Eugenio Giraldoni

Eugenio Giraldoni (May 20, 1871, Marseille - June 23, 1924, Helsinki) was an Italian operatic baritone.

He was the son of another leading baritone, Leone Giraldoni, and the soprano and violinist Carolina Ferni. His mother gave him voice lessons and he made his opera debut in Barcelona, as Escamillo in "Carmen", in 1891.

Giraldoni consolidated his career by appearing at various operatic venues in Italy and touring South America in 1898. Then, in 1900, he made operatic history when he created the part of Baron Scarpia in Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca", at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. He also appeared in the first performance of Ildebrando Pizzetti's "La figlia di Jorio" at Italy's most important opera house, La Scala, Milan, in 1906.

He sang in Russia and Poland from 1901 until 1907 and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City during the 1904-05 season. In 1913, he appeared at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, as Scarpia and Sharpless.

Giraldoni had a good-sized voice and a strong (if unsubtle) stage presence, according to contemporary descriptions of his performances. Apart from Scarpia, his notable roles included: Don Carlo, Amonasro, Telramund, Hamlet, Berlioz's Méphisto and Onegin. But like his rival baritone Mario Sammarco, Giraldoni's style of singing was best suited to operas by verismo composers such Ruggero Leoncavallo, who composed Pagliacci, Umberto Giordano, who composed "Andrea Chenier", and Alberto Franchetti, who composed "Germania" and "Cristoforo Colombo".

After World War One, Giraldoni sang in Italian provincial theatres. He retired from the stage in Trieste in 1921 and died three years later in Finland, where he had gone to teach. His last operatic appearance had been as the father in "Louise".

Giraldoni made a number of recordings prior to World War One, some of which have been reissued on CD.

ources

* "Le guide de l'opéra", Mancini & Rouveroux, (Fayard, 1986);
* "The Record of Singing", Michael Scott, (Duckworth, 1977).