{"id":4778,"date":"2024-09-24T13:30:33","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T11:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/voicedetective.com\/?p=4778"},"modified":"2024-09-24T13:31:47","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T11:31:47","slug":"ettore-bastianini-baritone-september-24th-1922","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/voicedetective.com\/de\/2024\/09\/ettore-bastianini-baritone-september-24th-1922\/","title":{"rendered":"ETTORE BASTIANINI, BARITON, 24. SEPTEMBER 1922"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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ETTORE BASTIANINI
BARITONE
SEPTEMBER 24TH, 1922<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Today we celebrate the baritone\u2019s baritone, the great Ettore Bastianini, born in Siena, Italy. His voice was first recognised and trained by Fathima and Anselmo Ammanati as a bass. It was when touring Egypt with another great baritone Gino Bechi and the soprano Maria Caniglia in the early 1950s, that one day Gino Bechi leaned over and whispered, \u2018You<\/span>\u2019<\/span>re really a baritone, you know. I<\/span>\u2019<\/span>m a fool to say so as I don<\/span>\u2019<\/span>t need more competition, but it<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s true.\u2019 As a bass, he had possessed a delightful timbre, but it was limited in volume and in the bass register soft and weak, he had trouble reaching the lowest notes, and, in\u00a0Rigoletto,\u00a0relied on choristers to supply the last <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Fa\u201d in Sparafucile<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s aria.<\/span>[1]<\/span><\/sup><\/a><\/p>

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Well before this, as a bass, he had won the sixth National singing competition at the Teatro Communale in Florence which brought with it an accompanying\u00a0 scholarship. But due to the war, it was a bad time in 1942 for artistic achievments, and he was drafted into the Airforce and unable to claim his prize. In 1945 he made his debut as Colline in La Boh\u011bme <\/i>at the Teatro Alighieri <\/i>in Ravenna.<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

In 1946 he was able to finally able to take advantage of his scholarship to study with Maestro Flamino and his wife, singer Dina Manucci Contina at the Teatro Communale.<\/span>[2]<\/span><\/sup><\/a><\/p>

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Until 1950 he sang successfully as a bass, but it was after his coach\/teacher Luciano Betterini encouraged him to explore his baritone range, that he took time off from the stage to delve into this new voice category. Being very determined, competitive and diligent, it wasn\u2019t long after making his debut as a baritone as Giorgio Germont in Sienna, that he was singing opposite Maria Callas as Enrico Ashton in Lucia di Lammermoor<\/i> at the Teatro Communale and by 1953 he was making his Metropolitan debut as Giorgio Germant in La Traviata.<\/i><\/span><\/i><\/p>

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By 1954 he was singing opposite Renata Tebaldi and Giuseppe di Stefano in Eugene Onegin at La Scala. <\/span><\/p>

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Recording contracts with Decca ensued leaving opera lovers with a catalogue of some of the most iconic recordings of the post war era with an array of contemporary artists of equal fame, calibre and legend.<\/span><\/p>

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Reading of his work load, performances and yo-yo travelling from America to Europe and back again, is a dizzying experience. He ultimately succumbed to throat cancer in 1967 which was first diagnosed in1962. However, he refused to let this prevent him from singing in his last years on the stage, despite undergoing many rounds of radiotherapy. <\/span><\/p>

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His esteemed colleagues now have the final word.<\/span><\/p>

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\u2018Mario Del Monaco knew him as a great and dear colleague, the dearest and the best he had in his career: <\/span>\u201c<\/span>E, con infinita nostalgia, Ettore Bastianini, una delle piu belle voci di baritono di questa scorcio di secolo, un raro esempio di dizione e di belcantismo espressi con una voce di eccezionale bellezza.\u201d <\/span>(<\/span>\u201c<\/span>One of the most beautiful voices from this part of the century, a rare example of diction and belcantismo expressed with a voice of extraordinary beauty.\u201d)<\/span>[3]<\/a><\/span><\/sup><\/p>

Carlo Bergonzi remembered him so: <\/span>\u201c<\/span>A natural beauty of voice, evenness of timbre, elegance of phrasing and gesture, soundness of diction and expression, a sure technique and, not least, a deep seriousness and professional discipline: these were the fundamental characteristics of Ettore Bastianini, which made him a great baritone \u2013 perhaps the last real Verdian baritone<\/span>[4]<\/span><\/sup><\/a>,<\/span>[5]<\/span><\/sup><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>

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[1]<\/span><\/sup><\/a> HOOEY. C.A., ETTORE BASTIANINI – BIOGRAPHY. <\/a><\/u><\/b><\/span>NO DATE. NO PLACE. MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL ETTORE BASTIANINI: BIOGRAPHY BY CHARLES A HOOEY<\/a><\/u><\/b><\/span><\/p><\/div>

[2]<\/span><\/sup><\/a> IBID<\/span><\/p><\/div>

[3]<\/span><\/sup><\/a> IBID<\/span><\/p><\/div>

[4]<\/span><\/sup><\/a> IBID<\/span><\/p><\/div>

[5]<\/span><\/sup><\/a> IT IS ACKNOWLEDGED BY CHARLES HOOEY IN HIS BIOGRAPHY, THAT HE RELIED MUCH ON\u00a0 \u201cTHE MEMORIES SHARED BY CHRISTIAN SPRINGER IN VIENNA, LUIGI CROCI AND MAURO ZIGLIOLI IN ITALY, JOHN STANDEN IN LONDON, EDWARD CHICHURA AND FATHER MATTHIAS MONTGOMERY OF THE US AND DAVID HILL IN ENGLAND. MOST QUOTATIONS STEM FROM THE METROPOLITAN OPERA NEWS,\u00a0OPERA\u00a0MAGAZINE, IRVING KOLODIN\u2019S THE METROPOLITAN OPERA AND FOR COMMENTS RELATIVE BASTIANINI BY SINGERS\/CONDUCTORS AND FOR A SENSE OF EVENTS, THE ITALIAN BIOGRAPHY, ETTORE BASTIANINI \u2013 UNA VOCE DI BRONZO E DI VELLUTTO BY MARINA BOAGNO AND GILBERTO STARONE.<\/a><\/u><\/b><\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ETTORE BASTIANINI
\n24. September 2022<\/p>\n

Heute feiern wir den Bariton aller Baritone, den gro\u00dfen Ettore Bastianini, der im italienischen Siena geboren wurde. Seine Stimme wurde zuerst von Fathima und Anselmo Ammanati als Bassist erkannt und ausgebildet. Als er Anfang der 1950er Jahre mit einem anderen gro\u00dfen Bariton, Gino Bechi, und der Sopranistin Maria Caniglia durch \u00c4gypten tourte, beugte sich Gino Bechi eines Tages zu mir her\u00fcber und fl\u00fcsterte: \u201eDu bist wirklich ein Bariton, wei\u00dft du. Ich bin ein Narr, das zu sagen, denn ich brauche nicht noch mehr Konkurrenz, aber es ist wahr.\u201c Als Bassist hatte er ein wunderbares Timbre, aber es war in der Lautst\u00e4rke begrenzt und im Bassregister weich und schwach, er hatte Probleme, die tiefsten T\u00f6ne zu erreichen, und in Rigoletto war er auf die Chors\u00e4nger angewiesen, um das letzte \u201eFa\u201c in Sparafuciles Arie zu singen. <\/p>\n

Lange zuvor hatte er als Bass den 6. Nationalen Gesangswettbewerb am Teatro Communale in Florenz gewonnen, der ihm ein Stipendium einbrachte. Doch kriegsbedingt war 1942 f\u00fcr k\u00fcnstlerische Leistungen ung\u00fcnstig, er wurde zur Luftwaffe eingezogen und konnte seinen Preis nicht in Anspruch nehmen. 1945 deb\u00fctierte er als Colline in La Boh\u00e8me am Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna.<\/p>\n

1946 konnte er endlich sein Stipendium nutzen, um bei Maestro Flamino und seiner Frau, der S\u00e4ngerin Dina Manucci Contina, am Teatro Communale zu studieren. <\/p>\n

Bis 1950 sang er erfolgreich als Bass, doch erst nachdem sein Trainer\/Lehrer Luciano Betterini ihn ermutigt hatte, seinen Baritonbereich zu erkunden, nahm er sich eine Auszeit von der B\u00fchne, um sich dieser neuen Stimmkategorie zu widmen. Da er sehr zielstrebig, wettbewerbsorientiert und flei\u00dfig war, dauerte es nicht lange, bis er nach seinem Deb\u00fct als Bariton als Giorgio Germont in Siena neben Maria Callas als Enrico Ashton in Lucia di Lammermoor am Teatro Communale sang und 1953 gab er sein Metropolitan-Deb\u00fct als Giorgio Germant in La Traviata.<\/p>\n

1954 sang er neben Renata Tebaldi und Giuseppe di Stefano in \u201eEugen Onegin\u201c an der Scala. <\/p>\n

Durch die daraus resultierenden Plattenvertr\u00e4ge mit Decca steht den Opernliebhabern ein Katalog mit einigen der ber\u00fchmtesten Aufnahmen der Nachkriegszeit zur Verf\u00fcgung, mit einer Reihe zeitgen\u00f6ssischer K\u00fcnstler von gleichem Ruhm, Kaliber und Legende.<\/p>\n

Wenn man von seiner Arbeitsbelastung, seinen Auftritten und seinen Reisen von Amerika nach Europa und wieder zur\u00fcck liest, ist das ein schwindelerregendes Erlebnis. 1967 erlag er schlie\u00dflich einem Kehlkopfkrebs, der erstmals 1962 diagnostiziert worden war. Er lie\u00df sich jedoch in seinen letzten Jahren nicht davon abhalten, auf der B\u00fchne zu singen, obwohl er sich zahlreichen Strahlentherapien unterzog. <\/p>\n

Das letzte Wort haben nun seine gesch\u00e4tzten Kollegen.<\/p>\n

\u201eMario Del Monaco kannte ihn als einen gro\u00dfartigen und lieben Kollegen, den liebsten und besten, den er in seiner Karriere hatte: \u201eE, con infinita nostalgia, Ettore Bastianini, una delle piu belle voci di baritono di questa scorcio di secolo, un raro esempio dizione e di belcantismo espressi con una voce di eccezionale bellezza.\u201c (\u201eEine der sch\u00f6nsten Stimmen aus diesem Teil des Jahrhunderts, ein seltenes Beispiel f\u00fcr Diktion und Belcantismo, ausgedr\u00fcckt mit einer Stimme von au\u00dfergew\u00f6hnlicher Sch\u00f6nheit.\u201c) <\/p>\n

Carlo Bergonzi erinnerte sich folgenderma\u00dfen an ihn: \u201eEine nat\u00fcrliche Sch\u00f6nheit der Stimme, ein gleichm\u00e4\u00dfiges Timbre, Eleganz der Phrasierung und Gestik, Zuverl\u00e4ssigkeit in Diktion und Ausdruck, eine sichere Technik und nicht zuletzt eine tiefe Ernsthaftigkeit und professionelle Disziplin: Das waren die grundlegenden Eigenschaften von Ettore Bastianini, die ihn zu einem gro\u00dfen Bariton machten \u2013 vielleicht zum letzten echten Verdi-Bariton.\u201c<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4780,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[65],"class_list":["post-4778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-front-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/voicedetective.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/voicedetective.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/voicedetective.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voicedetective.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voicedetective.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/voicedetective.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voicedetective.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/voicedetective.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voicedetective.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voicedetective.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}