This Week in Classical Music: July 26, 2021.Di Stefano.We missed a big date, Giuseppe DiStefano’s 100th anniversary, by two days: he was born in a small village of Motta Sant’Anastasia, near Catania in Sicily on July 24th of 1921.His family moved all the way north to Milan when Giuseppe was six.At the age of 20 he began voice studies with Luigi Montesanto, a fine baritone and teacher.The war interrupted his career as Di Stefano was conscripted.The regiment’s doctor, having heard him singing, gave him a medical dispensation, saying that he would better serve Italy as singer than a soldier.The regiment was sent to the Russian front where most of the soldiers, including the doctor, were killed.In 1943 Di Stefano fled to Switzerland, was interned there but then released.In Lausanne he made his first recordings.He returned to Italy in 1946 and soon after made his début at the Teatro Municipale, Reggio nell’Emilia, as Massenet’s Des Grieux.A year later, in 1947, he sang at La Scala.In 1948 he made his Metropolitan debut as the Duke in Rigoletto.He was noticed almost immediately, with a critic comparing the 27-year-old tenor with Beniamino Gigli and praising his warm, sensual timbre.A lyric tenor, in his early career he sang mostly lighter roles.By 1957 he moved to heavier “spinto” and even dramatic tenor roles, such as Don José in Carmen, Canio in Pagliacci, Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana, and Radames in Aida.With this, his voice lost some of its shine and got rougher; still, it was spectacular.Rudolf Bing, the General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera, who knew his singers, said: “The most spectacular single moment in my observation year had come when I heard his diminuendo on the high C in "Salut! demeure" in Faust: I shall never as long as I live forget the beauty of that sound."You can listen to it here, and while the whole aria is sung beautifully, it’s literally breathtaking at around 5’05”.This was a live recording made in 1950 in San Francisco during the War Memorial Opera House Concerts which were then broadcast on NBC.Gaetano Merola conducts the (substandard) San Francisco Opera Association Orchestra.
Walter Legge, the famous record producer, put Di Stefano and Maria Callas together to record many popular Italian operas.One of them, the 1953 recording of Tosca, with Titto Gobbi as Scarpia, is considered one of the best opera recordings ever made.Here’s a 12-minute excerpt from Act I, starting with “Mario! Mario! Quale occhi" from that legendary recording.Di Stefano and Callas are accompanied by the Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala under the direction of Victor de Sabata.
Di Stefano was a bon-vivant, he smoked and partied, had many lovers (he had an affair with his singing partner, Maria Callas), and sometimes – too often, as far as Rudolf Bing was concerned – failed to show up for rehearsals: Bing banned him from the Met for three years.All of that probably affected his career, which at its height was brief: his voice was already in decline in the late 1950s; Di Stefano himself blamed allergies.He rarely performed after a disastrous Otello in Pasadena in 1966.Di Stefano had a house in Kenia.On December 3rd of 2004 he was robbed and beaten there; perpetrators were never found.He never fully recovered from his injuries.Giuseppe Di Stefano died in his home in Lecco on Lake Como, on March 3rd of 2008 at the age of 86.
Riccardo Muti, a wonderful Italian conductor and the Music Director of the Chicago Symphony, will turn 80 on July 28th.He deserves a full entry, which is forthcoming.
Giuseppe Di Stefano, 2021
This Week in Classical Music: July 26, 2021. Di Stefano. We missed a big date, Giuseppe Di Stefano’s 100th anniversary, by two days: he was born in a small village of Motta Sant’Anastasia,
near Catania in Sicily on July 24th of 1921. His family moved all the way north to Milan when Giuseppe was six. At the age of 20 he began voice studies with Luigi Montesanto, a fine baritone and teacher. The war interrupted his career as Di Stefano was conscripted. The regiment’s doctor, having heard him singing, gave him a medical dispensation, saying that he would better serve Italy as singer than a soldier. The regiment was sent to the Russian front where most of the soldiers, including the doctor, were killed. In 1943 Di Stefano fled to Switzerland, was interned there but then released. In Lausanne he made his first recordings. He returned to Italy in 1946 and soon after made his début at the Teatro Municipale, Reggio nell’Emilia, as Massenet’s Des Grieux. A year later, in 1947, he sang at La Scala. In 1948 he made his Metropolitan debut as the Duke in Rigoletto. He was noticed almost immediately, with a critic comparing the 27-year-old tenor with Beniamino Gigli and praising his warm, sensual timbre. A lyric tenor, in his early career he sang mostly lighter roles. By 1957 he moved to heavier “spinto” and even dramatic tenor roles, such as Don José in Carmen, Canio in Pagliacci, Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana, and Radames in Aida. With this, his voice lost some of its shine and got rougher; still, it was spectacular. Rudolf Bing, the General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera, who knew his singers, said: “The most spectacular single moment in my observation year had come when I heard his diminuendo on the high C in "Salut! demeure" in Faust: I shall never as long as I live forget the beauty of that sound." You can listen to it here, and while the whole aria is sung beautifully, it’s literally breathtaking at around 5’05”. This was a live recording made in 1950 in San Francisco during the War Memorial Opera House Concerts which were then broadcast on NBC. Gaetano Merola conducts the (substandard) San Francisco Opera Association Orchestra.
Walter Legge, the famous record producer, put Di Stefano and Maria Callas together to record many popular Italian operas. One of them, the 1953 recording of Tosca, with Titto Gobbi as Scarpia, is considered one of the best opera recordings ever made. Here’s a 12-minute excerpt from Act I, starting with “Mario! Mario! Quale occhi" from that legendary recording. Di Stefano and Callas are accompanied by the Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala under the direction of Victor de Sabata.
Di Stefano was a bon-vivant, he smoked and partied, had many lovers (he had an affair with his singing partner, Maria Callas), and sometimes – too often, as far as Rudolf Bing was concerned – failed to show up for rehearsals: Bing banned him from the Met for three years. All of that probably affected his career, which at its height was brief: his voice was already in decline in the late 1950s; Di Stefano himself blamed allergies. He rarely performed after a disastrous Otello in Pasadena in 1966. Di Stefano had a house in Kenia. On December 3rd of 2004 he was robbed and beaten there; perpetrators were never found. He never fully recovered from his injuries. Giuseppe Di Stefano died in his home in Lecco on Lake Como, on March 3rd of 2008 at the age of 86.
Riccardo Muti, a wonderful Italian conductor and the Music Director of the Chicago Symphony, will turn 80 on July 28th. He deserves a full entry, which is forthcoming.