Josip Kašman
Encyclopedia
Josip Kašman or Giuseppe Kaschmann, (born Mali Lošinj
, July 14, 1847 [some sources say 1850] - died Rome
, February 11, 1925), was a famous opera
tic baritone
. He sang in Europe and America during the latter decades of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century.
(Lussino) in what is nowadays Croatia
, Kašman was said to be the youngest of 14 children born to an Austrian father and a local mother, Eugenia Ivancich, from Lussinpiccolo (Mali Lošinj). Being possessed of a fine natural voice and a facility with languages, he abandoned a planned career in the law, studying singing instead with Ivan Zajc
in the Croatian capital of Zagreb
. He also took lessons from Alberto Giovannini in Udine
(some reference books say Milan
), Italy.
His first public performance occurred in Zagreb during 1869. He was then cast in the lead role in a production of the first full scale Croatian opera, Mislav, on October 2, 1870. Six years later he made his Italian operatic debut at Turin
(in Gaetano Donizetti
's La Favorita). Engagements in Venice
, Rome
, Bologna
and Trieste
followed. Before long, he had established himself as one of the best baritones in Italy, making an impressive debut at La Scala
, Milan
, in 1878 in Don Carlo. It was during this phase of his career that he seems to have altered the Croatian spelling of his name to Giuseppe Kaschmann for theatrical purposes.
He reached the peak of his success as a singer in the 1880s and 1890s, building an international reputation (as Giuseppe Kaschmann) and performing at such important venues as the Bayreuth Festspielhaus
in Germany (in 1892 and 1894) and the Metropolitan Opera
in New York City
(in 1883 and 1896), as well as continuing to appear at La Scala. Audiences in Spain, Portugal, Russia, Monaco, Egypt, Brazil and Argentina also had an opportunity to hear him perform during his prime but he never sang in England. In 1907, he was granted permission to go back to Zagreb by the Austrian government, which in those days controlled Croatia. For many years he had been prevented from returning to Croatia because, as a young man, he had allegedly deserted from the Austrian army following the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
. This ban was lifted only after Papal intervention on his behalf.
He was particularly renowned for his performances in operas by Giuseppe Verdi
and Richard Wagner
. Towards the end of his stage career however, as the quality of his voice began to deteriorate due to age, he switched to the buffo repertoire of Rossini, Donizetti and other composers of comic operas. In 1903, he made a handful of recordings in Milan for the British Gramophone & Typewriter Company. They show that he possessed a fluent and flexible Italianate voice which was characterised by an extremely prominent vibrato
(which was not liked in English-speaking countries) and aristocratic phrasing. Reputedly he was an accomplished actor, too, exuding a memorable stage presence.
As late as 1921-22, he was still singing roles in comic operas such as Don Pasquale
and Il barbiere di Siviglia. He also taught singing. His finest student was Salvatore Baccaloni
, a celebrated Italian buffo bass
. Rome became his final home and he died there in 1925. The true nationality of Kašman/Kaschmann is contested even today. He is generally considered to be either a Croatian singer (by birth) or Italian singer (by adoption) but arguments linger as to whether, technically, he was an Austrian national.
Mali Lošinj
-Mayors:*Hrvoje Lesic - *Mario Hofmann - *Dragan Balija - Alliance of Primorje-Gorski Kotar *Gari Capelli - Croatian Democratic Union -References:...
, July 14, 1847 [some sources say 1850] - died Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, February 11, 1925), was a famous 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 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...
. He sang in Europe and America during the latter decades of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century.
Singing career & recordings
Born on the island of LošinjLošinj
Lošinj is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, in the Kvarner Gulf. It is almost due south of the city of Rijeka and part of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar county....
(Lussino) in what is nowadays Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, Kašman was said to be the youngest of 14 children born to an Austrian father and a local mother, Eugenia Ivancich, from Lussinpiccolo (Mali Lošinj). Being possessed of a fine natural voice and a facility with languages, he abandoned a planned career in the law, studying singing instead with Ivan Zajc
Ivan Zajc
Ivan Dragutin Stjepan Zajc or Ivan pl. Zajc , was a Croatian composer, conductor, director and teacher who for over forty years dominated Croatia's musical culture...
in the Croatian capital of Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
. He also took lessons from Alberto Giovannini in Udine
Udine
Udine is a city and comune in northeastern Italy, in the middle of Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic sea and the Alps , less than 40 km from the Slovenian border. Its population was 99,439 in 2009, and that of its urban area was 175,000.- History :Udine is the historical...
(some reference books say Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
), Italy.
His first public performance occurred in Zagreb during 1869. He was then cast in the lead role in a production of the first full scale Croatian opera, Mislav, on October 2, 1870. Six years later he made his Italian operatic debut at Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
(in Gaetano Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's La Favorita). Engagements in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
and Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
followed. Before long, he had established himself as one of the best baritones in Italy, making an impressive debut at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, in 1878 in Don Carlo. It was during this phase of his career that he seems to have altered the Croatian spelling of his name to Giuseppe Kaschmann for theatrical purposes.
He reached the peak of his success as a singer in the 1880s and 1890s, building an international reputation (as Giuseppe Kaschmann) and performing at such important venues as the Bayreuth Festspielhaus
Bayreuth Festspielhaus
The or Bayreuth Festival Theatre is an opera house north of Bayreuth, Germany, dedicated solely to the performance of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner...
in Germany (in 1892 and 1894) and the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in New York City
New 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 1883 and 1896), as well as continuing to appear at La Scala. Audiences in Spain, Portugal, Russia, Monaco, Egypt, Brazil and Argentina also had an opportunity to hear him perform during his prime but he never sang in England. In 1907, he was granted permission to go back to Zagreb by the Austrian government, which in those days controlled Croatia. For many years he had been prevented from returning to Croatia because, as a young man, he had allegedly deserted from the Austrian army following the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
. This ban was lifted only after Papal intervention on his behalf.
He was particularly renowned for his performances in operas by Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
and Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
. Towards the end of his stage career however, as the quality of his voice began to deteriorate due to age, he switched to the buffo repertoire of Rossini, Donizetti and other composers of comic operas. In 1903, he made a handful of recordings in Milan for the British Gramophone & Typewriter Company. They show that he possessed a fluent and flexible Italianate voice which was characterised by an extremely prominent 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...
(which was not liked in English-speaking countries) and aristocratic phrasing. Reputedly he was an accomplished actor, too, exuding a memorable stage presence.
As late as 1921-22, he was still singing roles in comic operas such as Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The librettist Giovanni Ruffini wrote the Italian language libretto after Angelo Anelli's libretto for Stefano Pavesi's Ser Marcantonio ....
and Il barbiere di Siviglia. He also taught singing. His finest student was Salvatore Baccaloni
Salvatore Baccaloni
Salvatore Baccaloni was an Italian operatic bass, often regarded as the greatest buffo artist of the 20th century.- Life and career :Baccaloni was born in Rome...
, a celebrated Italian buffo bass
Bass (voice type)
A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...
. Rome became his final home and he died there in 1925. The true nationality of Kašman/Kaschmann is contested even today. He is generally considered to be either a Croatian singer (by birth) or Italian singer (by adoption) but arguments linger as to whether, technically, he was an Austrian national.