Richard Bonelli
Encyclopedia
Richard Bonelli was an American
operatic
baritone
active from 1915 to the late 1970s
.
, New York
. His family later moved to Syracuse
and soon George preferred to be called Richard. Prior to deciding on a career in music, Bonelli was a friend of race car driver and later mayor of Salt Lake City, Ab Jenkins
. Bonelli studied at Syracuse University
and his voice teachers included Arthur Alexander in Los Angeles
, Jean de Reszke
and William Valonat in Paris
.
Bonelli's operatic debut came on April 21, 1915 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
as Valentin in Gounod
's Faust
. He toured with the San Carlo Opera Company
between 1922 and 1924. He toured Europe
in 1925, making appearances at the Monte Carlo Opera and La Scala
and was eventually engaged by the Théâtre de la Gaîté
in Paris
. Between 1925 and 1931 Bonelli performed with the Chicago Opera Company
and between 1926 and 1942 frequently performed at the San Francisco Opera
. Bonelli's Metropolitan Opera
debut came on December 1, 1932 as Verdi
's Germont
and he remained on the Met's active roster until 1945, making his final performance as Rossini's Figaro
on March 14th of that year. He was the Tonio
in the first ever live telecast
of opera, from the Met on March 10, 1940 alongside Hilda Burke and Armand Tokatyan
. Of his many roles, Bonelli was known best for his Verdi roles, and also Wolfram
, Tonio, and Sharpless
. In Italy
, he performed under the name Riccardo Bonelli. He also appeared in two movies; a supporting role in 1935's Enter Madame
and a cameo appearance
in 1941's The Hard-Boiled Canary.
After retiring from singing, Bonelli became a successful voice teacher at the Curtis Institute of Music
in Philadelphia, the Music Academy of the West
in Santa Barbara
, and in New York
. Among his students were Frank Guarrera
, Enrico Di Giuseppe
, Lucine Amara
, and Norman Mittelmann
. In 1949 when Edward Johnson
retired from his position of general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, Bonelli was a contender for the job though it ultimately went to Rudolf Bing. Bonelli's favorite baritone was Titta Ruffo
. American baritone Robert Merrill
had stated that Bonelli was his inspiration to study singing, after hearing him perform the Count di Luna
at the Met alongside Giovanni Martinelli
and Elisabeth Rethberg
in 1936. Even after retiring from teaching, he periodically performed on stage into his 80s. His later appearances were more on the West Coast of the United States
. He was actor Robert Stack
's uncle. Bonelli died in Los Angeles
on June 7, 1980 at the age of 91.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
operatic
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...
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...
active from 1915 to the late 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
.
Life and career
Bonelli was born George Richard Bunn to Martin and Ida Bunn of Port ByronPort Byron, New York
Port Byron is a village in Cayuga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,297 at the 2000 census. The village is believed to be named after Lord Byron.The Village of Port Byron is in the Town of Mentz and is north of Auburn, New York....
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. His family later moved to Syracuse
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
and soon George preferred to be called Richard. Prior to deciding on a career in music, Bonelli was a friend of race car driver and later mayor of Salt Lake City, Ab Jenkins
Ab Jenkins
David Abbott "Ab" Jenkins was the 24th mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah from 1940 to 1944 and was a professional race car driver. Jenkins' interest in motorsports began with racing motorcycles on dirt tracks and cross country. He then became interested in land speed records at the Bonneville Salt...
. Bonelli studied at Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
and his voice teachers included Arthur Alexander in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Jean de Reszke
Jean de Reszke
Jean de Reszke, born Jan Mieczyslaw, , was a Polish tenor. Renowned internationally for the high quality of his singing and the elegance of his bearing, he became the biggest male opera star of the late 19th century....
and William Valonat in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Bonelli's operatic debut came on April 21, 1915 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
as Valentin in Gounod
Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
's Faust
Faust (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...
. He toured with the San Carlo Opera Company
San Carlo Opera Company
The San Carlo Opera Company was the name of two different opera companies active in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century.-History:...
between 1922 and 1924. He toured Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in 1925, making appearances at the Monte Carlo Opera and 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 was eventually engaged by the Théâtre de la Gaîté
Théâtre de la Gaîté (rue Papin)
In 1862 during Haussmann's modernization of Paris the Théâtre de la Gaîté of the boulevard du Temple was relocated to the rue Papin across from the Square des Arts et Métiers....
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Between 1925 and 1931 Bonelli performed with the Chicago Opera Company
Chicago Opera Company
The Chicago Opera Company was a grand opera company in Chicago, organized from the remaining assets of the bankrupt Chicago City Opera Company, that produced six seasons of opera at the Civic Opera House from 1940 to 1946 . Fausto Cleva was artistic director 1944-1946, and until 1945 Fortune Gallo...
and between 1926 and 1942 frequently performed at the San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
. Bonelli's 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...
debut came on December 1, 1932 as 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 Germont
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...
and he remained on the Met's active roster until 1945, making his final performance as Rossini's Figaro
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...
on March 14th of that year. He was the Tonio
Pagliacci
Pagliacci , 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...
in the first ever live telecast
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
of opera, from the Met on March 10, 1940 alongside Hilda Burke and Armand Tokatyan
Armand Tokatyan
Armand Tokatyan was an operatic tenor. An Armenian born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, he travelled to Egypt with his parents where he sang in cafés to favorable response. He was then sent to Paris to study tailoring, but instead sang in Left Bank cafés. In 1914, he returned to Egypt and earned his...
. Of his many roles, Bonelli was known best for his Verdi roles, and also Wolfram
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
, Tonio, and Sharpless
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...
. In Italy
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...
, he performed under the name Riccardo Bonelli. He also appeared in two movies; a supporting role in 1935's Enter Madame
Enter Madame
Enter Madame is an American romantic comedy film directed by Elliott Nugent, starring Elissa Landi and Cary Grant, and released by Paramount Pictures....
and a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
in 1941's The Hard-Boiled Canary.
After retiring from singing, Bonelli became a successful voice teacher at the Curtis Institute of Music
Curtis Institute of Music
The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. According to statistics compiled by U.S...
in Philadelphia, the Music Academy of the West
Music Academy of the West
The Music Academy of the West is a music conservatory located in Montecito, California near Santa Barbara, California. Every year, it hosts a summer music festival for the community highlighted by concerts and workshops directed by famous composers, conductors, and artists.A yearly maximum of 135...
in Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, and in New York
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...
. Among his students were Frank Guarrera
Frank Guarrera
Frank Guarrera was an Italian-American lyric baritone who enjoyed a long and distinguished career at the Metropolitan Opera, singing with the company for a total of 680 performances. He performed 35 different roles at the Met, mostly from the Italian and French repertories, from 1948 through 1976...
, Enrico Di Giuseppe
Enrico Di Giuseppe
Enrico Di Giuseppe was a celebrated Italian-American operatic tenor who had an active performance career from the late 1950s through the 1990s. He spent most of his career performing in New York City, juggling concurrent performance contracts with both the New York City Opera and the Metropolitan...
, Lucine Amara
Lucine Amara
Lucine Amara is an American soprano who was largely based at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.-Biography:Amara was born Lucine Armaganian in Hartford, Connecticut, of Armenian heritage, before moving to San Francisco where she was raised.She studied at the San Francisco's Community Music School...
, and Norman Mittelmann
Norman Mittelmann
Norman Mittelmann is a Canadian operatic baritone. In 1959 he won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He has sung leading roles with the Bavarian State Opera, the Berlin State Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Metropolitan...
. In 1949 when Edward Johnson
Edward Johnson (tenor)
Edward Patrick Johnson CBE was a Canadian operatic tenor who was billed outside North America as Edoardo Di Giovanni, and became director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.- Early life :...
retired from his position of general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, Bonelli was a contender for the job though it ultimately went to Rudolf Bing. Bonelli's favorite baritone was Titta Ruffo
Titta Ruffo
Titta Ruffo , born as Ruffo Titta Cafiero, was an Italian opera star who had a major international singing career. Known as the "Voce del leone" , he was greatly admired, even by rival baritones, such as Giuseppe De Luca, who said of Ruffo: "His was not a voice, it was a miracle" Titta Ruffo (9...
. American baritone Robert Merrill
Robert Merrill
Robert Merrill was an American operatic baritone.-Early life:Merrill was born Moishe Miller, later known as Morris Miller, in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, to tailor Abraham Miller, originally Milstein, and his wife Lillian, née Balaban, immigrants from Warsaw, Poland.His mother...
had stated that Bonelli was his inspiration to study singing, after hearing him perform the Count di Luna
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...
at the Met alongside Giovanni Martinelli
Giovanni Martinelli
Giovanni Martinelli was a celebrated Italian operatic tenor. He was particularly associated with the Italian lyric-dramatic repertory, although he performed French operatic roles to great acclaim as well...
and Elisabeth Rethberg
Elisabeth Rethberg
The German soprano Elisabeth Rethberg was an opera singer of international repute active from the period of the First World War through to the early 1940s. Some hailed her as the greatest soprano of her day...
in 1936. Even after retiring from teaching, he periodically performed on stage into his 80s. His later appearances were more on the West Coast of the United States
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
. He was actor Robert Stack
Robert Stack
Robert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:...
's uncle. Bonelli died in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
on June 7, 1980 at the age of 91.