teatro Scribe in Turin, and in 1921 he appeared as Ernani at the Teatro Sociale in Crema.

His last documented appearances took place in Milan at the Teatro Verdi, where he performed three major roles from the Italian dramatic-tenor repertoire: Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera, Don Alvaro in La forza del destino, and Pollione in Bellini’s Norma. These performances constitute the final known stage appearances of Albani before his death in Rome in 1924.

Albani’s repertoire was extensive and particularly demanding. In addition to the roles already mentioned, it included Radamès, Manrico, Don Alvaro, Canio, Don José, Cavaradossi, Ernani, Riccardo, Pollione, Samson and Giovanni Gallurese. His repertoire reveals the transition from the grand heroic tenor tradition of nineteenth-century Italian opera toward the increasingly dramatic vocal requirements of verismo and early twentieth-century opera.

His work in French repertoire was also significant. His appearance as Radamès at the Paris Opéra in French demonstrates that his career was not confined to Italian opera. Contemporary recording evidence likewise shows him singing repertoire from Meyerbeer, Gounod and other French composers alongside Verdi, Donizetti, Ponchielli and the Italian verismo composers.

Albani was also an active recording artist during the formative years of the recording industry. His earliest known recordings date from 1907, when he recorded for Pathé. A scholarly study of Italian operatic tenors identifies him in the Pathé catalogue under the pseudonym Carlo Neri, with a recording of La donna è mobile from Verdi’s Rigoletto.

His recorded activities continued with other companies. Records exist under his name for Odeon, while he also recorded for Fonotipia, Gath & Chaves in Buenos Aires, and Edison. The Gath & Chaves catalogue included operatic recordings by Carlo Albani and even recordings made with Albani-Costa.

Among his surviving recorded repertoire are “La donna è mobile” from Rigoletto, “O Paradiso!” from Meyerbeer’s L’Africaine, “Cielo e mar” from Ponchielli’s La Gioconda, selections from Aida, Il trovatore, La forza del destino, Norma, Lucrezia Borgia and other operas. An Edison catalogue from 1912 specifically lists Albani’s recording of “O Paradiso!”, while surviving discographical records document his recordings of Aida, Un ballo in maschera, La forza del destino and Norma.

Particularly interesting are his surviving Edison recordings from London. On 4 July 1911, Albani recorded an excerpt from Gounod’s Faust, “Qual turbamento in cor mi sento … Salve! Dimora casta e pura”, as an unpublished Edison wax master. Other surviving Edison material includes performances with soprano Paola Koralek, including excerpts from Il trovatore and Aida.

These recordings are of considerable historical importance. They document the voice of a tenor who worked during the transitional period when the traditions of the nineteenth-century Italian school were being preserved and transformed through the new medium of commercial sound recording. Albani’s repertoire, extending from Bellini, Donizetti, Meyerbeer and Verdi to Puccini and the verismo composers, reflects the broad musical world of the period.

Carlo Albani died in Rome in 1924. Although he never achieved the enduring fame of such contemporaries as Francesco Tamagno, Giuseppe Borgatti or Giovanni Martinelli, his career was remarkably international. He performed in South and North America, France, Italy and Russia, appeared at major theatres including the Paris Opéra and Teatro Costanzi in Rome, and left recordings for several important early record companies.

His career is consequently of particular interest to the history of early twentieth-century opera. Albani represents the generation of dramatic tenors who carried the heroic tradition of Verdi and Meyerbeer into the age of Puccini, verismo and mechanical recording. His surviving discs, together with contemporary theatrical and documentary sources, allow the career of Charles-François Berquier—known to the operatic world as Carlo Albani—to be reconstructed with unusual detail.

 

Chronology of some appearances

 

1901 Santiago del Cile Teatro Municipal Aida (Radames)

1902 Bologna Teatro Duse Trovatore (Manrico)

1903 San Josê de Costarica Teatro Municipal Aida (Aida)

1904 Brescia Teatro Sociale Trovatore (Manrico)

1905 Milano Teatro Lirico Forza del Destino (Alvaro)

1906 Novara Teatro Coccia Giovanni Gallurese (Giovanni)

1907 Napoli Teatro Bellini Pagliacci (Canio)

1908 Philadelphia Teatro Lyric Carmen (Don Josê)

1910 Torino Politeama Chiarella Tosca (Cavaradossi)

1911 La Spezia Politeama Duca di Genova Aida (Radames)

1912 Bari Teatro Petruzzelli Forza del Destino (Alvaro)

1913 Ravenna Teatro Alighieri Concerto

1914 Pavia Teatro Fraschini Giovanni Gallurese di I. Montemezzi

1915 Milano Teatro Carcano Ernani (Ernani)

1916 Milano Teatro Carcano Sansone e Dalida (Sansone)

1917 Venezia Teatro Rossini Carmen (Don Josè)

1918 Catania Teatro Sangiorgi Ernani (Ernani)

1919 Cremona Politeama Verdi Trovatore (Manrico)

1920 Torino Tetro Scribe Ballo in Maschera (Riccardo)

1921 Crema Teatro Sociale Ernani (Ernani)

1923 Milano Teatro Fossati Pagliacci (Canio)

1923 Milano Teatro Verdi Norma (Pollione)

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Gioconda (Ponchielli) Cielo e mar BA28116 4M-28116-3 Edison 4-min cylinders, London 1911-07

Guarany (Gomez) Sento una forza indomita (w. Pereira) Odeon Fonotipia, Milano 1910/1911 – 1912

Guillaume Tell (Rossini) Asile hereditaire 4907 Pathé, Paris 1908

Guillaume Tell (Rossini) Asile héréditaire 6098 Gath & Chaves, Buenos Aires 1908/1909

Huguenots (Meyerbeer) Plus blanche 4904 Pathé, Paris 1908

Huguenots (Meyerbeer) Plus blanche que la blanche hermine 97270  XP4585 Odeon, Paris 1908/1909

Iris (Mascagni) Apri la tua finestra 4151 Pathé, Paris 1907

Juive (Halevy) Rachel, quand du Seigneur 4908 Pathé, Paris 1908

Juive (Halévy) Rachel, quand du Seigneur 97316 XP4660 Odeon, Paris 1909-03/04

Lohengrin (Wagner) Da voi lontano 6081 Gath & Chaves, Buenos Aires 1908/1909

Lolita (Buzzi-Peccia) 6094 Gath & Chaves, Buenos Aires 1908/1909

Lolita (Buzzi-Peccia) 74096 C4889-1 Victor, USA 1907-10-22

Lucrezia Borgia (Donizetti) Della ducchessa i prieghi… Guai se ti sfugga un detto  (w. Corsi & Vannuccini) X110251 Xm1587, X110252 Xm1588 Odeon Fonotipia, Milano 1910/1911 – 1912

Lucrezia Borgia (Donizetti) Di pescator ignobile 4156 Pathé, Paris 1907

Lucrezia Borgia (Donizetti) Di pescatore ignobile 74098 C4887-1 Victor, USA 1907-10-18

Madama Butterfly (Puccini) Amore, o grillo (w. Costa) 6084 Gath & Chaves, Buenos Aires 1908/1909