Domenico Cosselli
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Domenico Cosselli (May 27, 1801, Parma - November 9, 1855, Parma) was an Italian operatic bass-baritone, particularly associated with Rossini operas.
He began his vocal studies in his native city in 1814 and made his stage debut there in 1821. He quickly made a specialty of Rossini roles, singing in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Tancredi, La cenerentola, La gazza ladra, Semiramide, etc. He created the role for Donizetti the roles of Olivo in Olivo e Pasquale in 1827, the role of Azzo in Parisina in 1833, and the role of Arnoldo in Pacini's Carlo di Borgogna, in 1835.
One of the first singers to make the transition between the old conception of the bass vocal range to what we know today as the baritone, a vocal range that did not really excist then. For Donizetti in 1835, he created the role of Enrico in the highly successful Lucia di Lammermoor, at the San Carlo in Naples, giving to this role a new dramatic dimension, looking forward to the Verdi-baritone roles.
He went on singing the florid bass roles of Rossini such as Mosè, Maometto, Assur, etc.
[edit] Sources
- Le guide de l'opéra, Roland Mancini & Jean-Jacques Rouveroux, (Fayard, 1986) ISBN 2-213-01563-6
