HAPPY BIRTHDAY: GIUSEPPE VERDI October 9, 1813 - January 27, 1901

Giuseppe Verdi

Today is composer Giuseppe Verdi's birthday (although some list it as October 10th). His characters have been a treasure trove for us at Barihunks, with a number of roles becoming classic barihunk roles, like Attila, Ezio, Iago, Scarpia, Rodrigo, Giorgio Germont and Ford. Some of the great Verdi baritones who have been on this site include Ettore Bastianini, Titta Ruffo, Sherrill Milnes, Leonard Warren, Ferruccio Furlanetto and Dimitri Hvorostovsky.

Since his actual birth date is in dispute, we're celebrating his birthday for 48 hours! 

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was born in Roncole in the former duchy of Parma, he first studied music in the neighboring town of Busseto. Then, upon being rejected in 1832, because of his age, by the Milan Conservatory, he became a pupil of the Milanese composer Vincenzo Lavigna. He returned to Busseto in 1833 as conductor of the Philharmonic Society.

Samuel Ramey in the Attila-Ezio duet from San Francisco Opera:

At the age of 25 Verdi again went to Milan. His first opera, Oberto, was produced at La Scala with some success in 1839. His next work, the comic opera Un giorno di regno (King for a Day, 1840), was a failure, and Verdi, lamenting also the recent deaths of his wife and two children, decided to give up composing. After more than a year, however, the director of La Scala succeeded in inducing him to write Nabucco (1842). The opera created a sensation; its subject matter dealt with the Babylonian captivity of the Jews, and the Italian public regarded it as a symbol of the struggle against Austrian rule in northern Italy. I Lombardi (1843) and Ernani (1844), both great successes, followed, but of the next ten productions only Macbeth (1847) and Luisa Miller (1849) have survived in the permanent operatic repertory. Verdi's three following works, Rigoletto (1851), Il Trovatore (1853), and La Traviata (1853), brought him international fame and remain among the most popular of all operas.

Operas written in the middle of Verdi's career, including Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball, 1859), La forza del destino (The Force of Destiny, 1862), and Don Carlo (1867), exhibit a greater mastery of musical characterization and a greater emphasis on the role of the orchestra than his earlier works. Aïda (1871), also of this period and probably Verdi's most popular opera, was commissioned by the khedive of Egypt to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal; it was first performed in Cairo. Three years later, Verdi composed his most important non-operatic work, the Requiem Mass in memory of the Italian novelist Alessandro Manzoni. Verdi's other non-operatic compositions include the dramatic cantata Inno delle nazioni (Hymn of the Nations, 1862) and the String Quartet in E minor (1873).

Ettore Bastianini sings "Di Provenza" from La traviata:

In his 70s, Verdi produced the supreme expression of his genius, Otello (1887), composed to a libretto skillfully adapted by the Italian composer and librettist Arrigo Boito from the Shakespearean tragedy Othello. This was followed by Verdi's last opera, Falstaff (1893), also adapted by Boito from Shakespeare, and generally considered one of the greatest of all comic operas.

In general, Verdi's works are most noted for their emotional intensity, tuneful melodies, and dramatic characterizations. He transformed the Italian opera, with its traditional set pieces, old-fashioned librettos, and emphasis on vocal displays, into a unified musical and dramatic entity. His operas are among those most frequently produced in the world today. 

Our 2018 Barihunks Calendar, which includes 20 of opera's sexiest men is now available for purchase HERE. In response to reader demand, we've also added a Barihunks Photo Book this year, which includes additional photos that don't appear in the calendar. You can purchase that HERE. The New Year is approaching faster than you think!

Buon Compleanno, Ettore Bastianini

Ettore Bastianini

It is no secret that one of our favorite barihunks of all-time is Ettore Bastianini. We feature him whenever we have an excuse, but what's better than his birthday. Like the German tenor Fritz Wunderlich, we lost him long before his artistry was fully realized. Bastianini died of throat cancer at the age off 44, long before many baritones celebrate their greatest successes.

Bastianini was considered one of the finest Verdi and verismo voices of his day. He made his recital debut as a bass in Siena in 1945 and his stage debut later that year in Ravenna as Colline in Puccini's "La bohème." He later moved into the baritone range where he voice seemed better suited. His top notes thrilled audiences throughout his career for their ringing splendor.

 

He was a regular at La Scala between 1954-1963 and the Vienna State Opera between 1958-1964. In the United States, he performed regularly at Metropolitan Opera between 1954-1957 and at the Lyric Opera of Chicago between 1955-1958.  His last performance was in 1965 at the Metropolitan Opera.
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Only 6 days left for singers to submit photos for our 2018 Barihunks Charity Calendar. Send HI RES photos to Barihunks@gmail.com 

Buon Compleanno, Ettore Bastianini

Ettore Bastianini

One of our favorite barihunks of all-time is the great Italian Ettore Bastianini. He's been a regular on this site and we love exposing his artistry to a younger generation of singers. Like the German tenor Fritz Wunderlich, we lost him long before his artistry was fully realized. Bastianini died of throat cancer at the age off 44, long before many baritones celebrate their greatest successes.

Bastianini was considered one of the finest Verdi and verismo voices of his day. His voice was naturally beautiful and he started his career in 1945 as a bass in a recital debut in Siena. His stage debut came later that year in Ravenna as Colline in Puccini's "La bohème." He later moved into the baritone range where he voice seemed better suited. His top notes thrilled audiences throughout his career for their ringing splendor. He made his debut as a baritone in Siena in January 1952 and later that year sang Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame at the Teatro Comunale in Florence. In 1953 he sang in Turin in Giordano's "Andrea Chenier" and Verdi's La traviata the Metropolitan Opera.

He was a regular at La Scala between 1954-1963 and the Vienna State Opera between 1958-1964. In the United States, he performed regularly at Metropolitan Opera between 1954-1957 and at the Lyric Opera of Chicago between 1955-1958.  His last performance was in 1965 at the Metropolitan Opera.

He was buried in his hometown of Siena.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ETTORE BASTIANINI

It is no secret that one of our favorite barihunks of all-time is Ettore Bastianini. We feature him whenever we have an excuse, but what's better than his birthday. Like the German tenor Fritz Wunderlich, we lost him long before his artistry was fully realized. Bastianini died of throat cancer at the age off 44, long before many baritones celebrate their greatest successes.



Bastianini was considered one of the finest Verdi and verismo voices of his day. He made his recital debut as a bass in Siena in 1945 and his stage debut later that year in Ravenna as Colline in Puccini's "La bohème." He later moved into the baritone range where he voice seemed better suited. His top notes thrilled audiences throughout his career for their ringing splendor.

He was a regular at La Scala between 1954-1963 and the Vienna State Opera between 1958-1964. In the United States, he performed regularly at Metropolitan Opera between 1954-1957 and at the Lyric Opera of Chicago between 1955-1958.  His last performance was in 1965 at the Metropolitan Opera.




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The Great Hector Berlioz

René Pape, Robert Massard and Ettore Bastianini

We've received a few emails about composers who were left off of our Greatest French composers list. Some that we missed were defensible (Lalo and Meyerbeer), but probably not Hector Berlioz, who was one of the titans of French music and historically significant in a number of ways. It only seems fair to highlight some of his music, although much of the great vocal music, outside of "The Damnation of Faust," is for voices other than baritone and bass.  We did find a few selections that we thought you'd enjoy.

Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts (Requiem). Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a conductor, he performed several concerts with more than 1,000 musicians.[2] He also composed around 50 songs. His influence was critical for the further development of Romanticism, especially in composers like Richard Wagner, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Franz Liszt, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler and many others.

His operas include Benvenuto Cellini, Les Troyens, Béatrice et Bénédict and The Damnation of Faust.

Robert Massard sings "Ah, qui pourrait me resister?" from Berlioz's "Benvenuto Cellini":



Ettore Bastianini singing the Italian version of "The Damnation of Faust" from 1964:



René Pape sings "Voici des roses" from "The Damnation of Faust"

Hvorostovsky & Bastianini as Rigoletto

Ettore Bastianini & Dmitri Hvorostovsky

We can't be too surprised that Rigoletto is at the top of our poll of your favorite Verdi baritone roles. It's not only a great role for baritones, but one of Verdi's most skillfully developed characters. The hunchback father of Gilda isn't a role that one would normally associate with barihunks, but we've found some great clips with two of our favorite singers, Ettore Bastianini and Dmitri Hvorostovsky.

Here is Hvorostovsky performing "Pari siamo" from Act 1, Scene 2 of Rigoletto. In this aria Rigoletto compares himself to the assassin Sparafucile saying that the killer uses his knife as a weapon, but Rigoletto uses his tongue.



Here is Bastianini performing the Act 2 aria "Cortigiani, vil razza dinnata..." live from Milan in 1957. In this aria Rigoletto's daughter has been abducted by several courtiers and handed over to the Duke of Mantua. When Rigoletto tries to get past them to find his daughter, they deny him passage and he unleashes his fury upon them.

Here are Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Sumi Jo performing the Act 2 duet "Mio padre!...Dio! Mia Gilda...Tutte le feste al tempio." This is another example of a beautiful father-daughter duet from Verdi's canon. Verdi lost two children and his lost love seems to come out in his music between father and daughter, especially in La Traviata (daughter-in-law), Stiffelio, Simon Boccanegra and, of course, Rigoletto. In Rigoletto, the father-daughter relationship is central to the plot line. The relationship between father and daughter also appears in Nabucco, Aida, Luisa Miller, Oberto, La Forza del Destino, I Lombardi and I Vespri Sicilliani.



Just for fun, we thought that we'd add a "Rigoletto cage match" of some of the great interpreters of the role taking the optional high A from the end of the opera. Verdi actually wrote the final line as Fb-Eb-Db, but the optional Ab has become an audience favorite over the years.



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The Verdi Kings

Samuel Ramey as Attila and a young Sherrill Milnes

We're going to continue exploring Verdi this week with a look at the Verdi kings. We'll start with Verdi's first major success, Nabucco. This is the story of the Babylonian king Nabucodonosor, who assaults, conquers and drives the Jewish people from their homeland. Despite the story, it contains some of the most dramatically exciting and hair raising music in all of Verdi. The famous chorus "Va pensiero" is universally known and has become the unofficial national anthem of Italy. In a country filled with music, nothing stirs the heart of an Italian like this piece of music.

Not many barihunks have sung the title role of Nabucco, but we found this version of Ettore Bastianini from the San Francisco Opera in 1961.



Just for fun, here is the famous chorus sung by some of the greatest singers who were around in 1985, including Montserrat Caballe, Agnes Baltsa, Gwyneth Jones, Jose Carreras, Giuseppe di Stefano and baritones Christian Boesch, Renato Bruson (a great Nabucco), Sherrill Milnes, Giorgio Zancanaro and Juan Pons.



We now move to Amonasro, the king of the Ethiopians and father of the title character Aida. He plays a key role in the plot line and has been played by some of the greatest baritones in history. Here is the Act 3 duet between Aida and Amonasro "Ciel, mio padre...Rivedrai le foreste imbalsamate" with performances by seven of the greatest baritones and sopranos to ever sing the opera. We have a definitive favorite in this bunch, but we'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section.



Verdi based his ninth opera on the Solera play "Attila, King of the Huns." Besides the title role, there is a another wonderful role for a more lyric baritone, that of Ezio, who sings the aria "E gettata la mia sorte." You can watch Sherrill Milnes perform the aria below. We've always wondered why more young singers don't audition with this show stopper. It's a sure winner if you can nail the ending.



No one has owned the role of Attila in recent years more than the great Samuel Ramey, who always sang it with barihunk swagger and his chest bared. Here he is singing the great baritone duet with the Ezio of Giorgio Zancanaro, followed by the thrilling aria "Or son libere i miei sensi."





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Baritone-Tenor Duets

Barihunks Ettore Bastianini & Thomas Hampson

We asked Barihunks readers who their favorite post-war tenors were and here are the results in order of preference:

1. Placido Domingo
2. Jussi Bjoerling
3. Luciano Pavarotti
4. Franco Corelli
5. Fritz Wunderlich

We thought it would be fun to pair them up with some baritones of note.

There couldn't be a better way to begin than with this riveting performance from Verdi's Otello with Placido Domingo and Sherrill Milnes:




Here is Jussi Bjorling with Robert Merrill singing the famous duet from Bizet's Pearl Fishers:




Here is Luciano Pavarotti joining Thomas Hampson in the Act IV duet from Puccini's La Boheme:



Here are Franco Corelli and Ettore Bastianini singing an amazing rendition of "Solenne in quest'ora" from Verdi's La Forza del Destino:



Here is Fritz Wunderlich with Herman Prey singing the duet from Rossini's Barber of Seville: