Giuseppe Valdengo

Giuseppe Valdengo (May 24, 1914, Turin - October 3, 2007, Aosta) was an Italian operatic baritone.

Valdengo first studied the cello and oboe before turning to vocal studies with Accoriti in his native Turin. He made his operatic debut as Figaro in "Il barbiere di Siviglia", at Parma in 1936. He made his Teatro alla Scala in Milan, as Germont in "La traviata".

He made his American debut at the New York City Opera as Sharpless in "Madama Butterfly", in 1946, and at the Metropolitan Opera in 1947 as Tonio in "Pagliacci". He remained at the Met until 1954, other roles there included Figaro in "The Barber of Seville", Belcore in "L'elisir d'amore", Germont in "La traviata", Lescaut in "Manon Lescaut", Marcello in "La boheme" . 1947 was also his debut year at the San Francisco Opera as Valentin in "Faust".

In the mid 1950s, he returned to Europe where he appeared at Opéra de Paris as Rigoletto, and the Glyndebourne Festival as Raimbaud in "Le comte Ory" in 1955, and later, as Don Giovanni.

He retired from the stage in 1966 and taught in Turin. He published his autobiography "Ho cantato con Toscanini" in 1962.

Valdengo is probably best remembered for his NBC radio broadcasts of "Otello" (1947) (as Iago), "Aida" (1949) (as Amonasro), and "Falstaff" (1950) (in the title role), with Arturo Toscanini conducting (see discography). All of these operas were performed in concert, without scenery or props, and with the singers wearing tuxedoes and gowns rather than period costumes. The Toscanini "Aida" was simulcast on both television and radio, one of the first instances of such an event, and the telecast has been released on both VHS and DVD. Valdengo also appeared in one film, MGM's hit movie biography "The Great Caruso" (1951), starring Mario Lanza as the famous tenor.

His voice may have lack the innate beauty of other baritones, but his bold and assured attack, his incisive diction and scrupulous musicianship, more than made up for it.

Abridged Discography

* Verdi: "Otello" (Nelli, Vinay; Toscanini, 1947) [live] RCA
* Verdi: "Aïda" (Nelli, Tucker; Toscanini, 1949; special re-takes in 1954) [live] RCA
* Puccini: "Madama Butterfly" (Steber, Madeira, Tucker; Rudolf, 1949) CBS/Sony
* Verdi: "Falstaff" (Nelli; Toscanini, 1950) [live] RCA
* Leoncavallo: "Pagliacci" (Amara, Tucker; Cleva, 1951) CBS/Sony
* Verdi: "Un ballo in maschera" (Curtis-Verna, Tagliavini; Questa, 1954) Cetra
* Donizetti: "Don Pasquale" (Rizzoli; Molinari-Pradelli, 1955) Philips
* Puccini: "La bohème" (Albanese, Schuh, di Stefano, Treigle; Cellini, 1959) [live] VAI
* Donizetti: "L'elisir d'amore" Dulcamara-(Ciano,Tagliavini,Maffeo;Ino Savini,19/27 August 1968) Supraphon/Fratelli Fabbri
*Donizetti, Don Pasquale - Don Pasquale (Nino Verchi - 1968) Fratelli Fabbri
*Rossini, Il barbiere di Siviglia - Bartolo (Guglielmi, Cappuccilli; G. Zani - 1969) Supraphon/Fratelli Fabbri

Videography

* Verdi: "Aïda" (Nelli, Tucker; Toscanini, 1949) [live] RCA
* Puccini: "La rondine" (Carteri, Gismondo; Bellezza, NN, 1958) [live] Hardy/VAI
* "The Great Caruso" (MGM/UA VHS; unreleased on DVD as of 2008)

ources

* "The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia", edited by David Hamilton, (Simon & Schuster , New York, 1987), ISBN 0-671-61732-X
* "Opera News Magazine", Obituaries, February 2008.

External links

* [http://it.news.launch.yahoo.com/dyna/article.html?a=/04102007/2/morto-baritono-giuseppe-valdengo.html&e=l_news Obituary] it icon