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Felice Varesi (born
"Minute Visits in the Wings"
''New York Times'' (January 24, 1915): X7.
Felice Varesi (born Calais
Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
, 1813 – died 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 ...
, 13 March 1889) was a French-born 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 ...
with an illustrious singing career that began in the 1830s and extended into the 1860s. He is best remembered today for his close association with several famous operas composed by Giuseppe 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 ...
, whose birth year he shared.
Career
Specializing initially in thebel canto
Bel canto (Italian for "beautiful singing" or "beautiful song", )—with several similar constructions (''bellezze del canto'', ''bell'arte del canto'')—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing.
The phrase was not associat ...
operas of Verdi's predecessor Gaetano 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 ...
, Varesi began his career in Varese
Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559.
It is the c ...
in 1834 and went on to sing in Faenza
Faenza (, , ; rgn, Fènza or ; la, Faventia) is an Italian city and comune of 59,063 inhabitants in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated southeast of Bologna.
Faenza is home to a historical manufacture of majolica-ware glazed eart ...
, Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
, Modena
Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...
, Rome, Perugia
Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia.
The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...
and Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
. By 1841 he was singing 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, and from 1842 to 1847 he was in demand in Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, where he appeared at the Kärntnertortheater. Here he created the role of Antonio in Donizetti's ''Linda di Chamounix
''Linda di Chamounix'' is an operatic ''melodramma semiserio'' in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Gaetano Rossi. It premiered in Vienna, at the Kärntnertortheater, on 19 May 1842.
Performance history
'' ...
'' as well as appearing in other works by the same composer.
In 1844 he sang the role of Don Carlo in ''Ernani
''Ernani'' is an operatic ''dramma lirico'' in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the 1830 play ''Hernani (drama), Hernani'' by Victor Hugo.
Verdi was commissioned by the Teatro La Fenice in V ...
'' at Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
, his initial Verdi opera, and later appeared as the Doge in Verdi's '' I due Foscari''. In 1847, in Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
, he was the first Macbeth
''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
in Verdi's opera of that name. Then, in 1851 at La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice (, "The Phoenix") is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th century, La Fenice beca ...
, Venice, he created Verdi's 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 ...
, and in 1853, at the same house, he became Verdi's original Germont
Germont () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Ardennes department
The following is a list of the 449 communes of the Ardennes department of France.
The communes cooperate ...
in ''La traviata
''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on ''La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his own 18 ...
''. (Varesi disliked Germont's character but sang the part anyway.)
He came to London in 1864 to perform Rigoletto – probably his best known role – at Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, ...
.
Varesi was admired for his intelligence, musicianship and acting ability as well for the exceptional quality of his voice. He set the scene for a succeeding generation of great Verdi baritones that included Francesco Graziani
Francesco "Ciccio" Graziani (; born 16 December 1952) is an Italian football manager and former football player who played as a forward.
He began his career with Arezzo in 1970, and later joined Torino in 1973, where he remained until 1981 ...
, Leone Giraldoni
Leone Giraldoni (born 4 July 1824, Paris – died 19 September 1897, Moscow) was a celebrated Italian operatic baritone. He created the title roles of Gaetano Donizetti's '' Il duca d'Alba'' (1882) and Verdi's ''Simon Boccanegra'' (1857) as we ...
and Antonio Cotogni
Antonio "Toto" Cotogni (; 1 August 1831 – 15 October 1918) was an Italian baritone of the first magnitude. Regarded internationally as being one of the greatest male opera singers of the 19th century, he was particularly admired by the compose ...
, while his chief contemporary rival was Giorgio Ronconi
Giorgio Ronconi (6 August 1810 – 8 January 1890) was an Italian operatic baritone celebrated for his brilliant acting and compelling stage presence. In 1842, he created the title-role in Giuseppe Verdi's ''Nabucco'' at La Scala, Milan.
Perso ...
(the creator of Verdi's Nabucco
''Nabucco'' (, short for Nabucodonosor ; en, " Nebuchadnezzar") is an Italian-language opera in four acts composed in 1841 by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera. The libretto is based on the biblical books of 2 Kings, ...
).
He was married to the operatic soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
Cecilia Boccabadatti Gazzudo. Their daughter, Elena (1844–1920), also sang as a soprano, opening a singing school in Chicago following her retirement from the stage. Elena's daughter, Gilda Varesi
Gilda Varesi (September 28, 1887 – May 27, 1965), also known as Gilda Varesi Archibald, was an Italian-born actress and playwright.
Early life
Gilda Varesi was born in Milan, and adopted as the daughter of opera singer Elena Boccabadati Varesi ...
, was an actress and playwright.''New York Times'' (January 24, 1915): X7.
Sources
* Forbes, Elizabeth (1992), 'Varesi, Felice' in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', ed. Stanley Sadie (London) . *Harold Rosenthal and John Warrack (1979), 'Varesi, Felice' in ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera'' (second edition; London) .References