Giuseppe Di Stefano
Giuseppe Di Stefano (born July 24, 1921 in Motta Sant'Anastasia ( CT ), Italy , † March 3, 2008 in Santa Maria Hoè ( LC ), Italy) was an Italian opera singer ( tenor ). He is counted among the most important tenors of the 20th century.
Life
After studying with Adriano Tocchio, Luigi Montesanto and Mariano Stabile, he made his debut in Reggio Emilia in 1946 in the role of Des Grieux in Jules Massenet's Manon . On March 15, 1947 he appeared in the same role at La Scala in Milan and a year later he made his debut at the Met , where he celebrated great triumphs as Faust ( Gounod ), Rodolfo ( La Bohème ) and again as Des Grieux . He sang in almost every major opera house in the world. He became known through his frequent appearances at the side of Maria Callas .
The first vocal problems arose after overuse in 1963 at Covent Garden in London during a performance of Puccini's La Bohème , and Di Stefano had to be replaced by a young up-and-coming singer the following year: that was the beginning of Luciano Pavarotti's career .
Several attempts at comeback by Di Stefano, including in 1973 with Maria Callas, failed, whereupon he retired to Africa. He lived there with his wife Monica several months a year in Diani on the coast of Kenya to the south of Mombasa . In early December 2004, he and his wife were attacked by strangers at their home. Di Stefano suffered severe head injuries and was operated on twice in a hospital in Mombasa. After his health did not improve, he was transferred to the neurosurgical department of the San-Raffaele clinic in Milan . He has not recovered from his injuries; in December 2007 he fell into a coma again and died on March 3, 2008 in his home near Milan.
Giuseppe Di Stefano was married twice: in 1949 he married Maria Girolami, with whom he had a son and a daughter. Since the latter became seriously ill, he organized a tour in 1973 , to which he was also able to persuade Maria Callas, whereby a large part of his fee was used to finance the medical treatment. From 1994 until his death he was married to the soprano Monica Curth.
literature
- Thomas Semrau: All or nothing. Giuseppe Di Stefano. A biography . Residence, Salzburg 2002, ISBN 3-7017-1295-6
Web links
- Giuseppe Di Stefano in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Newspaper article about the attack on Di Stefano
- News of his death
- Die Welt von March 3, 2008 The great tenor Giuseppe di Stefano is dead
- YouTube color audio video (London 1973) of a duet by Maria Callas and Giuseppe di Stefano from Mascagni's "Cavalleria rusticana"
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chris Pasles: Italian lyric tenor inspired Pavarotti . Los Angeles Times , March 4, 2008, accessed December 16, 2013
- ↑ Charles Dick: Italian tenor Di Stefano dies aged 86 ( Memento of the original from March 9, 2008 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. . Reuters , March 3, 2008, accessed March 5, 2008
- ↑ Giuseppe Di Stefano died . FAZ , March 4, 2008, accessed March 5, 2008
- ^ Giuseppe Di Stefano . The Daily Telegraph , March 5, 2008
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Di Stefano, Giuseppe |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian opera singer (tenor) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 24, 1921 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Motta Sant'Anastasia |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 3, 2008 |
| Place of death | Santa Maria Hoè |