ETTORE
BASTIANINI (b. Siena 1922, d. Sirmione 1967) –
A
baritone with a capital B!
Baritone
Ettore Bastianini touched the heart of almost everyone
who heard him on the stage or in the privacy of home,
through records. He was a baritone with a capital B,
who died 37 years ago!
On
a cold winter day, 25
January 1967,
it was all over for the beautiful human and the opera
world went into mourning.
Ettore
Bastianini had died in Sirmione ( Italy )
from throat cancer. No one knew the reason. He had a
powerful, bronze, velvety, oily and juicy ... or beautiful,
dark and well produced voice with a nice ringing upper
and very bass-like low registers. Everybody kept asking
why the forty-four years old, an outstanding and almost
exclusive Verdi's baritone, had suddenly departed forever.
Born
in Siena on 24 September 1922 , Bastianini as a child
showed a beautiful soprano voice and sang in the choir Coro
della Metropolitana in many events like the annual Palio
di Siena. He studied under the watchful eyes of
Gaetano Vanni. When he enrolled in the Italian Air Force
in late 1944, the war was almost over. He could then
seriously think about his biggest love – singing.
In
1945, Bastianini started his career as a bass at the Teatro
Rex, Siena , in a concert, singing excerpts from
Boheme and Barbiere. Firenze, Cairo, Bologna, Forli,
Ravenna, Ferrara, Como, Genoa and Parma followed. In
1948, he debuted at La Scala, Milan , singing
the bass role of Tirésias in Stravinskij's Oedipus
Rex.
Something
was wrong. In private, at times, he pretended to be a
baritone and sang by heart all the baritone roles he
knew. His novel teacher Bettarini supported his decision
to turn baritone. Baritone was a magic word to him. Not basso but baritono .
Deep down, he knew he was a baritone.
Around
1950, he brought his idea to light and started training
again. Experts kept saying,”It is impossible. You will
never make it. Italy has
a lot of excellent baritones” but Bastianini was convinced
he was a baritone and had to try as a baritone. His voice
felt at ease when he was singing baritone parts, for
himself or friends.
His
big day came in early 1952, on his baritone debut at Siena, singing
Germont father in Traviata. It was not a success, as
the upper register was not yet secure. He went back studying.
He returned in July and a miraculous thing happened!
For a change, his top was the centre of praise by all
the press.
Then
Italy: the opera houses of Pescara, Firenze, Genoa and
Trieste. Later, the rest of Europe: Berlin, Dortmund,
Vienna and Zurich . Europe had a new and dashing baritone!
Suddenly, even critics discovered that the baritone had
an impeccable diction, was never out of tune and his
beautiful timbre matched peerless vocal skills. He became
a great Jago (Otello) at one end of the scale and a great
comedian, Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), at the other
end.
In America,
he debuted in late 1953 at the Met. The opera was La
Traviata with Albanese and Tucker. However, reviews were
disappointing, “Nothing special, apart from a beautiful
voice and he is extraordinarily handsome”. Then Il Trovatore
with Milanov, Nikolaidi and Kurt Baum, later Lucia di
Lammermoor with Lily Pons and Peerce. Overnight, New
York , like Europe before,
fell in love with the new and very aristocratic-looking
baritone!
Conte di Luna
(Il
Trovatore)
|
Don Carlo di Vargas
(La
forza del destino)
|
Bastianini
returned to Europe and, for the first time in his life,
he had a lot of contracts to choose from. Again Como,
Trieste, Venice, Firenze, Genoa, Strasbourg and in 1954
he debuted in Eugen Onegin at the Teatro alla Scala with
Tebaldi, Di Stefano and Raffaele Arie. Shortly after,
he signed a contract as principal baritone of this theatre
and sang there in more than 20 operas.
In
May 1955, he sang in the historic Visconti's production
of Traviata with Callas and Di Stefano. The conductor
was Giulini. Rome, Naples, Monterrey ( Mexico ), Chicago followed
and then back to the Met.
Memorable
was his 1958 performance of Forza in Naples with Tebaldi,
Corelli and Christoff. It was an excellent performance.
Unfortunately, since the venue was Naples with its strongly
susceptible audiences, Corelli and Bastianini were not
very welcomed. The audience let them know. For no reason
whatsoever, the stage was pelted with rotten tomatoes
and radishes. With his great sense of humor, Ettore simply
ignored them and was a tower of strength for his best
friend Corelli, who, contrarily, was very vulnerable.
Another
great performance was the 1959 La Scala's production
of Carmen with Simionato, Tucci, Di Stefano and Il Trovatore
with Tucci, Simionato and Corelli, which took place at
the Arena di Verona. On 28 November of the same
year, he sang Andrea Chenier in San Carlo, Naples,
what was one of the defining performances of the century,
with Olivero, Simionato and Corelli. They were all in
glorious voices but Bastianini shone through. He had
definitely the 'Golden Voice' of a supreme baritone.
1960
spelt the first troubles. In February he sang in Forza
at the Met. Contemporaries remembered that he was very
hoarse for most of the night, but, despite the problem,
he chose to continue: Singing was the real love of his
life.
In
early 1963, Ettore sang seven roles in Vienna and later
disappeared from the stage to undergo cancer treatment
in Bern, Switzerland. Soon after, he made the centre
stage of his career in Austria and France. He sang at
the Staatsoper and appeared at Salzburg in summer. He
also debuted in Tokyo and had another performance at La
Scala in Don Carlo.
In
January of the following year, he underwent more treatments
and was off the stage for almost five months. After that,
there was one performance at Prato ( Italy )
and then at the Vienna Staatsoper.
His
final performances at the Met were in Tosca
and Lucia. One
of the protagonists, Tebaldi, remembered those performances
as 'wrenching'. He sounded terrible but soldiered on,
nevertheless. His last performance in America was
in Don Carlo at the Met, on 11
December 1965.
His co-performers were Arroyo, Cvejic, Prevedi and Hines.
They all sadly remembered his performance as 'pathetic'.
It was the end. The end of a short but very fulfilling
career and almost the end of a wonderful person, who
not only gave everything he had for his art but also
helped everyone else, who was in dire straits for some
reason or another.
Ettore
went back to Siena ,
where he lived with his dog and was visited by the family
and a few close friends. He passed away in Sirmione on
the 25 of January 1967.
In
his beloved Siena there
is an inscription on his tomb which reads: " He
knew glory, He understood pain, He made everybody love
him ".
In
such short but very intense career, he stole the show
countless times. To mention a few of his masterful renditions:
in Andrea Chenier's 'Nemico della Patria', Forza's 'Solenne
in quest' ora', the duet with Corelli, Ernani's 'Gran
Dio' or 'Oh de' verd'anni miei'. His stop show was Conte
di Luna's 'Il balen del suo
sorriso'. The list goes on, in Donizetti's Favorita singing
an unforgettable Alfonso XI in 'Vien, Leonora, ai piedi
tuoi' or 'Dei nemici tuoi lo sdegno'. Many, many more
renditions may be mentioned.
Thank
you, Ettore.
The
audio files:
Vien,
Leonora, ai piedi tuoi, La Favorita act II., sung
by Ettore Bastianini, 1956
Oh
de' verd' anni miei, Ernani act III, sung by Ettore
Bastianini, 1957
Largo
al factotum, Il barbiere di Siviglia act I, sung
by Ettore Bastianini, 1962
(l.
s.)
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”There
is one thing to be said for glory - you can take glory with
you, when it is your time to go”