Ferruccio Tagliavini
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Ferruccio Tagliavini (Reggio Emilia, 14 August 1913 - Reggio Emilia, 29 January 1995) was an Italian tenor primarily active in the 1940s and 1950s. Hailed as the heir apparent to Tito Schipa and Beniamino Gigli.[citation needed][1]
Tagliavini studied in Parma with Branducci and in Florence with Amedeo Bassi. It is also in Florence that he made his professional debut in 1938 as Rodolfo in La bohème quickly earning recognition as one of the leading tenore di grazia of his time in opera such as Il barbiere di Siviglia, L'elisir d'amore, Don Pasquale, La Sonnambula, Lucia di Lammermoor, Rigoletto, La traviata, Manon, Werther, L'amico Fritz and L'arlesiana.
Tagliavini made his debut at La Scala in Milan in 1942, at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires in 1946, at the Metropolitan Opera of New York on January 10, 1947 as Rodolfo in La bohème, in San Francisco in 1948, at the Royal Opera House in London in 1950, at the Paris Opera in 1951.
In the mid 1950s, Tagliavini took on heavier roles such as Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera, Cavaradossi in Tosca and Faust in Mefistofele.
Tagliavini retired from the stage in 1965 but continued giving recital until the mid 1970s. He left behind an especially treasured[citation needed] discography from his heyday, where one can fully appreciate his remarkable skill at soft singing known as mezza voce. He also made a few films notably of Il barbiere di Siviglia in 1946 with Tito Gobbi and Italo Tajo.
Tagliavini married soprano Pia Tassinari in 1941, with whom he made several recordings and appeared often on the stage.
- Discography (Capon's Lists of Opera Recordings)
[edit] Sources
- D. Hamilton (ed.),The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia: A Complete Guide to the World of Opera (Simon and Schuster, New York 1987). ISBN 0-671-16732-X
- Roland Mancini and Jean-Jacques Rouveroux, (orig. H. Rosenthal and J. Warrack, French edition), Guide de l’opéra, Les indispensables de la musique (Fayard, 1995). ISBN 2-213-01563-6
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ This hailing, however, does Tagliavini a disservice, since he appears to some disadvantage by comparison with either, and others might claim a similar inheritance. His own individual qualities were distinctive and can better be appreciated in their own right, aside from such misplaced comparisons.
