GIUSEPPE
DI STEFANO
(b.
near Catania July 1921)
One
of the world most beautiful tenor voices !
Giuseppe Di Stefano in 1945
Giuseppe
Di Stefano had a romantic lemma of singing: "Ideally
people should not even notice that I'm singing at all."
He sang with impeccable style, purity and beauty. His secret
was just to sing, without gimmickry or artifacts. His timbre
and delivery were exceptional, with great personality. He
possessed an astonishing capability to attack a high C in
full voice and then spin it down to just a thread of sound
and sustain it. It made him a logical heir of the legendary
Spanish tenor Miguel Fleta (1897-1938), who was famous for
his filature. Yet, by the mid 1960s he was gone from the international
opera scene and his subsequent years were only an echo of
ten years of unparalleled singing in the XX century.
"Pippo,"
as he was lovingly nicknamed, was born on 24 July 1921 at
Motta Santa Anastasia, a village near Catania , Sicily (Italy),
but his family moved to Milan
when he was six years old. His beautiful voice caused early
excitements and as a boy he began vocal classes and sang in
several boys' choirs. In 1938, he won two song contests, in
Milan
and Florence
respectively, and was admitted at the La Scala vocal program
for young singers under Adriano Tocchio. As from 1940, he
studied under baritone Luigi Montesanto but his studies were
interrupted by the outbreak of World War II when he was drafted.
Due
to respiratory problems, he was saved from active military
service and instead he sang inside and outsize military camps,
becoming quite known in Milan
under the pseudonym of Nino Florio. In 1943, when the Germans
arrived in Lombardy,
he fled to Switzerland
where he was interned in a refugee camp. Yet, he was in luck:
He was allowed to sing, gave several public performances outside
camp and made his very first recordings for Radio Lausanne
and EMI in Zurich
.
To my mind, these early recordings are a testament of one
of the most sensuously beautiful voices in history to date.
As
the war ended, he returned to Italy
and Milan
,
where he resumed his studies. Impatient to get his career
going, he went against his teacher's advice and made his professional
operatic debut in Reggio Emilia on 20
April 1946
as Des Grieux in Manon. He soon got to be known throughout
Italy
and by 1947 he had appeared in Rome
and
at La Scala, Milan. By 1948, he was at the Met. In the period
1948-52, apart from being successful in Argentina
,
Brazil
and Mexico
,
he became a sensation as a lyric tenor in New
York
and appeared at the Met in more than 100 performances.
Des
Grieux
(Manon)
|
The
Duke
(Rigoletto)
|
Faust
(Faust)
|
Riccardo
(Un
ballo in maschera)
|
By
the early 1950s, however, engagements at La Scala and elsewhere
in Italy
clashed with commitments at the Met. This conflict led to
his dismissal in America
.
Up until 1955, when he returned to the Met for only one season,
his career prospered in Italy
where he became the leading tenor at La Scala. There, he formed
part of one of the most known artistic trios in operatic history:
Di Stefano, Callas and Gobbi.
By
the end of the 1950s, Di Stefano moved into a more vocally
demanding spinto repertory and the health of his voice started
to suffer as a consequence. A few good years in early 1960s
were to follow, those in Vienna
among
them,
but the air eventually went out of the balloon and Di Stefano
found that engagements were cancelled by important theatres.
What had happened to the voice of the century? It is not altogether
clear.
Perhaps
his technique was not well developed or he undertook to sing
roles not suited to his voice. Was he too temperamental or
undisciplined? Or did his respiratory problems get the better
of him? Di Stefano himself once put the blame on an allergy
to some rugs he had installed in his Milan
apartment in the 1950s. What is clear, however, is that, by
the mid 1960s, the voice was gone and what had seemingly
been the
most extraordinary tenor voice since Caruso, was not to be.
A respected writer, friend and opera aficionado put it this
way: “He was the tenor of the century – almost”.
With
the lamentable passing on of Franco Corelli (1921-2003) in
Milan,
Giuseppe Di Stefano remains one of the last legendary tenors
still alive.
Audio
files *
Audio
1 Tosca –
E
lucevan le stelle sung by Giuseppe Di Stefano in
1945
Audio
2
Manon
–
O dolce incanto sung by Giuseppe Di Stefano in 1946
Audio
3 Mignon –
Ah!
Dispar, vision sung by Giuseppe Di Stefano in
1947
Audio
4 Faust –
Salut demeure chaste et pure sung by Giuseppe
Di Stefano in 1950
*
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Comment
The
young Di Stefano had one of the most beautiful tenor voices
of the XX century. He had a natural voice and its “degree
of naturalness” was much higher than that of many lyrical
tenors. He studied in Milan under Luigi Montesanto, a teacher
of obscure reputation and standing as far as I know. Di Stefano
made his debut at 23, a young age when compared to Lauri-Volpi's
debut at 27, Kraus' at 29 and Corelli's at 30. His studies,
radio debut and first two years of tenor singing were during
the turbulent years of World War II. The great voice teacher,
Lilli Lehmann, always demanded a period of not less than 6
years of
study
and the young Di Stefano had only a few years of studies under
a modest teacher.
Time
and time again, the mature Di Stefano insisted that his technique
was faultless. In my view, there is one important reason (call
it theory) for Di Stefano's demise. Di Stefano's vocality
and temperament were irreconcilable. It is an admissible theory.
About
a singer, to distinguish between the vocal instrument, which
is physical, and temperament, which is abstract, is significant.
It is often difficult to reconcile one with the other. Mother
Nature structured Di Stefano's vocal chords for sounds appropriate
to a lyrical repertoire, lighter than dramatic, agile and
undulating. Yet, Mother Nature may also have gven him a dramatic
and fiery temperament (he is a Sicilian and many Sicilians
have innate Mediterranean fire) which demands sounds opposite
to lyrical ones. When sung by a light and sweet tenor voice,
a lyrical note is beautiful but a spinto note with dramatic
content is not as beautiful and becomes almost strident because
of vocal strain.
Even
with supposedly precarious training, Di Stefano reached the
pinnacle of his art in light and lyrical roles of opera (even
operetta) so attuned to his natural vocality, such as Des
Grieux (Manon, Massenet), Nadir, Faust, Elvino (Sonnambula,
Bellini), the Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto, Verdi) and exceptionally
Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor, Donizetti). Led perhaps by a
fiery temperament, Di Stefano then embarked on the dramatic
and heroic tenor roles of Gioconda, Carmen, Pagliacci, Aida,
Forza del Destino, Ballo in maschera, Turandot, etc. He may
have wanted to challenge the weight of certain tessituras
soaked with drama.
Incessant vocal strain may be fatal to a light vocal structure
(by nature), a fact which leads to vocal impairment and destruction.
To
proceed with caution, intelligence and avoid passionate open
sounds (due to temperament) is the order of the day.
Importantly,
the divine Maria Callas, who was Pippo's co-star on the stage
and concerts for many years, had a similar irreconcilable
vocality and temperament. Di Stefano and Callas influenced
each other and sang operatic heroes and heroines with such
passion and piercing sounds that technique alone could not
sustain. The ultimate effect was synergistic and disastrous
for both. At
their primes in their younger years
they had been two operatic giants whom I and all opera lovers
remember
dearly.
(j.f.)
|
”There
is one thing to be said for glory - you can take glory with
you, when it is your time to go”