Ugo Benelli

Last updated

Ugo Benelli (born 20 January 1935) is an Italian operatic tenor. Born in Genoa and trained at La Scala, Benelli had an international career singing leading tenore di grazia roles from the early 1960s through the 1980s. In his later years he sang character roles and began a career as a singing teacher. [1] He retired from the stage in 2004.

Contents

Life and career

Benelli was born in Genoa where his father and grandfather worked as hat makers. He studied singing in Milan with Pietro Magenta and then won a scholarship to La Scala's training school for young singers, where he studied under Giulio Confalonieri and Ettore Campogalliani. He began his singing career in Montevideo in 1958 in Salieri's comic intermezzo Arlecchinata while on a tour of Latin America with the chamber opera company Opera da Camera di Milano. In 1960 he began singing at the Teatro della Piccola Scala (La Scala's chamber theatre) and then at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu as Fenton in Verdi's Falstaff , which he considers to be his official debut. [2] [3]

He was then engaged to sing on the main stage at La Scala, first in the small role of Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos in 1963, and then in the leading role of Giocondo in La pietra del paragone in the 1967 season. He returned to La Scala in 13 more productions between 1967 and 1999 as well as giving a solo concert of bel canto tenor arias in 1976 with Pierluigi Urbini conducting the La Scala Orchestra. [4]

Benelli went on to make house debuts at a number of other major European and North American opera houses and festivals, including the Glyndebourne Festival, where he made his debut in 1967 as Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore and returned in subsequent years as Narciso in Il turco in Italia (1970), Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville and Trouffaldino in The Love for Three Oranges (1982), and Don Basilio in The Marriage of Figaro (1984). [5] In addition to his Glyndebourne debut, 1967 saw Benelli's house debuts at La Fenice as Filipeto in I quatro rusteghi and the Teatro di San Carlo as Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore.

Royal Opera House

When Benelli made his debut at London's Royal Opera House singing Ernesto in Don Pasquale in 1974, the English critic Harold Rosenthal wrote, "Mr Benelli's Ernesto was the best I remember in the theatre, and except for the classic Tito Schipa performance on records, the best sung I have ever heard." [6] Benelli had been singing the role from the earliest days of his career. He sang it Costa Rica during the 1958 Latin American tour and recorded it for Deutsche Grammophon in 1965. [7]

Wexford Festival Opera

Benelli's long association with Wexford Festival Opera began in 1965 as Belfiore in La finta giardiniera . He returned the following year to sing the title role in Auber's Fra Diavolo and went on to sing Nencio in L'infedeltà delusa (1969), Bertrando in L'inganno felice and Ernesto in Il giovedì grasso (1970), Ecclitico in Il mondo della luna (1978), and a series of celebrity recitals in the 1980s. He returned once more to the festival in 1998 to give the Tom Walsh Memorial Lecture. His subject was the tenore di grazia. [3]

In the mid-1980s Benelli moved to singing character and buffo tenor roles. These included Don Basilio in The Marriage of Figaro, which he sang at Glyndebourne, the Salzburg Festival, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and at the Metropolitan Opera for his house debut in 1986; Guillot de Morfontaine in Manon at La Scala and the Teatro Carlo Felice; Sendorf in The Makropulos Affair at the Teatro San Carlo; John Styx in Orpheus in the Underworld at the Teatro Regio in Turin, and Jack O'Brien in Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at the Teatro Carlo Felice. [8]

Roles created

Early in his career Benelli created roles in two 20th century operas: [9]

Recordings

Operas

Masses

Retirement

Since his retirement from the stage, he has taught singing privately and in master classes. In 2002, Giorgio De Martino's biography of Benelli, Cantanti, vil razza dannata, was published by Zecchini in their series I racconti della musica. [10] His last appearance onstage, in a praised "cameo" as Don Basilio, took place at the Teatro Carlo Felice in his native city in 2004, when he was about 69. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luigi Alva</span> Peruvian opera tenor

Luis Ernesto Alva y Talledo, better known as Luigi Alva is a Peruvian operatic tenor. A Mozart and Rossini specialist, Alva achieved fame with roles such as Don Ottavio, Count Almaviva and Fenton. He retired from the stage in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ettore Bastianini</span> Italian operatic baritone

Ettore Bastianini was an Italian operatic baritone who was particularly associated with the operas of the bel canto tradition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberto Abbado</span> Italian conductor

Roberto Abbado is an Italian opera and symphonic music conductor. Currently he is an Artistic Partner of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. In 2015 he has been appointed music director of Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain. From 2018 he's Music Director of the Festival Verdi in Parma. Previously he held the position of Chief Conductor of Münchner Rundfunkorchester.

Barbara Frittoli is an Italian operatic soprano, specializing in operas by Verdi and Mozart. She has sung leading roles in opera houses throughout Europe and in the United States, such as La Scala in Milan and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Her signature roles include Mimì in La bohème, the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Desdemona in Otello.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francesco Meli</span> Italian opera singer

Francesco Meli (born 15 May 1980 is an Italian operatic tenor particularly associated with the romantic repertoire.

Simone Alaimo is an Italian bass-baritone. He is particularly known for his performances of the bel canto repertoire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariella Adani</span> Italian classical soprano

Mariella Adani is an Italian classical soprano who had an active career in operas, concerts, and recitals from the 1950s through the 1980s. She has sung under the musical direction of Vittorio Gui, Carlo Maria Giulini, Nino Sanzogno, Oliviero De Fabritiis, and Peter Maag and under the directors Sandro Bolchi, Franco Zeffirelli Luchino Visconti, and Walter Felsenstein. A light lyric soprano, she has particularly excelled in the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Gioachino Rossini. She has also been admired for her performances in Baroque opera. Retired from the stage, she now devotes her time to teaching singing.

Barry Banks is a Grammy Nominated English/American lyric tenor who, after a long association with The Metropolitan Opera and English National Opera, has achieved acclaim as one of finest interpreters of the Italian bel canto repertoire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milijana Nikolic</span> Operatic mezzo-soprano

Milijana Nikolic is an operatic mezzo-soprano.

Natale de Carolis is an Italian operatic baritone, who has had an active career in major opera houses internationally since the early 1980s. He is particularly associated with the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Gioachino Rossini.

Frank Lopardo is an American operatic tenor who was born in Brentwood, New York. Early in his career he specialized in the repertoire of Mozart and Rossini and later transitioned to the works of Puccini, Verdi, Donizetti and Bellini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Francisco Gatell</span>

Juan Francisco Gatell (born November 28, 1978, in La Plata, Argentina Juan Francisco Gatell is an Argentinian operatic tenor who specialises in the bel canto repertoire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmela Remigio</span> Italian operatic soprano

Carmela Remigio is an Italian operatic soprano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonino Fogliani</span> Italian conductor (born 1976)

Antonino Fogliani is an Italian conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riccardo Frizza</span> Italian conductor (born 1971)

Riccardo Frizza is an Italian conductor, particularly known for his work in the Italian operatic repertoire. After making his professional conducting debut in 2001 with Rossini's Stabat Mater at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, he went on to conduct in the leading opera houses of Europe and the United States, including La Scala, La Fenice. the Paris Opera, and New York's Metropolitan Opera.

Angelo Veccia is an Italian operatic baritone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amelia Felle</span> Italian opera singer

Amelia Felle is an Italian operatic soprano and voice teacher. Born in Bari, she has been active on the stages of Italian and European opera houses and concert halls since her debut in 1981. She holds the chair in vocal chamber music at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome, a position she previously held at the Conservatorio Tito Schipa in Lecce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simone Alberghini</span> Italian opera singer

Simone Alberghini is an Italian operatic baritone, known especially for his interpretations of belcanto operas of Mozart and Rossini.

Savino Monelli was an Italian tenor prominent in the opera houses of Italy from 1806 until 1830. Amongst the numerous roles he created in world premieres were Giannetto in Rossini's La gazza ladra, Enrico in Donizetti's L'ajo nell'imbarazzo and Nadir in Pacini's La schiava in Bagdad. He was born in Fermo where he initially studied music. After leaving the stage, he retired to Fermo and died there five years later at the age of 52.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jolanda Meneguzzer</span> Italian operatic soprano (1929–2020)

Jolanda Meneguzzer was an Italian lyric soprano who made regular appearances at leading opera houses in the 1960s.

References

  1. ↑ Forbes, Elizabeth (2001) "Benelli, Ugo". Grove Music Online. Retrieved 16 March 2016 (subscription required for full access).
  2. ↑ Iovino, Roberto (28 March 2015). "Benelli, ottant'anni di lirica 'Il canto da sempre nel sangue'". La Repubblica . Retrieved 16 March 2016 (in Italian).
  3. 1 2 The Irish Times (10 October 1998). "Call me McBenelli". Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  4. ↑ La Scala Archives. "Ugo Benelli". Retrieved 16 March 2016 (in Italian).
  5. ↑ Glyndebourne Festival Opera Archives. Ugo Benelli
  6. ↑ Rosenthal, Harold (March 1974). "Don Pasquale. Royal Opera, Covent Garden, January 29", p. 263. Opera . Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  7. ↑ Castellón, Gonzalo (20 April 2014). "El renombrado tenor Ugo Benelli debutó en Costa Rica en 1958". La Nación (San José). Retrieved 16 March 2016 (in Spanish).
  8. ↑ Kutsch, Karl J. and Riemens, Leo (2004). "Benelli, Ugo", pp. 344–345. Großes Sängerlexikon 4th edition, vol. 1. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN   359844088X (in German)
  9. ↑ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Performances by Ugo Benelli" . L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
  10. ↑ De Martino, Giorgio (2002). Cantanti, vil razza dannata : una dichiarazione d'amore contraddittoria attraverso la vita e gli incontri di Ugo Benelli. Varese: Zecchini. OCLC   51877463.
  11. ↑ Foletto, Angelo (19 January 2004). "Scene da un matrimonio con signora in rosso". La Repubblica . Retrieved 27 April 2017 (in Italian).
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.