Frank Guarrera

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Frank Guarrera (born December 3, 1923 in Philadelphia , † November 23, 2007 in Bellmawr , New Jersey ) was an American opera singer with a baritone voice .

Life

Frank Guarrera came from an Italian immigrant family. His parents came from Sicily . He studied singing with Richard Bonelli at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. During the Second World War , Guarrera was a soldier in the US Navy for two years and therefore had to temporarily interrupt his vocal training. After the end of the Second World War he finished his education at the Curtis Institute of Music with a diploma. He made his debut as a concert singer in Philadelphia in 1946 . He made his professional operatic debut in 1947 as Silvio in Der Bajazzo at the New York City Center Opera. Also in 1947 he sang the voice of the oracle ( Voce di Nettuno ) in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Idomeneo at the Tanglewood Summer Festival .

In 1948, Guarrera won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air , a public audition for the Metropolitan Opera , whereupon he was hired by Edward Johnson , the director at the time, as a permanent member of the MET . Arturo Toscanini , who had heard Guarrera's audition on the radio , then also invited Guarrera to audition and engaged him to perform at La Scala in Milan .

In June 1948, Guarrera occurred at La Scala as Fanuel in the opera Nerone by Arrigo Boito at the side of Hella Nervi , Giulietta Simionato and Cesare Siepi on. A recording of this performance, which took place as part of a memorial concert on the 30th anniversary of Boito's death, has been preserved. Guarrera then sang in two further new productions of Scala in 1948. He took on the Zurga in Georges Bizet's opera Die Perlenfischer and Manfredo in L'Amore dei tre Re by Italo Montemezzi alongside Clara Petrella and Nicola Rossi-Lemeni .

Guarrera also worked with Toscanini later. In 1950 Toscanini selected him for the baritone role of Ford in Giuseppe Verdi's last opera, Falstaff, for the annual radio performances broadcast on NBC . The Falstaff performances, with Giuseppe Valdengo in the title role, were then also released on record at RCA and are still part of the publishing program today. Music critics spoke of Guarrera's "imposing Ford", which in its interpretation, especially in the jealousy monologue, shows the proximity of the Falstaff music to Verdi's Otello score.

In December 1948, Guarrera made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the role of Escamillo in Georges Bizet's Carmen . His partners were Risë Stevens in the title role, Ramón Vinay and Licia Albanese . In the season 1949/1950 he took over, among other things Heerrufer in the romantic opera Lohengrin by Richard Wagner . In the 1950/1951 season, Valentin followed in Margarethe .

Guarrera subsequently became one of the busiest singers at the Metropolitan Opera. In the following 28 seasons he appeared in a total of 677 performances and sang 35 different roles. Guarrera was used in numerous premieres and new productions at the MET. At first he sang the role of the lyrical baritone and the cavalier baritone. He later took on the great dramatic roles of the Italian subject. In 1951 he sang Guglielmo in Così fan tutte , then in 1955 under the musical direction of Thomas Schippers the Malatesta in Don Pasquale and in 1960 Belcore in Der Liebestrank . In 1960 he stepped in for Leonard Warren, who died a few days earlier, in the title role in the new production of Verdi's Simone Boccanegra . In 1961 he took over the Minister Ping in Turandot at the side of Birgit Nilsson , Franco Corelli and Anna Moffo . Another highlight of his MET career was the role of Lescaut in Jules Massenet's opera Manon in 1963 , again alongside Anna Moffo in a production by Günther Rennert . 1970 followed with Leonard Bernstein as conductor of the Alfio in Franco Zeffirelli's production of Cavalleria rusticana . In 1974 Guarrera sang the title role in Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini . In 1975, Guarrera was cast as Fra Melitone in the new production of Verdi's The Power of Fate . Guarrera felt himself wrongly cast in this comical role, which did not correspond to his role subject, and later referred to this as his "swan song".

In 1976, Guarrera took leave of the opera stage in a completely unspectacular manner. His last performance was on May 8, 1976, the title role in Gianni Schicchi on a tour of the MET in Atlanta , Georgia .

Guarrera sang the great baritone roles of Puccini ( Marcello , Lescaut , Jack Rance ) and Verdi ( Germont-père , Ford , Amonasro , Conte di Luna ) in repertoire performances at the MET . Guarrera's other roles at the MET were: Conte Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro , Figaro in The Barber of Seville , Enrico Ashton in Lucia di Lammermoor and Doktor Falke in Die Fledermaus . He sang in March 1956 at the side of Licia Albanese and Jussi Björling the Lescaut in Puccini's Manon Lescaut under the musical direction of Dimitri Mitropoulos in a performance that was preserved by the a private live recording and now also released on CD. However, Guarrera's vocal interpretation of this performance has also been described as "unbalanced and quite harsh". Also recorded was a repertoire performance of Puccini's La Bohème on December 14, 1965, in which Guarrera can be heard together with Renata Tebaldi , Franco Corelli and Anneliese Rothenberger .

Critics particularly pointed out the light, not particularly powerful, but well-focused voice of Guarrera. He had no problems whatsoever with the often high tessitura of various parts. In addition to his vocal virtues, his impressive stage presence and good looks were repeatedly highlighted in the reviews.

From 1952 to 1974 Guarrera also sang regularly at the San Francisco Opera . His debut was there in November 1952 with the role of Amonasro in Aida . This was followed by Conte di Luna (1952), Tonio (1952), Escamillo (1953, 1959, 1966), Rossini's Figaro (1953), Marcello (1954, 1958), Lord Enrico Ashton (1954), Ping (1954), Guglielmo ( 1956, 1960), Ford (1956, 1966), Sharpless in Madama Butterfly (1956), Lescaut in Puccini's Manon Lescaut (1956), Rodrigo / Posa (1958), Manfredo (1959), Silvio (1959) and the title role in Rigoletto (1966). The last time he sang there on November 30, 1974, was Sharpless alongside Pilar Lorengar in the title role of Madame Butterfly .

After the end of his stage career, Guarrera worked as a singing teacher and gave private lessons. From 1980 to 1990 he was professor of singing at the University of Washington in Seattle . After his wife Adelina suffered a severe stroke , Guarrera gave up his job as a singing teacher, returned with his Fru to the American east coast and cared for his wife until her death in 2000.

Guarrera died in his home shortly before his 84th birthday from complications caused by diabetes .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Vita Frank Guarrera  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Homepage OPERISSIMO@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / hosting2.triboni.com  
  2. ↑ Il concerto per la commemorazione di Boito, 10 giugno 1948 ( Memento of the original of May 10, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Homepage of the Biblioteca del Conservatorio di Musica di Como  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.conservatoriocomo.it
  3. ↑ GRAMOPHONE Archive  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Review May 1990@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.gramophone.net  
  4. ↑ GRAMOPHONE Archive  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Review September 1972: Frank Guerrera is an imposing Ford, rising, with his conductor's help, to great dramatic heights in his soliloquy.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.gramophone.net  
  5. ↑ Lohengrin Homepage wagnerdiscography.com
  6. ↑ Frank Guarrera American baritone whose musicianship and dry timbre made him a reliable favorite at the Met Obituary in: The Times of December 3, 2007
  7. ↑ Obituaries obituary in: Opera News Online , February 2008
  8. ↑ REUNION frank guarrera Portrait of Martin Bernheimer's 80th birthday frank guarrera 2003
  9. ↑ CD Review CD review by Göran Forsling
  10. ↑ Tribute to Renata Tebaldi Complete discography by Renata Tebaldi
  11. ^ Frank Guarrera: Stylish operatic baritone portrait of Frank Guarrera in: The Independent from February 7, 2008
  12. ↑ CHARLES GOUNOD: Faust review by Robert Levine, Classis Today.com
  13. ↑ Frank Guarrera's roles directory San Francisco Opera Performance Archive (with search function)
  14. ^ Frank Guarrera, 83, Lyric Baritone at the Met, Is Dead Obituary in: The New York Times, November 27, 2007
personal data
SURNAME Guarrera, Frank
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American opera singer (baritone)
DATE OF BIRTH December 3, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia
DATE OF DEATH November 23, 2007
Place of death Bellmawr , New Jersey