Mario Del Monaco
Mario Del Monaco (27 July 1915 – 16 October 1982) was an Italian operatic tenor.
Del Monaco was born in Florence, into a musical upper-class family, to a Neapolitan father and to a mother of Sicilian descent. As a young boy he studied the violin but had a passion for singing. He graduated from the Rossini Conservatory at Pesaro, where he first met and sang with Renata Tebaldi, with whom he would form something of an operatic dream team of the 1950s. His early mentors as a singer included Arturo Melocchi, his teacher at Pesaro, and Cherubino Raffaelli, who recognized his talent and helped launch his career.
That career began in earnest with Del Monaco's debut on 31 December 1940 as Pinkerton at the Puccini Theater in Milan. (His initial appearance in an opera had occurred the previous year, however, in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana in Pesaro.) He sang in Italy during the Second World War and married, in 1941, Rina Filipini. In 1946, he appeared at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, for the first time. During the ensuing years he became famous not only in London but also across the operatic world for his powerful voice and heroic acting style. It was almost heldentenor-like in scope but Del Monaco was no Wagnerian, confining his activities overwhelmingly to the Italian repertoire. He sang Wagner in concerts, from Lohengrin and Die Walküre.
Del Monaco sang at the New York Metropolitan Opera from 1951 to 1959, enjoying particular success in dramatic Verdi parts such as Radamès. He soon established himself as one of four Italian tenor superstars who reached the peak of their fame in the 1950s and '60s, the others being Giuseppe Di Stefano, Carlo Bergonzi and Franco Corelli. Del Monaco's trademark roles during this period were Giordano's Andrea Chénier and Verdi's Otello. He first tackled Otello in 1950 and kept refining his interpretation throughout his career. It is said that he sang Otello 427 times. However, the book published by Elisabetta Romagnolo, Mario Del Monaco, Monumentum aere perennius, Azzali 2002, lists only 218 appearances by him as Otello, which is a more realistic figure. He was buried in his Otello costume. Although Otello was his best role, throughout his career, Del Monaco sang a number of other roles with great acclaim, for example: Canio in Pagliacci (Leoncavallo), Radames in Aida (Verdi), Don Jose in Carmen (Bizet), Chenier in Andrea Chénier (Giordano), Manrico in Il trovatore (Verdi), Samson in Samson and Delilah (Saint-Saëns), and Don Alvaro in La forza del destino (Verdi).
Del Monaco made his first recordings in Milan in 1948 for HMV. Later, he was partnered by Renata Tebaldi in a long series of Verdi and Puccini operas recorded for Decca. On the same label was his 1969 recording of Giordano's Fedora, opposite Magda Olivero and Tito Gobbi.
His ringing voice and virile appearance earned him the nickname of the "Brass Bull of Milan". ...
Source: Article "Mario Del Monaco" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 0.825 |
Birthday | 1915-07-27 |
Place of Birth | Florence, Tuscany, Italy |
Also Known As |
1955
Beautiful But Dangerous
6/24
Lina, a music hall singer, has fallen in love with Sergei, a Russian prince. Maestro Doria, who gives her voice lessons and who hopes to make her his...
Watch Now
Beautiful But Dangerous
1951
The Young Caruso
6/1
This music filled biopic follows the life of the legendary tenor Enrico Caruso from childhood poverty in Naples to the beginning of his rise to fame.
Watch Now
The Young Caruso
1948
L'uomo dal guanto grigio
0/0
A famous painting by Antonello da Messina, "the man with a gray glove", has been entrusted to an old restorer. When, subsequently, the painting is wit...
Watch Now
L'uomo dal guanto grigio
1978
First Love
5.6/25
Ugo is an old actor who feels too young to be in an "old actor's house". He just can't stand the rules of the other old people so he escapes with a yo...
Watch Now
First Love
1953
Giuseppe Verdi
5.5/1
The life and loves of great composer Giuseppe Verdi are played against a background of the great operas of the 19th Century. A tender love story of hi...
Watch Now
Giuseppe Verdi
1954
House of Ricordi
6.2/5
The film covers a hundred years in the lives of the Ricordi family, the Milan publishing house of the title, and the various composers and other histo...
Watch Now
House of Ricordi
1960
Schlussakkord
0/0
Watch Now
Schlussakkord
1957
Il Trovatore
0/0
Features: Mario Del Monaco Leyla Gencer Ettore Bastianini Fedora Barbieri Laura Londi Plinio Clabassi Orchestra Sinfonica e Coro di Milano dell RAI Ra...
Watch Now
Il Trovatore
1954
Guai ai vinti
6/1
A young woman, her sister-in-law and her ten year old daughter are violently traumatised by invading Austrian soldiers. Later, in Verona, both woman d...
Watch Now
Guai ai vinti
1961
Mario Del Monaco: Pagliacci
0/0
The incomparable tenor Mario Del Monaco in his breathtaking 1961 live performance in Japan with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Italian Opera Chorus,...
Watch Now
Mario Del Monaco: Pagliacci
1961
Del Monaco: Andrea Chenier
0/0
Renowned tenor Mario Del Monaco sings the lead in this production of Umberto Giordano's opera based on the life of French poet Andrea Chénier. With hi...
Watch Now
Del Monaco: Andrea Chenier
1966
Il nero
7.5/2
The events in Naples of a few ‘figli della Madonna’ (Madonna’s sons), young people born between 1945 and 1946 from the relationship between the local...
Watch Now
Il nero
1958
Otello
10/1
This 1958 filmed version of Verdi's masterful Otello stars Mario Del Monaco, perhaps the greatest Otello of the 21st century, as the tragic moor who i...
Watch Now