Franceso Vignas on the cover of Teatro Illustrato 1891

Francesc Viñas i Dordal (27 March 1863 – 14 July 1933) was a Spanish operatic

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

. He is also known by the Spanish version of his name, Francisco Viñas and the Italian version, Francesco Vignas. He was particularly known for his performances in the operas of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

and sang in the first production of ''

Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem ''Parzival'' ...

'' outside

Bayreuth Bayreuth (, ; bar, Bareid) is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the 21st century, it is the capital of U ...

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 ...

Archives
"Vignas, Francesco"
Retrieved 7 February 2013.

Life and career

Viñas was born in

Moià Moià () (Spanish: Moyá) is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Moianès, Catalonia, Spain. Since May 2015 it has been the capital of the new comarca of Moianès; previously it was in Bages Bages () is a comarca (county) in the center of C ...

, a small town near

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. At the age of 23, he enrolled in singing lessons at the

Barcelona Conservatory Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

where he studied under . After hearing him in some of the conservatory's concerts, Juan Goula, a principal conductor at the

Gran Teatre del Liceu Gran may refer to: People *Grandmother, affectionately known as "gran" * Gran (name) Places * Gran, the historical German name for Esztergom, a city and the primatial metropolitan see of Hungary * Gran, Norway, a municipality in Innlandet coun ...

, urged him to study the title role of ''

Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wolf ...

''. Viñas went on to make his operatic debut at the Liceu on 9 February 1888 in ''Lohengrin''. It was to become one of his signature roles.Aspinall, Michael (2006)
Liner notes: ''The Complete Francisco Viñas''
. Marston Records. Retrieved 7 February 2013. Julián Gayarre, another Spanish tenor noted for his Wagnerian roles, was in the audience at the Liceu for Viñas's debut and was reportedly so impressed with the performance that he gave Viñas his own Lohengrin costume. Viñas soon received invitations to sing at other Spanish opera houses and in Italy. In the space of three years he sang Lohengrin 120 times. He debuted at Turin's Teatro Regio in 1890 and at Milan's

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 ...

in 1891, both times as Lohengrin. Viñas was married to the Italian operatic

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

Giulia Novelli Giulia Novelli (1859 – 21 June 1932) was an Italian operatic mezzo-soprano. Early life Giulia Novelli was born in Rome in 1859. Career Giulia Novelli studied singing in Rome before making her professional opera debut in that city in 1875, ...

(1859–1932).

Legacy

In 1963 the Francisco Viñas Singing Contest was founded in his honor."Tenor Viñas Contest"

Liceu The Gran Teatre del Liceu (, English: Great Theatre of the Lyceum), known as ''El Liceu'', is an opera house in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Located in La Rambla, it is the oldest running theatre in Barcelona. Founded in 1837 at another loca ...

Francesc Viñas Contest
tenorvinas.com

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vinas, Francesc Opera singers from Catalonia People from Moianès 1863 births 1933 deaths Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu alumni Spanish operatic tenors 19th-century Spanish male opera singers 20th-century Spanish male opera singers