Ramon Vinay

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ramon Vinay

Ramón Mario Francisco Vinay Sepúlveda (born August 31, 1911 in Chillán , Chile , † January 4, 1996 in Puebla , Mexico ) was a Chilean opera singer ( tenor / baritone ).

Life

origin

Vinay's father had emigrated from France via Mexico and Peru to Chile, his mother was Italian. The parents married in 1907 and Vinay was born the third of four children.

During a business trip to France in 1914, the father was forced to serve in the French army as a soldier in the First World War . However, he deserted in 1917 and returned to Chile, where his wife had died in the meantime. After the French government had guaranteed him amnesty, he and his children returned to Digne-les-Bains in France in 1920 , where Ramón Vinay finished his education.

Against his father's wishes, he emigrated to Mexico in 1928, where he initially worked for the company of his grandmother's family and a little later, together with a brother, founded a factory for the manufacture of drug boxes.

Vocal training and debut

From around 1930 Vinay took singing lessons from José Pieson , who had trained several Mexican singers, such as Alfonso Ortiz Tirado , Juan Arvizu , Pedro Vargas and Jorge Negrete . Although Vinay sang bass parts during this training period , he made his debut on September 16, 1931 in the baritone part of Don Alfonso in Donizetti's opera La favorita at the Teatro de las Bellas Artes in Mexico City . Vinay then appeared on Mexican radio for several years.

From 1938 Vinay sang again at the Teatro de las Bellas Artes, and until 1944 he expanded his repertoire, including the title role in Verdi's Rigoletto , Tonio in Pagliacci and Germont in La traviata .

Change of subject and career

After switching to tenor, he made his debut in 1943 as Don José in Georges Bizet's opera Carmen . The following year he first appeared in the title role of Verdi's Otello . He then sang roles like Samson ( Samson et Dalila ), Cavaradossi ( Tosca ) and Des Grieux ( Manon Lescaut ).

Other important stations and debuts:

From 1946 to 1962 he appeared in tenor roles at the Metropolitan Opera, from 1952 to 1957 at the Bayreuth Festival.

Another change of subject

From 1957 Vinay took over roles almost exclusively in the German hero field , in March 1962 he sang his last tenor role, Herod in Salome at the Metropolitan Opera. A few months later he was back on stage as a baritone: He sang Telramund ( Lohengrin ) in Bayreuth.

Appearances as Scarpia (Tosca), Iago (Otello), Holländer ( The Flying Dutchman ), Nerone ( L'incoronazione di Poppea ), Germont (La traviata), Amonasro (Aida), Dr. Schön ( Lulu ), the title roles in Falstaff and Gianni Schicchi , Michele ( Il tabarro ), Escamillo (Carmen), Belcore ( L'elisir d'amore ), Kurwenal (Tristan and Isolde), Marcello ( La Bohème ) and Tonio ( Pagliacci ).

Vinay also sang a few bass parts, but was less successful: Basilio ( The Barber of Seville ), Warlaam ( Boris Godunow ), Wotan ( Das Rheingold ), Commendatore ( Don Giovanni ) and the Grand Inquisitor ( Don Carlos ).

End of career

Ramón Vinay gave his farewell performance on September 22, 1969 at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago in Verdi's Otello, where he appeared in the first two acts in the baritone role of Iago and in the third and fourth act in the tenor role of Otello. Until 1974, when he definitely gave up his career, he sang a few performances in the USA and a few recitals.

Private

Vinay married the Mexican María de los Angeles Padilla Brondo in 1940, with whom he had children Elvira and Ramón Jr. In 1945 he left his wife to live with the soprano Lushanya Mobley († 1990).

After their death, their family tried to declare Vinay underage and took him to various sanatoriums in the USA , where he a. a. was treated with electroshock therapy.

His children from his first marriage finally brought him to Mexico, where he died on January 4, 1996 of a heart attack .

His remains were brought to Santiago by order of the Chilean government , where Vinay was honored with an act of funeral in the Teatro Municipal. Ramón Vinay was buried in the Chillán cemetery, his grave is near the grave of the Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau .

Recordings and impact

Vinay is best known for four legendary interpretations: the title role in Verdi's Otello under the direction of Arturo Toscanini (1947); Tristan in Tristan und Isolde under the direction of Herbert von Karajan (1951) and Siegmund in Die Walküre and the title role in Parsifal under the direction of Clemens Krauss (1953). This last recording, which was made live, bears witness to the strength and energy of his voice as well as to his great struggle with the German language.

Ramón Vinay is considered to be “the” Otello of the 20th century because of his musicality and his enormous stage presence, alongside Jon Vickers and Mario del Monaco .

Filmography

  • 1943: Fantasia Ranchera
  • Sinfonia de una Vida

Audio samples

literature

  • Horst Seeger : Opernlexikon , Berlin (-Ost) 1978 Henschelverlag
  • Kutsch / Riemens: Sängerlexikon , o. O., 2000
  • Lohengrin program of the Bayreuth Festival, Bayreuth (1963)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Municipalidad de Chillán (website of the city of Chillán)
  2. ↑ Ópera siempre, 1/2009. ( Memento of the original from March 18, 2013 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.operasiempre.es
  3. ↑ Municipalidad de Chillán
  4. ^ Website of the Bayreuth Festival
  5. ↑ Ramon Vinay & Ezio Flagello "Il Grande Inquisitor" Don Carlo on YouTube
  6. ^ Opera siempre, 1/2009. ( Memento of the original from March 18, 2013 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.operasiempre.es
  7. ↑ Summary of Vinay biography of Carlos Bastia and Juan Dzazopulos (De Chillan à la Gloria. Santiago de Chile, 1997)
  8. ↑ Municipalidad de Chillán
personal data
SURNAME Vinay, Ramon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vinay Sepúlveda, Ramón Mario Francisco (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Chilean opera singer (tenor / baritone)
DATE OF BIRTH August 31, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Chillan , Chile
DATE OF DEATH 4th January 1996
Place of death Puebla , Mexico