Cesare Badiali was an Italian baritone opera singer. He was born in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

in 1810 and died on 17 November 1865. He debuted in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

in 1827.

Biography

Badiali was born in Bologna in 1810. During his childhood, his family moved to

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical re ...

. Here, young Badiali began to study

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

and

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

, using his new skills to perform in the churches of Imola and occasionally elsewhere as an amateur singer. As he moved into his adulthood, he abandoned music for a more secure job as a tax collector, as soon he would take a wife and desire a family. However, while in Bologna for pleasure in 1827, the famed

Giovanni Tadolini Giovanni Tadolini (18 October 1789 – 29 November 1872) was an Italian composer, conductor and singing instructor, who enjoyed a career that alternated between Bologna and Paris. Tadolini is probably best known for completing six sections of Ros ...

discovered his talents and encouraged him to make a career out of his voice, as did his future manager Bassi. Initially, Badiali turned down Bassi's offer and returned to Imola. Bassi offered a new contract of fifteen hundred francs, which was enough to convince him to leave and work in Trieste. He debuted at the Teatro Comunale, playing the high priest of the Israelites in Generali's ''Il vote di Jefte''. Badiali's popularity soared, and he soon found himself among his greatest contemporaries. He first sang at

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 ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

in 1830 and did so again in the 1831–1832 season, with performances of pieces such as ''

Gli esiliati in Siberia (''Eight Months in Two Hours or The Exiles in Siberia'') is an opera in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti to a libretto by Domenico Gilardoni. The original story comes from the 1806 novel, ''Elisabeth, ou Les exilés de Sibérie'' (''Elisabeth, ...

'' by

Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...

and

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

's ''

Otello ''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on 5 February 1887. Th ...

''. For five seasons between 1832 and 1838, he performed in Spain and Portugal, and was celebrated upon his first piece performed after his return to Italy, '' Il pirata'' by Bellini. Badialli spent his time from 1839 to 1842 singing in Vienna and throughout the 1840s quite successfully in Rome. The next decade was spent traveling the world, from America to England. He had a notable friendship with the great composer Rossini. Badiali sang in Rossini's Bologna home in 1830 as Rossini accompanied. The two met again in Paris in 1859 at Italian Theater. Badiali's legacy remains one of an incomparably moving voice. It had been said by some at the time: "There is no dramatic baritone living as that man adiali"

Influence

The Italian's voice inspired many. Acclaimed American poet

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...

reminisced about the influence of Badiali, stating: "My younger life was so saturated with the emotions, raptures, up-lifts, of such musical experiences s hearing Cesare Badiali..".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Badiali, Cesare 1810 births 1865 deaths 19th-century Italian male opera singers Italian operatic baritones Musicians from Bologna