Francesco Tamagno - Di quella pira

Francesco Tamagno (1850-1905) was considered the greatest dramatic tenor of his generation. During the last quarter of the 19th century, this legendary singer captured the attention of audiences everywhere with his performances in opera and concert. Born in Turin to a wine merchant and tavern keeper, Tamagno showed early promise as a singer, but was refused entry to the Turin Conservatory when he first applied at the age of seventeen. Not to be dissuaded, the young tenor repeatedly auditioned for the Teatro Regio in his hometown. Eventually he was accepted into the chorus and began studying with celebrated composer and teacher Carlo Pedrotti (1817-1893). As he continued to gain stage experience as a chorister, Tamagno hoped to be given the opportunity to sing roles with the company. He got his wish in February of 1872 when he debuted in the small role of Gaspero in the local premiere of Francesco Cortesi’s opera La Colpa del Cuore. Other comprimario parts followed during the season in such operas as Poliuto and Ruy Blas.
Tamagno’s real breakthrough came about early in 1874 when he sang Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera at the Teatro Bellini in Palermo, impressing audience and critics alike. Over the course of the next three years, Tamagno made appearances in Carpi, Ferrara, Venice, Rovigo and Barcelona, building an impressive repertoire of leading roles in such works as Lucia di Lammermoor, Ernani, Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Don Carlo, La Forza del Destino, Robert le Diable, Les Huguenots, Saffo, Martha and even Rossini’s Stabat Mater.
Tamagno’s work with the Teatro Liceo in Barcelona most likely brought him to the attention of La Scala in Milan, where he opened the 1877/78 season as Vasco in L’Africaine. From that point on, La Scala was Tamagno’s artistic home, and he sang there regularly until 1901. The tenor was also a frequent guest to the operatic stages of Naples, Rome, Venice, London, St. Petersburg, Madrid, Seville, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, New York, Paris, Nice and Monte Carlo. He amassed a repertoire of over fifty roles, including the leads in Le Prophète, Guillaume Tell, Aïda, Samson et Dalila, Andrea Chénier and his greatest role, Verdi’s Otello, which he created at La Scala in 1887.
Unfortunately, Tamagno’s career was not destined to be a lengthy one. As far back as 1887 (during rehearsals for the premiere of Otello), the tenor was suffering from chest pains and shortness of breath. Acute hypertension coupled with arteriosclerosis, eventually caused Tamagno to curtail his activities. After the turn of the century, the fifty year old singer had cut back his stage appearances markedly and began concentrating on concert work. His final performance seems to have been a recital in Turin in March of 1905. Several weeks later, the tenor suffered a serious heart attack and spent the summer convalescing at his villa in Varese. In mid-August, however, Tamagno suffered a massive stroke from which he never recovered. Paralyzed, the great tenor lingered for two weeks before dying from a second stroke on August 31. He was only fifty-four years old.
The recordings of Francesco Tamagno are amazing documents to behold. Although made when the tenor was semi-retired and nearing the end of his life, they reveal an amazingly well controlled voice with trumpet like top notes. The majority of Tamagno’s forty three discs were made in February of 1903 for the Gramophone and Typewriter Company. G&T representative Will Gaisberg agreed to set up a makeshift studio in the music rooms at the tenor’s villa in Ospedaletti in order to produce a stress free environment for the chronically ill Tamagno. In a span of five days (February 7 to 11) the tenor cut some forty discs of titles from Guillaume Tell, Il Trovatore, Andrea Chénier, Samson et Dalila, Hérodiade, Messaline, Le Prophète and, of course, Otello. Most of these titles were given at least two (in some cases, four) takes and those considered worthy of release were issued later that same year. In October, Tamagno joined soprano Giannina Russ to record the duet “Sento una forza indomita” from Il Guarany. However, the resulting disc was marred by a technical flaw and no copies are known to exist. Finally, in April of 1904, Tamagno agreed to travel to the G&T studios in Milan where he recorded two arias from Otello and Andrea Chénier.
This recording of "Di quella pira" from Verdi's Il Trovatore was made by Tamagno at his villa in February of 1903. Although the veteran tenor transposes the famous cabaletta into the key of B Major, he still gives a stunning performance of this tenor showpiece.

[@nenna4826]

Impressive. What a mastery 🥹

[@simonkawasaki4229]

Truly one of the greatest tenors the world has seen!

[@charlenetamagno1016]

This is grandfathers uncle. It is so lovely to come across this! Wish we still had the original recordings. We have his maps of Italy he travelled thank you all for the lovely comments xx

[@sethandy1698]

You all probably dont care at all but does anyone know of a way to log back into an instagram account..? I somehow lost my password. I love any tips you can offer me

[@marcjerry5604]

@Seth Andy Instablaster :)

[@kappablanca5192]

That is truly incredible. Tamagno was one of the greats.

[@joseleobardoromeroperez3898]

Un gran tenor, el cual fue el favorito de verdi, aquí en esta grabación, el volumen de como da el DO es impresionante como se apoyaba y todo el volumen que lo caracterizaba. Es un ejemplo de la entrega de los grandes tenore de la historia de la ópera. Tamagno un tenor dramático muy especial y único.

[@marcofiore4768]

meraviglia

[@smemr]

Important to remember that by the time of these recordings Tamagno was retired and seriously ill. His physical and vocal strength was depleted and he is a ghost of the performer he was in his prime when his high notes and power were legendary. Still worth hearing to get a glimpse of a titan of the late 19th century.

[@Darksaga28]

It's better than all today's tenors.

[@charlenetamagno1016]

@@Darksaga28 so much better. When they sang they sang! No autotune... I'm very proud of my Uncle Tamagno

[@rubenroselli5703]

Classica esecuzione vocale dove prevale la tecnica del "bel canto" a scapito di una interpretazione che manca e ancor lontana e attesa. Ma, se si guarda al contesto, tutto è in linea con la richiesta pretenziosa autoriale. Una grande voce che merita di essere rimembrata, almeno dalla Torino culturale.

[@joseleobardoromeroperez3898]

Un ícono de la historia de la ópera de todos los tiempos, tenor dramático al qué Verdi catalogó el mejor tenor del mundo, éste Dó 5 es extraordinario ejemplo del volumen qué tenia éste inmenso tenor, qué hacia vibrar los prismas de un teatro de Inglaterra por el volumen qué tenia Francesco tamagno.

[@TheLeonmafioso]

Aún así el mismo Verdi dijo que su voz no era apropiada para Otelo, mucha gente lo recordaba con mucho cariño.

[@dariobussolino1384]

Ascoltando alcune registrazioni ,di inizio secolo!!!abbiamo ascoltato una serie di passaggi che raramente abbiamo sentito e che dimostrano la grandezza de tenore Tamagno. Passando nel cimitero di Torino si nota la tomba mausoleo di FRANCESCO TAMAGNO che si staglia per 37 metri ,forse per farci pensare alla grandezza del tenore che non si potrà dimenticare

[@delosreyesgavikanes]

Maybe nobody will believe this, but the first Manrico I ever sang was in the 1980s with the New Jersey Opera and the costume was one that once Tamagno, that was told to me by the person that used to rent costumes to many opera companies in the US, Mr. Tony Stivanello. I will never forget, because the jacket has a 'maglia' of steel and was extremelly heavy. -that was my excuse for my bad performance-.

[@deadtenorssociety2973]

I cannot imagine you ever giving a bad performance, Maestro! Thank you for sharing this wonderful story. As I recall, you also had the opportunity to wear one of Zenatello's costumes in performance, correct?

[@greatcanio1529]

Thank you very much for this post of Great Tamagno Fantastic what a natural voice God Bless him.This is great singing

[@germanquintero10121946]

MAGNIFICA VOZ

[@Tkimba2]

Grande!

[@taehankim154]

Bravo

[@ivanscotton6163]

Foi o Conde Fabiano Fabiani na estréia da Maria Tudor de Carlos Gomes. Fez a premiere do Otello de Verdi.

[@espiraltiempo2096]

._1850: nació Francesco Tamagno, tenor italiano, estrenó OTELLO de Verdi

[@greatcanio1529]

Signori qui si parla di francesco Tamagno,il primo interprete di Otello di G.Verdi una voce di una naturalezza incredibile,guidata da una tecnica infallibile,nessuna falsificazione di vocali,le sue a,e,i,o,u.sono limpide articolazione chiara e limpida,la gamma delle due ottave omogenea suoni come una autentica tromba,la maggior parte dei tenori drammatici-spinti falsificano le vocali ingrossano i suoni,spingono le loro voci fabbricando suoni falsi.Tamagno era tutta purezza di suono,con queste vecchie registrazioni non si riesce a captare tutta la sua voce fenomenale,unica.Riposi in pace.

[@ivanscotton6163]

Também fez o Conde Fabiano Fabiani na estréia da Maria Tudor de Carlos Gomes no Scala de Milão. Existe um ótimo Vídeo com a Ópera da Bulgária de 1998. A Eliane Coelho está maravilhosa e um ótimo Elenco.

[@davidecostanzo1441]

Concordo pienamente

[@ivanscotton6163]

Ainda é bom lembrar que ele já não era mais novo quando do Surgimento das gravações. Entre estréias de Óperas ele fez o Conde Fabiano Fabiani na Maria Tudor de Carlos Gomes em 1978. Existe um ótimo Vídeo com a Ópera da Bulgária.

[@corradoceccaroni4261]

Nulla da eccepire sulla voce e sulla meccanica ma il modo di cantare con tempi tutti suoi, pause che non ci sono... mi si perdoni ma lo definirei un canto antimusicale

[@Stealsstar]

Спасибо.

[@ronaldgoff7499]

greats of old shame no rec in his prime

[@ivanscotton6163]

Começou sua carreira como Conde Fabiano Fabiani na Maria Tudor de Carlos Gomes no Scala de Milão.

[@the_infinity_snake]

What the hell the channel's name? So specific. 😆

[@aetion]

One must think that this recording was made two years before his death. It is unusual for a tenore robusro to have such a high register.

[@ZENOBlAmusic]

He wouldn't really be seen as a dramatic these days.

[@aetion]

@@ZENOBlAmusic Why not?

[@ZENOBlAmusic]

@@aetion Somewhere between the 30’s - 50’s the standard or the idea surrounding spinto tenors and dramatic tenors have changed. Dramatic tenors became closer to Heldentenors. Someone like Del Monaco is seen as the gold standard for a dramatic tenor. But he is quite different from singers such Tamagno, who would likely be seen as a spinto tenor these days.

[@aetion]

@@ZENOBlAmusic Well, what you write seems reasonable to me, provided we really know Tamagno's voice. Do we? Similar are written for Caruso and others.

[@ZENOBlAmusic]

@@aetion You make a good point. We can only use the information that we have. In truth all big voiced singers are difficult to record. For example you could feel the vibrations of Lauri Volpi's voice even in the far reaches of the opera house. That is something that you can never capture on a recording. Or people always said that Brigit Nilsson had a richer sound live then in her recordings. Recording big voices was always a problem. The opposite is of course true with small voices, they tend to sound much better on the recordings. Tamagono's voice sounded less dark then Caruso's voice and Caruso was a lyric tenor. That being said darkness of voice does not equal a dramatic voice, dramatic voices have weight and size. Of course you can also compare him to other known singers. His repertoire as exactly the same as Lauri Volpi and Filippeschi. However if you want to draw a direct link to someone with a similar sounding voice and repertoire it would be Martinelli, his voice was slightly more robust then Lauri Volpi and Filippeschi. Martinelli and Tamagno were compared directly at times. Their Otello's also had a more similar sound. Of course Martinelli was spinto.

[@alfredbernasek6761]

GROSSARTIG

[@donaldfuck]

Too slow

[@mariopietta5888]

verdi written this way,he was alive when tamagno sang

[@donaldfuck]

@@mariopietta5888 it's not 78 rpm. Edit: ho lo stesso disco e non va suonato a 78 giri, giusto leggermente più veloce. Intendevo questo.

[@ClergetMusic]

You sing it. At the tempo you think it should be, post it on YT and we will decide whether you sing it as well as Tamagno.

[@charlenetamagno1016]

This is my great... uncle you have no clue and should not comment! You were not there!!

[@author7027]

for a tenor to sing high notes is more difficult when its slow