Vicente Sardinero

Vicente [Vincenç] Sardinero (January 12, 1937 - February 9, 2002) was a Spanish operatic baritone. Born in Barcelona, he made his debut at the Liceu in his native city in the 1964-65 season, as Escamillo in "Carmen". He first appearance at the Teatro alla Scala was in 1967, as Enrico in "Lucia di Lammermoor". He also sang at London's Covent Garden and was often heard in zarzuela.

In 1968, he appeared at the New York City Opera, in "Il barbiere di Siviglia" and "Pagliacci". In 1977, Sardinero sang at the Metropolitan Opera, as Marcello in "La bohème". His alternating Mimìs were Ileana Cotrubas, Katia Ricciarelli and Renata Scotto; Dame Josephine Barstow, José Carreras and Justino Díaz were also in the performances, which were conducted by James Levine.

His recordings include "L'amico Fritz" (with Luciano Pavarotti and Mirella Freni conducted by Gianandrea Gavazzeni, 1968), "Manon Lescaut" (opposite Montserrat Caballé and Plácido Domingo, 1971), "Un giorno di regno" (with Jessye Norman, Fiorenza Cossotto, Carreras and Ingvar Wixell, led by Lamberto Gardelli, 1973), "La bohème" (as Schaunard, with Caballé, Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Judith Blegen and Ruggero Raimondi conducted by Sir Georg Solti, 1973), "Lucia di Lammermoor" (opposite Caballé, Carreras and Samuel Ramey, led by Jesús López-Cobos, 1976), "Edgar" ("live," with Scotto and Carlo Bergonzi, 1977) and, again, "Manon Lescaut" (with Miriam Gauci, 1992). Well-known "pirate" recordings of his include "Manon Lescaut" (opposite Magda Olivero and Richard Tucker, 1972) and "Roberto Devereux" (with Caballé, Carreras and Susanne Marsee, led by Julius Rudel, 1977).

The baritone died in the village of Villafranca del Castillo, near Madrid, in his sixty-fifth year.

Videography

* Massenet: "Werther" (Scotto, Kraus; Guingal, de Tomasi, 1987) [live] Bel Canto Society

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4drqEhsgBmo] YouTube: Vicente Sardinero in an excerpt from "La bohème", with José Carreras (1980).