Aureliano Pertile

Aureliano Pertile (November 9, 1885, Montagnana -
January 11, 1952, Milan) was an Italian tenor, one of the finest Italian artists of the inter-war period, and one of the most important tenors of the 20th century.

Life and career

He was born in Montagnana, Italy, eighteen days following the birth of another celebrated tenor, Giovanni Martinelli, in the same town. Pertile studied with Orefice in Padua, and Bavognoli in Milan, before making his operatic debut as as Lyonel in "Martha", in 1911, in Vicenza. After singing in Italy and South America, he first sang at La Scala,as Paolo in in Francesca da Rimini, opposite Rosa Raïsa, in 1916. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Cavaradossi in "Tosca", opposite Maria Jeritza, on December 1, 1921. In his only season at The Met, other roles include des Grieux in "Manon Lescaut", Turiddu in "Cavalleria rusticana", Grigori in "Boris Godunov (opera)", with Feodor Chaliapin, Radames in "Aida", the title role in "Pagliacci", opposite Florence Easton, and Julien in "Louise", with Geraldine Farrar. He also participated in Met performances of "Louise" in Philadelphia and Brooklyn.

Thereafter he returned to Italy, and was the leading tenor at La Scala, from 1927 to 1937, where he became a favorite of conducter Arturo Toscanini. His repertory there also included the leading role in Lohengrin (opera), Stolzing in "Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg" (in Italian), Edgardo in "Lucia di Lammermoor", with Toti dal Monte, Alfredo in "La traviata", Osaka in "Iris", Rodolfo in "La bohème", "Andrea Chenier", Manrico in "Il trovatore", Riccardo in "Un ballo in maschera", Pinkerton in "Madama Butterfly", Il Duca in Rigoletto, Alvaro in La forza del destino, Pollione in Norma, Loris in Fedora, Werther, Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur, Fernand in La Favorite, Fra Diavolo. He created Boito's Nerone, in 1924, Wolf-Ferrari's Sly, in 1927, Mascagni's Nerone, in 1935. In all his roles, Pertile, achieved compelling dramatic results, despite a voicenot especially beautiful, sometimes even described as "bruta" (ugly).

Pertile also sang at the Royal Opera House in London (1927-31), and at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires (1923-29). His final performances were in 1946, in "Pagliacci". He then taught at the Milan Conservatory until his death in 1952.

Recordings

In 1995, all of his recordings (made from 1922 to 1942, the final discs being excerpts from "Otello" with Gina Cigna) were issued in an album (with the accompanying monograph, "La voce e l'arte di Aureliano Pertile") from TIMAClub, excepting his three complete operas: "Aïda" (with Dusolina Giannini, 1928), "Il trovatore" (1930) and "Carmen" (in Italian translation, 1932).

Sources

* 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

Bibliography

* "Aureliano Pertile e il suo metodo di canto", by D. Silvestrini, 1932.
* "Pertile, una voce, un mito", by Bruno Tosi, 1985.

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NPkIIYqqVA] YouTube: Aureliano Pertile in an excerpt from "Manon Lescaut" (audio only).