Achille De Bassini

Achille De Bassini, lithograph by Josef Kriehuber , 1854

Achille De Bassini , actually Achille Bassi (born May 5, 1819 in Milan , † July 3, 1881 in Cava de 'Tirreni ) was an Italian opera singer ( baritone ).

Life

De Bassini, born the son of a theater garbier, enjoyed an excellent education. At the same time he studied singing with Natale Perelli and made his debut in Bergamo at an early age . It is not certain whether it is identical to a Bassi who appeared in Voghera in 1837 in Donizetti's Belisarius and Bellini's Norma .

In the following years he was a busy singer on the Italian opera stages. The singer who was very much appreciated by Verdi became very well known for his interpretation of Verdi roles .

So he embodied at the world premieres:

• I due Foscari (1844) the Francesco Foscari
• Il corsaro den (1848) the Pascha Seid
• Luisa Miller (1849) the Miller
• La forza del destino (1862) den Fra Melitone. Verdi wrote this roleespecially for De Bassini, as he recognized his ability to play comic roles.

In 1845 and 1854 he made guest appearances at the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna , where he also received the title of kk chamber singer . From 1852 to 1853 and from 1862 to 1863 he sang in St. Petersburg , in 1859 he made his debut in Covent Garden .

He was called "the second Giorgio Ronconi " by his contemporaries . His brilliant, expressive voice and his large vocal range secure him a place among the great Verdi-type baritones in operatic history.

De Bassini married the soprano Rita Gabussi (1816–1891) in 1845 , their son Alberto (1847 – after 1892) was also an opera singer, first a tenor, later a baritone. De Bassini retired from the stage at the age of almost fifty, but appeared with him on the occasion of his son Alberto's debut in 1869. However, unfortunate speculations forced him to sing almost to the end of his life. He spent the last years of his life in Portici .

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : De Bassini, Achilles . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 3rd part. Typogr.-literar.-artist publishing house. Establishment (L. C. Zamarski, C. Dittmarsch & Comp.), Vienna 1858, p. 188 ( digitized version ).
• Francesco Regli, Dizionario biografico dei più celebri poeti ed artisti melodrammatici , E. Dalmazzo, 1860, pp. 151-152
• Achille Bassi by Enrico Carone in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 7 (1970)
• J. Warrack and E. West, 'De Bassini, Achille', The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera , 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, 1992.
• Kutsch / Riemens: Large song dictionary . Unchanged edition, KG Saur , Bern, 1993, first volume A – L, p. 662 f., ISBN 3-907820-70-3 (3 volumes)
• Andrea Harrandt: De Bassini (own Bassi), family. In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon . Online edition, Vienna 2002 ff., ISBN 3-7001-3077-5 ; Print edition: Volume 1, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-7001-3043-0 .