Tito Schipa

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Tito Schipa

Raffaele Attilio Amedeo Schipa (born December 27, 1888 in Lecce , † December 16, 1965 in New York City ) was an Italian opera singer ( tenor ) and composer . Schipa was born at the end of 1888, but the civil registration under the name Raffaele Attilio Amedeo Schipa did not take place until January 2, 1889, so he could begin his military service a year later.

Life

Schipa came from an Arbëresh family, a member of the long-established Albanian minority in Italy.

Tito Schipa received his vocal training in Lecce with Alceste Gerunda and in Milan with Emilio Piccoli. In 1910 he made his debut as Alfred in Verdi's La Traviata at the Teatro Politeama Facchinetti in Vercelli . He then sang the Duke in Verdi's Rigoletto in Messina in March 1910 . In 1912 he made his debut in Milan at the Teatro Dal Verme as Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca . In 1913 he first appeared in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro .

In 1914 he made his debut at the Teatro Costanzi (now Teatro dell'Opera di Roma ) in Rome as Ernesto in Gaetano Donizetti's opera Don Pasquale . This is one of his highlights.

In the 1915/1916 season, Schipa made his debut in the role of Vladimir in Alexander Borodin's opera Fürst Igor at La Scala in Milan . At the world premiere of Giacomo Puccini's opera La rondine at the Monte Carlo Opera on March 27, 1917, Schipa took over the role of Ruggero.

In 1919 he laid the foundation for an extraordinary career in the United States with his debut as Duke in Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto . He sang at the opera houses of Chicago (1919–1932), San Francisco (from 1924) and New York (1932–1935). His first role at the Metropolitan Opera was the Nemorino in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore .

At the side of Schipa, Caterina Boratto made her film debut in the 1937 film drama Vivere! She later entered into a love affair with him. Also directed by director Guido Brignone and again with Schipa as a partner, she played in the 1938 film Chi è più felice di me? .

In addition, Schipa performed regularly in Italy (Milan, Rome) between 1929 and 1949. In 1957 he went on a concert tour to the Soviet Union (Moscow, Leningrad, Riga). At the Metropolitan Opera, Schipa was given the difficult task of filling the void for the angry New York audience favorite Beniamino Gigli . The critic of the British tabloid The Sun , WJ Henderson, praised Schipa's “taste, delicacy and elegance” and attested to his Nemorino that the aria Una furtiva lagrima had seldom been sung so (well) in this house.

Schipa was also active as a composer and wrote, among other things, the opera Principessa Liana , which premiered in Rome in 1935.

Schipa's stage career was extraordinarily long, spanning 52 years.

voice

Schipa embodied the prototype of a bel canto singer. It was not endowed with the lavish euphony of a Beniamino Gigli or the overwhelming radiance of a Mario del Monaco . Schipa, however, is one of the most important lyric tenors, from whom come some model interpretations that have remained unsurpassed to our days, such as Almaviva ( Il barbiere di Siviglia ), Nemorino ( L'elisir d'amore ) and Ernesto ( Don Pasquale ).

Records

Tito Schipa has made several hundred recordings for Pathe, Victo and HMV, including a complete recording of Don Pasquale .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ photo. Schipa with Caterina Boratto. Schweizer Film = Film Suisse: official organ of Switzerland, accessed on June 9, 2020 .
  2. ^ Poster for Vivere. The song of life. Retrieved June 9, 2020 .

Web links

Commons : Tito Schipa  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Schipa, Tito
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schipa, Raffaele Attilio Amedeo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian opera singer (tenor) and composer
DATE OF BIRTH December 27, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Lecce
DATE OF DEATH December 16, 1965
Place of death New York City