Giulietta Simionato
Although she gained recognition very slowly, Giulietta Simionato came to be regarded as the leading Italian mezzo-soprano from the 1950s until the time of her retirement in 1966. Five to seven years younger than her great predecessor, Ebe Stignani (depending on whose information is used for Stignani's birth date) and 12 years older than Fedora Barbieri (who conceived an intense dislike for her), Simionato proved hard to categorize. While she was supreme in the large dramatic mezzo roles of Verdi, she also sparkled in the florid fields of bel canto, employing her spirited personality to breathe life into Rossini's Isabella, Rosina, and Cenerentola. Her coloratura may not have been as precise as that flaunted by such later, lighter-voiced mezzos as Teresa Berganza, Marilyn Horne, Cecilia Bartoli, and Jennifer Larmore, but her sense of fun was unequalled and her trim, petite figure and fluid stage movement made for the perfect embodiment of Italian comic opera.
Simionato made her debut in Montagnana at age 18 as Lola in Cavalleria rusticana. She had studied initially with a local bandmaster in Rovigo, a knowledgeable man who helped her develop her understanding of an already naturally placed instrument. Later, she studied with Guido Palumbo in Padua. In 1933, she entered a voice competition sponsored by the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, juried by an imposing team led by conductor Tullio Serafin, tenors Alessandro Bonci and Amadeo Bassi, and legendary sopranos Rosina Storchio and Salomea Krusceniski. While Simionato won over the 384 other contestants, little happened. In 1936, she was given a contract by La Scala for a wearying succession of small roles, being assigned nothing important until Hänsel in 1942. Even her considerable acclaim for those performances produced nothing further.
Seeing little on the La Scala horizon, Simionato prevailed upon management to allow her enough time off to accept an offer from soprano Marisa Morel who was organizing several opera productions in Switzerland. Notices of Simionato's triumphs there followed her back to Italy and in 1947 she was finally offered Dorabella at La Scala. A Mignon in Genoa shortly thereafter led to her being given the role in Milan -- and she found herself heralded as a star. Almost immediately thereafter, Simionato was engaged for major roles throughout Italy and, subsequently, throughout the world.
When Simionato's easily produced top register led to consideration of the soprano repertory, conductor Antonino Votto encouraged her to concentrate on the mezzo repertory where she could reign unchallenged. Simionato defined her repertory as belonging to four parallel, but distinct categories. First, there were the coloratura roles extending from Rossini and Bellini to Verdi's Preziosilla in La forza del destino. Next, were the heavy dramatic roles, embracing the big Verdi roles and ranging to the Princess Bouillon in Adriana Lecouvreur. Lyric parts, including Mignon, Adalgisa, and her Mozart and Strauss roles formed yet another category. Finally, there were the verismo roles: Carmen, Fedora, and Santuzza among them.
Simionato was not merely versatile; she was superior in all areas. In dramatic roles, she could be commanding or imperious notwithstanding her small stature. From her powerful chest register to her gleaming, thrusting top, she was a singer of enormous magnetism. Chicago in 1960 was witness to the way she defined the Verdi mezzo repertory in her own time. Her Amneris, sensuous in pleading and ferocious in defeat, and her blazing Eboli in Don Carlo roused audiences to volcanic applause.
Simionato retired at 56 still in excellent voice.
© TiVo
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The Barber Of Seville Highlights
Humour - Released by lol on 1 jan. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Suor Angelica
Renata Tebaldi, Giulietta Simionato, Lucia Danieli
Klassiek - Released by P4Y on 25 nov. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cimarosa: Gli Orazi e i Curiazi
Carlo Maria Giulini, Giulietta Simionato
Opera - Released by Urania on 1 jan. 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: Le barbier de Séville, extraits (Mono Version)
Giulietta Simionato, Ettore Bastianini, Orchestre du Mai Musical Florentin , Alberto Erede
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana, première partie (Mono Version)
Giulietta Simionato, Achille Braschi, Orchestra Lirica della Cetra di Torino, Arturo Basile
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana, extraits (Mono Version)
Giulietta Simionato, Achille Braschi, Orchestra Lirica della Cetra di Torino, Arturo Basile
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Rigoletto, extraits (Mono Version)
Giulietta Simionato, Mario del Monaco, Orchestra dell'Accademia nazionale di Santa Cecilia di Roma, Alberto Erede
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ponchielli: La Gioconda, Excerpts (Mono Version)
Giulietta Simionato, Mario del Monaco, Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Operatic Arias (Stereo Version)
Cesare Siepi, Renata Tebaldi, Giulietta Simionato
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Une soirée à la Scala de Milan (Mono Version)
Giulietta Simionato, Lina Pagliughi, Giuseppe Taddei
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Carmen - georges bizet
Giulietta Simionato, Franco Corelli, Orchestra y Coro del Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli
Opera - Released by OperaPrima-Carillon on 23 apr. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Aida & Il Trovatore - Giuseppe Verdi
Maria Callas, Ebe Stignani, Giulietta Simionato
Opera - Released by OperaPrima-Carillon on 23 apr. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Recitals: Giulietta Simionato
Opera - Released by Opera d'Oro on 1 jan. 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lebendige Vergangenheit - Giulietta Simionato
Klassiek - Released by Preiser Records on 27 jan. 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck - Orfeo ed Euridice
Giulietta Simionato, Sena Jurinac, Herbert von Karajan, Wiener Philarmoniker
Opera - Released by G.O.P. on 21 jan. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
De Falla - Atlantida · El Amor Brujo, suite
Giulietta Simionato, Teresa Berganza, Thomas Schippers, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala
Opera - Released by G.O.P. on 15 jan. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti - La Favorita
Giulietta Simionato, Gianni Raimondi, Fernando Previtali, Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo
Opera - Released by G.O.P. on 25 mei 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Carmen
Giulietta Simionato, Franco Corelli, Pierre Dervaux, Orchestra del Teatro Massimo
Opera - Released by G.O.P. on 22 jan. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: Le barbier de Séville, extraits (Mono Version)
Giulietta Simionato, Fernando Corena, Orchestre du Mai Musical Florentin , Alberto Erede
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana
Giulietta Simionato, Achille Braschi, Arturo Basile, Orchestra Lirica della Cetra di Torino
Klassiek - Released by G.O.P. on 13 mei 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo