Nicola Rossi-Lemeni

High, well-built, handsome, using a dramatic existence, bass Nicola Rossi-Lemeni made a robust impression in the 10 years following end of WWII. He was especially well-known in Italy where viewers admired his huge, forceful voice. IN THE US, he was celebrated in SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA and Chicago, but much less well-liked in NY. His voice proceeded to go into drop early, eroding at both ends of its compass and getting perceptibly much less voluminous. Rossi-Lemeni continuing performing, however, producing an estimable impression along with his performing and effective declamation. Rossi-Lemeni’s dad, a colonel in the Italian armed service, and his Russian mom both knew the kids of the fantastic Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin, and Nicola discovered himself absorbed with this artist’s legacy from an early on age; he gathered every Chaliapin saving he may find. After preliminary training along with his mom, he analyzed repertory with Gigli’s accompanist, Vito Carnevale and, at 18, started training with Ferruccio Cusinati, an associate to conductors Serafin and Guarneri. With Italy’s access into WWII, Rossi-Lemeni was conscripted and delivered to the Russian front side in his father’s department. Immediately after the war’s end, Rossi-Lemeni produced his concert debut in Verona, performing for Allied staff. His 1st stage appearance adopted in 1946 as Varlaam inside a Venice creation of Boris Godunov. Engagements in additional Italian theaters ensued and he sang at La Scala in 1947, staying presently there until 1961. His 1st overall performance in Milan was as Varlaam, with Tancredi Pasero as Boris and Boris Christoff as Pimen. In Buenos Aires, Rossi-Lemeni produced his debut in the name part of Boris Godunov in 1949. His 1st UNITED STATES appearance occurred in SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA on Oct 2, 1951, once more as the tortured Tsar. Critic Alfred Frankenstein hailed the bass as “a fresh superstar” and defined his abilities as “huge.” He noticed: “The adjective ‘king-sized’ continues to be done to loss of life in modern journalism, nevertheless, you don’t understand exactly what it means until you have observed this guy, his overwhelming entire body and his imperial bearing.” Through the 1952 – 1953 London period, Rossi-Lemeni produced his Covent Backyard debut, also as Boris. His Dec 30 functionality was found even more reasonable and restrained than that of Boris Christoff, noticed in two previously periods. Rossi-Lemeni’s Metropolitan Opera debut occurred on November 16, 1953, as Méphistophélès in Faust. While critics had been impressed along with his stage persona and performing, reservations were portrayed in what many regarded rough performing. When Carol Fox, Lawrence Kelly, and Nicola Rescigno sought to create large-scale opera back again to Chicago, they installed two performances of the “calling credit card” Don Giovanni with Rossi-Lemeni in the business lead. Cheered by critic Claudia Cassidy, the creation opened the entranceway to an effective fall period for the Chicago Lyric Opera and, shortly, a long lasting place among the world’s main companies. Rossi-Lemeni came back in the fall for Norma with Maria Callas, when Cassidy defined his Oroveso as having “the magnificence of Michelangelo’s Moses.” He also sang Rossini’s Basilio, displaying a rare present for humor. In two following Chicago periods, Rossi-Lemeni sang in I puritani, La bohème, Faust, L’Elisir d’Amore, and L’Amore dei tre Re. Through the 1950s, Rossi-Lemeni produced several recordings for EMI, many with Maria Callas. Ildebrando Pizzetti published his Assassinio nella Cattedrale (among five operas focused on the vocalist) for Rossi-Lemeni in 1958. Rossi-Lemeni and his wife, soprano Virginia Zeani, trained at Indiana University or college beginning in the first 1980s.