Luigi Alva
Encyclopedia
Luis Ernesto Alva y Talledo, better known as Luigi Alva (born 10 April 1927) is a Peruvian operatic tenor
, active in the third quarter of the 20th century. He was admired for his purity of tone, the elegance of his phrasing and the clarity of his diction. A Mozart
and Rossini specialist, Alva excelled in roles such as Don Ottavio (in Don Giovanni
), Count Almaviva (in The Barber of Seville
) and Fenton (in Verdi's Falstaff
).
, Peru, where he studied under Rosa Mercedes Ayarza de Morales, he made his debut in Federico Moreno Torroba
's zarzuela
Luisa Fernanda
. He went to Milan in 1953 and studied under Emilio Ghirardini. Later he would be called by Giulio Comfallonieri to became a "cadet" at the Scuola di Canto (Voice Academy) at La Scala
. He made his European debut at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan as Alfredo in Verdi's La traviata
, following that as Paolino in Cimarosa's Il matrimonio segreto
. His debut at the Teatro alla Scala was in 1956 as Count Almaviva in Rossini's The Barber of Seville. He was soon invited to sing at the most important European festivals and opera houses. At Glyndebourne
he made his debut as Nemorino in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore
. In 1962 Alva made his debut with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
as Count Almaviva and in 1964 he made his first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera
as Fenton in Verdi's Falstaff. Subsequently he sang with most of the leading companies in the US and Europe.
In the 1960s and 1970s there were few singers, let alone tenors, who could compare in sheer vocal elegance with Luigi Alva. Unlike so many, he never tried to venture out of his natural repertoire. Instead, he delivered Mozart, Rossini, and Donizetti with great elegance and style for four decades. He worked with conductors like Otto Klemperer
, Claudio Abbado
, Nino Sanzogno
, Herbert von Karajan
and Carlo Maria Giulini
. His duets with Teresa Berganza
in Rossini's The Barber of Seville and La Cenerentola
are the hallmarks of the epoch.
In 1982, he returned to Lima to teach and left the stage in 1989. He sponsors the Luigi Alva Competition for young singers and gives master class
es. Alva now teaches singing at La Scuola di Canto (Voice Academy) at La Scala in Milan. Amongst his students there was the Belgian tenor Marc Laho
.
Mozart:
Haydn:
Cimarosa:
Leoncavallo:
Puccini:
Verdi:
Schubert:
Donizetti:
Handel:
Gounod:
Scarlatti:
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...
, active in the third quarter of the 20th century. He was admired for his purity of tone, the elegance of his phrasing and the clarity of his diction. A Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
and Rossini specialist, Alva excelled in roles such as Don Ottavio (in 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...
), Count Almaviva (in The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
) and Fenton (in Verdi's Falstaff
Falstaff (opera)
Falstaff is an operatic commedia lirica in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV. It was Verdi's last opera, written in the composer's ninth decade, and only the second of his 26 operas to be a comedy...
).
Biography
Born in LimaLima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
, Peru, where he studied under Rosa Mercedes Ayarza de Morales, he made his debut in Federico Moreno Torroba
Federico Moreno Torroba
Federico Moreno Torroba was a Spanish composer, born in Madrid.-Biography:Moreno Torroba is often associated with the zarzuela, a traditional Spanish musical form. Directing several opera companies, Moreno Torroba helped introduce the zarzuela to international audiences...
's zarzuela
Zarzuela
Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...
Luisa Fernanda
Luisa Fernanda (zarzuela)
Luisa Fernanda is a romantic zarzuela in three acts by Federico Moreno Torroba. The libretto is written in Spanish by Federico Romero and Guillermo Fernández Shaw. The first performance of Luisa Fernanda took place at Teatro Calderón in Madrid on March 26, 1932...
. He went to Milan in 1953 and studied under Emilio Ghirardini. Later he would be called by Giulio Comfallonieri to became a "cadet" at the Scuola di Canto (Voice Academy) 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...
. He made his European debut at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan as Alfredo in Verdi's 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...
, following that as Paolino in Cimarosa's Il matrimonio segreto
Il matrimonio segreto
Il matrimonio segreto is an opera in two acts, music by Domenico Cimarosa, on a libretto by Giovanni Bertati, based on the play The Clandestine Marriage by George Colman the Elder and David Garrick...
. His debut at the Teatro alla Scala was in 1956 as Count Almaviva in Rossini's The Barber of Seville. He was soon invited to sing at the most important European festivals and opera houses. At Glyndebourne
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an English opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England.-History:...
he made his debut as Nemorino in Donizetti's 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...
. In 1962 Alva made his debut with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
The Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was active between 1958 and 1974. The company was led by a number of Artistic Directors during its history, beginning with Aurelio Fabiani. Other notable Artistic Directors include Julius...
as Count Almaviva and in 1964 he made his first appearance at 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...
as Fenton in Verdi's Falstaff. Subsequently he sang with most of the leading companies in the US and Europe.
In the 1960s and 1970s there were few singers, let alone tenors, who could compare in sheer vocal elegance with Luigi Alva. Unlike so many, he never tried to venture out of his natural repertoire. Instead, he delivered Mozart, Rossini, and Donizetti with great elegance and style for four decades. He worked with conductors like Otto Klemperer
Otto Klemperer
Otto Klemperer was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading conductors of the 20th century.-Biography:Otto Klemperer was born in Breslau, Silesia Province, then in Germany...
, Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , is an Italian conductor. He has served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera,...
, Nino Sanzogno
Nino Sanzogno
Nino Sanzogno was an Italian conductor and composer.He studied the violin with Guarneri and composition with Agostini at the Venice Liceo Musicale, and later conducting in Vienna with Hermann Scherchen...
, Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conductor. To the wider world he was perhaps most famously associated with the Berlin Philharmonic, of which he was principal conductor for 35 years...
and Carlo Maria Giulini
Carlo Maria Giulini
Carlo Maria Giulini was an Italian conductor.-Biography:Giulini was born in Barletta, Italy, to a father born in Lombardy and a mother born in Naples; but he was raised in Bolzano, which at the time of his birth was part of Austria...
. His duets with Teresa Berganza
Teresa Berganza
Teresa Berganza, born on March 16, 1935), is a Spanish mezzo-soprano. She is most closely associated with the roles of Rossini, Mozart, and Bizet. She is admired for her technical virtuosity, musical intelligence and beguiling stage presence.- Biography :...
in Rossini's The Barber of Seville and La Cenerentola
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...
are the hallmarks of the epoch.
In 1982, he returned to Lima to teach and left the stage in 1989. He sponsors the Luigi Alva Competition for young singers and gives master class
Master class
A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also painting, drama, or any of the arts....
es. Alva now teaches singing at La Scuola di Canto (Voice Academy) at La Scala in Milan. Amongst his students there was the Belgian tenor Marc Laho
Marc Laho
- Biography :Laho was born in Seraing, Belgium. He studied at the Royal Conservatory of Liège in Belgium and later with Luigi Alva, Alain Vanzo, and Gabriel Bacquier. He made his professional opera debut at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in 1989 as l'officier in Massenet's Thérèse...
.
Interpretations
Rossini:- Il Conte d'Almaviva in The Barber of SevilleThe Barber of SevilleThe Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
(1956, 1957, 1962, 1964, 1968, 1971) - Don Ramiro in La CenerentolaLa CenerentolaLa 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...
(1968, 1971, 1976, 1978) - Lindoro in L'italiana in AlgeriL'italiana in AlgeriL'italiana in Algeri is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca...
(1963, 1975)
Mozart:
- Don Ottavio in Don GiovanniDon GiovanniDon 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...
(1959, 1960, 1973) - Ferrando in Così fan tutteCosì fan tutteCosì fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
(1956, 1957, 1971) - Alessandro in Il re pastoreIl re pastoreIl re pastore is an opera, K. 208, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Metastasio, edited by Gianbattista Varesco. It is an opera seria...
(1967)
Haydn:
- Lindoro in La fedeltà premiataLa fedeltà premiataLa fedeltà premiata is an opera in three acts by Joseph Haydn first performed at Eszterháza on 25 February 1781 to celebrate the reopening of the court theatre after a fire...
(1975) - Ecclittico in Il mondo della lunaIl mondo della lunaIl mondo della luna , Hob. 28/7, is an opera buffa by Joseph Haydn with a libretto by Carlo Goldoni, first performed at Eszterháza, Hungary on 3 August 1777. Goldoni's libretto had previously been set by four other composers, first by the composer Baldassare Galuppi and performed in Venice in the...
(1977) - Gernando in L'isola disabitataL'isola disabitataL'isola disabitata , Hob. 28/9, is an opera by Joseph Haydn, his tenth opera, written for the Eszterházy court and premiered December 6, 1779. The libretto by Pietro Metastasio was previously set by Giuseppe Bonno and subsequently used by Manuel García...
(1977) - Sempronio in Lo spezialeLo spezialeLo speziale , Hob. 28/3, is a three act opera buffa by Joseph Haydn, with a libretto by Carlo Goldoni.A love triangle between the poor apprentice Mengone, the rich and assured dandy Volpino, and the local apothecary's ward, Grilletta, Lo speziale is a sidesplitting comedy of great warmth and...
(1982)
Cimarosa:
- Paolino in Il matrimonio segretoIl matrimonio segretoIl matrimonio segreto is an opera in two acts, music by Domenico Cimarosa, on a libretto by Giovanni Bertati, based on the play The Clandestine Marriage by George Colman the Elder and David Garrick...
(1956) - Filandro in Le astuzie femminiliLe astuzie femminiliLe astuzie femminili is an dramma giocoso in four acts by composer Domenico Cimarosa with an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Palomba. The opera buffa first premiered at the Teatro dei Fiorentini in Naples, Italy on August 26, 1794...
(1959)
Leoncavallo:
- Beppe in PagliacciPagliacciPagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...
(1954)
Puccini:
- Venditore di canzonette in Il tabarroIl tabarroIl tabarro is an opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami, based on Didier Gold's play La houppelande. It is the first of the trio of operas known as Il trittico...
(1954)
Verdi:
- Fenton in FalstaffFalstaff (opera)Falstaff is an operatic commedia lirica in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV. It was Verdi's last opera, written in the composer's ninth decade, and only the second of his 26 operas to be a comedy...
(1956, 1957, 1963)
Schubert:
- Alfonso in Alfonso und EstrellaAlfonso und EstrellaAlfonso und Estrella is an opera with music by Franz Schubert, set to a German libretto by Franz von Schober, written in 1822...
(1956)
Donizetti:
- Nemorino in L'elisir d'amoreL'elisir d'amoreL'elisir d'amore is an opera by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. It is a melodramma giocoso in two acts...
1958
Handel:
- Oronte in AlcinaAlcinaAlcina is an opera seria by George Frideric Handel. Handel used the libretto of L'isola di Alcina, an opera that was set in 1728 in Rome by Riccardo Broschi, which he acquired the year after, during his travels in Italy...
(1962)
Gounod:
- Siébel in FaustFaust (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...
(1967)
Scarlatti:
- Roberto in GriseldaGriselda (A. Scarlatti)Griselda is an opera seria in three acts by the Italian composer Alessandro Scarlatti, the last of Scarlatti’s operas to survive completely today. The libretto is by Apostolo Zeno, with revisions by an anonymous author...
(1970)
Filmography
- FalstaffFalstaff (opera)Falstaff is an operatic commedia lirica in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV. It was Verdi's last opera, written in the composer's ninth decade, and only the second of his 26 operas to be a comedy...
(1956) Fenton - Così fan tutteCosì fan tutteCosì fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
(1970), Ferrando - The Barber of SevilleThe Barber of SevilleThe Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
(1972), Count Almaviva - Don PasqualeDon PasqualeDon 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 ....
(1972), Ernesto - Lo spezialeLo spezialeLo speziale , Hob. 28/3, is a three act opera buffa by Joseph Haydn, with a libretto by Carlo Goldoni.A love triangle between the poor apprentice Mengone, the rich and assured dandy Volpino, and the local apothecary's ward, Grilletta, Lo speziale is a sidesplitting comedy of great warmth and...
(1982), Sempronio
External links
- Biography from DeccaDecca RecordsDecca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
- Discography (Capon's Lists of Opera Recordings)
- MetOpera database