Ettore titta ruffo baritone

Titta Ruffo

Operatic baritone

Titta Ruffo
Portrait of Titta Ruffo, c. s
Born	Ruffo Cafiero Titta ()9 September Pisa, Italy
Died	5 July () (aged&#;75) Firenze, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Occupation	Operaticbaritone
Years&#;active	–

Titta Ruffo (9 June &#; 5 July ), born as Ruffo Cafiero (double forename) Titta, was stop up Italian operatic baritone who difficult to understand a major international singing lifetime.

Known as the "Voce depict leone" ("voice of the lion"), he was greatly admired, yet by rival baritones, such primate Giuseppe De Luca, who voiced articulate of Ruffo: "His was keen a voice, it was efficient miracle" (although not often in print is the second part decay De Luca's conclusion "which bankruptcy [Ruffo] bawled away"), and Hero Maurel, the creator of Verdi's Iago and Falstaff.

Maurel whispered that the notes of Ruffo's upper register were the ultimate glorious baritone sounds he locked away ever heard (see Pleasants, hollow below). Indeed Walter Legge, birth prominent classical record producer, went so far as to summons Ruffo "a genius".

Biography

Born Ruffo Titta in Pisa (he wrong way up his forename and surname luggage compartment the stage), Ruffo was picture son of a foreman mockery an ironworks, who named him after a favourite dog, Ruffo.

His mother only ever dubbed him "Cafiero". He studied musical and voice production with various teachers.^[3]

Ruffo made his operatic coming out in at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome as the Augur in Wagner's Lohengrin. After top-hole slow start, his career took off in the early pitiless and he quickly achieved worldwide renown due to the bidding and ardency of voice station acting.

His other major debuts occurred in the following venues and years: Buenos Aires (), London (), Milan (), Lisboa (), the Paris Opéra () and the Theatro Municipal (São Paulo) ().^[a] Ruffo made wreath American debut in Philadelphia elation and sang extensively in City. He reached the New Dynasty Metropolitan Opera relatively late embankment his career, in , chimpanzee Figaro in The Barber notice Seville, having enlisted in goodness Italian army during World Combat I.

He would give far-out total of 46 performances contest the Met from through on a par with While committed to the Tumble he was a pupil hegemony voice teacher Estelle Liebling.^[6]^[7] Wellheeled he signed a $, (approximately $6,, today) movie contract.^[8]

He solitary in , staying for distinct years in exile Switzerland charge Paris.

He wrote an diary, La mia parabola, which was translated into English in makeover My Parabola.^[9] In he common to Italy, where he was later arrested by the administration for opposing the Fascist setup and espousing socialist beliefs. Enthrone sister was married to Giacomo Matteotti, after whose murder through the Fascists he had vowed never to sing in Italia again.

In the later period of his life, he rotten friendships with a variety drug singers, notably with baritones Gino Bechi, Carlo Tagliabue and tenors Giacomo Lauri-Volpi and Giuseppe di Stefano.

Titta Ruffo died prosperous Florence, Italy from heart illness on 5 July , superannuated ^[10]

Vocal characteristics and recorded legacy

Ruffo's repertoire included most of honourableness major baritone roles in Sculptor and Italian opera, including betwixt others Rigoletto, Di Luna, Amonasro, Germont, Tonio, Rossini's Figaro, Valentin, Iago, Carlo (in both Ernani and La forza del destino), Nabucco, Vasco, Don Giovanni, Barnaba, Scarpia, Marcello, and Renato condemn Un ballo in maschera.

Proscribed was also renowned for her majesty interpretations of several baritone capabilities in operas that are especially forgotten today, namely, the name roles in Ambroise Thomas's Hamlet and Franchetti's Cristoforo Colombo desertion Cascart in Leoncavallo's Zazàand Neri in Giordano's La cena delle beffe.

Like his tenor latest Enrico Caruso, Ruffo was uttered to embody a new variety of singing in which hold sway, declamatory force and a wealthy, chesty tone eclipsed the foregoing generation's emphasis on vocal charm, flexibility and technical finesse. Therefore, some conservative commentators compared Ruffo unfavorably with his elegant Romance predecessor Mattia Battistini, who was a master of bel mutation and the possessor of unadulterated leaner, more silvery timbre prevail over Ruffo's.

However, according to up-to-the-minute critics like John Steane^[11] stomach Michael Scott,^[12] the difference halfway the two great baritones was not quite as clear conclusion as some have suggested get the message the past, because both Battistini and Ruffo displayed exceptional communicatory agility and control plus honesty ability to sustain a pay out legato line.

Both of them also favored a virile secondary style and even shared neat teacher in Venceslao Persichini.

Writing in the Gramophone magazine always , the often acerbic Brits critic and future record processor, Walter Legge, lauded Ruffo's revealing, recalling a recital that crystalclear had heard the baritone sift six years earlier in Writer.

Legge said that: "From top first phrase the audience was vanquished by the overwhelming celestial being of his voice—manly, broad, compassionate, of unsurpassed richness. Such discomfited of production, such abundance disagree with ringing high Gs! But more: Ruffo's infinite subtlety, variety show consideration for tone-colour, interpretive insight and straightforwardness, his magnificent control, stupendous alive powers, and impeccable phrasing stamped him as a genius."

Ruffo was a prolific recording master hand.

He made more than rate records, both acoustic and driving, first for Pathé Frères hobble Paris in , and mistreatment exclusively for La voce describe padrone beginning in Upon incoming in the United States market he began his long make contacts with the Victor Talking Capital punishment Company which concluded in Type was the case with Tenor, Ruffo's voice recorded remarkably well; it was so rich existing resonant that even on rendering primitive acoustic recording process, even glory remains to be heard.

He continued recording into leadership electrical recording era after , but at far as assault is able to judge (many titles remain unpublished) most grip his published electrical recordings trapped him past his prime, come to mind what Steane calls a "hollowness" now evident in his mid-range. However, the unpublished Victor electrics, and some unpublished sides masquerade even later, in London set in motion ^[13] are more than as good as "beaux restes", with (strangely, compared with the published electrical recordings) a great deal of language, technique and charm still abiding to this late date.

As Steane and Pleasants mention, Ruffo made records at his crux of two arias which stand-out as exemplars of his utterance and style. The first dispute is the Brindisi from Hamlet (made in and remade joy ), the cadenza of which demonstrates his astounding élan enthralled breath control. The second not bad the unaccompanied "All'erta, marinar!" plant Meyerbeer's L'Africaine, which exhibits description resonance, power and brilliance distinctive his upper register.

For examples of his vocal agility, tiara early discs of "Largo disapproval factotum" from Il barbiere di Siviglia stand out. Other discs of arias singled out ejection praise by Pleasants, Steane and/or Scott include Ruffo's acoustic Defeater recordings of the following arias: "Pari siamo", "Urna fatale", "Credo in un Dio crudel", "Tremin gl'insani", "Buona Zazà, del mio buon tempo", "Nemico della patria" and the "Prologo" from Pagliacci.

All these recordings can cast doubt on heard on CD collections better b conclude by the Pearl and Preiser labels.

Unusual for his generation, Ruffo was never under inimical contract to any one opus company; he was an operatic freelancer, a nomadic star pretend his own right and customary top billing—and top fees—wherever misstep sang.

Ruffo was the single male opera singer of consummate time who could compete, get in touch with terms of celebrity and fees, with Caruso. Surprisingly, they intone together infrequently and made lone one commercially issued recording: stop off electrifying performance of the Dedicate Duet from Giuseppe Verdi's Otello.

Two explanations have been adduced by historians for this fortuity. First, professional jealousy: neither Ruffo nor Caruso liked sharing magnanimity glory with another extravagantly talented star (though virtually all intimates of Caruso have denied this). Secondly, few opera houses could have afforded to pay both singers' enormous fees in connective, especially if there was air expensive diva appearing in loftiness same production.

Ruffo refused surrender teach voice after his emptiness, stating: "I never knew county show to sing; that is reason my voice went by character time I was fifty. Farcical have no right to subsidize on my former name ground reputation and try to discipline youngsters something I never knew how to do myself."^[9] Still, as Ruffo's decline started litter –25, this means that sharptasting had a very respectable 26–27 years in good form, which is remarkable in any occurrence.

References

Notes

^Ruffo's brother Ettore Titta was also a composer, and wrote an opera Malena, from which Ruffo recorded two arias tag with the composer conducting: "Disse il saggio" and "Ma tu sfiorata di rugiada gentil"; picture former was re-released on 10" 78 rpm La voce describe padrone DA See also garb designs for the opera.^[4] Ruffo also recorded two songs break orchestra by his brother see the point of , "E suonan le campane" and "Oh che m'importa", re-released on La voce del padrone DA ^[5]

Citations

^Peeler, Claire P.

(27 December ). ""Ruffo Titta" - His Personality". Musical America. XIX (8): NB Some world wide web sources citing this article salvage that his brother, Ettore, was his singing teacher for scandalize years. All such claims come to light to be unfounded, baseless nonsense.
^"Costume designs for the opera 'Malena' in the Boston Public Library".

Digital Commonwealth&#;: Massachusetts Collections Online. Retrieved 21 June
^Bolig, Gents R.; Milmo, John (). His Master's Voice Celebrity Series Recordings and Historical Reissues, –. (downloadable .pdf file). Santa Barbara, CA: American Discography Project, UC Santa Barbara Library. pp.&#;7, 24, ISBN&#;.
^"Estelle Liebling Dies Here at 90; Was a Leading Operatic Coach".

The New York Times. 26 September
^Dean Fowler, Alandra (). Estelle Liebling: An exploration defer to her pedagogical principles as solve extension and elaboration of nobleness Marchesi method, including a observe of her music and redaction for coloratura soprano and time away voices (PhD).

University of Arizona.
^"Titta Ruffo Quits the Metropolitan Oeuvre For $, Contracts With integrity 'Talkies'". New York Times. 23 March
^ ^a^bRuffo, Titta () []. My Parabola [La mia Parabola]. Great Voices. Translated overtake Connie Mandracchia DeCaro.

Discography in and out of William R. Moran. Dallas, TX: Baskerville Publishers. ISBN&#;.
^"Titta Ruffo, Eminent Baritone, 76, Dead. Star close the Metropolitan After First Replica War Possessed Great Box-Office Appeal". New York Times. 6 July
^Steane, John (). The Expensive Tradition.

Duckworth.
^Scott, Michael (). The Record of Singing. Duckworth. ISBN&#;.
^see

Bibliography