Mario Del Monaco
Mario Del Monaco was an Italian operatic tenor.
Biography
Del Monaco was born in Florence, into a musical upper-class family, to a Neapolitan father and to a mother of Sicilian descent. As a young boy he studied the violin but had a passion for singing. He graduated from the Rossini Conservatory at Pesaro, where he first met and sang with Renata Tebaldi, with whom he would form something of an operatic dream team of the 1950s. His early mentors as a singer included Arturo Melocchi, his teacher at Pesaro, and Cherubino Raffaelli, who recognized his talent and helped launch his career.That career began in earnest with Del Monaco's debut on 31 December 1940 as Pinkerton at the Puccini Theater in Milan. He sang in Italy during the Second World War and married, in 1941, Rina Filipini. In 1946, he appeared at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, for the first time. During the ensuing years he became famous not only in London but also across the operatic world for his powerful voice and heroic acting style. It was almost heldentenor-like in scope but Del Monaco was no Wagnerian, confining his activities overwhelmingly to the Italian repertoire. He sang Wagner in concerts, from Lohengrin and Die Walküre.
Del Monaco sang at the New York Metropolitan Opera from 1951 to 1959, enjoying particular success in dramatic Verdi parts such as Radamès. He soon established himself as one of four Italian tenor superstars who reached the peak of their fame in the 1950s and '60s, the others being Giuseppe Di Stefano, Carlo Bergonzi and Franco Corelli. Del Monaco's trademark roles during this period were Giordano's Andrea Chénier and Verdi's Otello. He first tackled Otello in 1950 and kept refining his interpretation throughout his career. It is said that he sang Otello 427 times. However, the book published by Elisabetta Romagnolo, Mario Del Monaco, Monumentum aere perennius, Azzali 2002, lists only 218 appearances by him as Otello, which is a more realistic figure. He was buried in his Otello costume. Although Otello was his best role, throughout his career, Del Monaco sang a number of other roles with great acclaim, for example: Canio in Pagliacci, Radames in Aida, Don Jose in Carmen, Chenier in Andrea Chénier, Manrico in Il trovatore, Samson in Samson and Delilah, and Don Alvaro in La forza del destino.
Del Monaco made his first recordings in Milan in 1948 for HMV. Later, he was partnered by Renata Tebaldi in a long series of Verdi and Puccini operas recorded for Decca. On the same label was his 1969 recording of Giordano's Fedora, opposite Magda Olivero and Tito Gobbi.
His ringing voice and virile appearance earned him the nickname of the "Brass Bull of Milan".
The soprano Magda Olivero noted in an interview with Stefan Zucker that:
When Del Monaco and I sang Francesca da Rimini together at La Scala he explained his whole vocal technique to me. When he finished I said, "My dear Del Monaco, if I had to put into practice all the things you’ve told me, I’d stop singing right away and just disappear." The technique was so complicated: you push the larynx down, then you push this up, then you do that—in short, it made my head spin just to hear everything he did.
In 1975 he retired from the stage. He died in Mestre as a result of nephritis.
His son Giancarlo Del Monaco is an opera director and theatre manager; his niece Donella Del Monaco, a soprano, is the singer of Opus Avantra.
Discography
Studio recordings for Decca
All stereo unless otherwise indicated.- Bellini – Norma – Souliotis, Cossotto, Cava – Varviso.
- Bizet – Carmen – Resnik, Sutherland, Krause – Schippers.
- Boito – Mefistofele – Tebaldi, Siepi – Serafin.
- Catalani – La Wally – Tebaldi, Cappuccilli, Diaz – Cleva.
- Cilea – Adriana Lecouvreur – Tebaldi, Simionato, Fioravanti – Capuana.
- Giordano – Andrea Chenier – Tebaldi, Bastianini – Gavazzeni.
- Giordano – Fedora – Olivero, Gobbi – Gardelli.
- Leoncavallo – Pagliacci – Tucci, MacNeil, Capecchi – Molinari-Pradelli.
- Mascagni – Cavalleria Rusticana – Nicolai, Protti – Ghione.
- Mascagni – Cavalleria Rusticana – Simionato, MacNeil, Satre – Serafin.
- Mascagni – Cavalleria Rusticana – Souliotis, Gobbi – Varviso.
- Ponchielli – La Gioconda – Cerquetti, Simionato, Bastianini, Siepi – Gavazzeni.
- Puccini – Il Tabarro – Tebaldi, Merrill – Gardelli.
- Puccini – La fanciulla del West – Tebaldi, MacNeil, Tozzi – Capuana.
- Puccini – Tosca – Tebaldi, London – Molinari-Pradelli.
- Puccini – Turandot – Borkh, Tebaldi – Erede.
- Puccini – Manon Lescaut – Tebaldi, Corena – Molinari-Pradelli.
- Verdi – Aida – Tebaldi, Stignani, Protti – Erede.
- Verdi – Il Trovatore – Tebaldi, Simionato, Savarese – Erede.
- Verdi – La Forza del Destino – Tebaldi, Bastianini, Siepi, Simionato, Corena – Molinari-Pradelli.
- Verdi – Otello – Tebaldi, Protti – Erede.
- Verdi – Otello – Tebaldi, Protti – Karajan.
- Verdi – Requiem Mass – Crespin, Resnik, van Mill – Ansermet.
- Verdi – Rigoletto – Gueden, Simionato, Protti, Siepi – Erede.
Live
- Bellini - Norma - Callas, Stignani, Modesti
- Bellini - Norma - Callas, Simionato, Zaccaria
- Bizet – Carmen – Archipova, Lisitsian – Melik-Pashayev – Myto.
- Giordano – Andrea Chenier – Callas, Protti, Amadini – Votto – Opera d'Oro.
- Giordano – Andrea Chenier – Tebaldi, Protti – Capuana – Opera d'Oro.
- Leoncavallo – Pagliacci – L. Maslennikova, Ivanov – Nebolsin – Myto.
- Leoncavallo – Pagliacci – Amara, Warren, Sereni – Mitropoulos – Walhall.
- Leoncavallo – Pagliacci – Tucci, Protti – Morelli – Gala.
- Mascagni – Cavalleria Rusticana – Simionato – Morelli – Gala.
- Puccini – Tosca – Caniglia – Guelfi – Rapalo – Opera Depot
- Puccini – La Fanciulla del West – Steber – Guelfi – Mitropoulos – Walhall
- Verdi – Aida – Tucci, Simionato – Franco Capuana – Gala 100.507
- Verdi – Ernani – Milanov, Warren, Siepi – Mitropoulos – Andromeda, Myto.
- Verdi – Ernani – Cerquetti, Bastianini, Christoff – Mitropoulos – Opera d'Oro.
- Verdi – Ernani – Roberti, Bastianini, Rossi-Lemeni – Previtali – Andromeda.
- Verdi – La Forza del Destino – Tebaldi, Protti, Siepi, Barbieri, Capecchi – Mitropoulos – Accademia, Foyer.
- Verdi – Otello – Warren, Tebaldi – Stiedry – Walhall.
- Verdi – Otello – Warren, de los Angeles – Cleva – Myto.
- Verdi – Otello – Gobbi, Tucci – Erede – Opera d'Oro.
- Wagner – Die Walküre excerpts in Concert
- Wagner – Lohengrin, concert
Compilation albums
- Mario del Monaco: Decca Recitals 1952–1969 – 5 CDs, all studio – opera arias, sacred music, Neapolitan, Spanish and English songs.
- Mario del Monaco: Grandi Voci – DECCA, 19 tracks, all studio – excellent selection of his finest arias plus three popular songs.
- The Singers: Mario del Monaco – DECCA, 17 tracks – mostly opera arias plus a few popular/sacred pieces.
- Mario del Monaco: Opera Arias – Testament, 23 tracks – collection of early mono recordings.
- Mario del Monaco: Granada: Canzoni e Serenate – Replay, 14 tracks – fine compilation of popular Italian canzonettas plus 'Granada'.
- Mario del Monaco: Historical Recordings 1950–1960 – Gala, 23 tracks – live recordings; extremely poor presentation with no dates or locations given.
- Mario Del Monaco: Live – IDIS, 8 tracks – all live recordings, 1951–57; mostly arias from Verdi plus Pollione's aria from Bellini's Norma.
Videography
- Giordano – Andrea Chénier – Stella, Taddei – A. Questa – RAI Milano – Bel Canto Society.
- Giordano – Andrea Chénier – Tebaldi, Protti – Capuana – Vai.
- Leoncavallo – Pagliacci – Tucci, Protti – Morelli – Vai.
- Verdi – Aida – Tucci, Simionato, Protti – Capuana – Vai.
- Verdi – Il trovatore – Gencer, Bastianini, Barbieri – Previtali – Hardy Classics.
- Verdi – Otello – Capecchi, Carteri – Serafin – Hardy Classics.
- Verdi – Otello – Gobbi, Tucci – Erede – Vai.
- Mario del Monaco at the Bolshoi – Carmen, Pagliacci – Maslennicova, Arkhipova, Lisitsian – Tieskovini, Melik-Pashaev – Vai.