Edoardo Garbin (12 March 1865 – 12 April 1943) was an Italian operatic tenor. He was married to the soprano

Adelina Stehle Adelina Stehle (born Graz, 30 June 1860 – died Milan, 24 December 1945) was an Austrian-born operatic soprano, associated almost entirely with the Italian repertory. She studied singing in Milan and debuted as Amina in 1881 in Broni in Lomba ...

. One of the most important Italian tenors of his day, Garbin created, inter alia, tenor roles in Alberto Franchetti's '' Cristoforo Colombo'', Fenton 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 ...

's last opera ''

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

'' (1893), and Milio in

Leoncavallo Ruggero (or Ruggiero) Leoncavallo ( , , ; 23 April 18579 August 1919) was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Although he produced numerous operas and other songs throughout his career it is his opera '' Pagliacci'' (1892) that remained h ...

's ''

Zazà ''Zazà'' is an opera by Ruggero Leoncavallo, with a libretto by the composer. The story concerns the French music hall singer, Zazà, and her affair and subsequent decision to leave her lover, Milio, when she discovers that he is married. The mu ...

''; in 1917, in Rome, he appeared in the world premiere of Renzo Bianchi's ''Gismonda'' alongside Ida Quaiatti and

Domenico Viglione Borghese Domenico Viglione Borghese (13 July 1877 – 26 October 1957) was an Italian operatic baritone and actor. Early life Born in Mondovì, he gave up his studies in medicine to dedicate himself to the study of singing, first in Milan and later with ...

. His success in Anglo-Saxon countries (such as England) was (put charitably) limited (he was, by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

,'' described as "miserable" as Cavaradossi at Covent Garden in 1908); but in the Latin sphere (South America and Italy) he was in constant demand until his retirement in 1918. He recorded for G&T (to become HMV) in 1903, Fonotipia and Columbia; his recordings for the two last mentioned companies sold very well, and are easily found. According to Scott (''Record of Singing'' 1978) his best record of all is the ''E un riso gentil'' from Leoncavallo's ''Zaza.'' Garbin represents a "half-way-house" between the older ''bel canto'' school and the new ''verist'' style. Garbin's style (according to Steane – ''The Grand Tradition'' 1971) is a curious mix of the frail and explosive. At his death, in 1943, Edoardo Garbin was the last male solo vocal artist to have created a part and worked with Giuseppe Verdi – some fifty years' previously in the composer's ''Fastaff'' of 1893. It was a role he had repeated in 1913 at ''La Scala'' at the ''Verdi Centenary Celebrations.''

Roles created

* Don Fernando Guevara in Cristoforo Colombo ( Alberto Franchetti), Genoa's Teatro Carlo Felice October 6, 1892 * Fenton in ''

'' ( Giuseppe Verdi), La Scala, 9 February 1893 * Milio Dufresne in ''

'' (

Ruggero Leoncavallo Ruggero (or Ruggiero) Leoncavallo ( , , ; 23 April 18579 August 1919) was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Although he produced numerous operas and other songs throughout his career it is his opera '' Pagliacci'' (1892) that remained hi ...

), Teatro Lirico Di Milano, 10 November 1900

References

The Teatro Solís: 150 years of opera, concert, and ballet in Montevideo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garbin, Edoardo 1865 births 1943 deaths Italian operatic tenors Fonotipia Records artists 19th-century Italian male opera singers 20th-century Italian male opera singers