Gino Quilico
Encyclopedia
Gino Quilico, OC
(born April 29, 1955) is a Canadian lyric baritone
of Italian
descent and the son of Canadian baritone
Louis Quilico
and Lina Pizzolongo
.
in 1955 to Louis Quilico
and his wife, the concert pianist and vocal coach Lina Pizzolongo
. As a teenager, Gino worked in an Ontario
coal mine, became the assistant to a mechanic, and played in a rock band. His father began to give him voice lessons at age 19 and encouraged him to join the chorus of the Canadian Opera
. Quilico graduated from the opera school at the University of Toronto
in 1978.
. In 1980, he was discovered by Bernard Lefort and he became a member of the Paris Opera
. In 1982, he performed in the UK
for the first time at the 1982 Edinburgh Festival
as Lescaut
. He also debuted at Covent Garden
in 1983 as Valentin
. He created the role of Figaro in John Corigliano
's opera The Ghosts of Versailles
at its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera, opposite Teresa Stratas
. He also created the lead role in Marcel Landowski
's Montsegur. In 1987, he and his father became the first father and son to perform together at the Metropolitan Opera. He played various other roles such as Figaro, Marcello
, Dandini
, and Escamillo
. He has also appeared in various opera festivals, including the Salzburg
, Vienna, and Munich
Festivals. He also appeared in the 1985 film Orfeo as the title character and in the 1988 film La Bohème.
In 1992, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
.
Quilico played the role of Jean Valjean
in the musical Les Misérables
in a 2008 production in Quebec City
and is scheduled to return in 2009.
and pianist
Kathryn Stephenson. They have two children, Enrico and Sofia.
Gino Quilico re-married in 2010 to Sara Decayette
, Alfredo Kraus
and José van Dam
, led by Georges Prêtre
, 1985), La bohème (as Marcello, with Barbara Hendricks
and José Carreras
, conducted by James Conlon
, 1987), Les pêcheurs de perles (1989), Don Pasquale (1990) and La bohème (as Marcello, opposite Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
, led by Kent Nagano
, 1994). Also notable is the "live" recording of Landowski's Montségur, with Karan Armstrong
, conducted by Michel Plasson
,1987. Les Troyen (1995) conducted by (Charles Dutoit) Grammy Award winner, Noel recorded with Novem, over 50 thousand copies sold (Gold). Les Miserables (2009) with LCQ records.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(born April 29, 1955) is a Canadian lyric baritone
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 Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
descent and the son of Canadian baritone
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...
Louis Quilico
Louis Quilico
Louis Quilico, CC was a Canadian opera singer. One of the leading dramatic baritones of his day, he was an ideal interpreter of the great Italian and French composers, especially Giuseppe Verdi. He was often referred to as "Mr Rigoletto" in reference to the Verdi opera...
and Lina Pizzolongo
Lina Pizzolongo
Lina Pizzolongo was a Canadian vocal coach and concert pianist. She was married to baritone Louis Quilico and was the mother of Gino Quilico, also a baritone.- Career :...
.
Early life
Gino Quilico was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1955 to Louis Quilico
Louis Quilico
Louis Quilico, CC was a Canadian opera singer. One of the leading dramatic baritones of his day, he was an ideal interpreter of the great Italian and French composers, especially Giuseppe Verdi. He was often referred to as "Mr Rigoletto" in reference to the Verdi opera...
and his wife, the concert pianist and vocal coach Lina Pizzolongo
Lina Pizzolongo
Lina Pizzolongo was a Canadian vocal coach and concert pianist. She was married to baritone Louis Quilico and was the mother of Gino Quilico, also a baritone.- Career :...
. As a teenager, Gino worked in an Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
coal mine, became the assistant to a mechanic, and played in a rock band. His father began to give him voice lessons at age 19 and encouraged him to join the chorus of the Canadian Opera
Canadian Opera Company
The Canadian Opera Company is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and the third largest producer of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.-History:For 40 years until...
. Quilico graduated from the opera school at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
in 1978.
Career
Quilico's operatic debut was in a 1978 television performance of The MediumThe Medium
The Medium is a short two-act dramatic opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti. Commissioned by Columbia University, its first performance was there on 8 May 1946. The opera's first professional production was presented on a double bill with Menotti's The Telephone at the Heckscher...
. In 1980, he was discovered by Bernard Lefort and he became a member of the Paris Opera
Palais Garnier
The Palais Garnier, , is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, but soon became known as the Palais Garnier...
. In 1982, he performed in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
for the first time at the 1982 Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh International Festival
The Edinburgh International Festival is a festival of performing arts that takes place in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, over three weeks from around the middle of August. By invitation from the Festival Director, the International Festival brings top class performers of music , theatre, opera...
as Lescaut
Manon Lescaut (Puccini)
Manon Lescaut is an opera in four acts by Giacomo Puccini. The story is based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost....
. He also debuted at Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in 1983 as Valentin
Faust (opera)
Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...
. He created the role of Figaro in John Corigliano
John Corigliano
John Corigliano is an American composer of classical music and a teacher of music. He is a distinguished professor of music at Lehman College in the City University of New York.-Biography:...
's opera The Ghosts of Versailles
The Ghosts of Versailles
The Ghosts of Versailles is an opera in two acts, with music by John Corigliano to an English libretto by William M. Hoffman. The Metropolitan Opera had commissioned the work from Corigliano in 1980 in celebration of its 100th anniversary, with the premiere scheduled for 1983...
at its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera, opposite Teresa Stratas
Teresa Stratas
Teresa Stratas, OC , is a retired Canadian operatic soprano. She is especially well-known for her award-winning recording of Alban Berg's Lulu.-Early life and career:...
. He also created the lead role in Marcel Landowski
Marcel Landowski
Marcel François Paul Landowski was a French composer, biographer and arts administrator.Born at Pont-l'Abbé, Finistère, Brittany, he was the son of French sculptor Paul Landowski and great-grandson of the composer Henri Vieuxtemps.As an infant he showed early musical promise, and studied piano...
's Montsegur. In 1987, he and his father became the first father and son to perform together at the Metropolitan Opera. He played various other roles such as Figaro, Marcello
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
, Dandini
La Cenerentola
La Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the fairy tale Cinderella...
, and Escamillo
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
. He has also appeared in various opera festivals, including the Salzburg
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer within the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...
, Vienna, and Munich
Munich Opera Festival
The Munich Opera Festival, , is an opera festival located in Munich, Germany and presented annually at the National Theatre by the Bavarian State Opera...
Festivals. He also appeared in the 1985 film Orfeo as the title character and in the 1988 film La Bohème.
In 1992, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
.
Quilico played the role of Jean Valjean
Jean Valjean
Jean Valjean is the protagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables...
in the musical Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
in a 2008 production in Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
and is scheduled to return in 2009.
Personal life
Quilico was once married to violistViola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
and pianist
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
Kathryn Stephenson. They have two children, Enrico and Sofia.
Gino Quilico re-married in 2010 to Sara Decayette
Recordings
His discography includes Manon (1982), Roméo et Juliette (1983), L'Orfeo (1985), L'heure espagnole (1985), La jolie fille de Perth (with June AndersonJune Anderson
June Anderson is a Grammy Award-winning American coloratura soprano. Originally known for bel canto performances of Rossini, Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini, she was the first non-Italian ever to win the prestigious Bellini d'Oro prize...
, Alfredo Kraus
Alfredo Kraus
Alfredo Kraus Trujillo was a distinguished Spanish tenor of partly Austrian descent, particularly known for the artistry he brought to opera's bel canto roles...
and José van Dam
José van Dam
Joseph, Baron van Damme , known as José van Dam, is a Belgian bass-baritone.At the age of 17, he entered the Brussels Royal Conservatory and studied with Frederic Anspach. A year later, he graduated with diplomas and first prizes in voice and opera performance...
, led by Georges Prêtre
Georges Prêtre
- Biography :He was born in Waziers , and attended the Douai Conservatory and then studied harmony under Maurice Duruflé and conducting under André Cluytens among others at the Conservatoire de Paris. Amongst his early musical interests were jazz and trumpet. After graduating, he conducted in a...
, 1985), La bohème (as Marcello, with Barbara Hendricks
Barbara Hendricks
Barbara Hendricks is an African American operatic soprano and concert singer. Hendricks has lived in Europe since 1977, and in Switzerland on Lake Geneva since 1985, She is a citizen of Sweden.-Early life and education:...
and José Carreras
José Carreras
Josep Maria Carreras i Coll , better known as José Carreras , is a Spanish Catalan tenor particularly known for his performances in the operas of Verdi and Puccini...
, conducted by James Conlon
James Conlon
James Conlon is an American conductor and the current Music Director of the Los Angeles Opera.-Early years:Conlon grew up in a family of five children on Cherry Street in Douglaston, Queens, New York. His mother, Angeline L. Conlon, was a freelance writer. His father was an assistant to the New...
, 1987), Les pêcheurs de perles (1989), Don Pasquale (1990) and La bohème (as Marcello, opposite Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
Kiri Te Kanawa
Dame Kiri Jeanette Te Kanawa, ONZ, DBE, AC is a New Zealand / Māori soprano who has had a highly successful international opera career since 1968. Acclaimed as one of the most beloved sopranos in both the United States and Britain she possesses a warm full lyric soprano voice, singing a wide array...
, led by Kent Nagano
Kent Nagano
__FORCETOC__Kent George Nagano is an American conductor and opera administrator. He is currently the music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Bavarian State Opera.-Biography:...
, 1994). Also notable is the "live" recording of Landowski's Montségur, with Karan Armstrong
Karan Armstrong
Karan Armstrong is an American operatic soprano who has had an active international career since the 1960s.-Biography:...
, conducted by Michel Plasson
Michel Plasson
Michel Plasson is a French conductor.Plasson was a student of Lazare Lévy at the Conservatoire de Paris. In 1962, he was a prize-winner at the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors. He studied briefly in the United States, including time with Charles Münch...
,1987. Les Troyen (1995) conducted by (Charles Dutoit) Grammy Award winner, Noel recorded with Novem, over 50 thousand copies sold (Gold). Les Miserables (2009) with LCQ records.