Mario Filippeschi
Encyclopedia
Mario Filippeschi was an Italian tenor
, particularly associated with the Italian repertory, renowned for his ringing upper register.
Filippeschi studied the clarinet for two years as a teenager, before joining military service. After military discharge he began studying voice with a Neapolitan teacher, Mr. Vicidomini, in Milan, and later with Mr. Pessina, in Florence. He made his professional debut in Colorno, near Parma, as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor
, in 1937.
He quickly sang throughout Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, as well as Latin America. He first concentrated on lyrical roles such as the Duke in Rigoletto
, Alfredo in La traviata
, Rodolfo in La Bohème
, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly
, etc., and was one of the few tenors of his generation to tackle with success such high lying roles as Arnold in Guglielmo Tell and Arturo in I puritani
.
After the war, he began adding more dramatic roles to his repertory. In 1950, he appeared to great acclaim in Mexico, as Radames in Aida
, and as Cavaradossi in Tosca
, opposite the young Maria Callas
.
Other notable roles included; Manrico in Il trovatore
, Arrigo in I vespri siciliani, Alvaro in La forza del destino
, Calaf in Turandot
.
Filippeschi made several recordings, notably Pollione in Norma
, opposite Maria Callas, and Carlo in Don Carlos
, opposite Tito Gobbi
and Boris Christoff
.
A handsome man, Filippeschi also appeared in film versions of Lucia di Lammermoor and Rigoletto, in 1946.
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...
, particularly associated with the Italian repertory, renowned for his ringing upper register.
Filippeschi studied the clarinet for two years as a teenager, before joining military service. After military discharge he began studying voice with a Neapolitan teacher, Mr. Vicidomini, in Milan, and later with Mr. Pessina, in Florence. He made his professional debut in Colorno, near Parma, as 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....
, in 1937.
He quickly sang throughout Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, as well as Latin America. He first concentrated on lyrical roles such as the Duke in Rigoletto
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
, 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...
, Rodolfo in La Bohème
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...
, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
, etc., and was one of the few tenors of his generation to tackle with success such high lying roles as Arnold in Guglielmo Tell 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...
.
After the war, he began adding more dramatic roles to his repertory. In 1950, he appeared to great acclaim in Mexico, as Radames in Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
, and as Cavaradossi in Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
, opposite the young Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice and great dramatic gifts...
.
Other notable roles included; Manrico in Il trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
, Arrigo in I vespri siciliani, Alvaro in La forza del destino
La forza del destino
La forza del destino is an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on a Spanish drama, Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino , by Ángel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas, with a scene adapted from Friedrich Schiller's Wallensteins Lager. It was first performed...
, Calaf in Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
.
Filippeschi made several recordings, notably Pollione in 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...
, opposite Maria Callas, and Carlo in Don Carlos
Don Carlos
Don Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
, opposite Tito Gobbi
Tito Gobbi
Tito Gobbi was an Italian operatic baritone with an international reputation.-Biography:Tito Gobbi was born in Bassano del Grappa and studied law at the University of Padua before he trained as a singer. Giulio Crimi, a well-known Italian tenor of a previous generation, was Gobbi's teacher in Rome...
and Boris Christoff
Boris Christoff
Boris Christoff was a Bulgarian opera singer...
.
A handsome man, Filippeschi also appeared in film versions of Lucia di Lammermoor and Rigoletto, in 1946.
Sources
- Roland Mancini and Jean-Jacques Rouveroux, (orig. H. Rosenthal and J. Warrack, French edition), Guide de l’opéra, Les indispensables de la musique (Fayard, 1995). ISBN 2-213-01563-6