Raffaele Ferlotti
Encyclopedia
Raffaele Ferlotti was an Italian opera
tic baritone
who had an active international career from the 1830s through the 1860s. He was a regular performer in Italy's leading opera houses, especially La Scala
, and created roles in several world premieres. On the international stage he performed in operas in Austria, England, France, and Spain.
, Ferlotti was the son of choreographer Nicola Ferlotti and ballerina
Paola Scutelari. His older sister was the famous soprano Santina Ferlotti-Sangiorgi. The first known performance by Ferlotti was as concert soloist in Ravenna in 1835. Later that year he appeared at the Teatro Comunale in Faenza as Bartolomeo in Gaetano Donizetti
's Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo
. He was soon invited to make appearances at major opera house
s throughout Italy. In 1836 he appeared at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
as Tartufo in Carlo Coccia
's Clotilde. He returned to that house in 1842 to sing the title role in Federico Ricci
's Corrado d'Altamura. In 1838 he made his debut at the Teatro Regio di Parma
as Israele in Donizett's Marino Faliero
. He returned to that theatre in 1841 to portray Enrico Ashton in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor
with Teresa De Giuli-Borsi in the title role. He also appeared in Parma in 1842 as Contareno in Henri Cohen
's Antonio Foscarini, Don Alfonso d'Este in Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia
, and Publio in Saverio Mercadante
's La vestale
.
In 1840 Ferlotti arrived at La Fenice
where he appeared as Assur in Gioacchino Rossini
's Semiramide
, the Count of Vergy in Donizetti's Gemma di Vergy
, Giorgio Talbot in Maria Stuarda
, and Guido della Torre
in Alessandro Nini
's Ida della Torre. On 5 September 1840 he made his debut at La Scala
as the Cavaliere di Belfiore in the world premiere of Giuseppe Verdi
's Un giorno di regno
. Although that opera was a failure, he sang two more roles at that house later that year to much greater success: Briano in Otto Nicolai's Il templario and Ernesto in Vincenzo Bellini
's Il pirata
. He returned to La Scala several more times during his career, notably performing in the world premieres of Temistocle Solera
's Il contadino d'Agleiate (1841), Achille Graffigna
's Ildegondo e Rizzario (1841), Ruggero in Giovanni Pacini
's L'ebrea (1844), Luigi Petrali
's Sofonisba (1844), and in such roles as the Count of Vergy (1842) and Ernesto Malcolm in Giovanni Pacini
's Maria, regina d'Inghilterra
(1843).
In 1845 Ferlotti appeared in operas by Verdis and Donizetti at the Teatro Real
in Madrid. In 1848 he performed as a guest artist at the Teatro di San Carlo
in Naples as Don Alfonso d'Este, Israele, and the tile hero in Verdi's Nabucco
. He sang Don Alfonso d'Este there again in 1849 and in 1850 was heard in Naples as Severo in Donizetti's Poliuto
. In 1855 he portrayed the Miller in Verdi's Luisa Miller
at the Teatro Argentina
in Rome. In 1858-1859 he was committed to the Liceu
in Barcelona. He also performed as a guest artist at the Paris Opera
, the Royal Opera House
in London, and the Vienna State Opera
. After retiring from the stage in the early 1860s, he taught singng in Bologna at a school he founded with his sister around 1850. He died in Bologna in 1891 at the age of 72.
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...
who had an active international career from the 1830s through the 1860s. He was a regular performer in Italy's leading opera houses, especially 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...
, and created roles in several world premieres. On the international stage he performed in operas in Austria, England, France, and Spain.
Life and career
Born in BolognaBologna
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,...
, Ferlotti was the son of choreographer Nicola Ferlotti and ballerina
Ballerina
A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino...
Paola Scutelari. His older sister was the famous soprano Santina Ferlotti-Sangiorgi. The first known performance by Ferlotti was as concert soloist in Ravenna in 1835. Later that year he appeared at the Teatro Comunale in Faenza as Bartolomeo 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 Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo
Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo
Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo is a melodramma, or opera, in three acts by composer Gaetano Donizetti. Jacopo Ferretti wrote the Italian libretto after Miguel de Cervantes's novel Don Quixote. The opera premiered at the Teatro Valle in Rome, Italy on 2 January 1833...
. He was soon invited to make appearances at major opera house
Opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
s throughout Italy. In 1836 he appeared at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Teatro Comunale di Bologna
The Teatro Comunale di Bologna is an opera house in Bologna, Italy, and is one of the most important opera venues in Italy. Typically, it presents eight operas with six performances during its November to April season....
as Tartufo in Carlo Coccia
Carlo Coccia
Carlo Coccia was an Italian opera composer. He was known for the genre of opera semiseria.- Life and career :...
's Clotilde. He returned to that house in 1842 to sing the title role in Federico Ricci
Federico Ricci
Federico Ricci , was an Italian composer, particularly of operas.Born in Naples, he was the younger brother of Luigi Ricci, with whom he collaborated on several works....
's Corrado d'Altamura. In 1838 he made his debut at the Teatro Regio di Parma
Teatro Regio di Parma
Teatro Regio di Parma is a famous 19th century opera house and opera company in Parma, Italy. The theatre was originally known as the Teatro Ducale....
as Israele in Donizett's Marino Faliero
Marino Faliero (opera)
Marino Faliero is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Giovanni Emanuele Bidéra wrote the Italian libretto, with revisions by Agostino Ruffini, after Casimir Delavigne's play...
. He returned to that theatre in 1841 to portray Enrico Ashton in Donizetti's 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....
with Teresa De Giuli-Borsi in the title role. He also appeared in Parma in 1842 as Contareno in Henri Cohen
Henri Cohen (composer)
Henri Cohen was a French music theorist and composer of Dutch birth. Born in Amsterdam, Cohen moved with his family to Paris at a young age. He studied in Paris with Anton Reicha , François Lays , and Felice Pellegrini...
's Antonio Foscarini, Don Alfonso d'Este in Donizetti'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...
, and Publio in Saverio Mercadante
Saverio Mercadante
Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti or Gioachino Rossini beyond his own lifetime, he composed as impressive a number of works as either; and his development of...
's La vestale
La vestale (Mercadante)
La vestale is an opera by the Italian composer Saverio Mercadante. It takes the form of a tragedia lirica in three acts...
.
In 1840 Ferlotti arrived at La Fenice
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres...
where he appeared as Assur in Gioacchino Rossini
Gioacchino Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as sacred music, chamber music, songs, and some instrumental and piano pieces...
's Semiramide
Semiramide
Semiramide is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini.The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy Semiramis, which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Babylon...
, the Count of Vergy in Donizetti's Gemma di Vergy
Gemma di Vergy
Gemma de Vergy is a tragedia lirica or tragic opera in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti from a libretto by Emanuele Bidéra. It is based on the tragedy Charles VII chez ses grands vassaux by Alexandre Dumas père, which was later to become the subject of the opera The Saracen by the Russian composer...
, Giorgio Talbot in Maria Stuarda
Maria Stuarda
Maria Stuarda is a tragic opera, , in two acts, by Gaetano Donizetti, to a libretto by Giuseppe Bardari, based on Friedrich Schiller's 1800 play Maria Stuart....
, and Guido della Torre
Guido della Torre
Guido della Torre , son of Francesco della Torre and Julia Castiglioni, was a Lord of Milan between 1302 and 1312.- Biography :...
in Alessandro Nini
Alessandro Nini
Alessandro Nini was an Italian composer of operas and church music, also chamber music and symphonies. Of the eight operas he composed, La marescialla d'Ancre is considered his best work. He also contributed to a portion of Messa per Rossini. Specifically the fifth section of II...
's Ida della Torre. On 5 September 1840 he made his 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...
as the Cavaliere di Belfiore in the world premiere of 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...
's Un giorno di regno
Un giorno di regno
Un giorno di regno, ossia il finto Stanislao is an operatic melodramma giocoso in two acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on the play Le faux Stanislas by Alexandre Vincent Pineu-Duval...
. Although that opera was a failure, he sang two more roles at that house later that year to much greater success: Briano in Otto Nicolai's Il templario and Ernesto in Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
's Il pirata
Il pirata
Il pirata is an opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani from a French translation of the tragic play Bertram, or The Castle of St Aldobrando by Charles Maturin...
. He returned to La Scala several more times during his career, notably performing in the world premieres of Temistocle Solera
Temistocle Solera
Temistocle Solera was an Italian opera composer and librettist.He was born at Ferrara. He received his education at the Imperial College in Vienna and at the University of Pavia. Throughout his life he actively participated in anti-Austrian resistance. At one point, he was incarcerated for his...
's Il contadino d'Agleiate (1841), Achille Graffigna
Achille Graffigna
Achille Graffigna was an Italian composer and conductor. He composed a total of 18 operas, two of which premiered at La Scala in Milan: La conquista di Granata and Ildegonda e Rizzardo...
's Ildegondo e Rizzario (1841), Ruggero in Giovanni Pacini
Giovanni Pacini
Giovanni Pacini was an Italian composer, best known for his operas. Pacini was born in Catania, Sicily, the son of the buffo Luigi Pacini, who was to appear in the premieres of many of Giovanni's operas...
's L'ebrea (1844), Luigi Petrali
Luigi Petrali
Luigi Petrali was an Italian composer. He was a student of Saverio Mercadante. His opera Sofonisba premiered at La Scala on 6 February 1844. On 23 February 1854 his opera Ginevra di Scozia premiered at the Teatro Sociale di Mantova....
's Sofonisba (1844), and in such roles as the Count of Vergy (1842) and Ernesto Malcolm in Giovanni Pacini
Giovanni Pacini
Giovanni Pacini was an Italian composer, best known for his operas. Pacini was born in Catania, Sicily, the son of the buffo Luigi Pacini, who was to appear in the premieres of many of Giovanni's operas...
's Maria, regina d'Inghilterra
Maria, regina d'Inghilterra
Maria, regina d'Inghilterra is an Italian opera in three acts, composed by Giovanni Pacini from a libretto by Leopoldo Tarantini, which was based on the play Marie Tudor by Victor Hugo...
(1843).
In 1845 Ferlotti appeared in operas by Verdis and Donizetti 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. In 1848 he performed as a guest artist at the Teatro di San Carlo
Teatro di San Carlo
The Real Teatro di San Carlo is an opera house in Naples, Italy. It is the oldest continuously active such venue in Europe.Founded by the Bourbon Charles VII of Naples of the Spanish branch of the dynasty, the theatre was inaugurated on 4 November 1737 — the king's name day — with a performance...
in Naples as Don Alfonso d'Este, Israele, and the tile hero in Verdi's Nabucco
Nabucco
Nabucco is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the Biblical story and the 1836 play by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornue...
. He sang Don Alfonso d'Este there again in 1849 and in 1850 was heard in Naples as Severo in Donizetti's Poliuto
Poliuto
Poliuto is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after Pierre Corneille's play Polyeucte . It was composed in 1838 and first performed on 30 November 1848 at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples...
. In 1855 he portrayed the Miller in Verdi's Luisa Miller
Luisa Miller
Luisa Miller is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play Kabale und Liebe by Friedrich von Schiller. The first performance was given at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on December 8, 1849...
at the Teatro Argentina
Teatro Argentina
The Teatro Argentina is an opera house and theatre located in the Largo di Torre Argentina, a square in Rome, Italy. It is one of the oldest theatres in Rome, and was inaugurated on January 31, 1732 with Berenice by Domenico Sarro....
in Rome. In 1858-1859 he was committed to the Liceu
Liceu
The Gran Teatre del Liceu , or simply Liceu in Catalan and Liceo in Spanish, is an opera house on La Rambla in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain...
in Barcelona. He also performed as a guest artist at the Paris Opera
Paris Opera
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
, the Royal Opera House
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 London, and the Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
. After retiring from the stage in the early 1860s, he taught singng in Bologna at a school he founded with his sister around 1850. He died in Bologna in 1891 at the age of 72.