Italo Gardoni
Encyclopedia
Italo Gardoni was a leading operatic tenore di grazia
singer from Italy
who enjoyed a major international career during the middle decades of the 19th century. Along with Giovanni Mario
, Gaetano Fraschini
, Enrico Tamberlik
and Antonio Giuglini
, he was one of the most celebrated Italian tenors of his era.
His voice was not large but it was exceptionally pure toned and sweet, lacking any disruptive vibrato
. He sang legato passages with impressive smoothness but he could also dispatch florid music with flair and considerable agility.
, Gardoni studied with Antonio De Cesari (1797–1853). He made his debut as Roberto Devereux
(Donizetti) in Viadana in 1840, and over the following 7 years made his career in France, Italy and Germany. In Paris in December 1844 he was Bothwell in the Paris première of Louis Niedermeyer
's opera Marie Stuart
at the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique opposite the soprano Rosine Stoltz
, and was with her again there for the premiere of Michael Balfe's L'Etoile de Seville
in the following year. Gardoni knew and worked with Balfe, who composed items particularly for him. The limpidity and clarity of his voice, and his ravishing upper notes (no less than his youth, charm and elegance) were greatly admired in Paris: and if he was not ready for all the roles from the repertoires of Adolphe Nourrit
and Gilbert Duprez
, still (they thought) some Meyerbeer would have suited him well, not least Raoul in Les Huguenots
. Gardoni continued to sing in Paris throughout his career.
for Her Majesty's Theatre
by Benjamin Lumley
for 60,000 Francs, to compensate his public for the departure from their stage of Mario
. Having been introduced through the Puzzi salon
in Jermyn Street, his first London stage appearance was in February 1847 in La favorita with Mme Sanchioli: both his principal arias were encored with much enthusiasm for his vocal purity of taste and feeling. His histrionic powers were faultless, except that he lacked the force to portray bursts of passion.
There followed La sonnambula
with Mme Castellan (the dramatic soprano who also partnered Lumley's tenore robusto Gaetano Fraschini
), and I puritani
and L'elisir d'amore
(with Castellan and Luigi Lablache
), and he rapidly became a great favourite. Gardoni took a minor role in Jenny Lind
's London debut in Robert le diable
, with Josef Staudigl
, Fraschini, Castellan and others, in the presence of Queen Victoria: he partnered Lind in La sonnambula (and La figlia del reggimento
?) soon afterwards. On 22 July 1847 he created the tenor role in Verdi's I masnadieri
opposite Lind, Lablache and Filippo Coletti, the first two nights being under the composer's baton, and thereafter under Balfe's. At the salon of Henry Greville he was associated with Mario
, Grisi
, Pinsuti
and others.
In the 1848 season he was Lumley's leading tenor. Il barbiere di Siviglia with Sophie Cruvelli
and Belletti was followed by the London premiere of Verdi's Attila
, with Cruvelli, Velletti and Cuzzani. He sang Gennaro to Cruvelli's Lucrezia Borgia
. Sims Reeves
, then attempting to establish his own place on the Italian dramatic stage in London, agreed with Lumley to appear in the lesser role of Carlo in Linda di Chamounix
(supporting Eugenia Tadolini
) in the hope of playing Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor
, Percy in Anna Bolena
and Arturo in I puritani
, which were billed for the (sensational) return of Jenny Lind
. But Gardoni was cast as Edgardo, and Reeves severed his engagements. There was a cry of 'Sims Reeves' from the gallery as Gardoni sang Edgardo's first cavatina on the opening night. The situation probably arose through Lind expressing a preference for Gardoni as her partner: obligingly he also stepped in as Carlo. Gardoni now sang Roberto
for Lind, but was thought not up to the part. But at her final performance at Her Majesty's, in Robert le diable
on 10 May 1849 (before a royal and distinguished audience), Gardoni led Jenny Lind onto the stage to receive her rapturous applause.
After a winter season in St Petersburg, in 1850 he reappeared with Parodi and Frezzolini in a revival of I Capuleti ed i Montecchi (as Tebaldo), and pleased his audience by disproving a false report of his death. June 1850 saw a première of Halévy
's La tempesta in which as Fernando he partnered Sontag
's Miranda, Carlotta Grisi
's Ariel, Colini's Prospero and the celebrated impersonation of Caliban by Lablache, directed by Balfe.
Gardoni and the star contralto
Marietta Alboni
were the lead soloists, in the presence of Queen Isabella II, in the 1850 inaugural performance of La favorita at the Teatro Real
in Madrid.
1851 renewed Gardoni's Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia. A novelty première, Le tre nozze, with Henrietta Sontag and Lablache, preceded the more significant L'Enfant prodigue
of Auber with Sontag, Massol and Coletti. He was with Cruvelli again for a special performance of Balfe's opera I quattro figli When Reeves and Cruvelli sang Fidelio
in 1851, Gardoni led the hand-picked soloists forming the chorus of prisoners on the first night. In Lumley's operatic concerts, also, Reeves, Gardoni and Calzolari formed a 'three tenors' trio for Curschmann's Evviva Baccho, and took part in a triplicated version of Martini's trio Don't tickle me, I pray with Henrietta Sontag, Sophie Cruvelli and Jenny Duprez as soprani, and three bassi including Lablache. He continued to sing for Lumley through his crisis months of early 1852, and gave a Norma
with Cruvelli and Lablache: but after Cruvelli's defection he, too, slipped away from Lumley's Company. In 1852 he was with Reeves, Pauline Viardot-Garcia, Louisa Pyne
, Charlotte Sainton-Dolby and Karl Formes
in first oratorio performances of Dr Bexfield's Israel Restored and Hugh Pearson's Jerusalem at the Norwich Festival
.
produced his oratorio Eli in the Birmingham Festival
, with Viardot, Castellan, Reeves and Formes, Gardoni was in the audience with Mario
and Enrico Tamberlik
, and afterwards they went in a group to pay Reeves a large compliment. Gardoni himself appeared in Rossini's opera Il conte Ory
with Constance Nantier-Didiée and Angiolina Bosio
, an 'exquisite' combination of voices. In 1857 he participated in the second Lyceum season (while the new Covent Garden theatre was awaited). H. F. Chorley praised his performance of Auber's Fra Diavolo
, with Angiolina Bosio, Mlle Marai, Giorgio Ronconi
and Pietro Neri-Baraldi, with Joseph Tagliafico and Charles Zelger as the Brigands.
During the later 1850s Gardoni appeared often at Covent Garden
, including performances of Alfredo in La traviata
for Michael Costa in 1858 and 1859. After Meyerbeer had re-drafted his Ein Feldlager in Schlesien for Paris as L'étoile du nord
(1854), an Italian version was presented for the British premiere, at Covent Garden. For this, Meyerbeer added the Act 1 polonaise and the romanza Disperso il crin sul mesto sen for Gardoni in the role of Danilowitz. Gardoni also took the role of Corentin in the British premiere of Meyerbeer's Dinorah
(Le pardon), at Covent Garden, in 1859, in which Chorley praised his 'peasant poltroonery'.
In autumn 1864, when the mentally unstable rival tenor Antonio Giuglini took up his doomed St Petersburg engagement, Gardoni joined Mapleson
's autumn operatic touring party as principal tenor. (Gardoni had been one of Mapleson's vocal instructors.) Charles Santley
called him
His 1865 Faust
was with Thérèse Tietjens, Zélia Trebelli
, Junca and Santley. In the 1866 season at Her Majesty's, he sang Pilade in a magnificent staging of Gluck
's Iphigénie en Tauride
, opposite Tietjens (Iphigenia), Santley (Oreste) and Édouard Gassier (Thoas) - in which the soloists 'surpassed themselves': also he renewed his Corentin (Dinorah
), with Ilma de Murska and Santley (Hoel), greatly to Mapleson's satisfaction. In 1867 he was Ottavio in the Don Giovanni
with Christina Nilsson
, Tietjens, Sinico, Gassier (the Don) and Santley (Leporello), and his Corentino was repeated.
Gardoni remained with Mapleson, and in Robert le Diable
in 1872 he was Rambaldo to Christine Nilsson's Alice, Pietro Mongini's Roberto, Signor Foli's Bertramo and de Murska's Isabella
, with Carlotta and Barbara Marchisio and Luigi Agnesi
(Louis Agniez).
Gardoni married the daughter of baritone Antonio Tamburini
and (his wife) the soprano Marietta Goja. He died in Paris.
The old entry from the Dictionary of Music and Musicians called him a 'tenore di grazia
':
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
singer from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
who enjoyed a major international career during the middle decades of the 19th century. Along with Giovanni Mario
Mario
is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
, Gaetano Fraschini
Gaetano Fraschini
Gaetano Fraschini was an Italian tenor. He created many roles in 19th century operas, including five composed by Giuseppe Verdi. His voice was "heroic ... with a baritonal quality, .....
, Enrico Tamberlik
Enrico Tamberlik
Enrico Tamberlik was an Italian tenor who sang to great acclaim at Europe and America's leading opera venues. He excelled in the heroic roles of the Italian and French repertories and was renowned for his powerful declamation and clarion high notes.-Career:Born in Rome, some sources claim that...
and Antonio Giuglini
Antonio Giuglini
Antonio Giuglini was an Italian operatic tenor. During the last eight years of his life, before he developed signs of mental instability, he earned renown as one of the leading stars of the operatic scene in London...
, he was one of the most celebrated Italian tenors of his era.
His voice was not large but it was exceptionally pure toned and sweet, lacking any disruptive vibrato
Vibrato
Vibrato is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. Vibrato is typically characterised in terms of two factors: the amount of pitch variation and the speed with which the pitch is varied .-Vibrato and...
. He sang legato passages with impressive smoothness but he could also dispatch florid music with flair and considerable agility.
Career
Born in ParmaParma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
, Gardoni studied with Antonio De Cesari (1797–1853). He made his debut as Roberto Devereux
Roberto Devereux
Roberto Devereux is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, by Gaetano Donizetti...
(Donizetti) in Viadana in 1840, and over the following 7 years made his career in France, Italy and Germany. In Paris in December 1844 he was Bothwell in the Paris première of Louis Niedermeyer
Louis Niedermeyer
Abraham Louis Niedermeyer was a composer chiefly of church music but also of a few operas, and a teacher who took over the Ecole Choron, duly renamed École Niedermeyer, a school for the study and practice of church music, where several eminent French musicians studied including Gabriel Fauré and...
's opera Marie Stuart
Marie Stuart (opera)
Marie Stuart is a grand opera in five acts composed by Louis Niedermeyer to a libretto by Théodor Anne loosely based on events in the life of Mary, Queen of Scots...
at the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique opposite the soprano Rosine Stoltz
Rosine Stoltz
Rosine Stoltz was a French mezzo-soprano. A prominent member of the Paris Opéra, she created many leading roles there including Ascanio in Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini, Marguerite in Auber's Le lac des fées, the title role in Marie Stuart, and two Donizetti heroines, Leonor in La favorite and...
, and was with her again there for the premiere of Michael Balfe's L'Etoile de Seville
L'étoile de Seville
L'étoile de Seville is a grand opera in four acts composed by Michael Balfe to a libretto by Hippolyte Lucas and Léon Pillet based on Lope de Vega's play La estrella de Sevilla...
in the following year. Gardoni knew and worked with Balfe, who composed items particularly for him. The limpidity and clarity of his voice, and his ravishing upper notes (no less than his youth, charm and elegance) were greatly admired in Paris: and if he was not ready for all the roles from the repertoires of Adolphe Nourrit
Adolphe Nourrit
Adolphe Nourrit was a French operatic tenor, librettist, and composer. One of the most esteemed opera singers of the 1820s and 1830s, he was particularly associated with the works of Gioachino Rossini....
and Gilbert Duprez
Gilbert Duprez
Gilbert Duprez was a French tenor, singing teacher and minor composer who famously pioneered the delivery of the operatic high C from the chest. He also created the role of Edgardo in the popular bel canto-era opera Lucia di Lammermoor in 1835.-Biography:Gilbert-Louis Duprez, to give his full...
, still (they thought) some Meyerbeer would have suited him well, not least Raoul in Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, one of the most popular and spectacular examples of the style of grand opera. The opera is in five acts and premiered in Paris in 1836. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps....
. Gardoni continued to sing in Paris throughout his career.
England: Her Majesty's Theatre 1847-1852
In 1847 he went to London, where he performed regularly until 1874. Sought by rival impresarios in France and Italy, he was purchased from the Paris OpéraOpera
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...
for Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
by Benjamin Lumley
Benjamin Lumley
Benjamin Lumley, opera manager and solicitor, was born Benjamin Levy, in 1811, the son of a Jewish merchant Louis Levy, and died 17 March 1875 in London.-Beginnings at His Majesty's Theatre:...
for 60,000 Francs, to compensate his public for the departure from their stage of Mario
Mario
is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
. Having been introduced through the Puzzi salon
Giacinta Toso
Giacinta Toso , , Maman Puzzi, was an Italian operatic soprano who had a significant career in England during the 1820s and 1830s, before ill health forced her to retire from the stage...
in Jermyn Street, his first London stage appearance was in February 1847 in La favorita with Mme Sanchioli: both his principal arias were encored with much enthusiasm for his vocal purity of taste and feeling. His histrionic powers were faultless, except that he lacked the force to portray bursts of passion.
There followed La sonnambula
La sonnambula
La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first...
with Mme Castellan (the dramatic soprano who also partnered Lumley's tenore robusto Gaetano Fraschini
Gaetano Fraschini
Gaetano Fraschini was an Italian tenor. He created many roles in 19th century operas, including five composed by Giuseppe Verdi. His voice was "heroic ... with a baritonal quality, .....
), and I puritani
I puritani
I puritani is an opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. It was his last opera. Its libretto is by Count Carlo Pepoli, based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine, which is in turn based on Walter Scott's novel Old Mortality. It was first produced at...
and L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore is an opera by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. It is a melodramma giocoso in two acts...
(with Castellan and Luigi Lablache
Luigi Lablache
Luigi Lablache was an Italian opera singer of French and Irish heritage. He was most noted for his comic performances, possessing a powerful and agile bass voice, a wide range, and adroit acting skills: Leporello in Don Giovanni was one of his signature roles.-Biography:Luigi Lablache was born in...
), and he rapidly became a great favourite. Gardoni took a minor role in Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind
Johanna Maria Lind , better known as Jenny Lind, was a Swedish opera singer, often known as the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she is known for her performances in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and for an extraordinarily...
's London debut in Robert le diable
Robert le diable
Robert le diable may refer to:* Robert le diable by Giacomo Meyerbeer* Robert the Devil, a medieval legend...
, with Josef Staudigl
Josef Staudigl
Josef Staudigl was an Austrian bass singer.- Life :Staudigl attended the school in Wiener Neustadt and, from 1825, was a novice in the Benedictine monastery of Stift Melk. In 1827 he went to Vienna to study surgery there...
, Fraschini, Castellan and others, in the presence of Queen Victoria: he partnered Lind in La sonnambula (and La figlia del reggimento
La fille du régiment
La fille du régiment is an opéra comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. It was written while the composer was living in Paris, with a French libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard.La figlia del reggimento, a slightly different Italian-language version , was...
?) soon afterwards. On 22 July 1847 he created the tenor role in Verdi's I masnadieri
I masnadieri
I masnadieri is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Andrea Maffei, based on Die Räuber by Friedrich von Schiller....
opposite Lind, Lablache and Filippo Coletti, the first two nights being under the composer's baton, and thereafter under Balfe's. At the salon of Henry Greville he was associated with Mario
Mario
is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
, Grisi
Giulia Grisi
Giulia Grisi, also known as Madame De Candia was an Italian opera singer...
, Pinsuti
Ciro Pinsuti
Ciro Pinsuti was an Anglo-Italian composer.He was born in Sinalunga , Italy, and educated in music, for a career as a pianist, partly in London and partly at Bologna, where he was a pupil of Rossini. From 1848 he made his home in England, where he became a teacher of singing, and in 1856 he was...
and others.
In the 1848 season he was Lumley's leading tenor. Il barbiere di Siviglia with Sophie Cruvelli
Sophie Cruvelli
Sophie Johanne Charlotte Crüwell, vicountess Vigier, stage name Sophie Cruvelli was a German opera singer. She was a dramatic soprano who had a brief but stellar public career especially in London and Paris in the middle years of the 19th century. She was admired for her vocal powers and as a...
and Belletti was followed by the London premiere of Verdi's Attila
Attila (opera)
Attila is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the play Attila, König der Hunnen by Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner. Initially, Verdi had enlisted Francesco Maria Piave to prepare the libretto, after Verdi's own scenario...
, with Cruvelli, Velletti and Cuzzani. He sang Gennaro to Cruvelli's Lucrezia Borgia
Lucrezia Borgia (opera)
Lucrezia Borgia is a melodramma, or opera, in a prologue and two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after the play by Victor Hugo, in its turn after the legend of Lucrezia Borgia. Lucrezia Borgia was first performed on 26 December 1833 at La Scala, Milan with...
. Sims Reeves
Sims Reeves
John Sims Reeves , usually called simply Sims Reeves, was the foremost English operatic, oratorio and ballad tenor vocalist of the mid-Victorian era....
, then attempting to establish his own place on the Italian dramatic stage in London, agreed with Lumley to appear in the lesser role of Carlo in Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix is an operatic melodramma semiserio in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Gaetano Rossi. It premiered in Vienna, at the Kärntnertortheater, on May 19, 1842.-Performance history:...
(supporting Eugenia Tadolini
Eugenia Tadolini
Eugenia Tadolini was an Italian operatic soprano. Admired for the beauty of her voice and stage presence, she was one of Donizetti's favourite singers. During her career she created over 20 leading roles, including the title roles in Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix and Maria di Rohan and Verdi's...
) in the hope of playing Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
, Percy in Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli's Anna Bolena, both telling of the life of Anne Boleyn...
and Arturo in I puritani
I puritani
I puritani is an opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. It was his last opera. Its libretto is by Count Carlo Pepoli, based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine, which is in turn based on Walter Scott's novel Old Mortality. It was first produced at...
, which were billed for the (sensational) return of Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind
Johanna Maria Lind , better known as Jenny Lind, was a Swedish opera singer, often known as the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she is known for her performances in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and for an extraordinarily...
. But Gardoni was cast as Edgardo, and Reeves severed his engagements. There was a cry of 'Sims Reeves' from the gallery as Gardoni sang Edgardo's first cavatina on the opening night. The situation probably arose through Lind expressing a preference for Gardoni as her partner: obligingly he also stepped in as Carlo. Gardoni now sang Roberto
Robert le diable
Robert le diable may refer to:* Robert le diable by Giacomo Meyerbeer* Robert the Devil, a medieval legend...
for Lind, but was thought not up to the part. But at her final performance at Her Majesty's, in Robert le diable
Robert le diable
Robert le diable may refer to:* Robert le diable by Giacomo Meyerbeer* Robert the Devil, a medieval legend...
on 10 May 1849 (before a royal and distinguished audience), Gardoni led Jenny Lind onto the stage to receive her rapturous applause.
After a winter season in St Petersburg, in 1850 he reappeared with Parodi and Frezzolini in a revival of I Capuleti ed i Montecchi (as Tebaldo), and pleased his audience by disproving a false report of his death. June 1850 saw a première of Halévy
Fromental Halévy
Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy, usually known as Fromental Halévy , was a French composer. He is known today largely for his opera La Juive.-Early career:...
's La tempesta in which as Fernando he partnered Sontag
Henriette Sontag
Henriette Sontag was a German operatic soprano of great international renown. She possessed a sweet-toned, lyrical voice and was a brilliant exponent of florid singing.-Life:...
's Miranda, Carlotta Grisi
Carlotta Grisi
Carlotta Grisi, real name Caronne Adele Josephine Marie Grisi was an Italian ballet dancer born in Visinada, Istria . She was trained at the ballet school of Teatro alla Scala in Milan and later with dancer/balletmaster Jules Perrot...
's Ariel, Colini's Prospero and the celebrated impersonation of Caliban by Lablache, directed by Balfe.
Gardoni and the star contralto
Contralto
Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
Marietta Alboni
Marietta Alboni
Marietta Alboni was a renowned Italian contralto opera singer. Together with the charismatic Maria Malibran, she was considered the greatest deeper-voiced female singer of the nineteenth century.-Biography:...
were the lead soloists, in the presence of Queen Isabella II, in the 1850 inaugural performance of La favorita at the Teatro Real
Teatro Real
The Teatro Real or simply El Real , is a major opera house located in Madrid, Spain.-History:...
in Madrid.
1851 renewed Gardoni's Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia. A novelty première, Le tre nozze, with Henrietta Sontag and Lablache, preceded the more significant L'Enfant prodigue
L'Enfant prodigue
L'Enfant prodigue was the first feature-length motion picture produced in Europe, running 90 minutes. Directed by Michel Carré, fils from his own three-act stage pantomime, the film was basically an unmodified record, filmed at Gaumont studio in May 1907...
of Auber with Sontag, Massol and Coletti. He was with Cruvelli again for a special performance of Balfe's opera I quattro figli When Reeves and Cruvelli sang Fidelio
Fidelio
Fidelio is a German opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto is by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly which had been used for the 1798 opera Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux, and for the 1804 opera Leonora...
in 1851, Gardoni led the hand-picked soloists forming the chorus of prisoners on the first night. In Lumley's operatic concerts, also, Reeves, Gardoni and Calzolari formed a 'three tenors' trio for Curschmann's Evviva Baccho, and took part in a triplicated version of Martini's trio Don't tickle me, I pray with Henrietta Sontag, Sophie Cruvelli and Jenny Duprez as soprani, and three bassi including Lablache. He continued to sing for Lumley through his crisis months of early 1852, and gave a Norma
Norma (opera)
Norma is a tragedia lirica or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after Norma, ossia L'infanticidio by Alexandre Soumet. First produced at La Scala on December 26, 1831, it is generally regarded as an example of the supreme height of the bel canto tradition...
with Cruvelli and Lablache: but after Cruvelli's defection he, too, slipped away from Lumley's Company. In 1852 he was with Reeves, Pauline Viardot-Garcia, Louisa Pyne
Louisa Pyne
Louisa Bodda-Pyne was an English soprano and opera company manager.She was born Louisa Fanny Pyne in 1832, the youngest daughter of the alto George Pyne...
, Charlotte Sainton-Dolby and Karl Formes
Karl Formes
Karl Johann Franz Formes , also called Charles John Formes, was a German bass opera and oratorio singer who had a long international career especially in Germany, London and New York...
in first oratorio performances of Dr Bexfield's Israel Restored and Hugh Pearson's Jerusalem at the Norwich Festival
Norfolk and Norwich Festival
Norfolk & Norwich Festival is an arts organisation based in Norwich, England which is primarily responsible for the eponymous international arts festival held in annually every May, with events also held throughout the wider county of Norfolk....
.
England 1854-1872
In 1855, when Michael CostaMichael Costa
Michael Costa is a former Australian Labor politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 2001 until 2008, and Treasurer of New South Wales from 2006 to 2008.- Early life and career :...
produced his oratorio Eli in the Birmingham Festival
Birmingham Triennial Music Festival
The Birmingham Triennial Musical Festival, in Birmingham, England, founded in 1784, was the longest-running classical music festival of its kind. Its last performance was in 1912.-History:...
, with Viardot, Castellan, Reeves and Formes, Gardoni was in the audience with Mario
Mario
is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
and Enrico Tamberlik
Enrico Tamberlik
Enrico Tamberlik was an Italian tenor who sang to great acclaim at Europe and America's leading opera venues. He excelled in the heroic roles of the Italian and French repertories and was renowned for his powerful declamation and clarion high notes.-Career:Born in Rome, some sources claim that...
, and afterwards they went in a group to pay Reeves a large compliment. Gardoni himself appeared in Rossini's opera Il conte Ory
Le comte Ory
Le comte Ory is an opéra written by Gioachino Rossini in 1828. Some of the music originates from his opera Il viaggio a Reims written three years earlier for the coronation of Charles X...
with Constance Nantier-Didiée and Angiolina Bosio
Angiolina Bosio
Angiolina Bosio was an Italian operatic soprano who had a major international career from 1846 until her premature death in 1859 at the age of 29. She sang at the most important opera houses in Boston, Havana, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, Saint Petersburg, and Verona...
, an 'exquisite' combination of voices. In 1857 he participated in the second Lyceum season (while the new Covent Garden theatre was awaited). H. F. Chorley praised his performance of Auber's Fra Diavolo
Fra Diavolo
Fra Diavolo , is the popular name given to Michele Pezza, a famous Neapolitan guerrilla leader who resisted the French occupation of Naples, proving an “inspirational practicioner of popular insurrection”. Pezza figures prominently in folk lore and fiction...
, with Angiolina Bosio, Mlle Marai, Giorgio Ronconi
Giorgio Ronconi
Giorgio Ronconi was an Italian operatic baritone celebrated for his brilliant acting and compelling stage presence. In 1842, he created the title-role in Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco at La Scala, Milan.-Career:...
and Pietro Neri-Baraldi, with Joseph Tagliafico and Charles Zelger as the Brigands.
During the later 1850s Gardoni appeared often 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...
, including performances of Alfredo in La traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
for Michael Costa in 1858 and 1859. After Meyerbeer had re-drafted his Ein Feldlager in Schlesien for Paris as L'étoile du nord
L'étoile du nord
L'étoile du nord is an opéra comique in three acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer. The French-language libretto was by Eugène Scribe....
(1854), an Italian version was presented for the British premiere, at Covent Garden. For this, Meyerbeer added the Act 1 polonaise and the romanza Disperso il crin sul mesto sen for Gardoni in the role of Danilowitz. Gardoni also took the role of Corentin in the British premiere of Meyerbeer's Dinorah
Dinorah
Dinorah, originally Le pardon de Ploërmel , is an 1859 French opéra comique in three acts with music by Giacomo Meyerbeer and a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré...
(Le pardon), at Covent Garden, in 1859, in which Chorley praised his 'peasant poltroonery'.
In autumn 1864, when the mentally unstable rival tenor Antonio Giuglini took up his doomed St Petersburg engagement, Gardoni joined Mapleson
James Henry Mapleson
James Henry Mapleson was an English opera impresario, probably the leading figure instrumental in the development of opera production, and of the careers of singers, in London and New York City in the second half of the 19th century.-Life and career:Mapleson was born in London, England...
's autumn operatic touring party as principal tenor. (Gardoni had been one of Mapleson's vocal instructors.) Charles Santley
Charles Santley
Sir Charles Santley was an English-born opera and oratorio star with a bravuraFrom the Italian verb bravare, to show off. A florid, ostentatious style or a passage of music requiring technical skill technique who became the most eminent English baritone and male concert singer of the Victorian era...
called him
'a fine singer, and a much better actor than he generally had credit for. He was a very good Faust and Sir Huon, though the music of the latter did not suit him. In MireilleMireilleMireille is a French given name, derived from the Provençal Occitan name Mirèio . It could be related with the Occitan verb mirar "to admire" or with the Occitan surnames Miriam "Myriam", Maria "Mary".-A given name:* Mireille Darc , a French actress* Mireille Gingras , Canadian-American...
he was excellent... His voice was pure: he was a handsome man, and in parts which suited him an excellent actor. (He) could sing any kind of music, cantabile or florid.' Santley thought him in many ways the superior of Guiglini.
His 1865 Faust
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...
was with Thérèse Tietjens, Zélia Trebelli
Zelia Trebelli-Bettini
Zelia Trebelli-Bettini , also known as Zelia Gilbert or by her stage name Trebelli, was a French opera singer.Mme Trebelli's artistry was greatly admired by George Bernard Shaw, who wrote about her a number of times in his various reviews...
, Junca and Santley. In the 1866 season at Her Majesty's, he sang Pilade in a magnificent staging of Gluck
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
's Iphigénie en Tauride
Iphigénie en Tauride
Iphigénie en Tauride is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck in four acts. It was his fifth opera for the French stage. The libretto was written by Nicolas-François Guillard....
, opposite Tietjens (Iphigenia), Santley (Oreste) and Édouard Gassier (Thoas) - in which the soloists 'surpassed themselves': also he renewed his Corentin (Dinorah
Dinorah
Dinorah, originally Le pardon de Ploërmel , is an 1859 French opéra comique in three acts with music by Giacomo Meyerbeer and a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré...
), with Ilma de Murska and Santley (Hoel), greatly to Mapleson's satisfaction. In 1867 he was Ottavio in the Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
with Christina Nilsson
Christina Nilsson
Christina Nilsson, Countess de Casa Miranda, was a Swedish operatic soprano. She possessed a brilliant bel canto technique and was considered a rival to the Victorian era's most famous diva, Adelina Patti...
, Tietjens, Sinico, Gassier (the Don) and Santley (Leporello), and his Corentino was repeated.
Gardoni remained with Mapleson, and in Robert le Diable
Robert le diable
Robert le diable may refer to:* Robert le diable by Giacomo Meyerbeer* Robert the Devil, a medieval legend...
in 1872 he was Rambaldo to Christine Nilsson's Alice, Pietro Mongini's Roberto, Signor Foli's Bertramo and de Murska's Isabella
France
In March 1864 Gardoni was a soloist in the first performance of Rossini's Petite Messe SolennellePetite Messe Solennelle
Gioachino Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle was written in 1863, "the last", the composer called it, "of my péchés de vieillesse" .....
, with Carlotta and Barbara Marchisio and Luigi Agnesi
Luigi Agnesi
Luigi Agnesi was a Belgian operatic bass-baritone, conductor and composer.-Life and career:Born Louis Ferdinand Leopold Agniez in Namur, Agnesi graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in 1853. There he had studied with Charles-Marie-François Bosselet and the François-Joseph Fétis...
(Louis Agniez).
Gardoni married the daughter of baritone Antonio Tamburini
Antonio Tamburini
Antonio Tamburini was an Italian operatic baritone.Born in Faenza, then part of the Papal States, Tamburini studied the orchestral horn with his father and voice with Aldobrando Rossi, before making his debut as a singer, aged 18, in La contessa di colle erbose . He went on to become one of the...
and (his wife) the soprano Marietta Goja. He died in Paris.
Vocal character
In 1869 Gardoni published a set of vocal exercises under the title:- 15 Vocalises calculés sur la formation du style moderne et le perfectionnement de l'art du Chant, av. Pfte. (Mainz, Schott) (4 Fl. 12 Xr.)
The old entry from the Dictionary of Music and Musicians called him a 'tenore di grazia
Tenore di grazia
Leggiero Tenor, also called tenor leggiero or tenore di grazia, is a lightweight, flexible tenor type of voice. The tenor roles written in the early 19th century Italian operas are invariably leggiero tenor roles, especially those by Rossini such as Lindoro in L'italiana in Algeri, Don Ramiro in La...
':
'Italo Gardoni possessed what might be called only a moderate voice, but so well, so easily and naturally produced, that it was heard almost to the same advantage in a theatre as in a room. This was especially noticeable when he sang the part of Florestan, in Fidelio, at Covent Garden, after an absence of some duration from the stage. The unaffected grace of his style rendered him as perfect a model for vocal artists as could well be found.
Sources
- H. Rosenthal and J. Warrack (Eds), Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera (Oxford University Press, London 1974 printing), p. 146.
- George T. Ferris, Great Singers. (Vol I: Faustina Bordoni to Henrietta Sontag; Vol. II: Malibran to Titiens). (D Appleton and Co., New York 1888).