Julián Gayarre

Sebastián Julián Gayarre Garjón (born January 9, 1844 in Roncal, Navarre; died January 2, 1890 in Madrid), better known as Julián Gayarre, was a Spanish opera singer who created the role of Marcello in Donizetti's "Il Duca d'Alba" and Enzo in Ponchielli's "La Gioconda". He was one of the leading tenors of his day, and regarded by many contemporary critics as the supreme tenor of his day. [Rosenthal, H. and Warrack, J. (1979) "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera", 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press. p. 187]

Biography

The man who was to become one of Europe's most celebrated singers was born and raised in the small Pyrenean town of Roncal. The third child of Mariano Gayarre and Maria Ramona Garjón, a couple of modest means, he left school at 13 to work as a shepherd. When he was 15, his father sent him to Pamplona to work in a small store. It was there that he had his first contact with music. It was a passion that would cost him his job when he was fired for leaving the store to follow a band that was parading in the street outside.

He then worked as a blacksmith in the village of Lumbier and later in Pamplona at the Pinaqui foundry. One of his fellow workers, who heard him singing as he worked, encouraged him to join the Orfeón Pamplonés, the city's newly formed choir directed by Joaquin Maya. Maya took him on as first tenor and introduced him to the celebrated music teacher and composer, Hilarión Eslava. Eslava, struck by the beautiful timbre of the yet untrained voice, arranged a scholarship for Gayarre to study at the Madrid Conservatory. His first public performance was in 1867 with a zarzuela company in Tudela under the stage name of "Sandoval". After leaving the conservatory in 1868, he sang in the chorus of zarzuela productions in Madrid, but after being dismissed by the theatre manager, Joaquín Gaztambide, he returned penniless to Roncal. Encouraged by Hilarión Eslava, his admirers, led by Conrado García, one of the founders of the Orfeón Pamplonés organized a successful recital in Pamplona which persuaded the Provincial Council of Navarre to grant him funds to pursue further studies with Giuseppe Gerli at the Milan Conservatory.

In 1869, shortly after commencing his studies in Milan, Gayarre made his operatic debut as Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore in Varese. Particularly renowned for his interpretation of Fernando in "La Favorita", he was also considered by critics of the time, especially in Italy, to be an excellent actor with a commanding stage presence. [ Corrieri, A.: "Gazzetta musicale di Milano", N. 36, September 7, 1890, p. 573; "La Gazzetta di Parma", January 4, 1890] Gayarre's earliest successes and fame came from his performances in the major opera houses of Italy, where he created the role of Marcello in "Il Duca d'Alba" in 1871 and Enzo in the 1876 premiere of "La Gioconda". However, he was soon highly in demand in Paris and London as well as his native Spain. Gayarre also sang in Lisbon, Vienna and Saint Petersburg and toured Brazil and Argentina with the Spanish contralto Elena Sanz, a frequent stage partner, especially at La Scala. Towards the end of his career, in 1887, he sang Sobinin in the first London performance of Glinka's "A Life for the Tsar".

Gayarre sang a very broad repertoire ranging from bel canto to Wagner. In the 1870/71 season at the Teatro Regio di Parma, he sang with great success in a trio of Verdi operas, "I Lombardi alla prima crociata", "Un ballo in maschera" and "Rigoletto". ["La Gazzetta di Parma", January 4, 1890] . In October 1872 at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, he sang Amenophis in Rossini's "Moïse et Pharaon". Only a month later, he sang the title role in Wagner's Tannhäuser there, its first performance in Italy. Gayarre's other great Wagnerian role was "Lohengrin" which he sang in its first ever performance at the Teatro Real in Madrid in 1881. However, the following year he was back in the bel canto repertoire with performances of "I puritani" and "La favorita" at Valladolid's Teatro Calderón. Gayarre was also a noted interpreter of the French repertoire including Gounod's "Faust" and Meyerbeer's "Les Huguenots", "Le prophète" and "L'Africaine".

The peak of Gayarre's career was in the years 1873-1886 after which he was plagued by recurrent respiratory illness, and his voice began to deteriorate. On December 8, 1889 at the Teatro Real in Madrid, he appeared on stage for the last time in Bizet's "Les pêcheurs de perles", where his voice cracked noticeably in Nadir's aria, 'Je crois entendre encore'. It was reported that he knelt down murmuring "No puedo cantar más" ("I cannot sing anymore") and disappeared into the wings. He was eventually called back to the stage by the sympathetic audience, but he was heard to say, "Esto se acabó" ("This is finished"). [Rosenthal, H. and Warrack, J. (1979) "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera", 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press. p. 187; "La Gazzetta di Parma", January 4, 1890] He died 25 days later at the age of 45 and was buried in the cemetery of Roncal, very near the house where he was born.

In 1901, his grave was marked with an elaborate marble and bronze mausoleum by the noted Spanish sculptor, Mariano Benlliure. [ [http://www.turismodenavarra.es/esp/organice-viaje/recurso.aspx?o=3056&masInf=0 Official Web Site - Government of Navarre Department of Culture and Tourism] (accessed 28 March 2007)] , and two years later, Pamplona renamed its Teatro Principal in his honor. Gayarre is also commemorated in Pamplona with a biennial competition for young singers, El Concurso Internacional de Canto Julián Gayarre.

There have been several Spanish films based on his life, most notably:
*"El Canto del ruiseñor" (1932), directed by Carlos San Martín with José Romeu as Gayarre
*"Gayarre" (1959) directed by Domingo Viladomat with Alfredo Kraus as Gayarre.
*"Romanza Final" (1986) directed by José María Forqué with José Carreras as Gayarre.All of them contain some fictional or semi-fictional elements, particularly "Romanza Final".

Voice

"Enciclopedia della musica". [Translated from the original Italian] "Gayarre's voice was slightly guttural and at times could show hardness in the very high notes and an uncertain attack. Nevertheless, it was full, resonant and extraordinarily fascinating. He was distinguished for his breath control, extremely clear diction, vibrant and passionate tone and for his ability to both soften and strengthen that tone. The way he produced contrasts of colour and intensity was incomparable. Yet he sometimes over-used unexpected contrasts of fortissimo and pianissimo and he also seemed to sometimes slow down the tempo excessively.' [...] When he sang "La favorita" at La Scala on 2 January 1876, the audience was harsh and indifferent. However, the next day, the critic, Filippi, wrote that the Milanese audience had been present not at the debut of a tenor but at the 'consecration of a genius of singing.' [...] In the decade 1876-1886 the critic, Leone Forti, wrote: 'He is a tenor who sings. We were no longer accustomed to it, we had forgotten what it was like. In addition to this, he is a tenor with a slim physique, whose way of moving and gestures are those of a real man. [...] He has the gift of uniting the colours of three different tenors, blending then together to create something uniquely his own.'"

References

Footnotes

Biographies of Julián Gayarre

*Florentino Hernández Girbal, 1955, "Julián Gayarre, el Tenor de la Voz de Ángel", Barcelona: Ediciones Lira.
*Julio Enciso Robledo, (1891) 1990, "Memorias de Julián Gayarre", Bilbao: Laida Edición e Imagen.
*José María Sanjuán Urmeneta, 1991, "Gayarre", Navarre: Fondo de Publicaciones del Gobierno de Navarra.
*Óscar J. Muñoz Salvoch, 1999, "Julián Gayarre, como el de casa ninguno", Roncal: Fundación Julián Gayarre

External links

* [http://www.juliangayarre.com La Fundación Julián Gayarre] The official site of the Julián Gayarre Foundation (in Spanish and Basque) has extensive biographical information and photo galleries.
* [http://www.geh.org/ar/strip35/htmlsrc/m198107820035_ful.html Photograph of Gayarre by Matthew Brady] The photograph of Gayarre is on a double plate with one of Ernesto Nicolini. Gayarre's is to the left.
* [http://www.cfnavarra.es/gayarre/palmaresin.htm El Concurso Internacional de Canto Julián Gayarre]
* [http://www.terra.es/personal6/valmont2/home.htm Julián Gayarre, Como el de casa, ninguno] (web site devoted to Muñoz Salvoch's biography of Gayarre)
* [http://www.unav.es/arte/cmn/sanguesa/sanguesa2/lam12.html Photograph and detailed description of Gayarre's tomb] (in Spanish)