Tito Gobbi
Tito Gobbi was an admired operatic baritone. He originally studied at Padua University for a career in law, but he eventually gave that up in favor of pursuing voice lessons in Rome with Giulio Crimi. He made his operatic debut in the town of Gubbio in 1935, as Count Rodolfo in Bellini's La sonnambula. He was hired at Milan's La Scala for the 1935-1936 season as an understudy; his first appearance there was as the Herald in Ildebrando Pizzetti's Oreseolo.
He won the international singing competition in Vienna in 1936. As a result he began getting improved billing; he sang the role of Germont in La traviata at the Teatro Reale in Rome in 1937. In the same year he sang Lelio in Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's Le donne curiose, and continued singing secondary roles through 1939 there. He was promoted to primary roles and in 1941 sang Ford in Verdi's Falstaff during a visit by the company to Berlin in 1941. Meanwhile, in a guest appearance at Rieti he first sang the role of Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca in 1940. This was to become his best-known part.
Gobbi made his La Scala debut in a major role in 1942 as Belcore in L'Elisir d'Amore. However, the performance that made him famous was as Wozzeck in the first Italian performance of Alban Berg's opera in Rome in November, 1942. Fighting raged throughout Italy following the Allied invasions there in 1943, interrupting his career. After the war he began to include international appearances. He first appeared in Stockholm in 1947 as Rigoletto; in 1948 he went to Covent Garden in concerts and to San Francisco to debut as Figaro in Rossini's Barber of Seville. His London operatic debut was at Covent Garden as Belcore when the La Scala Company toured there. He appeared in Chicago in 1954 as Rossini's Figaro, and debuted at the Metropolitan Opera Company as Scarpia, January 13, 1956. He sang Don Giovanni in Salzburg in 1952 under von Karajan's direction.
He took up producing as well, often at Chicago, where he made regular appearances, and producing opera became an ever more important part of his career after 1965, which is when he produced a performance starring himself in the title role of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra in London.
Although he was particularly well known for his portrayal of Verdi's baritone roles (including Posa in Don Carlos), and of Puccini's (Scarpia, Jack Rance, Gianni Schicchi), he had a very large repertory of well over 100 roles, including such rare operas as Malipiero's Ecuba (as Ulysses), Teprulov in Rocca's Monte Ivnor, the Count of Albaforita in Persico's La locandiera, and operas by Lualdi, Napoli, and Ghedini. He was an excellent actor, had a high degree of musicianship and intelligence, had a flexible, rich, but not large baritone voice, and was at home in a wide variety of parts. He also appeared in 26 movies. He was the brother-in-law of another eminent singer, Boris Christoff. Gobbi retired from the operatic stage in 1979. He published an autobiography (Tito Gobbi: My Life, 1979) and Tito Gobbi and His World of Italian Opera (1984). He left a significant legacy of recorded performances, mainly made in the 1950s and 1960s.
© TiVo
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Verdi: Nabucco
Elena Souliotis, Bruno Prevedi, Tito Gobbi, Wiener Staatsopernchor, Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper, Lamberto Gardelli
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1965
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Tosca
Maria Callas, Victor De Sabata, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Tito Gobbi
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 4 nov. 2003
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia
Maria Callas, Luigi Alva, Tito Gobbi, Philharmonia Orchestra, Alceo Galliera
Opera - Released by Warner Classics on 1 jan. 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Rigoletto
Maria Callas, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Tito Gobbi, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Tullio Serafin
Opera - Released by Warner Classics on 1 jan. 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Simon Boccanegra
Boris Christoff, Tito Gobbi, Victoria de los Angeles, Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Gabriele Santini
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 9 jan. 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Gianni Schicchi (Mono Version)
Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Gabriele Santini, Tito Gobbi, Victoria de los Angeles
Klassiek - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Leoncavallo: Pagliacci
Maria Callas, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Tito Gobbi, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Tullio Serafin
Opera - Released by Warner Classics on 1 jan. 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Complete Solo Recordings
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 22 feb. 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Il trittico (Il tabarro; Suor Angelica; Gianni Schicchi)
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 1 jan. 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: La Bohème
Renata Scotto, Gianni Poggi, Tito Gobbi, Orchestre du Mai Musical Florentin , Antonino Votto
Klassiek - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 jan. 1980
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Simon Boccanegra (Intégrale)
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 24 feb. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Nabucco - Highlights
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1965
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Otello
Kon Vickers, Leonie Rysanek, Tito Gobbi
Opera - Released by Urania on 3 feb. 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Giacomo Puccini: Madama Butterfly (1954)
Giuseppe Di Stefano, Tito Gobbi, Victoria de los Angeles
Klassiek - Released by Classical Moments on 1 jan. 1955
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana
Elena Souliotis, Mario del Monaco, Tito Gobbi, Chor Del Teatro Dell Opera Di Roma, Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Silvio Varviso
Klassiek - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1 jan. 1967
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best of Tito Gobbi
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 4 aug. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Giordano: Fedora
Magda Olivero, Mario del Monaco, Tito Gobbi, Choeurs National de l'Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte‐Carlo, Lamberto Gardelli
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1969
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini - Tosca (Highlights)
Maria Callas, Victor De Sabata, Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Milano, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Tito Gobbi
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 4 nov. 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini - Il Trittico
Vincenzo Bellezza, Tullio Serafin, Gabriele Santini, Tito Gobbi, Victoria de los Angeles, Fedora Barbieri
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 12 dec. 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi · Falstaff
Tito Gobbi, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Herbert von Karajan, Philharmonia Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by G.O.P. on 31 jul. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo