Aldo Protti (19 July 1920 – 10 August 1995) was an Italian

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

opera singer Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

, particularly associated with the Italian repertory. He was particularly appreciated in

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

roles, especially ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play ''Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had cont ...

'', his greatest role, but also as Alfio,

Tonio Tonio may refer to: * ''Tonio'' (film), a 2016 Dutch film *Tonio (software), a Vocaloid vocal *Tonio Kröger, a novella by Thomas Mann * ''Tonio Kröger'' (film), a film based on the novella *Tonio (app), an audio-decoding-app * Tonio (name), per ...

Gérard Gérard ( French: ) is a French masculine given name and surname of Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constitu ...

, Scarpia, etc.

Life and career

Protti was born in

Cremona Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...

. He studied in

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

, and made his debut in

Pesaro Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche, ...

, as Figaro, in 1948. He made his

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

debut in 1950, as

Amonasro ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 Decembe ...

. He did not appear there again until 1954 when he performed the title role in ''

''; and after this he performed regularly at La Scala for many years. He sang widely in Italy and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

in the standard Italian repertory, and was described in 1972 by Italian music critic as "one of the most reliable baritone in the business". In 1956, Protti appeared with the

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...

, in ''Rigoletto'' (with

Norman Treigle Norman Treigle (né Adanelle Wilfred Treigle (March 6, 1927February 16, 1975) was an American operatic bass-baritone, who was acclaimed for his great abilities as a singing-actor, and specialized in roles that evoked villainy and terror. Biograp ...

as Sparafucile), ''Tosca'' (in

Vladimir Rosing Vladimir Sergeyevich Rosing (russian: Владимир Серге́евич Розинг) (November 24, 1963), also known as Val Rosing, was a Russian-born operatic tenor and stage director who spent most of his professional career in the United ...

's staging), and the company premiere of ''Il trovatore'' (with Pier Miranda Ferraro). He made a belated debut at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

, as Rigoletto, in

John Dexter John Dexter (2 August 1925 – 23 March 1990) was an English theatre, opera and film director. Theatre Born in Derby, Derbyshire, England, Dexter left school at the age of fourteen to serve in the British Army during the Second World War. F ...

's production, in 1985, at the age of sixty-five. Aldo Protti died in

on 10 August 1995, aged seventy-five.

Abridged discography

* Giordano: ''Andrea Chénier'' (Callas, del Monaco; Votto, 1955) iveEMI * Leoncavallo: ''Pagliacci'' (Petrella, del Monaco; Erede, 1952) Decca * Leoncavallo: ''Pagliacci'' (Beltrami, Poggi; Rapalo, 1958) Philips * Mascagni: ''Cavalleria rusticana'' (Nicolai, del Monaco; Ghione, 1954) Decca * Mascagni: ''Cavalleria rusticana'' (Mancini, Poggi; Rapalo, 1958) Philips * Verdi: ''Aida'' (Tebaldi, Stignani, del Monaco; Erede, 1952) Decca * Verdi: ''Otello'' (Tebaldi, del Monaco; Erede, 1954) Decca * Verdi: ''Otello'' (Tebaldi, del Monaco; Karajan, 1961) Decca * Verdi: ''Rigoletto'' (Gueden, Simionato, del Monaco, Siepi; Erede, 1954) Decca * Verdi: ''La traviata'' (Tebaldi, Poggi; Molinari-Pradelli, 1954) Decca

External links

Aldo Protti in an excerpt from ''Andrea Chénier'' (1961)

References

Italian operatic baritones Musicians from Cremona 1920 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Italian male opera singers {{italy-opera-singer-stub Giorgio Gualerzi