Emilio de Gogorza
Encyclopedia
Emilio Eduardo de Gogorza (May 29, 1874May 10, 1949) was an American baritone
of Spanish parentage.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, but brought up and trained musically in Spain. He returned to the USA in his early 20s. He sang in many languages, including French, Italian and English, as well as Spanish. Owing to pronounced near-sightedness, he did not appear on the opera
tic stage but became a renowned concert and recital artist instead.
De Gogorza made many gramophone
recordings which display the intelligence and sensitivity of his singing and his polished vocal technique. He recorded with Enrico Caruso a Spanish song called "A la luz de la luna" (In the moonlight). In 1928, he recorded the same song with Tito Schipa
.
He was one of the first professional musicians to make commercial recordings, not only under his own name but under various aliases such as Carlos Francisco. He probably used this alias when recording on Victor's lower end Black Label instead of the top of the line Red Label for which he normally recorded. In addition to recording he was apparently also used by the Victor company as an early A&R man, helping to persuade other well-known opera singers to record for them.
During this time he also was a professor of voice and music for the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Among his students was Wilbur Evans who in December of 1927 won the first Atwater Kent National Radio Audition, winning first prize out of 50,000 contestants. Evans would become a well known baritone on Broadway and radio, as well as co-starring in London's South Pacific
opposite Mary Martin
.
De Gogorza also taught in retirement; among his pupils were the American composer Samuel Barber
and the noted Philadelphia music critic, Max de Schauensee, who left many affectionate reminiscences of him.
De Gorgoza was married for a time to the celebrated American soprano
Emma Eames
, with whom he toured and also made discs of duets for the Victor Talking Machine. Their marriage ended in divorce.
He died in 1949 in New York City, from lung cancer
.
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
of Spanish parentage.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, but brought up and trained musically in Spain. He returned to the USA in his early 20s. He sang in many languages, including French, Italian and English, as well as Spanish. Owing to pronounced near-sightedness, he did not appear on the opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic stage but became a renowned concert and recital artist instead.
De Gogorza made many gramophone
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
recordings which display the intelligence and sensitivity of his singing and his polished vocal technique. He recorded with Enrico Caruso a Spanish song called "A la luz de la luna" (In the moonlight). In 1928, he recorded the same song with Tito Schipa
Tito Schipa
Tito Schipa was an Italian tenor. He is considered one of the finest tenori di grazia in operatic history...
.
He was one of the first professional musicians to make commercial recordings, not only under his own name but under various aliases such as Carlos Francisco. He probably used this alias when recording on Victor's lower end Black Label instead of the top of the line Red Label for which he normally recorded. In addition to recording he was apparently also used by the Victor company as an early A&R man, helping to persuade other well-known opera singers to record for them.
During this time he also was a professor of voice and music for the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Among his students was Wilbur Evans who in December of 1927 won the first Atwater Kent National Radio Audition, winning first prize out of 50,000 contestants. Evans would become a well known baritone on Broadway and radio, as well as co-starring in London's South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
opposite Mary Martin
Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989...
.
De Gogorza also taught in retirement; among his pupils were the American composer Samuel Barber
Samuel Barber
Samuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...
and the noted Philadelphia music critic, Max de Schauensee, who left many affectionate reminiscences of him.
De Gorgoza was married for a time to the celebrated American soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
Emma Eames
Emma Eames
Emma Eames was an American soprano renowned for the beauty of her voice. She sang major lyric and lyric-dramatic roles in opera and had an important career in New York, London and Paris during the last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century.-Early life:The daughter of...
, with whom he toured and also made discs of duets for the Victor Talking Machine. Their marriage ended in divorce.
He died in 1949 in New York City, from lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
.