Giovanni Battista Rubini (7 April 1794 – 3 March 1854) was an Italian

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing 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 low extreme for tenors is wide ...

, as famous in his time as

Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyrical tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles (74) ...

in a later day. His ringing and expressive coloratura dexterity in the highest register of his voice, the ''tenorino'', inspired the writing of operatic roles which today are almost impossible to cast. As a singer Rubini was the major early exponent of the Romantic style of the ''

bel 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 ...

'' era of

Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was a Sicilian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named "the Swan of Catania". Many years later, in 1898, Gius ...

and

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 ...

. Rubini is remembered as an extraordinary bel canto singer, one of the most famous in Europe in the 1820s to 1840s. He also popularized the use of a pervasive vibrato as a means of heightening the emotional impact of his operatic performances. However, if his upper register was exceptional—he could effortlessly go up to a "ringing" high F (F5) (a note that most tenors today escape because of their "chesty" technique),Green 2008, p. 167. he was reported as barely audible in the others parts of his voice and his tone was "slightly veiled".Zucker, Stefan, (February 13, 1982)
"Last of a Breed: Giovanni Battista Rubini Ruled as the Paragon of Virtuoso Tenors, King of the High F's"
, ''Opera News'', Volume 46, No. 12. He also had a limited volume control, struggling to produce mezzo-forte or mezzo-piano dynamics. On the other hand, he was admired for the "infectious" joy he took to sing, his great agility and refined musicianship.

Career

Born in

Romano di Lombardia Romano di Lombardia (Bergamasque: ) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the northern Italian region of Lombardy, located about east of Milan and about southeast of Bergamo. It received the honorary title of city with a p ...

, Rubini began as a

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ist at twelve years of age at the

Teatro Riccardi The Teatro Donizetti is an opera house in Bergamo, Italy. Built in the 1780s using a design by architect Giovanni Francesco Lucchini, the theatre was originally referred to as either the Teatro Nuovo or Teatro di Fiera. The first opera to be m ...

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Com ...

. His first appearance as singer was 1814 in

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the ...

in '' Le lagrime d'una vedova'' by

Pietro Generali Pietro Generali (born Mercandetti Generali; 23 October 1773 – 3 November 1832) was an Italian composer primarily of operas and vocal music. Generali was born in Masserano. He studied counterpoint with Giovanni Masi in Rome and spent a few ...

. After ten years spent in Naples between 1815 and 1825, during which he also scored spectacular successes in France in the 1825/26 season in opera by

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 ...

, he moved permanently to Paris, performing in Rossini's ''

La Cenerentola ' ('' Cinderella, or Goodness Triumphant'') is an operatic ''dramma giocoso'' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the libretti written by Charles-Guillaume Étienne for the opera ''Cendrillon'' ...

'', ''

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. ...

'', and ''

La donna del lago ''La donna del lago'' (English: ''The Lady of the Lake'') is an opera composed by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola (whose verses are described as "limpid" by one critic) based on the French translationOsborne, Charles 19 ...

''. He divided his time between Paris (in the Autumn and Winter) and London (in the Spring). His special relation with

began with ''

Bianca e Fernando ''Bianca e Fernando'' (''Bianca and Fernando'') is an opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini. The original version of this opera was presented as ''Bianca e Gernando'' and was set to a libretto by Domenico Gilardoni, based on ''Bianca e Fernando ...

'' (1826) and continued until ''

I puritani ' (''The Puritans'') is an 1835 opera by Vincenzo Bellini. It was originally written in two acts and later changed to three acts on the advice of Gioachino Rossini, with whom the young composer had become friends. The music was set to a libretto ...

'' (1835), when he was one of the long-remembered "Puritani quartet" for whose voices the opera was written. The three other members of the illustrious quartet were

Giulia Grisi Giulia Grisi (22 May 1811 – 29 November 1869) was an Italian opera singer. She performed widely in Europe, the United States and South America and was among the leading sopranos of the 19th century.Chisholm 1911, p. ? Her second husband was Gi ...

, Antonio Tamburini and

Luigi Lablache Luigi Lablache (6 December 1794 – 23 January 1858) was an Italian opera singer of French and Irish ancestry. He was most noted for his comic performances, possessing a powerful and agile bass voice, a wide range, and adroit acting skills: Lepo ...

. The four appeared together again in Donizetti's ''

Marino Faliero Marino Faliero (1274 – 17 April 1355) was the 55th Doge of Venice, appointed on 11 September 1354. He was sometimes referred to simply as Marin Falier ( Venetian rather than standard Italian) or Falieri. He was executed for attempting a coup ...

'' during the same season, then travelled to London with the Irish composer

Michael William Balfe Michael William Balfe (15 May 1808 – 20 October 1870) was an Irish composer, best remembered for his operas, especially ''The Bohemian Girl''. After a short career as a violinist, Balfe pursued an operatic singing career, while he began to co ...

for a further round of operatic engagements. Rubini was admitted as an honorary member of the

Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna The Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna ("philharmonic academy of Bologna"; sometimes known in English as the Bologna Academy of Music) is a music education institution in Bologna, Italy. The Accademia de' Filarmonici was founded as an associ ...

and retired with a great fortune in 1845. He died in his hometown of Romano in 1854, and is buried in the cemetery there, within a large marble monument.

References

Notes Sources *

Budden, Julian Julian Medforth Budden (9 April 1924 in Hoylake, Wirral – 28 February 2007 in Florence, Italy) was a British opera scholar, radio producer and broadcaster. He is particularly known for his three volumes on the operas of Giuseppe Verdi (publis ...

(1998), "Rubini, Giovanni Battista" in

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was pub ...

, (Ed.), ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

'', Vol. Four, pp. 79–80. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. *Cassinelli, Bruno; Antonio Maltempi; Mario Pozzoni (1996), ''Rubini: L’uomo e L’artista''. Comune di Romano di Lombardia: Cassa Rurale ed Artigiana di Calcio e di Covo, Vol. I – II. *Gara, Eugênio (1968), ''Giovan Battista Rubini nel Centenario della Morte (7 aprile 1794-3 marzo 1854)''; Preface by Francesco Speranza. Bergamo: Industrie grafiche Cattaneo Bergamo. (Commemorative Conference of 28 October 1954) *Green, Geoffrey (2008), ''Voices in a Mask: Stories'', Triquarterly/Northwestern University Press. *Marek, Dan H. (2013)
''Giovanni Battista Rubini and the Bel Canto Tenors: History and Technique''
Scarecrow Press *Osborne, Richard (1990), ''Rossini'', Ithaca, New York: Northeastern University Press. * *Pleasants, Henry (1985), ''The Great Singers: From the Dawn of Opera to Caruso, Callas and Pavarotti''. New York: Simon & Schuster. *Traini, Carlo (1954), ''Il Cigno di Romano. Giovan Battista Rubini. Re Dei Tenore.'' Bérgamo, Committee for the Centenary celebrations 1954. *Zucker, Stefan, "Giovanni Battista Rubini", ''Opera News'', Volume 46, No. 12, February 13, 1982

External links

*Gori, Hélio
''Giovanni Battista Rubini: An Abridged Biography''
Escola Livre de Canto Lirico G. B. Rubini

Institutions relating to Rubini's career

Circolo Amici della Lirica G.B. Rubini
(Under the aegis of Commune, Romano di Lombardia, Bergamo)
Fondazione G.B. Rubini
(Romano di Lombardia, Bergamo)
La Scuola Libera di Canto Lirico Giovan Battista Rubini
in Brazil. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rubini, Giovanni Battista 1794 births 1854 deaths People from Romano di Lombardia Italian operatic tenors 19th-century Italian male opera singers Chamber singers of the Emperor of Austria