Riccardo Stracciari

One of the Italian baritones whose vocal endowment made them veritable lions among performers, Riccardo Stracciari differed in timbre in the equally celebrated Titta Ruffo. If Ruffo’s tone of voice seemed to have already been ensemble from bronze, Stracciari’s was swathed in ermine from its significant bottom level register to its exuberant, resounding best. Moreover, Stracciari utilized his formidable device with great artistry, even more refined and much less visceral than whatever characterized Ruffo’s strategy. Stracciari continued to be in good type into his early 50s, extraordinary enough provided his active functionality schedule. His comprehensive recordings of Rigoletto and Il barbière di Siviglia, produced when the baritone was 53, are stunning types of a tone of voice and artwork well preserved; furthermore, they were carried out with several other essential singers of your day, such as for example Mercedes Capsir, Dino Borgioli, and Salvatore Baccaloni. After research on the conservatory in Bologna, Stracciari sang within an operetta chorus while carrying on his tone of voice schooling with Umberto Masetti. His debut emerged not really in opera, but being a soloist within an 1898 functionality in Florence of La resurrezione di Lazzaro, among a trilogy of cantatas by modern composer Lorenzo Perosi. His stage debut occurred mere days afterwards, when he sang in La bohème at Bologna’s Teatro Duse. While his superstar had not been a capturing one, his improvement thereafter was continuous over another half decade. You start with the 1900 – 1901 period, Stracciari sang in Lisbon, coming back for the business’s 1902 – 1903 period. La Scala welcomed him in 1904 and he sang there intermittently until 1909. Stracciari produced his Covent Backyard debut through the theater’s 1905 fall months time of year, performing Rigoletto, Amonasro, Giorgio Germont, as well as the Count number di Luna. Many critics, while admiring the baritone’s polish and musicianship, discovered Stracciari’s tone of voice as yet relatively subdued. That demonstrated his only period at Covent Backyard. The following calendar year, Stracciari ventured to NY, where his Metropolitan Opera debut occurred as the elder Germont (with Sembrich and Caruso) on Dec 1, 1906. Once again, first impressions had been muted, W.J. Henderson charging the baritone with “throaty” tone of voice creation and a “pallid” stage character. Writing about following performances, Henderson substantially improved his opinion. Although he continued to be for two periods, Stracciari acquitted himself well, but encountered intense competition from others over the Met’s roster of recognized baritones. Thereafter, the vocalist concentrated on shows in Italy, damaged by periodic forays to various other opera centers, such as for example Madrid and Paris (1909) and Buenos Aires’ Teatro Colón (1913). Two even more American engagements brought Stracciari to Chicago (1917 – 1919) and SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA (1925). In Chicago, his Rigoletto produced an excellent impression, furthermore his Scarpia, elder Germont, and Don Carlo (Ernani). He also had taken part within a January 18, 1918, Grand Gala. For his second period in Chicago, he added Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Antonio in Linda di Chamounix, Rossini’s Figaro, Tonio in I Pagliacci, and Fabrizio in Luigi Ricci’s Crispino e la Comare. During his one period at SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, Stracciari was noticed as Scarpia, defined by critic Redfern Mason as exhibiting “flinty hardness and Roman intensity.” His various other roles that period included Germont, Manfredo in L’amore dei tre re and his ebullient Barber (Rossini). Mainly performing in Italy, Stracciari continued to be a potent musician even in to the 1930s. After starting teaching in 1926, he steadily reduced the amount of his performances, bidding standard farewell to the level in 1942.