Salvatore Baccaloni

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Salvatore Baccaloni (April 14, 1900 - December 31, 1969) was an Italian bass, often regarded as the greatest buffo artist of the 20th century.

[edit] Life and career

Baccaloni was born in Rome, Italy, after attending the Sistine Chapel choir school as a child, he studied voice with Giuseppe Kaschmann. He made his professional debut as Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia, at the Teatro Adriano, in Rome, in 1922.

Baccaloni made his debut at La Scala in 1926, in Ildebrando Pizzetti's Debora e Jaele. He sang the standard bass roles there, such as Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, etc. Noticed and encouraged by Arturo Toscanini, he specialized in comic roles, such as Leporello in Don Giovanni, Dulcamara in Elisir d'amore, Don Pasquale, Varlaam in Boris Godunov, Falstaff, Gianni Schicchi, as well as characther roles such as Benoit in La Bohème, the sacristan in Tosca. He created Riccardo Zandonai's La Farsa amorosa, Rome, 1933, and Vigna by Guerrini, Rome, 1935.

Baccaloni enjoyed a successful international career as well, making his debut at the Royal Opera House in London, in 1928, as Timur in Turandot, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1930, as Melitone in La forza del destino, at the Glyndebourne Festival, in 1936, as Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte, in San Francisco in 1938, as Leporello, and at the Metropolitan Opera on December 7, 1940, as Bartolo in Nozze di Figaro. He was to remain at the Met until 1962.

Salvatore Baccaloni is generally considered the finest comic bass of his time. Possessing a rich and resonant voice, with an impeccable diction and polished musicianship, though he could be occasionally undisciplined on stage with his abundant comic talents.

Baccaloni died in New York City, on New Year's eve, 1969, at the age of 69.

[edit] Sources

Alain Pâris, Dictionnaire des interprètes et de l'interpretation musicale au XX siècle (2 vols), Ed. Robert Laffont (Bouquins, Paris 1982, 4th Edn. 1995, 5th Edn 2004). ISBN 2-221-06660-X
D. Hamilton (ed.),The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia: A Complete Guide to the World of Opera (Simon and Schuster, New York 1987). ISBN 0-671-16732-X
Roland Mancini and Jean-Jacques Rouveroux, (orig. H. Rosenthal and J. Warrack, French edition), Guide de l’opéra, Les indispensables de la musique (Fayard, 1995). ISBN 2-213-01563-6