Giuseppe Valdengo

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Giuseppe Valdengo (born May 24, 1914 in Turin ; † October 3, 2007 in Aosta ) was an Italian opera singer with a baritone voice .

Life

Giuseppe Valdengo initially trained as an instrumental soloist. He studied oboe as a major at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Turin , as well as English horn , piano and cello . In the subjects oboe and english horn he also obtained his musician diploma. At the suggestion of the Italian composer Franco Alfano , the then director of the conservatory, Valdengo had his voice trained and then studied singing with Michele Accorinti in Turin.

After completing his studies, Valdengo sang at the Teatro Sperimentale in Alessandria , where he was engaged. His debut as an opera singer was there in 1936 in the role of Sharpless in the opera Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini . In the same year a guest appearance at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna followed as Marcello in the opera La Bohème . In 1936 he made his debut at the Teatro Regio in Parma as Figaro in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Le nozze di Figaro , and in 1942 he also appeared there as Marcello. In Turin, shortly before the outbreak of World War II, he successfully sang Heerrufer in Italian in the romantic opera Lohengrin by Richard Wagner .

In the 1938/39 season Valdengo was signed to La Scala in Milan after an audition mediated by bassist Tancredi Pasero . The information on Valdengo's Scala debut is inconsistent. Sometimes it is still given for the 1938/39 season in the role of the broom maker Peter ( Pietro ) in the fairy tale opera Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck . From 1941 onwards, Valdengo's appearances are documented in the La Scala in Milan. Then Valdengo appeared for the first time in 1941 as Baron Douphol in La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi . In the 1941/42 season he appeared as Franz in Lodoletta by Pietro Mascagni , as Mandarin in Turandot by Giacomo Puccini, as Peter / Pietro in Hansel and Gretel and as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly . In 1943 Valdengo sang again Baron Douphol in La Traviata . Due to war reasons, there were no further appearances. In the 1945/46 season Valdengo then continued his career at Scala.

From 1946 to 1948 Valdengo sang at the New York City Center Opera. There he made his debut as Sharpless in 1946. Further roles followed in the 1946/47 season: Tonio in Der Bajazzo , Scarpia in Tosca and Valentin in Margarethe . In the 1947/48 season he sang Marcello, Escamillo in Carmen , the title role in Rigoletto and Germont-père. In 1947 he sang Valentin in Charles Gounod's Margarethe at the San Francisco Opera .

In 1947 Valdengo was signed to the Metropolitan Opera in New York , of which he remained a permanent member of the ensemble until 1954. He made his debut there in December 1947 at the side of Licia Albanese and Raoul Jobin with Tonio in Der Bajazzo . He sang a total of 17 different roles in around 90 performances at the Metropolitan Opera, mainly the great baritone roles of Puccini (Marcello, Lescaut) and Verdi (Germont-père, Ford, Amonasro, Paolo Albiani). 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 Belcore in The Love Potion .

A high point in Valdengo's career from 1947 was the collaboration with the conductor Arturo Toscanini . Toscanini selected Valdengo for the baritone roles in the annual radio shows broadcast on NBC . In 1947 Valdengo sang Iago in Verdi's Otello alongside Ramón Vinay and Herva Nelli . Toscanini had rehearsed this role personally with Valdengo. In 1949 the Amonasro followed in Aida . In 1950 he took on the title role in Falstaff , which he had also worked on with Toscanini, alongside Frank Guarrera as Ford.

After his engagement at the Metropolitan Opera ended, Valdengo returned to Europe and sang at various opera houses and festivals. In 1953 he appeared at La Scala in Milan as Manfredo in L'Amore dei tre Re by Italo Montemezzi . In 1955 he sang Marcello again at La Scala. In 1955 he took part in the Glyndebourne Festival : in the title role of Mozart's Don Giovanni and as Raimbaud in Le comte Ory by Gioacchino Rossini . In 1961 he sang at the Opera House of Rome in the world premiere of the opera Il Sguardo dal Ponte by Renzo Rossellini .

In 1962 Valdengo published his autobiography under the title Ho cantato con Toscanini . In 1966, Valdengo said goodbye to the stage, but continued to give concerts. Valdengo was still artistically active as a singing teacher. His students included Alessandro Corbelli , Bruno Pratico and Claudius Muth .

Audio documents

The musical oeuvre of Giuseppe Valdengo, passed down through radio recordings, live recordings and records, has been largely re-released on CD in recent years, partly in special historical documentaries. Valdengo's not very numerous recordings show excellent vocal technique , an intelligent use of nuances and colors, and artful phrasing . His recordings with Toscanini are still regarded today as setting standards.

Under the direction of Toscanini, Valdengo gave a "musically and creatively equal opponent" to Vinay's interpretation of the title role.

When interpreting Falstaff , Valdengo avoided “cheap and grotesque exaggerations”. There are no “thick jokes” in his interpretation. Vocally he embodies a believable lover. Valdengo's excellent diction and his keen sense for the respective stage situation were also highlighted.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Cesare Civetta: The Real Toscanini: Musicians Reveal the Maestro . Hal Leonard Corporation, Milwaukee 2012, ISBN 978-1-57467-416-3 ( google.de [accessed October 16, 2017]).
  2. ^ Laura Wagner-Semrau: Giuseppe Valdengo - Baritones - Opera Vivrà. In: Opera Vivrà. Retrieved October 16, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Giuseppe Valdengo at Operissimo  on the basis of the Great Singer Lexicon
  4. ↑ SOME NOTES ON THE ARTISTS TOSCANINIS FALSTAFF  ( 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. in: Gramophone Archive , March 1955@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.gramophone.net  
  5. ↑ Living Past ( Memento of the original from December 22nd, 2015 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. (PDF; 222 kB) Laura Semrau in: CD booklet from Preiser Records  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.preiserrecords.at
  6. ↑ Obituaries . Obituary in: Opera News Online , February 2008
  7. ↑ Enrico Stinchelli: Le stelle della lirica: i grandi cantanti della storia dell'opera Short biography by Giuseppe Valdengo, p. 159 (excerpts available on Google Books)
  8. ^ Giuseppe Verdi: Otello review by Attila Csampai in: RONDO from June 1, 1997
  9. ^ The Immortal Toscanini, Volumes X - XII Critique by Raymond Tuttle on Classical Net Review 2000
  10. ^ Giuseppe Verdi: Falstaff Critique in Classical Review , May 2000
personal data
SURNAME Valdengo, Giuseppe
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian opera singer (baritone)
DATE OF BIRTH May 24, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Turin , Italy
DATE OF DEATH October 3, 2007
Place of death Aosta