- Giovanni David
Giovanni David (September 15, 1790 in
Naples – 1864 inSaint Petersburg ) was an Italiantenor particularly known for his roles inRossini opera s.David (also known as Davide) was the son of the tenor Giacomo David, with whom he studied. He made his
opera tic début inSiena in 1808 in "Adelaide de Guesclino" byJohann Simon Mayr . He is notable for the principal roles written for him byGioachino Rossini , mostly forDomenico Barbaia 's theatres inNaples :
*Narciso inIl turco in Italia (1814)
*Rodrigo in Otello (1816)
*Ricciardo inRicciardo e Zoraide (1818)
*Oreste inErmione (1819)
*Uberto (James IV of Scotland ) inLa donna del lago (1819)
*Ilo inZelmira (1822)He also created the roles of Fernando in the revised version of Bellini's
Bianca e Fernando (1828) and Leicester in Donizetti'sIl castello di Kenilworth (1829).David was noted for his vocal range of almost 3 octaves in performance (B3 to Bb5) and for his ability to sing extremely florid music, although compared with his contemporary,
Andrea Nozzari , his acting ability was limited.He retired from the stage in 1839, and subsequently managed an opera company in
Saint Petersburg .References
*cite book | last = Osborne|first = Richard| year = 1986| title= Rossini| publisher = Dent| location = London| id = ISBN 0-460-03179-1
*cite book | last = Warrack| first = John, and Ewan West| year = 1992| title = The Oxford Dictionary of Opera| publisher = Oxford University Press| location = Oxford| id = ISBN 0-19-869164-5
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