‘But somehow the tenor who produced the most sparks for me was Corelli. He sings with the heart, and when we were together he always looked at me and never at the conductor. He always produced a sense of total reality on the stage, and some of our appearances together in Fanciulla were fabulous.’  Dorothy Kirstenⁱ

In the days before there were ‘Kings’, Franco Corelli was hailed ‘The Prince of Tenors’.ⁱⁱ There were good reasons for this epithet – he possessed a dazzling clear timbre, a powerful spinto voice capable of spinning the finest and longest diminuendo on a top Bb, (just check out his Ah, leve toi soleil! from Roméo et Juliette) or listen to his Bb morendo on the last note of Celeste Aïda). These remain unsurpassed. His charismatic, passionate stage presence, and equally stunning movie star good looks, made him a much sought after leading man and one of the most celebrated tenors of his time.

According to himself, Corelli learnt his craft by listening to recordingsⁱⁱⁱ and imitating the style and effects of the great tenors who proceeded him, such as Caruso, Gigli, Lauri-Volpi and Pertile.^iv He claimed not to have had many voice teachers, and only to have had occasional lessons with Arturo Melocchi who was an exponent of the lowered larynx technique and by the way, also the star tenor Mario Del Monaco’s teacher.^v

He is said to observed Del Monaco first hand very carefully, and to have modified the lowered larynx technique to enable himself to let his larynx ‘float’ thus giving him far more flexibility of subtle expression with his voice. In his own words, ’Melocchi taught Mario Del Monaco for a number of years. Because he began to perform a few years before I did, I used him as my example, scrutinising everything he did throughout his career. He sang with the larynx lowered as far as it would go. Melocchi’s tenors all came to resemble Del Monaco in tone colour, range and style. This means that, for better or worse, Melocchi taught a real technique.’^vi

During the years between 1961-1975 he had a long and fruitful career at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as well as singing in the major opera houses of Europe.^vii Many of his extensive recordings, especially the live recordings, belong to the opera collectors must have list. After his retirement from the stage he became a popular voice teacher in New York.

Franco Corelli recollected that he met the love of his life, Loretta de Lelio during a rehearsal of Adriana Lecouvreur in 1952 when he was singing the role of Maurizo, and she the minor soprano role of Mademoiselle Jouventot. ‘It was “love at first sight” but they waited four years to get married because Corelli wanted to be sure his career would provide “a solid life with money.”’^viii Loretta was a great stabilising factor, a coach and support to his career, and life. Unlike him Loretta grew up in the opera world with her father being the renowned bass Umberto di Lelio.^ix This family vocation gave her the insight and understanding of the inner machinations of the business which helped him negotiate his career.

And what did his colleagues say about him? They noted his reticence, modesty and exacting self-criticism; as well as addressing his reputation as a ‘divo’ – which they refuted. Some quotes from them then, ‘I told him, “you know Franco, you have the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard as Radames. You’re simply perfect.” He was so shy to hear it, so embarrassed!’ (Grace Bumbry)^x. ‘…Franco, whom I believe to be a very sensitive man and a precious artist. Truly for me it has been a joy to conduct him for his great dramatic, artistic and vocal qualities.He is a person of great sweetness and correctness. An exquisite person, truly.’ (Michelangelo Veltri).^xi and as for the accusation of his being a divo, the words of Anselmo Colzani speak volumes, ‘Corelli has always had the reputation of being capricious, of being a “divo.” I deny this in the most absolute way because I knew him too well. It was just a matter of worrying about his vocal technique, because he was more exacting than just about anybody.’^xii [emphasis mine].

Franco Corelli passed away on the 29 October 2003.^xiii
 

ⁱ  RASPONI, LANFRANCO., THE LAST PRIMA DONNAS, DOROTHY KIRSTEN, VICTOR GOLLANCZ, LONDON (1984). P.290

ⁱⁱ  FRANCO CORELLI “THE PRINCE OF TENORS” VOLUME 1, LEGENDARY RECORDINGS – LR 123 (2LP) – “LIVE” RECORDING AND FRANCO CORELLI “THE PRINCE OF TENORS” VOLUME 2, LEGENDARY RECORDINGS – LR 198 (2LP) – “LIVE” RECORDING

ⁱⁱⁱ  BOAGNO, MARINA. WITH STARONE, GILBERTO., FRANCO CORELLI – A MAN, A VOICE. (TRANSLATED BY BRENTEGANI, TERESA AND CHASE, SAMUEL) BASKERVILLE PUBLISHERS, INC., NEW YORK (1996). P.16

^iv  Tommasini, Anthony (30 October 2003). “Franco Corelli, Italian Tenor of Power and Charisma, and Pillar of the Met, Dies at 82”. The New York Times. Retrieved 16 May 2009.

^v  Zucker, Stephan (3 February 1996). “Corelli: tenore del mondo“. Opera News. (METROPOLITAN OPERA GUILD) (1996) NO PAGE NUMBER

^vi  ZUCKER, STEPHAN – ATRURO MELOCCHI ACADEMY Interview: Franco Corelli with Stefan Zucker 11MAR https://www.arturomelocchiacademy.com/blog/interview-franco-corelli (YEAR NOT GIVEN)

^vii  CELLETTI, RODOLFO / BLYTH, ALAN. CORELLI, FRANCO (DARIO) IN THE GROVE BOOK OF OPERA SINGERS, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS (2008), P.95

^viii  WINSHIP, FREDERICK M., LISTEN BUT DON’T LOOK, TUCSON DAILY CITIZEN, (MAY 6 1961). RETRIEVED FROM https://corelli.notion.site/Three-interviews-with-Mr-and-Mrs-Corelli-1961-62-fa5da65eef7b4e6b8bd1a52efc14ed3c 

^ix  ARAKELYAN, ASHOT., FORGOTTEN SINGERS (JANUARY 4 2016) RETRIVED FROM https://forgottenoperasingers.blogspot.com/2016/01/umberto-di-lelio-bass-1894-milan-italy.html

^x  IBID. P.217

^xi  IBID. P.214

^xii  IBID. P.211

^xiii  IBID. P.95