Mario del Monaco
The stentorian dramatic tenor of Mario del Monaco was heard throughout the world during the 1950s and 1960s. While often berated by critics for his unsubtle vocal production, del Monaco was a favorite of audiences who appreciated his power and sincerity of approach while tackling the heaviest roles in the Italian tenor repertory. A contract with Decca (London in the United States) produced a long series of recordings, many of them in partnership with Renata Tebaldi, and most of which have been reissued in CD format.
After having studied the early recordings of many tenors, del Monaco studied for a short time at the Pesaro Conservatory before gaining entry in 1935 to the school attached to the Rome Opera, largely through the urging of conductor Tullio Serafin. His formal debut occurred in 1941 at the Teatro Puccini as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly -- while on leave from the army. Engagements were quickly forthcoming once WW II ended. A successful Radames (Aïda) at Verona was followed by appearances at Covent Garden with the Neapolitan Opera (Canio, Cavaradossi, and Pinkerton). Central and South America offered performances in Mexico City, at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and in Rio de Janeiro.
His North American debut took place at the San Francisco Opera as Radames in 1950. He was thereupon engaged by Rudolf Bing for a November 1950 appearance at the Metropolitan as des Grieux in Manon Lescaut. Subsequently, he sang more than 100 performances at the Met over the course of seven seasons, appearing also at Chicago's Lyric Opera during the 1950s. In that time, del Monaco became the world's leading Otello, performing the role (according to his own tally) 427 times. Other roles which formed the core of his repertory included Enzo in Ponchielli's La Gioconda, the title role in Giordano's Andrea Chénier (next to Otello perhaps his most authoritative role), Don Alvaro in La forza del destino, Don José and Saint-Saëns' Samson (despite his less-than-fluent French), Verdi's Ernani, Dick Johnson in Puccini's La fanciulla del West and Pollione in Bellini's Norma. In Italy, he occasionally ventured into the Wagnerian repertory, although these performances were sung in Italian. He did, however, record Siegmund's "Winterstürme" from Die Walküre in German. It was not regarded as a success.
From the 1960s to his retirement from the stage in 1973, del Monaco increasingly confined his appearances to Italy, although he continued to record for Decca. His Loris in Giordano's Fedora (with Magda Olivero as the heroine) was taped when the singer was in his mid-fifties, by which time his voice had lost what little pliancy it had possessed earlier.
Among del Monaco's most prominent recordings are his two as Otello, each with the same principals (Tebaldi as Desdemona and Aldo Protti as Iago), but the second with Herbert von Karajan as conductor. His Andrea Chénier was preserved by Decca with Tebaldi as Maddalena and Ettore Bastianini as Gérard as well as in a live recording from Tokyo with Tebaldi and Protti.
The un-orthodox method of vocal production favored by del Monaco allowed him an overwhelming measure of strength in his middle and upper-middle registers, but lent a metallic buzz to his timbre and precluded his singing softly. Still, critics, following his death, rued his passing as they recalled performances of unsurpassed excitement.
© TiVo
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Verdi: Aida
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco
Opera - Released by Past Classics on 13 Nov 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Il mito dell'opera: Mario del Monaco (Live)
Opera - Released by Bongiovanni on 1 Jun 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mario del Monaco: Great Tenor Arias
Mario del Monaco, The New Symphony Orchestra of London, Alberto Erede
Vocal Recitals - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1959
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi · il trovatore
Mario del Monaco, Renata Tebaldi, Alberto Erede, Orchestre Du Grand Theatre De Geneve
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on 28 Feb 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Duos d'amour à l'opéra (Mono Version)
Renata Tebaldi, Suzanne Danco, Mario del Monaco, Jussi Björling
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Zandonai: Francesca da Rimini – Excerpts (Opera Gala – Volume 20)
Magda Olivero, Mario del Monaco, Nicola Rescigno
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 13 Nov 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi · la forza del destino
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on 31 Jan 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi - Otello
Mario del Monaco, Raina Kabaiwanska, Sir Georg Solti, Orchestra del Covent Garden
Opera - Released by G.O.P. on 19 May 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grandi Voci – Mario del Monaco canta Puccini e il verismo - Una collana con registrazioni originali Decca e Deutsche Grammophon rimasterizzate con le tecniche più moderne che ne garantiscono eccellenza tecnica e artistica.
Giacomo Puccini, Giordano, Mario del Monaco
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 27 Apr 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi, Puccini & Others: Opera Arias
Mario del Monaco, Orchestra Sinfonica Di Milano, Argeo Quadri, Tomaso Benintende-Neglia, Alberto Erede
Opera - Released by Archipel on 25 Mar 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Récital (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Cilea · adriana lecouvreur
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Franco Capuana, Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on 31 Mar 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Il Trittico
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Robert Merrill, Fernando Corena, Orchestre du Mai Musical Florentin , Lamberto Gardelli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Récital Verdi & Puccini (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
GRANDI VOCI – MARIO DEL MONACO CANZONI, RARITA' E CURIOSITA' Una collana con registrazioni originali Decca e Deutsche Grammophon rimasterizzate con le tecniche più moderne che ne garantiscono eccellenza tecnica e artistica
Mario del Monaco, Richard Wagner, Georges Bizet
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 12 Mar 2021
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 -
Classic Tenor Collection
Pop - Released by Classique Perfecto on 27 Sep 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grandi Voci- Mario Del Monaco Le prime registrazioni. Una collana con registrazioni originali Decca e Deutsche Grammophon rimasterizzate con le tecniche più moderne che ne garantiscono eccellenza tecnica e artistica.
Mario del Monaco, Giuseppe Verdi, Ruggero Leoncavallo
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 5 Mar 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Samson et Dalila, extraits (Mono Version)
Risë Stevens, Mario del Monaco, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Fausto Cleva
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Herva Nelli & Mario Del Monaco - "Gli Ospiti Radiofonici"
Gaetano Merola, Herva Nelli, Mario del Monaco
Opera - Released by Urania on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo