Lomelino Silva

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Nuno Estêvão Lomelino da Silva (born December 26, 1892 in Funchal , † November 11, 1967 in Lisbon ) was a Portuguese opera singer . He achieved world fame as a tenor under the nickname “Portuguese Caruso” in the 1920s and 30s, before falling into oblivion again.

Life

Beginnings (1892–1921)

Lomelino Silva was born on December 26, 1892 on the Portuguese island of Madeira as the son of Guilherme Augusto da Silva and Helena Lomelino da Silva in Rua das Maravilhas, in the municipality of São Pedro , a municipality in the island's capital Funchal. He made his first appearance as a singer in 1916 at the Teatro Dr. Manuel de Arriaga , today's Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias in Funchal. There he stood out for his singing in the opera Doces Tormentos by Lieutenant Colonel Sarmento, which was performed as part of a charity gala. He then worked in the meantime in the banking house Banco Totta & Açores in Lisbon , before he was drafted into the military and went to the officers' school after Germany declared war on Portugal on March 9, 1916. He became a sub-lieutenant and was involved in the defense of Madeira during the attack by German U- Boats involved. After completing his military service before the end of the war, he went back to Lisbon in 1918, where he took singing lessons from Alberto Sarti. After his return to Madeira in 1919, the cultures of Funchal attested a vocal regression, and he followed the advice in 1920 to go to Italy, where he took lessons from Giovanni Laura (singing) and Ercole Pizzi (technique). On the occasion of a short stay in Madeira in mid-1921, he gave three guest performances, which have now received good reviews again.

Successes (1921–1949)

After his return to Italy, he made his first major appearance as an opera tenor on December 31, 1921 . His interpretation of Verdi's Rigoletto at Milan's Teatro Dal Verme was an enormous success and established his tenor career. At the beginning of 1922 he toured the Netherlands with an Italian opera company before going on a tour of Brazil at the end of the year. Numerous guest appearances followed, both in operas in Italy and with concerts and opera appearances in Portugal, including in 1924 with an Italian ensemble at the Lisbon Teatro São Carlos . Again and again he stopped for acclaimed performances in Madeira, between his various guest appearances, including the first in Porto in early 1926. In the spring of the same year he went to London to record a few shellac records for HMV .

In 1927 Silva went on tour through the USA for the first time . After a tour with an Italian opera company through Florida and Pennsylvania , Silva's guest performances followed in New England , where many Portuguese live, especially from Madeira. In the October 14, 1927 issue of The New Bedford Times newspaper , he was first referred to by critics as "the Portuguese Caruso ". Since then he has often been referred to in the press with the nickname. He returned to the US in 1928 and performed on both the east and west coasts. At the end of the year Silva returned to Madeira for a few concerts and then back to Lisbon, where he a. a. performed in the Teatro Politeama . On June 19, 1929, President Óscar Carmona awarded him the Officer's Cross of the Order of Christ .

This was followed by a second, about one year's Brazil tour, where he nicknamed Nightingale Madeira ( port. : Rouxinol madeirense ) received. After various leading roles in operas in Porto and Lisbon, he said goodbye to his audience in Madeira at the beginning of 1931 with a big concert before going on a two-year world tour. It began on the east coast of the USA, went via Hawaii and a number of Asian cities to the then Portuguese colony of Mozambique and finally South Africa , from where he returned to Madeira. In mid-1934 he completed a tour of the Antilles Islands before he returned to another two-year tour in 1936, this time taking him through a number of cities in the USA, in particular New York, Hollywood and Los Angeles. Between 1938 and 1949 a number of other guest tours followed to the Antilles, to Brazil, Lisbon, Porto, and again and again Funchal.

Retired (1949–1967)

In 1949 he heralded the end of his career. Little is known about his later life. He retired in Lisbon, where he died on November 11, 1967 in Hospital São Luis .

reception

Critics of the time praised the clarity and expressiveness of his voice. The range of his program was also exceptional. So he sang alongside Arias also Fados , Neapolitan songs and even some popular hits of contemporary fashion. Despite its significant success in the 1920s and 30s, however, Lomelino Silva has been largely forgotten since the early 1950s.

On his 100th birthday in 1992, the Madeira regional government inaugurated a plaque on the house where he was born on Rua das Maravilhas in Funchal. On June 28, 2001, the Portuguese tenor Carlos Guilherme paid tribute to him with a recital at the Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias in Funchal . Accompanied by Maestro Armando Vidal on piano, Guilherme sang the same repertoire that Silva performed in his concert on December 29, 1932 at the Teatro Varietá in Lourenço Marques (now Maputo ), Guilherme's hometown of Mozambique.

The releasing of his shellac records as a CD retrospective in Portugal in 2009, 42 years after his death , made a significant contribution to the slowly reawakening memory of Lomelino Silva . Original publications of his recordings are also in great demand among record collectors.

Discography

  • HMV London 79487: Mãesinha (Alberto Sarti) B4667 7-62105 / Guitarrada (Alberto Sarti) B4667 7-62106 (April 26, 1926)
  • HMV London 79488: As amendoeiras (Alberto Sarti) B4668 7-62107 / Canto de Rouzinol (Alberto Sarti) B4668 7-62108 (April 26, 1926)
  • HMV London 79489: As cotovias (Alberto Sarti) B4669 7-62110 (April 26, 1926) / Vindima (Alberto Sarti) B4669 7-62109 (June 3, 1926)
  • HMV London 79490: Para as raparigas de Coimbra (de Lima) B4670 7-62111 / As pombas (Fernando Moutinho) B4670 7-62112 (June 3, 1926)
  • HMV London 79491: Papoulas (Alberto Sarti) B4671 7-62113 / Carta da aldeia (Coutinho De Oliveira) B4671 B4671 (June 3, 1926)
  • HMV London 79492: Cancão perdida (de Lima) B4672 7-62115 / Fado das romarias (Antonio Menano) B4672 7-62116 (May 18, 1926)
  • HMV London 79493: Fado de granja (Antonio Menano) B4673 7-62117 (May 18, 1926) / Porque duvidas tu deste amor louco (Serrano) B4673 7-62118 (June 2, 1926)
  • HMV London 79494: Arlesiana (Cilea): Lamento de Federico B4674 7-62119 / Fado (Ruy Coelho) B4674 7-62122 (June 2, 1926)
  • HMV London (DA798): Rigoletto (Verdi): Questa o quella B4675 7-62120 / Rigoletto (Verdi): La donna e mobile B4675 7-62121 (April 30, 1926)
  • TRAD058 Tradisom : Lomelino Silva - O Caruso Português. (Retrospective, published 2009)

His English shellac records, recorded between April 26 and June 3, 1926, have also been published in other countries and under other labels:

There were also requirements for the Portuguese colonies of the HMV plates No. 79490 to 79494 (as catalog numbers Bu670 to Bu674).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Biography in the comprehensive booklet of the CD Lomelino Silva - O Caruso Português , a retrospective of the recordings from 1926, Tradisom , Vila Verde 2009
  2. ↑ Entry Lomelino Silvas at www.forgottenoperasingers.blogspot.de, accessed on February 18, 2015
  3. ↑ Website for the CD retrospective with excerpts from the biographical liner notes of the CD booklet ( Memento of the original from February 18, 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. of the Portuguese label Tradisom, accessed on February 18, 2015 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tradisom.com
  4. ↑ Offer of a Lomelino Silvas record ( Memento of the original of February 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at www.collectorsfrenzy.com, accessed February 18, 2015 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / collectorsfrenzy.com
personal data
SURNAME Silva, Lomelino
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Silva, Nuno Estêvão Lomelino da (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Portuguese opera singer
DATE OF BIRTH December 26, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Funchal , Portugal
DATE OF DEATH November 11, 1967
Place of death Lisbon , Portugal