Alessandro Bonci
Alessandro Bonci (born February 10, 1870 in Cesena , † August 10, 1940 in Viserba near Rimini , Italy ) was an Italian opera singer ( tenor ).
Life
After studying singing at the Conservatory in Pesaro with Felice Coen and then with Enrico Delle Sedie in Paris , he made his debut in 1896 at the Teatro Regio in Parma as Fenton in Verdi's “Falstaff” . The singer specialized early on in the bel canto repertoire (Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini). In 1897 he made his first appearance at La Scala in Milan . This was followed by guest appearances in Saint Petersburg , Vienna , Berlin , Lisbon and Madrid . From 1900 to 1908 he enjoyed great success at the Covent Garden Opera in London. In between, in 1906, he sang Arturo in "I Puritani" in the opening performance of the newly founded Manhattan Opera. A year later he moved to the Metropolitan Opera (the Duke's inaugural role was in "Rigoletto") and remained a member of this opera house until 1910.
During the First World War he interrupted his career and volunteered in the Italian Air Force. After 1918 he successfully resumed his career until he ended his active career in 1923. From 1923 to 1925 he was a singing teacher in New York and then returned to his Italian homeland, where he completely withdrew from public life until his death.
Alessandro Bonci was next to the Irish tenor John McCormack as the greatest rival of the great Enrico Caruso . In contrast to the Neapolitan, Bonci had a light-timbred, slim voice. This special vocal quality and his excellent command of singing technique made him an ideal tenore di Grazia . Many of his records are still regarded by connoisseurs as teaching pieces for singing in the Belcanto style. The well-known English vocal expert John Steane declares Bonci the “ finest lyrical tenor of the century” because of his records .
literature
- David Ewen: Encyclopedia of the Opera: New Enlarged Edition . New York; Hill and Wang, 1963.
- KJ Kutsch , Leo Riemens : Large singer lexicon . Unchanged edition. KG Saur, Bern, 1993, first volume A – L, Sp. 309, ISBN 3-907820-70-3 .
- Klaus Ulrich Spiegel: The virtuoso antipode - Alessandro Bonci - keeper of the ideal on ku-spiegel.de
Web links
- Works by and about Alessandro Bonci in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bonci, Alessandro |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian opera singer (tenor) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 10, 1870 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cesena |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 10, 1940 |
| Place of death | Viserba near Rimini , Italy |