Guest
“Antonio Salvarezza (1902-1985) was an Italian lirico-spinto tenor who enjoyed an international career that spanned two decades. Born in Borgo Marengo, Salvarezza spent his formative years in Buenos Aires. His initial occupation was in retail business and he didn’t begin to explore music until the age of 26. He studied with Filippo Florio and spent the next several years perfecting his vocal technique. Salvarezza was something of a late bloomer…he never set foot onto the operatic stage until the age of 34…but soon took the opera world by storm. His debut took place at the Teatro Municipale in Rio de Janiero as the Duke in Rigoletto. Returning to the Municipale for the 1937-38 season, the tenor began to expand his repertoire with performances of Tosca, Lucia di Lammermoor, Lo Schiavo and Boris Godunov. Overseeing the season was legendary conductor Tullio Serafin, who encouraged Salvarezza to establish a career in Italy. On Serafin’s recommendation, the tenor was given a cover contract with Rome Opera. It was there that he made his rather unexpected Italian debut on January 18, 1939, when he stepped in for the ailing Alessandro Granda in Alfano’s Risurrezione. A few weeks later, on February 8, he again found himself deputizing for an indisposed colleague…Giuseppe Lugo…in a performance of Tosca. Later that month, Salvarezza made his official debut, as Vanni in Giuseppe Mulè’s opera, Taormina. Rome Opera became Salvarezza’s artistic home for the next several seasons, although he continued to make guest appearances elsewhere. The busy tenor was a frequent guest on the stages of Milan’s La Scala, La Fenice in Venice, The Teatro Politeama in Genoa, the Petruzzelli in Bari, the Teatro Regio in Parma, the San Carlo in Naples and the Colón in Buenos Aires. 1943 saw Salvarezza at the Vienna Staatsoper for La Bohème under the baton of Herbert von Karajan and his first (and only) North American appearances took place in 1946 with performances of Rigoletto in Philadelphia and Chicago. In August of 1946, the tenor appeared for the first time before the London public as Cavaradossi in Tosca at the Cambridge Theatre. Salvarezza was quite popular in London and returned for numerous appearances, including a May, 1947 concert version of Tosca which was broadcast nationally over the BBC. Salvarezza continued performing throughout the 1950s, with appearances in Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Holland, Austria, Switzerland, Monte Carlo, Egypt and, of course, Italy. His repertoire consisted of some thirty roles from such works as Aïda, Il Trovatore, Luisa Miller, La Traviata, Madama Butterfly, Gianni Schicchi, Turandot, La Fanciulla del West, Cavalleria Rusticana, Le Maschere, Faust, I Puritani, La Favorita, Armida, Guglielmo Tell and Gli Ugonotti. He gave his final performance as Cavaradossi at Rome’s Teatro Sistina on June 1, 1959. Following this appearance, the 57-year-old tenor returned to his birthplace, where he spent a quarter century of peaceful retirement. Salvarezza passed away on July 24, 1985 at the age of 83. Antonio Salvarezza remains a much underrated tenor whose reputation rests mainly on a handful of phonograph records he made in the 1940s and ‘50s. These recordings, made primarily for the Cetra label, reveal a sweet, evenly produced voice with a focused, ringing top. Although his artistry can be rather straight forward, the tenor’s singing has the ability to caress the ear as well as thrill. All in all, Salvarezza is a thought provoking singer who certainly deserves to be better remembered today. Here, Salvarezza sings ““Di quella pira““ from Verdi's Il Trovatore. Soprano Franca Sacchi and tenor Gino Sinimberghi are heard briefly as Leonora and Ruiz, respectively. This recording was taken from the soundtrack of the 1949 film of Il Trovatore.“
