Raffaele Mirate
Encyclopedia
Raffaele Mirate was a celebrated Italian
opera
tic tenor
who had an active career from the 1830s through the 1860s. Known for his intelligent phrasing and bright and powerful vocal timbre, he was regarded as an outstanding interpreter of the tenor roles in the early and middle period operas of Giuseppe Verdi
. He notably created the role of the Duke of Mantua in the world premiere of Verdi's Rigoletto
in 1851. He was also a highly regaurded interpreter of bel canto
roles, excelling in the operas of Vincenzo Bellini
, Gaetano Donizetti
, and Gioachino Rossini.
, Mirate was a pupil of Alessandro Busti and the famous castrato
Girolamo Crescentini
at the Regio Collegio di Musica. His first opera performance was in a school production in 1834. His official opera début came three years later at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples as the title hero in Donizetti's Torquato Tasso
. From 1836 through 1839 he worked primarily in Naples, although he did appear as a guest performer at the Teatro San Cassiano
in Venice as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor
.
In 1839 Mirate arrived at the Théâtre Italien
in Paris where he attracted wide acclaim singing roles in operas by Donizetti, Rossini, and Bellini. He made his first appearance at La Scala
in 1840 as Amenofi in Rossini's Mosè in Egitto
to great success. In 1844 he was again a guest at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris. In 1845 he was heard at the Teatro Argentina
in Rome as Jacopo in I due Foscari
and Charles VII in Giovanna d'Arco
. The librettist Francesco Maria Piave
, who was a frequent collaborator with Verdi, was in attendance at these Rome performances and likened Mirate's voice to the great lyric tenor, Napoleone Moriani.
During the late 1840s and early 1850s, Mirate was busy singing at the opera houses of Venice, Genoa and Milan. In 1848 he participated in the world premiere of Carlo Boniforti's Giovanna di Fiandra at La Scala. By 1850 he was the highest paid singer at La Fenice
, and it is at this house that he portrayed the role with which he became most identified, the Duke in Verdi's Rigoletto. His performance of the bravura aria "La donna è mobile
" was hailed as the highlight of the opera's premiere performance on 11 March 1851. A more commanding Duke than some subsequent tenors, he went on to perform the role over 190 times during the rest of his career.
Mirate sang at several more premieres at La Fenice, including portraying Don Carlo in Antonio Buzzolla
's Elisabetta di Valois (1850), Don Alvaro in Francesco Malipiero
's Fernando Cortez (1851), and Arminio in Giovanni Pacini
's La punizione (1854). He also appeared in numerous world premieres at the Teatro di San Carlo
in Naples during the 1850s, including Admeto in Giuseppe Staffa
's Alceste (1852), the title role in Nicola De Giosa's Guido Colmar (1852), Cassandro in Saverio Mercadante
's Statira (1853), the title role in Ferdinando Tommasi's Guido Colmar (1855), and a role in the premiere of Giovanni Pacini
's Margherita Pusterla (1856). In 1857 he portrayed Casimiro in the premiere of Emanuele Muzio's La sorrentina at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
.
From 1854-55, Mirate performed with great success at La Scala, notably singing Manrico in Verdi's Il trovatore
to the approval of the composer. He sang in Boston and New York in 1856 and then at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires during that houses first season in 1857. He returned to Buenos Aires in 1860, also making appearances in Montevideo and Rio de Janeiro while he was in South America. He retired in 1861, but came out of retirement two year later to sing at the Teatro di San Carlo from 1863–1866. While there he sang in two world premieres, portraying Rodrigo in Errico Petrella
's Celinda and Icilio in Mercadante's Virginia
. He died in Sorrento
in 1895 at the age of 80.
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...
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 tenor
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...
who had an active career from the 1830s through the 1860s. Known for his intelligent phrasing and bright and powerful vocal timbre, he was regarded as an outstanding interpreter of the tenor roles in the early and middle period operas 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...
. He notably created the role of the Duke of Mantua in the world premiere of Verdi's 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...
in 1851. He was also a highly regaurded interpreter of bel canto
Bel canto
Bel canto , along with a number of similar constructions , is an Italian opera term...
roles, excelling in the operas of 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...
, 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...
, and Gioachino Rossini.
Biography
Born in NaplesNaples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Mirate was a pupil of Alessandro Busti and the famous castrato
Castrato
A castrato is a man with a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity.Castration before puberty prevents a boy's...
Girolamo Crescentini
Girolamo Crescentini
Girolamo Crescentini was a noted Italian singer castrato , a singing teacher and a composer.-Biography:He studied in Bologna with the noted teacher Lorenzo Gibelli and made his debut in 1783, quite advanced in years as a castrato...
at the Regio Collegio di Musica. His first opera performance was in a school production in 1834. His official opera début came three years later at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples as the title hero in Donizetti's Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso was an Italian poet of the 16th century, best known for his poem La Gerusalemme liberata , in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between Christians and Muslims at the end of the First Crusade, during the siege of Jerusalem...
. From 1836 through 1839 he worked primarily in Naples, although he did appear as a guest performer at the Teatro San Cassiano
Teatro San Cassiano
The Teatro San Cassiano or Teatro di San Cassiano in Venice was the first public opera house when it opened in 1637. The theatre takes its name from the neighbourhood where it was located, the parish of San Cassiano near the Rialto. It was a stone building owned by the Venetian Tron family...
in Venice 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 1839 Mirate arrived at the Théâtre Italien
Comédie-Italienne
Over time, there have been several buildings and several theatrical companies named the "Théâtre-Italien" or the "Comédie-Italienne" in Paris. Following the times, the theatre has shown both plays and operas...
in Paris where he attracted wide acclaim singing roles in operas by Donizetti, Rossini, and Bellini. He made his first appearance 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...
in 1840 as Amenofi in Rossini's Mosè in Egitto
Mosè in Egitto
Mosè in Egitto is a three-act opera written by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, which was based on a play by Francesco Ringhieri, L'Osiride, of 1760....
to great success. In 1844 he was again a guest at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris. In 1845 he was heard 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 as Jacopo in I due Foscari
I due Foscari
I due Foscari is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on a historical play, The Two Foscari by Lord Byron....
and Charles VII in Giovanna d'Arco
Giovanna d'Arco
Giovanna d'Arco is an operatic dramma lirico with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera....
. The librettist Francesco Maria Piave
Francesco Maria Piave
Francesco Maria Piave was an Italian opera librettist who was born in Murano in the lagoon of Venice, during the brief Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. His career spanned over twenty years working with many of the significant composers of his day...
, who was a frequent collaborator with Verdi, was in attendance at these Rome performances and likened Mirate's voice to the great lyric tenor, Napoleone Moriani.
During the late 1840s and early 1850s, Mirate was busy singing at the opera houses of Venice, Genoa and Milan. In 1848 he participated in the world premiere of Carlo Boniforti's Giovanna di Fiandra at La Scala. By 1850 he was the highest paid singer 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...
, and it is at this house that he portrayed the role with which he became most identified, the Duke in Verdi's Rigoletto. His performance of the bravura aria "La donna è mobile
La donna è mobile
"La donna è mobile" is the cynical Duke of Mantua's canzone from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto . The inherent irony is that it is the callous playboy Duke himself who is mobile...
" was hailed as the highlight of the opera's premiere performance on 11 March 1851. A more commanding Duke than some subsequent tenors, he went on to perform the role over 190 times during the rest of his career.
Mirate sang at several more premieres at La Fenice, including portraying Don Carlo in Antonio Buzzolla
Antonio Buzzolla
Antonio Buzzolla was an Italian composer and conductor. A native of Adria, he studied in Venice, and later worked with Gaetano Donizetti and Saverio Mercadante. He composed five operas, but was better known in his lifetime for ariettas and canzonettas in the Venetian dialect...
's Elisabetta di Valois (1850), Don Alvaro in Francesco Malipiero
Francesco Malipiero
Francesco Malipiero was an Italian composer. He was the father of conductor and pianist Luigi Malipiero and the grandfather of composer and musicologist Gian Francesco Malipiero. Trained in Venice, he composed a large number of operas; many of which premiered at La Fenice...
's Fernando Cortez (1851), and Arminio 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 La punizione (1854). He also appeared in numerous world premieres 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 during the 1850s, including Admeto in Giuseppe Staffa
Giuseppe Staffa
Giuseppe Staffa was an Italian composer and conductor. He is best remembered for his seven operas which he composed between 1827 and 1852. He was active as a conductor in Naples at the Teatro del Fondo and Teatro Nuovo. One of his students was Enrico Bevignani.-References:...
's Alceste (1852), the title role in Nicola De Giosa's Guido Colmar (1852), Cassandro 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 Statira (1853), the title role in Ferdinando Tommasi's Guido Colmar (1855), and a role in the premiere of 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 Margherita Pusterla (1856). In 1857 he portrayed Casimiro in the premiere of Emanuele Muzio's La sorrentina 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....
.
From 1854-55, Mirate performed with great success at La Scala, notably singing Manrico in Verdi's 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...
to the approval of the composer. He sang in Boston and New York in 1856 and then at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires during that houses first season in 1857. He returned to Buenos Aires in 1860, also making appearances in Montevideo and Rio de Janeiro while he was in South America. He retired in 1861, but came out of retirement two year later to sing at the Teatro di San Carlo from 1863–1866. While there he sang in two world premieres, portraying Rodrigo in Errico Petrella
Errico Petrella
Errico Petrella was an Italian opera composer.Petrella was born at Palermo. A conservative of the Neapolitan school, he was the most successful Italian composer, second only to Verdi, during the 1850s and 1860s. He also earned the latter's scorn for his compositional and dramatic crudities,...
's Celinda and Icilio in Mercadante's Virginia
Virginia (Mercadante)
Virginia is an opera, a tragedia lirica, in three acts by composer Saverio Mercadante. The Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano is based on Vittorio Alfieri's tragedy of the same name. Alfieri's play was in turn taken from a story in Livy's Ab Urbe condita...
. He died in Sorrento
Sorrento
Sorrento is the name of many cities and towns:*Sorrento, Italy*Sorrento, Florida, United States*Sorrento, Louisiana, United States*Sorrento, Maine, United States*Sorrento, Victoria, a township on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia...
in 1895 at the age of 80.