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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Verdi : Aida
Renata Tebaldi, Giulietta Simionato, Carlo Bergonzi, Wiener Singverein, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1959
Qobuz’ Schallplattensammlung16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Il trovatore
Franco Corelli, Gabriella Tucci, Giulietta Simionato, Thomas Schippers, Orchestra Del Teatro Dell Opera Roma
Oper - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 24.01.1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: L'Italienne à Alger (Short Version, Mono Version)
Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Carlo Maria Giulini, Giulietta Simionato, Mario Petri
Klassik - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Aida
Renata Tebaldi, Giulietta Simionato, Carlo Bergonzi, Wiener Singverein, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1959
Qobuz’ Schallplattensammlung16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Oper - Erschienen bei Preiser Records am 30.09.2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti: La Favorita
Ettore Bastianini, Giulietta Simionato, Gianni Poggi, Coro Del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Orchestre du Mai Musical Florentin , Alberto Erede
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1956
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: La Cenerentola (Highlights)
Oper - Erschienen bei >ReNovo< am 21.02.2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia (highlights)
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Così Fan Tutte - Danco, Simionato, Stabile
Suzanne Danco, Giulietta Simionato, Mariano Stabile
Oper - Erschienen bei Urania am 01.01.1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice (Live)
Sena Jurinac, Graziella Sciutti, Giulietta Simionato, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan, Wiener Staatsopernchor
Klassik - Erschienen bei Deutsche Grammophon (DG) am 01.01.1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
An Evening At The Lyric Opera Of Chicago
Sir Georg Solti, Renata Tebaldi, Ettore Bastianini, Giulietta Simionato, Richard Tucker, Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. am 01.09.1957
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana (Mono Version)
Orchestra Lirica della Cetra di Torino, Arturo Basile, Giulietta Simionato, Carlo Tagliabue
Klassik - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti: Anna Bolena
Maria Callas, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Milano, Giulietta Simionato, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 01.01.1957
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Giulietta Simionato: Volume 1
Oper - Erschienen bei Opera d'Oro am 15.08.2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: Cendrillon (Mono Version)
Giulietta Simionato, Cesare Valletti, Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI di Torino, Mario Rossi
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
GRANDI VOCI - GIULIETTA SIMIONATO Una collana dedicata con registrazioni originali Decca e Deutsche Grammophon rimasterizzate con le tecniche più moderne che ne garantiscono eccellenza tecnica e artistica
Giulietta Simionato, Giuseppe Verdi, Gioachino Rossini
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 27.04.2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Un soir à l'Opéra de Chicago (Live, Mono Version)
Renata Tebaldi, Giulietta Simionato, Ettore Bastianini
Klassik - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Georges Bizet: Carmen
Giulietta Simionato, Nicolai Gedda, Hilde Güden
Oper - Erschienen bei Urania am 01.01.2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Leoncavallo: Paillasse, extraits - Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana, extraits (Mono Version)
Giulietta Simionato, Carla Gavazzi, Carlo Tagliabue, Arturo Basile
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti: La Favorita
Ettore Bastianini, Giulietta Simionato, Gianni Poggi
Oper - Erschienen bei Urania am 01.01.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Giulietta Simionato - Portrait of a Legend
Klassik - Erschienen bei Preiser Records am 11.04.2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo