Piero de Palma
Encyclopedia
Piero de Palma is an Italian operatic tenor
, particularly associated with comprimario
roles.
After choral and concert work he began his operatic repertoire career relatively late in life in 1948 by singing on Italian radio (RAI
) and made his stage debut in 1952 at the San Carlo
in Naples, where he was to performed regularly until 1980. The same year saw his debuts at the Rome Opera and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
, he then went on singing throughout Italy, appearing in Genoa
, Palermo
, Catania
, Trieste
, Bergamo
, etc., he also appeared at the Baths of Caracalla
and the Verona Arena
, and made his debut at La Scala
in Milan in 1958. He performed for numerous seasons regularly at The Dallas Opera. He made his Metropolitan Opera
debut as Dr. Cajus in Falstaff
in 1992.
He made a specialty of character roles and became perhaps the finest and most famous of all postwar comprimario artists. He possessed a fine voice and was an outstanding actor, and sang an estimated 200 roles throughout his career, amongst his most famous were Dr. Cajus in Falstaff
and Pong in Turandot
. Other notable roles included Basilio, Normanno
, Malcolm
, Borsa
, Gastone
, Cassio
, Spoletta
, Edmondo
, Goro
, Spalanzani
, etc. He sings on over 130 opera recordings from the 1950s to the 1980s, including multiple recordings of operas in different roles, e.g., Pong, Pang, and the Emperor, in various recordings of Turandot
.
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
, particularly associated with comprimario
Comprimario
A Comprimario is a supporting role in an opera. Derived from the Italian "con primario", or "with the primary", the term refers to a performer who sings small role pieces....
roles.
After choral and concert work he began his operatic repertoire career relatively late in life in 1948 by singing on Italian radio (RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
) and made his stage debut in 1952 at the San Carlo
San Carlo
San Carlo is the Italian for Saint Charles, and may refer to:* Charles Borromeo, also known as San Carlo Borromeo* San Carlo all'Arena, a neighbourhood in Naples where the Bourbon Hospice for the Poor is located...
in Naples, where he was to performed regularly until 1980. The same year saw his debuts at the Rome Opera and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is an annual opera festival which was founded in April 1933 by conductor Vittorio Gui with the aim of presenting contemporary and forgotten operas in visually dramatic productions. It was the first music festival in Italy. The first opera presented was Verdi's early...
, he then went on singing throughout Italy, appearing 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....
, Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
, Catania
Catania
Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and...
, Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, Bergamo
Bergamo
Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...
, etc., he also appeared at the Baths of Caracalla
Baths of Caracalla
The Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy were Roman public baths, or thermae, built in Rome between AD 212 and 216, during the reign of the Emperor Caracalla.- History :...
and the Verona Arena
Verona Arena
The Verona Arena is a Roman amphitheatre in Piazza Bra in Verona, Italy, which is internationally famous for the large-scale opera performances given there. It is one of the best preserved ancient structures of its kind....
, and made his debut at 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...
in Milan in 1958. He performed for numerous seasons regularly at The Dallas Opera. He made his 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...
debut as Dr. Cajus in 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...
in 1992.
He made a specialty of character roles and became perhaps the finest and most famous of all postwar comprimario artists. He possessed a fine voice and was an outstanding actor, and sang an estimated 200 roles throughout his career, amongst his most famous were Dr. Cajus in 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...
and Pong in Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
. Other notable roles included Basilio, Normanno
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
, Malcolm
Macbeth (opera)
Macbeth is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and additions by Andrea Maffei, based on Shakespeare's play of the same name...
, Borsa
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...
, Gastone
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...
, Cassio
Otello
Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887....
, Spoletta
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...
, Edmondo
Manon Lescaut (Puccini)
Manon Lescaut is an opera in four acts by Giacomo Puccini. The story is based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost....
, Goro
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
, Spalanzani
Les contes d'Hoffmann
Les contes d'Hoffmann is an opéra by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on short stories by E. T. A...
, etc. He sings on over 130 opera recordings from the 1950s to the 1980s, including multiple recordings of operas in different roles, e.g., Pong, Pang, and the Emperor, in various recordings of Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
.
Selected recordings
- Puccini - La RondineLa rondineLa rondine is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami, based on a libretto by Alfred Maria Willner and Heinz Reichert...
- Anna MoffoAnna MoffoAnna Moffo was an Italian-American opera singer and one of the leading lyric-coloratura sopranos of her generation...
(Magda), Daniele BarioniDaniele BarioniDaniele Barioni is an Italian opera singer who had a prolific career during the 1950s through the 1970s. Early on in his career he rose to fame as a leading tenor at the Metropolitan Opera between 1956 and 1962...
(Ruggero), Graziella SciuttiGraziella SciuttiGraziella Sciutti was an Italian soprano opera singer and later vocal teacher and opera producer.-Career:Sciutti was born in Turin, Italy. Her parents were musical, her father being an organist; her mother was French...
(Lisette), Piero de Palma (Prunier), Mario SereniMario SereniMario Sereni is an Italian baritone, who sang leading roles at the New York Metropolitan Opera for many years.Sereni was born in Perugia, Italy. He attended the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Accademia Chigiana in Siena where he was a pupil of Mario Basiola...
(Rambaldo) - RCA Italiana Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Francesco Molinari-PradelliFrancesco Molinari-PradelliFrancesco Molinari-Pradelli was a prominent Italian opera conductor. He studied piano and composition at Bologna, and graduated from the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome in 1938. He made his debut at La Scala in 1946 and his Covent Garden debut in 1956...
- RCA Victor (1966)
Sources
- Operissimo.com
- http://www.cduniverse.com/classical.asp?performer=Piero+de+Palma