- Aureliano Pertile
Aureliano Pertile (
November 9 ,1885 ,Montagnana -January 11 ,1952 ,Milan ) was an Italiantenor , one of the finest Italian artists of the inter-war period, and one of the most important tenors of the 20th century.Life and career
He was born in Montagnana, Italy, eighteen days following the birth of another celebrated tenor,
Giovanni Martinelli , in the same town. Pertile studied with Orefice in Padua, and Bavognoli in Milan, before making his operatic debut as as Lyonel in "Martha", in 1911, in Vicenza. After singing in Italy and South America, he first sang atLa Scala ,as Paolo in inFrancesca da Rimini , oppositeRosa Raïsa , in 1916. He made hisMetropolitan Opera debut as Cavaradossi in "Tosca ", oppositeMaria Jeritza , on December 1, 1921. In his only season at The Met, other roles include des Grieux in "Manon Lescaut ", Turiddu in "Cavalleria rusticana ", Grigori in "Boris Godunov (opera) ", withFeodor Chaliapin , Radames in "Aida ", the title role in "Pagliacci ", oppositeFlorence Easton , and Julien in "Louise", withGeraldine Farrar . He also participated in Met performances of "Louise" in Philadelphia and Brooklyn.Thereafter he returned to Italy, and was the leading tenor at La Scala, from 1927 to 1937, where he became a favorite of conducter
Arturo Toscanini . His repertory there also included the leading role inLohengrin (opera) , Stolzing in "Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg " (in Italian), Edgardo in "Lucia di Lammermoor ", withToti dal Monte , Alfredo in "La traviata ", Osaka in "Iris", Rodolfo in "La bohème ", "Andrea Chenier ", Manrico in "Il trovatore ", Riccardo in "Un ballo in maschera ", Pinkerton in "Madama Butterfly ", Il Duca inRigoletto , Alvaro inLa forza del destino , Pollione inNorma , Loris inFedora ,Werther , Maurizio inAdriana Lecouvreur , Fernand inLa Favorite ,Fra Diavolo . He created Boito'sNerone , in 1924, Wolf-Ferrari'sSly , in 1927, Mascagni'sNerone , in 1935. In all his roles, Pertile, achieved compelling dramatic results, despite a voicenot especially beautiful, sometimes even described as "bruta" (ugly).Pertile also sang at the
Royal Opera House in London (1927-31), and at theTeatro Colon in Buenos Aires (1923-29). His final performances were in 1946, in "Pagliacci". He then taught at theMilan Conservatory until his death in 1952.Recordings
In 1995, all of his recordings (made from 1922 to 1942, the final discs being excerpts from "Otello" with
Gina Cigna ) were issued in an album (with the accompanying monograph, "La voce e l'arte di Aureliano Pertile") from TIMAClub, excepting his three complete operas: "Aïda" (with Dusolina Giannini, 1928), "Il trovatore" (1930) and "Carmen" (in Italian translation, 1932).Sources
* D. Hamilton (ed.),"The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia: A Complete Guide to the World of Opera" (Simon and Schuster, New York 1987). ISBN 0-671-16732-X
Bibliography
* "Aureliano Pertile e il suo metodo di canto", by D. Silvestrini, 1932.
* "Pertile, una voce, un mito", by Bruno Tosi, 1985.External links
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NPkIIYqqVA] YouTube: Aureliano Pertile in an excerpt from "Manon Lescaut" (audio only).
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