This Week in Classical Music: April 3, 2023.Two Italian Tenors.Only one of these singers has an anniversary this week, and that’s Franco Corelli, who was born on April 9th of 1921 in Ancona.Another tenor is Beniamino Gigli, whose name we mentioned several weeks ago when we were celebrating the birthday of the great Enrico Caruso.We promised then to write about Gigli, probably second only to Caruso among tenors of the first half of the 20th century.Gigli was born on March 20th of 1890, but with Bach and Rachmaninov’s 150th anniversaries intervening, this is the earliest we could get to Gigli.
Forty years separate Gigli from Corelli; that gap affected their legacies in many ways, but two of them are very important: one is technology, the other – politics. Gigli made a large number of records, but the recording technology of his time was rather poor, and the sound quality of his shellac records cannot compare with the ones made by Corelli. Subsequently, we rarely can hear the tone quality for which Gigli was famous. And politics is the second important factor: Gigli lived during the fascist years of Mussolini’s reign, and as was the case with many German, Soviet, and Italian musicians of the time, he compromised himself politically and ethically.
Beniamino Gigli was born in Recanati, a small town not far from Ancona on the Adriatic side of Italy.In 1914 he won a competition in Parma, and later that year made a successful début in Ponchielli’s La Gioconda.His career took off almost immediately, and he was invited to sing in all major opera theaters of Italy, from San Carlo in Naples to La Scala in Milan.In 1917 he sang in Spain and in 1920 made a highly successful debut in New York at the Met.He stayed in the US for the next 12 years, becoming, after Caruso’s death in 1921, the Met’s most popular tenor, even though the opera’s roster also included such singers as Giacomo Lauri-Volpi and Giovanni Martinelli.Even though the public called Gigli “Caruso Secondo,” the comparison is not fair: Caruso’s voice was bigger and darker than Gigli’s, whereas Gigli’s was “sweeter” and probably naturally more beautiful.In 1932, after refusing a pay cut, Gigli left the Met and returned to Italy.He became Mussolini’s favorite singer, which in itself, of course, is not a sin.Unfortunately, Gigli went much further: in 1937 he recorded the official hymn of the Italian fascist party, Giovinezza; in 1942 he wrote a book, Confidenze, in which he praised fascism.He valued his “friendship with Hitler, Goering and Goebbels.In 1944, he collaborated with the Germans after they occupied Rome.Were he in Germany at the end of the war, he would probably had been banned for years as a collaborator, but in Italy, he was forgiven almost immediately.Not everybody forgot his past, though: he wasn’t let into the US till 1955.That didn’t prevent Gigli from singing in Italy, Europe and South America.
Gigli’s recordings don’t do justice to his honeyed tone but we have two samples that seem to better reflect his voice.Here, from 1943, is his Vesti la giubba, from Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci (it’s a live recording and we had to cut down part of the prolonged ovation).And here, from 1949, is Nessun dorma, from Puccin’s Turandot.
Gigli was one of Franco Corelli’s favorite singers; mostly self-taught, he learned to sing by listening to the recordings of Caruso, Lauri-Volpi and Gigli.Here’s Corelli’s rendition of Nessun dorma.Two years ago we celebrated Corelli’s 100th anniversary, you can read more about this great singer here.
Two Italian Tenors, 2023
This Week in Classical Music: April 3, 2023. Two Italian Tenors. Only one of these singers has an anniversary this week, and that’s Franco Corelli, who was born on April 9th of 1921 in.jpg "Beniamino Gigli in the role of Andrea Chenier")
Ancona. Another tenor is Beniamino Gigli, whose name we mentioned several weeks ago when we were celebrating the birthday of the great Enrico Caruso. We promised then to write about Gigli, probably second only to Caruso among tenors of the first half of the 20th century. Gigli was born on March 20th of 1890, but with Bach and Rachmaninov’s 150th anniversaries intervening, this is the earliest we could get to Gigli.
Forty years separate Gigli from Corelli; that gap affected their legacies in many ways, but two of them are very important: one is technology, the other – politics. Gigli made a large number of records, but the recording technology of his time was rather poor, and the sound quality of his shellac records cannot compare with the ones made by Corelli. Subsequently, we rarely can hear the tone quality for which Gigli was famous. And politics is the second important factor: Gigli lived during the fascist years of Mussolini’s reign, and as was the case with many German, Soviet, and Italian musicians of the time, he compromised himself politically and ethically.
Beniamino Gigli was born in Recanati, a small town not far from Ancona on the Adriatic side of Italy. In 1914 he won a competition in Parma, and later that year made a successful début in Ponchielli’s La Gioconda. His career took off almost immediately, and he was invited to sing in all major opera theaters of Italy, from San Carlo in Naples to La Scala in Milan. In 1917 he sang in Spain and in 1920 made a highly successful debut in New York at the Met. He stayed in the US for the next 12 years, becoming, after Caruso’s death in 1921, the Met’s most popular tenor, even though the opera’s roster also included such singers as Giacomo Lauri-Volpi and Giovanni Martinelli. Even though the public called Gigli “Caruso Secondo,” the comparison is not fair: Caruso’s voice was bigger and darker than Gigli’s, whereas Gigli’s was “sweeter” and probably naturally more beautiful. In 1932, after refusing a pay cut, Gigli left the Met and returned to Italy. He became Mussolini’s favorite singer, which in itself, of course, is not a sin. Unfortunately, Gigli went much further: in 1937 he recorded the official hymn of the Italian fascist party, Giovinezza; in 1942 he wrote a book, Confidenze, in which he praised fascism. He valued his “friendship with Hitler, Goering and Goebbels. In 1944, he collaborated with the Germans after they occupied Rome. Were he in Germany at the end of the war, he would probably had been banned for years as a collaborator, but in Italy, he was forgiven almost immediately. Not everybody forgot his past, though: he wasn’t let into the US till 1955. That didn’t prevent Gigli from singing in Italy, Europe and South America.
Gigli’s recordings don’t do justice to his honeyed tone but we have two samples that seem to better reflect his voice. Here, from 1943, is his Vesti la giubba, from Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci (it’s a live recording and we had to cut down part of the prolonged ovation). And here, from 1949, is Nessun dorma, from Puccin’s Turandot.
Gigli was one of Franco Corelli’s favorite singers; mostly self-taught, he learned to sing by listening to the recordings of Caruso, Lauri-Volpi and Gigli. Here’s Corelli’s rendition of Nessun dorma. Two years ago we celebrated Corelli’s 100th anniversary, you can read more about this great singer here.