Raffaele Scalese
Encyclopedia
Raffaele Scalese was an Italian opera
tic bass
who specialized in the opera buffa
repertoire. He was active in Italy's major opera house
s from the mid 1820s up into the 1860s. He also appeared internationally in opera houses in Austria, Portugal, and France. The last years of his career were spent performing in Paris in the late 1860s where he remained after his retirement from the stage.
, Scalese began performing at major Italian opera house
s in the mid 1820s, including La Fenice
in Venice, the Teatro Valle
in Rome, and the Teatro di San Carlo
in his native city. In 1827 he portrayed Alterkan in the world premiere of Gaetano Donizetti
's Otto mesi in due ore
at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples. In 1834 he portrayed Edmondo in the house premiere of Luigi Ricci's Gli esposti at the Teatro d'Angennes in Turin. In 1837 he sang the role of Everardo in the world premiere of Gaetano Rossi
's Iginia d'Asti at the Teatro San Benedetto
in Venice.
In 1836 Scalese made his debut at La Scala
in Milan as Gottofredo in Pietro Antonio Coppola
's La festa della rosa. He performed regularly at that house over the next five years. In 1836-1837 he portrayed Don Paparo in Luigi Felice Rossi
's Gli avventurieri, Prosdocimo Ficcanaso in Ferdinando Orlandi
's La dama soldato, and Taddeo in Gioachino Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri
in Milan. In 1838 he was heard at La Scala as Giorgio in Rossini's Torvaldo e Dorliska
, Marchese in Coppola's Il Postiglione di Longjumeau, and Tom in Federico Ricci
's La prigione di Edimburgo. In 1840 he portrayed Barone di Kelbar in the world premiere of Giuseppe Verdi
's Un giorno di regno
, Cedrico in Otto Nicolai's Il templario, Sergeant Sulpice in the Italian premiere of Donizetti's La fille du régiment
, and the title role in Alessandro Speranza
's I due Figaro in Milan. In 1841 he sang the roles of Dr Dulcamara in Gaetano Donizetti
's L'elisir d'amore
and Ghiringhello in the world premiere of Placido Mandanici
's Il buontempone di Porta Ticinese at La Scala. After an 8 year absence from the house, he returned to Milan in 1849 to perform the role of the Marquis de Boisfleury in Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix
. He returned to La Scala again in 1854-1855 to sing Basilio in Rossini's The Barber of Seville
, a role with which he was closely associated.
In 1840 Scalese was committed to the Teatro Regio di Parma
where he performed the roles of Don Bartolo in The Barber of Seville, Dulcamara, Speranza's Figaro, and Rizzardo in Vincenzo Bellini
's Beatrice di Tenda
. He returned to Parma two years later to sing Belfiore in Donizetti's Alina, regina di Golconda
, Dulcamara, Gennaro Malerba in Luigi Ricci's Chi dura vince, He also appeared at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
in 1842 as Belcore in L'elisir d'amore, Gennaro Malerba, Leporello in Luigi Ricci's Il nuovo Figaro, Michelotto in Luigi Ricci's Chiara di Rosemberg, and Volmar in Alina, regina di Golconda. In 1843 he sang the Marquis de Boisfleury at La Fenice. He was heard at the Teatro della Canobbiana in 1848-1849 as Barbarino in Friedrich von Flotow
's Alessandro Stradella
, Belcore, Figaro in The Barber of Seville, Don Giulio in Donizetti's Don Gregorio
, Haly in Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri
, Ricci's Leporello, and Volmar.
In 1852 Scalese performed in the world premiere of Federico Ricci's Il marito e l'amante at the Theater am Kärntnertor
in Vienna. He sang Don Bartolo in Bologna in 1854 and was also active at opera houses in Rome, Florence, and Venice during the 1850s. He was heard at the Teatro di San Carlo from 1858-1860 in a variety of roles, including parts in Errico Petrella
's Il folletto di Gresy, Serafino Amedeo De Ferrari
's Pipelet, and the world premiere of Luigi Vespoli
's La cantante (1858). In 1861-1862 he was committed to the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
in Lisbon. He joined the Théâtre-Italien in Paris in 1866 and remained active as a performer there up into the late 1860s. He died in Paris.
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 bass
Bass (voice type)
A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...
who specialized in the opera buffa
Opera buffa
Opera buffa is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ‘commedia in musica’, ‘commedia per musica’, ‘dramma bernesco’, ‘dramma comico’, ‘divertimento giocoso' etc...
repertoire. He was active in Italy's major opera house
Opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
s from the mid 1820s up into the 1860s. He also appeared internationally in opera houses in Austria, Portugal, and France. The last years of his career were spent performing in Paris in the late 1860s where he remained after his retirement from the stage.
Life and career
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...
, Scalese began performing at major Italian opera house
Opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
s in the mid 1820s, including La Fenice
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres...
in Venice, the Teatro Valle
Teatro Valle
The Teatro Valle is a theatre and former opera house in Rome, Italy.Commissioned by the Capranica family, the architect Tommaso Morelli designed the theatre which was built in 1726. It was inaugurated with the staging of the tragedy Matilde by Simon Falconio Pratoli...
in Rome, and 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...
in his native city. In 1827 he portrayed Alterkan in the world premiere of Gaetano Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's Otto mesi in due ore
Otto mesi in due ore
Otto mesi in due ore ossia Gli esiliati in Siberia is an opera in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti to a libretto by Domenico Gilardoni....
at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples. In 1834 he portrayed Edmondo in the house premiere of Luigi Ricci's Gli esposti at the Teatro d'Angennes in Turin. In 1837 he sang the role of Everardo in the world premiere of Gaetano Rossi
Gaetano Rossi
Gaetano Rossi was an Italian writer who wrote opera libretti for several composers including Mayr, Rossini, Donizetti, Mercadante, Pacini, and Meyerbeer.-Biography:...
's Iginia d'Asti at the Teatro San Benedetto
Teatro San Benedetto
The Teatro San Benedetto was a theatre in Venice, particularly prominent in the operatic life of the city in the 18th and early 19th centuries. It saw the premieres of over 140 operas, including Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri, and was the theatre of choice for the presentation of opera seria until...
in Venice.
In 1836 Scalese 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 as Gottofredo in Pietro Antonio Coppola
Pietro Antonio Coppola
Pietro Antonio Coppola was an Italian composer and conductor. Born in Enna, he was trained by his father and at the Naples Conservatory. He is chiefly known for his many operas, of which his most famous, Nina pazza per amore, premiered at the Teatro Valle in Rome in February 1835...
's La festa della rosa. He performed regularly at that house over the next five years. In 1836-1837 he portrayed Don Paparo in Luigi Felice Rossi
Luigi Felice Rossi
Luigi Felice Rossi was an Italian composer, music teacher, musicologist, and music theorist. He mainly composed instrumental and sacred music. He did write one opera, Gli avventurieri , which premiered successfully in Turin in 1835...
's Gli avventurieri, Prosdocimo Ficcanaso in Ferdinando Orlandi
Ferdinando Orlandi
Ferdinando Orlandi was an Italian composer best known for his operas. Born in Parma, he was a pupil of organist Gaspare Rugarli and composer Ferdinando Paer. He also studied at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples with Nicola Sala and Giacomo Tritto. In 1800 he took a position at...
's La dama soldato, and Taddeo in Gioachino Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri
L'italiana in Algeri
L'italiana in Algeri is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca...
in Milan. In 1838 he was heard at La Scala as Giorgio in Rossini's Torvaldo e Dorliska
Torvaldo e Dorliska
Torvaldo e Dorliska is an operatic dramma semiserio in two act by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini, based on Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by the revolutionary Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai, whose work was the source of the Lodoïska libretto set by Luigi Cherubini...
, Marchese in Coppola's Il Postiglione di Longjumeau, and Tom in Federico Ricci
Federico Ricci
Federico Ricci , was an Italian composer, particularly of operas.Born in Naples, he was the younger brother of Luigi Ricci, with whom he collaborated on several works....
's La prigione di Edimburgo. In 1840 he portrayed Barone di Kelbar in the world premiere of Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Un giorno di regno
Un giorno di regno
Un giorno di regno, ossia il finto Stanislao is an operatic melodramma giocoso in two acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on the play Le faux Stanislas by Alexandre Vincent Pineu-Duval...
, Cedrico in Otto Nicolai's Il templario, Sergeant Sulpice in the Italian premiere of Donizetti's La fille du régiment
La fille du régiment
La fille du régiment is an opéra comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. It was written while the composer was living in Paris, with a French libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard.La figlia del reggimento, a slightly different Italian-language version , was...
, and the title role in Alessandro Speranza
Alessandro Speranza
Alessandro Speranza was an Italian composer. His opera I due Figaro was very popular during his lifetime and enjoyed revivals in Italy after his death well into the 19th century; including at La Scala in 1840 with Raffaele Scalese in the title role.-References:...
's I due Figaro in Milan. In 1841 he sang the roles of Dr Dulcamara in Gaetano Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore is an opera by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. It is a melodramma giocoso in two acts...
and Ghiringhello in the world premiere of Placido Mandanici
Placido Mandanici
Placido Mandanici was an Italian composer. He is best known for his operas. He graduated from the Music Lyceum in Palermo , and then studied at Naples with Pietro Raimondi. In 1829 his first opera , L'isola disabitata, premiered in Naples...
's Il buontempone di Porta Ticinese at La Scala. After an 8 year absence from the house, he returned to Milan in 1849 to perform the role of the Marquis de Boisfleury in Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix is an operatic melodramma semiserio in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Gaetano Rossi. It premiered in Vienna, at the Kärntnertortheater, on May 19, 1842.-Performance history:...
. He returned to La Scala again in 1854-1855 to sing Basilio in Rossini's The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville
The 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...
, a role with which he was closely associated.
In 1840 Scalese was committed to the Teatro Regio di Parma
Teatro Regio di Parma
Teatro Regio di Parma is a famous 19th century opera house and opera company in Parma, Italy. The theatre was originally known as the Teatro Ducale....
where he performed the roles of Don Bartolo in The Barber of Seville, Dulcamara, Speranza's Figaro, and Rizzardo in Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
's Beatrice di Tenda
Beatrice di Tenda
Beatrice di Tenda is a tragic opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini, from a libretto by Felice Romani, after the play of the same name by Carlo Tedaldi-Fores...
. He returned to Parma two years later to sing Belfiore in Donizetti's Alina, regina di Golconda
Alina, regina di Golconda
Alina, regina di Golconda is an opera in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Felice Romani after Michel-Jean Sedaine's French libretto for Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny's ballet-heroique Aline, reine de Golconde , in its turn based on the novel by Stanislas de Boufflers...
, Dulcamara, Gennaro Malerba in Luigi Ricci's Chi dura vince, He also appeared at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Teatro Comunale di Bologna
The Teatro Comunale di Bologna is an opera house in Bologna, Italy, and is one of the most important opera venues in Italy. Typically, it presents eight operas with six performances during its November to April season....
in 1842 as Belcore in L'elisir d'amore, Gennaro Malerba, Leporello in Luigi Ricci's Il nuovo Figaro, Michelotto in Luigi Ricci's Chiara di Rosemberg, and Volmar in Alina, regina di Golconda. In 1843 he sang the Marquis de Boisfleury at La Fenice. He was heard at the Teatro della Canobbiana in 1848-1849 as Barbarino in Friedrich von Flotow
Friedrich von Flotow
Friedrich Adolf Ferdinand, Freiherr von Flotow was a German composer. He is chiefly remembered for his opera Martha, which was popular in the 19th century....
's Alessandro Stradella
Alessandro Stradella (opera)
Alessandro Stradella is a romantic opera in three acts composed by Friedrich von Flotow to a German libretto by "Wilhelm Friedrich" . Set in Venice and the countryside near Rome, it is loosely based on the colourful life of the 17th century Italian composer and singer Alessandro Stradella...
, Belcore, Figaro in The Barber of Seville, Don Giulio in Donizetti's Don Gregorio
Don Gregorio (opera)
Don Gregorio is an opera by Gaetano Donizetti, adapted from his popular 1824 opera buffa L'ajo nell'imbarazzo, from a libretto by Jacopo Ferretti. While L'ajo nell'imbarazzo enjoyed success at Teatro Valle, it was not suited to the Teatro Nuovo in Naples, where Francesco Tortoli was interested in...
, Haly in Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri
L'italiana in Algeri
L'italiana in Algeri is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca...
, Ricci's Leporello, and Volmar.
In 1852 Scalese performed in the world premiere of Federico Ricci's Il marito e l'amante at the Theater am Kärntnertor
Theater am Kärntnertor
Theater am Kärntnertor or Kärntnertortheater was a prestigious theatre in Vienna during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries...
in Vienna. He sang Don Bartolo in Bologna in 1854 and was also active at opera houses in Rome, Florence, and Venice during the 1850s. He was heard at the Teatro di San Carlo from 1858-1860 in a variety of roles, including parts in Errico Petrella
Errico Petrella
Errico Petrella was an Italian opera composer.Petrella was born at Palermo. A conservative of the Neapolitan school, he was the most successful Italian composer, second only to Verdi, during the 1850s and 1860s. He also earned the latter's scorn for his compositional and dramatic crudities,...
's Il folletto di Gresy, Serafino Amedeo De Ferrari
Serafino Amedeo De Ferrari
Serafino Amedeo De Ferrari was an Italian composer, conductor, organist, and pianist. He is best known for his operas, of which his most popular were Pipelè and Il Menestrello ....
's Pipelet, and the world premiere of Luigi Vespoli
Luigi Vespoli
Luigi Vespoli was an Italian composer. His opera La cantante premiered at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples on 22 October 1858.-References:...
's La cantante (1858). In 1861-1862 he was committed to the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
The Teatro Nacional de São Carlos is an opera house in Lisbon, Portugal. It was opened on July 30, 1793 by Queen Maria I as a replacement for the Tejo Opera House, which was destroyed in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake...
in Lisbon. He joined the Théâtre-Italien in Paris in 1866 and remained active as a performer there up into the late 1860s. He died in Paris.