CLOE
ELMO
(b.
in Lecce 1909 d. in Ankara 1962)
The
Life
Cloe
Elmo was born in Lecce on 9 April 1909. It became evident
that the child had an interesting voice. At age 17, she entered
the Accademia di Santa Cecilia of Rome to study singing. Her
teacher was Edvige Ghibaudo, who for a long time was not quite
sure if her student was a soprano or a mezzosoprano. At times,
it is very hard to distinguish between them especially in
the case of highly dramatic sopranos. After some studies,
her teacher entered her into an international competition
in Vienna, where she won first prize in 1932. Despite instant
offers from different theatres, Elmo turned them down and
continued to study, at first under Pedrini and then under
Rinolfi.
Finally,
she felt ready and debuted at the Teatro Comunale of Cagliari
in the role of Santuzza from Cavalleria Rusticana. The year
was 1935 and, soon after, she sang another difficult part,
the role of Adalgisa from Norma at the Teatro Regio of Turin.
In 1936, she joined the Teatro alla Scala of Milan and sang
mezzo roles in their productions. Firstly, in Falstaff, which
received immediate accolades, followed by Mose in Egitto,
I quatrro rusteghi, Tristan und Isolde, Il Trovatore, Oberon,
Re Lear, Un ballo in maschera, La Gioconda, Carmen, etc.
Amneris
(Aida)
|
Carmen
(Carmen)
|
Elmo
became a guest singer in almost all the Italian theatres,
in Germany, Romania, Austria and Switzerland. In 1947, she
debuted at the Met, after being stranded in America with another
company, which had fallen apart. She caused a sensation with
her stunning interpretation of Dame Quickly from Falstaff
under Toscanini. Disappointed with the management of The Met,
she left only after a few performances of Azucena (Il Trovatore),
Ulrica (Un ballo in maschera), Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana)
and her famous Mistress Quickly (Falstaff). She returned to
Italy, where she pursued an interest in modern operas.
Later
on, she developed a heart condition and became deeply depressed.
She left the theatre and, in
1954, was
appoinetd professor at the Ankara Conservatoire where she
taught for 8 years. The hope of many of her followers that
she would continue for a long time as a top mezzosoprano did
not materialized when sadly she died in Ankara in 1962.
The
voice
Cloe
Elmo was one of those rare mezzosopranos who had almost everything:
velvety feelings, high intelligence, sensitivity, excellent
musicianship, a magnificent middle register and a powerful
upper register.
She
was blessed with a special voice. The voice had dramatic colour
and sensitivity, was expressive, wonderfully flexible with
very steady and well rounded tone and, in addition, very plush
and warm. Her singing was full of passion and fire. Elmo was
also emotionally very volatile, though vocally splendid. She
always stood out and was known for her humorous side as well.
Because of a very secure middle register and good technique,
she could add very high and low notes without any problem.
When she sang Santuzza, the heroine of Cavalleria Rusticana,
Elmo powered her voice like a cannon, launching one big solid
note after another, a phenomenal voice!
Her
interpretation of German lieder, despite sung in Italian,
was a little more than the best. It really did not matter
who the composers were - Strauss, Brahms, etc. The lieder
were sung very differently and to perfection. She had the
ability of shocking people with her singing. Virgil Thomson
wrote, "[] Caruso used to do it, and so did Rosa Ponselle.
Let us hope that Miss Elmo will do it for a long time []"
Elmo had all that meant to be a real mezzosoprano. Her fascinating
middle voice had a glow, deep and soft roundness. Unfortunately,
she left us much too early.
Audio
files (removed)
1.
A. Ponchielli - La Gioconda
Stella
del marinar
La
Gioconda - act II...............................2:39
(9/11/06)
2.
U. Giordano – Fedora
E
assai sera...O grandi occhi lucenti
Fedora
- act I.....................................3:44
(18/11/06)
3.
J. Massenet - Werther
Vi
scrivoqui dalla stanzetta mia
Werther
- act III.......................4:25
(27/11/06)
(l.s.)
|
”There
is one thing to be said for glory - you can take glory
with you, when it is your time to go”