Michael Aspinall

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George Michael Aspinall (born October 31, 1939 in Stockport , Great Britain ) is a British musicologist and parodist who has lived in Italy since 1966.

Life

Aspinall studied singing ( baritone ) with Antony Benskin in London and with Vincenzo D'Alessandro and Adolfo Baruti in Rome. As a specialist in the history of the art of singing and especially bel canto , Aspinall has written numerous essays and monographs ; thus works on Nellie Melba , Adelina Patti , Enrico Caruso and Francesco Tamagno , as well as a study on ornamentation by Rossini. Aspinall composed cadenzas for the operas La donna del lago and Norma for Montserrat Caballé .

In 1972 Aspinall sang the travesty role of Mamma Agata in Gaetano Donizetti's opera buffa Viva la Mamma! ( Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali ), 1982 at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino the mother Goose in Igor Stravinski's The Rake's Progress .

Aspinall became known in the 1970s and 1980s for his opera parodies (for example La traviata , Tosca , La Gioconda and von Schubert songs), in which he sang the soprano part in falsetto . In his concerts he usually appeared in the classical concert costume of an opera diva.

While the New York Times saw a mixture of Margaret Dumont (in the Marx Brothers film A Night at the Opera ) and Florence Foster Jenkins in Aspinall , singer expert Jürgen Kesting emphasized Aspinall's great versatility in the art of singing bel canto, which goes far beyond goes beyond the parodic slapstick. According to Kesting, Aspinall shows "... with every example what is actually meant. He knows how to 'time' an arc, form a trill, use a rubato. He can sing! He shows both what in the parody the divas skillfully, as well as what the sopranos in verismo afford for exaggerations. […] There is still a sound fantasy at work in the parody, a technical skill that many great singers lack and would characterize so many. "

literature

  • Michael Aspinall: The Career of Francesco Tamagno. 2007 ( online ).
  • Michael Aspinall: Nellie Melba: The London Recordings 1904–1926. Booklet for the LP, EMI, London, 1976.
  • Michael Aspinall: Liner notes: The Complete Francisco Viñas. Marston Records, 2006.
  • Michael Aspinall: Caruso's vocals. In: Pietro Gargano and Gianni Cesarini: Caruso: a biography. Schweizer Verl.-Haus, Zurich 1991, ISBN 3-7263-6648-2 .

Discography

There are two vinyl LPs by Michael Aspinall, which were released by DECCA in 1978 and contain parodies a. a. on Verdi, Puccini, Ponchielli and Schubert.

  • 1972: Viva la Mamma! ; Conductor Mary Hill Voce 5, vinyl
  • 1978: The Art of Coloratura ; Michael Aspinall, soprano, Courtney Kenny, piano; Decca, vinyl

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Tim Page, Surprising Soprano Sings at Town Hall ; The New York Times, February 23, 1987 [1]
  2. ↑ Jürgen Kesting, The Art of Coloratura , text for the LP
personal data
SURNAME Aspinall, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Aspinall, George Michael (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British musicologist and parodist
DATE OF BIRTH October 31, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Stockport , UK