Ettore Bastianini
While Ettore Bastianini's career was quite short, it was also distinguished. He was regarded as having one of the finest Verdi and verismo voices of his day, though his vocal gifts were not always matched by an equal musicianship.
Bastianini studied privately with Gaetano Vanni, and sang in the local choir. His professional solo debut was in a concert in Siena early in 1945, and his operatic debut was at the Ravenna opera as Colline in Puccini's La bohème later that year. He sang at the smaller houses throughout Italy and even went abroad to Cairo with a touring company, still singing the bass repertoire, including Mephistopheles in Gounod's Faust. His La Scala debut was in 1948 as Tirésias in Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex. During these years, he began to wonder if he was truly a bass, and in 1951, he made his debut as a baritone early in 1951 at the Bologna Opera as Germont in Verdi's La traviata. However, the performance was not especially successful, and he resumed intense studies over the next few months, giving special attention to developing his upper register. When he returned to the stage that summer, he had achieved just that goal, and his high notes were now considered his vocal glory. In 1953, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Germont, following that in 1954 with his La Scala debut in the title role of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. In 1956, he made his Chicago debut as Riccardo in Bellini's I puritani. In 1962, he made his Covent Garden debut as Renato in Un ballo in maschera. Early in 1963, he left the stage for a few months, letting it be understood that he was resting, but in fact, he was undergoing treatment for throat cancer. His return performances and subsequent performances were poorly received, often with booing from the audience, as he was often hoarse, off-pitch, and under-powered. While he was deeply dismayed at this, he still did not speak of his illness; for all except family and close friends, it came as a complete surprise until after the announcement of his death. His last performance was in 1965 at the Metropolitan Opera.
© TiVo
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Verdi: Rigoletto (Mono Version)
Orchestre du Mai Musical Florentin , Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Ettore Bastianini, Renata Scotto
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: La Forza del Destino
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Ettore Bastianini, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1955
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: La Traviata
Renata Scotto, Ettore Bastianini, Gianni Raimondi, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Antonino Votto
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1963
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rigoletto
Ettore Bastianini, Alfredo Krauss, Renata Scotto
Opera - Released by Urania on 1 Jan 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi · rigoletto
Ettore Bastianini, Renata Scotto, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Orchestre du Mai Musical Florentin
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on 1 Jan 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: La traviata (Live, Milan 1955)
Maria Callas, Carlo Maria Giulini, Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Milano, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Ettore Bastianini
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1977
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Un ballo in maschera
Antonietta Stella, Ettore Bastianini, Gianni Poggi
Opera - Released by Urania on 1 Jan 1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi : Il Trovatore
Ettore Bastianini, Antonietta Stella, Fiorenza Cossotto, Carlo Bergonzi, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Tullio Serafin
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1963
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Giordano: Andrea Chénier
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Ettore Bastianini, Fiorenza Cossotto, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1970
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ettore Bastianini Recital (Remastered)
Ettore Bastianini, Unknown Artist
Opera - Released by Andromeda on 1 Sep 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti: Lucia Di Lammermoor
Renata Scotto, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Ettore Bastianini
Opera - Released by Urania on 1 Jan 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Il Trovatore
Ettore Bastianini, Leyla Gencer, Fernando Previtali, Orchestra di Milano della Rai
Opera - Released by G.O.P. on 28 Feb 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Il Trovatore
Carlo Bergonzi, Antonietta Stella, Ettore Bastianini
Opera - Released by Urania on 1 Jan 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi - La Traviata (Highlights)
Maria Callas, Carlo Maria Giulini, Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Milano, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Ettore Bastianini
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 31 Dec 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bastianini - A Life in Opera: Rossini, Donizetti, Ponchielli, Verdi
Opera - Released by Urania on 11 Aug 2009
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
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1956
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini · il barbiere di siviglia
Ettore Bastianini, Giulietta Simionato, Alberto Erede, Orchestre du Mai Musical Florentin
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on 26 Mar 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera
Maria Callas, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Ettore Bastianini
Opera - Released by Urania on 1 Jan 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi : Il Trovatore
Ettore Bastianini, Antonietta Stella, Fiorenza Cossotto, Carlo Bergonzi, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Tullio Serafin
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1963
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti: Poliuto
Maria Callas, Antonino Votto, Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Milano, Franco Corelli, Ettore Bastianini, Nicola Zaccaria
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1980
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Ernani
Mario del Monaco, Boris Christoff, Ettore Bastianini, Orchestra E Coro Del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Opera - Released by Past Classics on 2 Jan 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo