Pasquale Amato
Encyclopedia
Pasquale Amato was an outstanding Italian opera
tic baritone
. Amato enjoyed an international reputation but attained the peak of his fame in New York City, where he sang with the Metropolitan Opera
from 1908 until 1921.
and studied locally at the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella under Beniamino Carelli
and Vincenzo Lombardo (who also gave singing lessons to the great Neapolitan tenor Enrico Caruso). In 1900, he made his debut at the Teatro Bellini in Naples as Germont père in La traviata
. Engagements followed in Genoa
and Rome. Over the next few years he sang in Monte Carlo, Germany, parts of eastern Europe and Argentina. In 1904, he appeared at London's Royal Opera House
with the Teatro di San Carlo
Company; although well-received, he was not invited back.
He was engaged by La Scala
, Milan, and sang there in 1907 under the baton of Arturo Toscanini
. His voice had matured by now into a top-class instrument and he was praised for his versatility and artistic integrity. In 1913 he was accorded the honour of taking part in the Verdi centenary commemoration at the Busseto
Theatre. He appeared at the commemoration in La traviata and Falstaff
with Toscanini conducting. Other important operatic roles which Amato sang in Italy prior to World War I included Amonasro in Aida
, Marcello in La bohème
, the title part in Rigoletto
, as well as Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande
, Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde
, Scarpia in Tosca
and Barnaba in La Gioconda
.
, along with Olive Fremstad
, Enrico Caruso, Louise Homer
and Alma Gluck
. In December of that same year, he created the part of Jack Rance in Puccini's La fanciulla del West
, singing opposite Caruso, Emmy Destinn
, Dinh Gilly
and Antonio Pini-Corsi
.
Amato was by now a celebrity, and his re-arrival in the United States by ship in October 1912 with fellow baritones Titta Ruffo
, Antonio Scotti
and William Hinshaw, and soprano Lucrezia Bori
, received interested press coverage.
In 1913, Amato created the title role in Cyrano
by Walter Damrosch; Frances Alda
and Riccardo Martin
were also in the cast. He performed, too, in that year's production of Un ballo in maschera
with Caruso, Destinn, Margarete Matzenauer
and Frieda Hempel
, and with them again in Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele
. In La Gioconda, he sang alongside Destinn again, and Margarethe Arndt-Ober
. Amato was especially admired as Escamillo in Carmen
, supporting Geraldine Farrar
, Caruso and Alda, when the opera was successfully revived in 1914.
Also in 1914 he performed the part of Manfredo (opposite Adamo Didur
and Lucrezia Bori
) in Montemezzi's L'amore dei tre re
, when that new work came to New York, and in 1915 he created the part of Napoléon in Umberto Giordano's Madame Sans-Gêne
, with Farrar as Catherine. In 1916, he gave the premiere American performance of the role of Giovanni in Riccardo Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini
(opposite Alda and Giovanni Martinelli
), and in 1918 that of Gianetto (with Farrar, Caruso, and Didur) in Mascagni's Lodoletta
.
Amato's punishingly high work-rate at the Met took its toll on his voice and he retired to Italy during the 1920s, owing to ill-health. But in 1933, 25 years after his American debut, he appeared there again at the New York Hippodrome
, singing the role of Germont père. Amato had an affinity with America and, in 1935, he was made Head of Studies in voice and opera at the Louisiana State University
, where in 1939 he was initiated as an honorary member of the Beta Omega Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity, the national fraternity for men in music. He died at the age of 64 in Jackson Heights, Queens
.
in The Record of Singing
, it had a ringing and vibrant tone that could not be confused with that produced by any other baritone. Although it was not quite so opulent as the vocal instrument possessed by his famous contemporary Titta Ruffo, it was still wonderfully resonant and secure, with plenty of carrying power and flexibility. Amato also sang with masterful phrasing and cantabile
. In short: he was one of the most distinctive singers of his age.
s of operatic arias were made by Amato in America for the Victor Talking Machine Company
—including some duets with Caruso and other stars of the Met. His 1914 Victor recording of "Eri tu" (from Un Ballo in Maschera), for example, is considered by many critics to be the finest version ever committed to disc.
Prior to his contract with Victor, Amato had cut a series of discs in Italy for Fonotipia Records
. Later, in 1924, he made an obscure (and poorly recorded) group of discs for the Homophone company. He is known to have made an electrical recording—a "Neapolitan Song" produced by the Vitaphone
company in 1927. Both sound only and motion-picture versions of the song have recently surfaced. Amato also appeared as a straight actor in a Warner Bros.
motion picture, playing Napoléon
in 1928's mostly-silent film Glorious Betsy
.
, at Louisiana State University in 1939.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
. Amato enjoyed an international reputation but attained the peak of his fame in New York City, where he sang with the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
from 1908 until 1921.
Early career
Amato was born in NaplesNaples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
and studied locally at the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella under Beniamino Carelli
Beniamino Carelli
Beniamino Carelli was a celebrated Italian singing teacher and composer.Carelli was born and died in Naples, where he spent many years teaching at the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella...
and Vincenzo Lombardo (who also gave singing lessons to the great Neapolitan tenor Enrico Caruso). In 1900, he made his debut at the Teatro Bellini in Naples as Germont père in La traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
. Engagements followed in Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
and Rome. Over the next few years he sang in Monte Carlo, Germany, parts of eastern Europe and Argentina. In 1904, he appeared at London's Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
with the Teatro di San Carlo
Teatro di San Carlo
The Real Teatro di San Carlo is an opera house in Naples, Italy. It is the oldest continuously active such venue in Europe.Founded by the Bourbon Charles VII of Naples of the Spanish branch of the dynasty, the theatre was inaugurated on 4 November 1737 — the king's name day — with a performance...
Company; although well-received, he was not invited back.
He was engaged by La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
, Milan, and sang there in 1907 under the baton of Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
. His voice had matured by now into a top-class instrument and he was praised for his versatility and artistic integrity. In 1913 he was accorded the honour of taking part in the Verdi centenary commemoration at the Busseto
Busseto
Busseto is a comune in the province of Parma, in Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy. It was the capital of Stato Pallavicino. Opera composer Giuseppe Verdi was born in the nearby village of Le Roncole and he moved there in 1824...
Theatre. He appeared at the commemoration in La traviata and Falstaff
Falstaff (opera)
Falstaff is an operatic commedia lirica in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV. It was Verdi's last opera, written in the composer's ninth decade, and only the second of his 26 operas to be a comedy...
with Toscanini conducting. Other important operatic roles which Amato sang in Italy prior to World War I included Amonasro in Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
, Marcello in La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
, the title part in Rigoletto
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
, as well as Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande
Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)
Pelléas et Mélisande is an opera in five acts with music by Claude Debussy. The French libretto was adapted from Maurice Maeterlinck's Symbolist play Pelléas et Mélisande...
, Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...
, Scarpia in Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
and Barnaba in La Gioconda
La Gioconda (opera)
La Gioconda is an opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli set to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Angelo, tyran de Padoue, a play in prose by Victor Hugo, dating from 1835...
.
New York
Amato repeated some of these roles at the Metropolitan Opera, where Toscanini had gone to conduct and where Amato made his debut in 1908. He maintained a taxing performance schedule at the Met until he left the company in 1921, appearing in a number of operatic works that he had not undertaken before. In 1910, for example, he sang in Gluck's ArmideArmide (Gluck)
Armide is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck, his fifth for the Parisian stage and the composer's own favourite among his works. It was first performed in Paris at the Académie Royale on 23 September 1777....
, along with Olive Fremstad
Olive Fremstad
Olive Fremstad was the stage name of Anna Olivia Rundquist, a celebrated Swedish-American opera diva who sang in both the mezzo-soprano and soprano ranges. -Background:...
, Enrico Caruso, Louise Homer
Louise Homer
Louise Homer was an American operatic contralto who had an active international career in concert halls and opera houses from 1895 until her retirement in 1932. After a brief stint as a vaudeville entertainer in New England, she made her professional opera debut in France in 1898...
and Alma Gluck
Alma Gluck
Alma Gluck was a Romanian-born American soprano, one of the world's most famous female singers at the peak of her career .-Life and career:...
. In December of that same year, he created the part of Jack Rance in Puccini's La fanciulla del West
La fanciulla del West
La fanciulla del West is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Guelfo Civinini and Carlo Zangarini, based on the play The Girl of the Golden West by the American author David Belasco. Its highly-publicised premiere occurred in New York City in 1910...
, singing opposite Caruso, Emmy Destinn
Emmy Destinn
Emmy Destinn was a Czech operatic soprano with a strong and soaring lyric-dramatic voice. She had a career both in Europe and at the New York Metropolitan Opera.- Biography :...
, Dinh Gilly
Dinh Gilly
Dinh Gilly was a French-Algerian operatic baritone and teacher.-Biography:He studied in Toulouse, Rome and at the Paris Conservatoire, where he won a premier prix in 1902. That same year he made his debut at the Paris Opera as Silvio in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci...
and Antonio Pini-Corsi
Antonio Pini-Corsi
Antonio Pini-Corsi was an Italian operatic baritone of international renown. He possessed a ripe-toned voice of great flexibility and displayed tremendous skill at patter singing...
.
Amato was by now a celebrity, and his re-arrival in the United States by ship in October 1912 with fellow baritones Titta Ruffo
Titta Ruffo
Titta Ruffo , born as Ruffo Titta Cafiero, was an Italian opera star who had a major international singing career. Known as the "Voce del leone" , he was greatly admired, even by rival baritones, such as Giuseppe De Luca, who said of Ruffo: "His was not a voice, it was a miracle" Titta Ruffo (9...
, Antonio Scotti
Antonio Scotti
Antonio Scotti was an Italian baritone. He was a principal artist of the New York Metropolitan Opera for more than 33 seasons, but also sang with great success at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Milan's La Scala.-Life:Antonio Scotti was born in Naples, Italy...
and William Hinshaw, and soprano Lucrezia Bori
Lucrezia Bori
Lucrezia Bori was a Spanish operatic singer, a lyric soprano.-Biography:Lucrezia Bori was born in Valencia, Spain. Her real name was Lucrecia Borja y González de Riancho and her family were reputed to be descended from the Borgias.Her voice had a unique timbre and transparent quality unlike any...
, received interested press coverage.
In 1913, Amato created the title role in Cyrano
Cyrano (Damrosch)
Cyrano is an opera in four acts composed by Walter Damrosch to an English language libretto by William James Henderson based on Edmond Rostand's play, Cyrano de Bergerac...
by Walter Damrosch; Frances Alda
Frances Alda
Frances Alda was a New Zealand-born, Australian-raised operatic soprano. She achieved fame during the first three decades of the 20th century due to her outstanding singing voice, fine technique and colourful personality—and frequent onstage partnerships at the New York Metropolitan Opera with the...
and Riccardo Martin
Riccardo Martin
Riccardo Martin was an American tenor.Born Hugh Whitfield Martin in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Martin was granted an endowment which allowed him, in 1901, to go to Paris to study with Giovanni Sbriglia and Jean de Reszke; he later completed his studies with Vincenzo Lombardi in Florence and Beniamino...
were also in the cast. He performed, too, in that year's production of Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
with Caruso, Destinn, Margarete Matzenauer
Margarete Matzenauer
Margaret Matzenauer was a mezzo-soprano singer with an opulent timbre and a wide range to her voice...
and Frieda Hempel
Frieda Hempel
Frieda Hempel was a German soprano singer in operatic and concert work who had an international career in Europe and the United States.-Biography:...
, and with them again in Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele
Mefistofele
Mefistofele is an opera in a prologue, four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito.-Composition history:...
. In La Gioconda, he sang alongside Destinn again, and Margarethe Arndt-Ober
Margarethe Arndt-Ober
Margarethe Arndt-Ober was an American opera singer of German descent who had an active international career during the first half of the twentieth century. A highly skilled contralto, Ober enjoyed a particularly long and fruitful association with the Berlin State Opera from 1907 to 1944...
. Amato was especially admired as Escamillo in Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
, supporting Geraldine Farrar
Geraldine Farrar
Geraldine Farrar was an American soprano opera singer and film actress, noted for her beauty, acting ability, and "the intimate timbre of her voice." She had a large following among young women, who were nicknamed "Gerry-flappers".- Early life and opera career :Farrar was born in Melrose,...
, Caruso and Alda, when the opera was successfully revived in 1914.
Also in 1914 he performed the part of Manfredo (opposite Adamo Didur
Adamo Didur
Adamo Didur was a top-class Polish operatic bass vocalist. He sang extensively in opera in Europe and appeared at New York's Metropolitan Opera from 1908 to 1932.-Career:...
and Lucrezia Bori
Lucrezia Bori
Lucrezia Bori was a Spanish operatic singer, a lyric soprano.-Biography:Lucrezia Bori was born in Valencia, Spain. Her real name was Lucrecia Borja y González de Riancho and her family were reputed to be descended from the Borgias.Her voice had a unique timbre and transparent quality unlike any...
) in Montemezzi's L'amore dei tre re
L'amore dei tre re
L'amore dei tre re is an opera in three acts by Italo Montemezzi. Its Italian-language libretto was written by playwright Sem Benelli who based it on his own play of the same title.-Performance history:...
, when that new work came to New York, and in 1915 he created the part of Napoléon in Umberto Giordano's Madame Sans-Gêne
Madame Sans-Gêne (opera)
Madame Sans-Gêne is an opera in three acts by Umberto Giordano. The libretto was taken from Victorien Sardou and Emile Moreau's play, adapted for the opera by Renato Simoni.-Performance history:...
, with Farrar as Catherine. In 1916, he gave the premiere American performance of the role of Giovanni in Riccardo Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini
Francesca da Rimini (Zandonai)
Francesca da Rimini is an opera in four acts, composed by Riccardo Zandonai, with libretto by Tito Ricordi, , after a play by Gabriele D'Annunzio. It was premiered at the Teatro Regio in Turin on February 19, 1914, and is still staged occasionally.This opera is Zandonai's best-known work...
(opposite Alda and Giovanni Martinelli
Giovanni Martinelli
Giovanni Martinelli was a celebrated Italian operatic tenor. He was particularly associated with the Italian lyric-dramatic repertory, although he performed French operatic roles to great acclaim as well...
), and in 1918 that of Gianetto (with Farrar, Caruso, and Didur) in Mascagni's Lodoletta
Lodoletta
Lodoletta is a dramma lirico or lyric opera in three acts by Pietro Mascagni . The libretto is by Giovacchino Forzano, and is based on the novel Two Little Wooden Shoes by Marie Louise de la Ramée, ....
.
Amato's punishingly high work-rate at the Met took its toll on his voice and he retired to Italy during the 1920s, owing to ill-health. But in 1933, 25 years after his American debut, he appeared there again at the New York Hippodrome
New York Hippodrome
The Hippodrome Theatre, also called the New York Hippodrome, was a theatre in New York City from 1905 to 1939, located on Sixth Avenue between 43rd and 44th Streets in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan. It was called the world's largest theatre by its builders and had a seating capacity of...
, singing the role of Germont père. Amato had an affinity with America and, in 1935, he was made Head of Studies in voice and opera at the Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
, where in 1939 he was initiated as an honorary member of the Beta Omega Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity, the national fraternity for men in music. He died at the age of 64 in Jackson Heights, Queens
Jackson Heights, Queens
Jackson Heights is a neighborhood in the Northwestern portion of the borough of Queens in New York, New York, United States. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 3...
.
Appraisal
Amato in his prime possessed a superb high baritone voice of wide compass. According to Michael ScottMichael Scott (artistic director)
Michael Scott is the founder of the London Opera Society. In his role as the society's sole artistic director, he brought to London Marilyn Horne, Joan Sutherland, and Boris Christoff. He was also responsible for introducing Sherrill Milnes, Ruggero Raimondi, and Montserrat Caballe...
in The Record of Singing
The Record of Singing
The Record of Singing is a compilation of classical-music singing from the first half of the 20th century, the era of the 78-rpm record.It was issued on LP by EMI, successor to the British company His Master's Voice — perhaps the leading organization in the early history of audio recording.The...
, it had a ringing and vibrant tone that could not be confused with that produced by any other baritone. Although it was not quite so opulent as the vocal instrument possessed by his famous contemporary Titta Ruffo, it was still wonderfully resonant and secure, with plenty of carrying power and flexibility. Amato also sang with masterful phrasing and cantabile
Cantabile
Cantabile is a musical term meaning literally "singable" or "songlike" . It has several meanings in different contexts. In instrumental music, it indicates a particular style of playing designed to imitate the human voice. For 18th century composers, the term is often used synonymously with...
. In short: he was one of the most distinctive singers of his age.
Recordings
A number of extremely impressive gramophone recordGramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
s of operatic arias were made by Amato in America for the Victor Talking Machine Company
Victor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
—including some duets with Caruso and other stars of the Met. His 1914 Victor recording of "Eri tu" (from Un Ballo in Maschera), for example, is considered by many critics to be the finest version ever committed to disc.
Prior to his contract with Victor, Amato had cut a series of discs in Italy for Fonotipia Records
Fonotipia Records
Fonotipia Records, or Dischi Fonotipia, was an Italian gramophone record label established in 1904 with a charter to record the art of leading opera singers and some other celebrity musicians, chiefly violinists. Fonotipia continued to operate into the electrical recording era, which commenced in...
. Later, in 1924, he made an obscure (and poorly recorded) group of discs for the Homophone company. He is known to have made an electrical recording—a "Neapolitan Song" produced by the Vitaphone
Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film process used on feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects produced by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1930. Vitaphone was the last, but most successful, of the sound-on-disc processes...
company in 1927. Both sound only and motion-picture versions of the song have recently surfaced. Amato also appeared as a straight actor in a Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
motion picture, playing Napoléon
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
in 1928's mostly-silent film Glorious Betsy
Glorious Betsy
Glorious Betsy is a 1928 mostly-silent film with talking sequences, based on a play of the same name by Rida Johnson Young and starring Dolores Costello. It was produced by Warner Brothers and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Adaptation in 1929. The film was directed by Alan...
.
Awards
As well as receiving honours from the Italian government, Amato was initiated as an honorary member of the Beta Omega Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha SinfoniaPhi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music...
, at Louisiana State University in 1939.
Sources
- A. Eaglefield-Hull, A Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians (DentJ. M. DentJoseph Malaby Dent was a British book publisher who produced the Everyman's Library series.Dent was born in Darlington in what is now the Britaania public house. After a short and unsuccessful stint as an apprentice printer he took up bookbinding...
, London 1924). - G. KobbéGustav KobbéGustav Kobbé M.A. was an American music critic and author, best known for his guide to the operas, The Complete Opera Book, first published in the United States in 1919 and the United Kingdom in 1922.- Biography :Kobbé was born in March 1857 in New York City to William...
, The Complete Opera BookThe Complete Opera BookThe Complete Opera Book is a guide to operas by American music critic and author Gustav Kobbé first published in the United States in 1919 and the United Kingdom in 1922...
(PutnamG. P. Putnam's SonsG. P. Putnam's Sons was a major United States book publisher based in New York City, New York. Since 1996, it has been an imprint of the Penguin Group.-History:...
, London 1935 printing). - H. Rosenthal and J. Warrack, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera (OUPOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, London 1974 printing). - M. ScottMichael Scott (artistic director)Michael Scott is the founder of the London Opera Society. In his role as the society's sole artistic director, he brought to London Marilyn Horne, Joan Sutherland, and Boris Christoff. He was also responsible for introducing Sherrill Milnes, Ruggero Raimondi, and Montserrat Caballe...
, The Record of SingingThe Record of SingingThe Record of Singing is a compilation of classical-music singing from the first half of the 20th century, the era of the 78-rpm record.It was issued on LP by EMI, successor to the British company His Master's Voice — perhaps the leading organization in the early history of audio recording.The...
Volume I (Duckworth, London 1977). - J.B. SteaneJ.B. SteaneJohn Barry Steane was an English music critic, musicologist, literary scholar and teacher, with a particular interest in singing and the human voice...
, The Grand Tradition (Duckworth, London, 1974).
External links
- Biographical notes
- 1911 recording of "Largo al factotum" from The Barber of SevilleThe Barber of SevilleThe Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
- "Modern Vocal Methods in Italy", in Great singers on the art of Singing, Harriette Brower, James Francis Cooke (eds.), 1996, Courier Dover PublicationsDover PublicationsDover Publications is an American book publisher founded in 1941 by Hayward Cirker and his wife, Blanche. It publishes primarily reissues, books no longer published by their original publishers. These are often, but not always, books in the public domain. The original published editions may be...
, Mineola, New York, ISBN 9780486291901