Beniamino Gigli
Beniamino Gigli was the foremost Italian tenor of the 1920s through the 1940s, possessed of a smooth, lush voice with a lyric sweetness often described as "honeyed." He became a Metropolitan Opera star, singing 28 roles there, and was a legitimate heir to the tenor Enrico Caruso, who had died at the beginning of the 1920s. No one person could fill Caruso's shoes, but it was widely conceded that Gigli inherited his lyrical and romantic parts, while Giovanni Martinelli took over the more heroic roles. Gigli was also one of the most-beloved performers of Italian song, with a special gift for the traditional Neapolitan repertoire. His singing was heavily mannered by modern standards, characterized by sobs, catches, and portamenti, but it had an inherent beauty and sincerity that are still easy to appreciate. Although an even more stylized actor than singer, Gigli had a successful film career, appearing in almost 20 films.
Gigli began his singing career as a child, performing for treats and coins at a local café. At age 7, he entered the choir of Recanati Cathedral, where his father was Sacristan. When he was 15 and still a boy soprano, he was recruited to sing the heroine in an operetta in the nearby city of Macerata; he did the production in drag! When he was 17, he moved to Rome to live with his brother, a student of sculpture; the two led a bohemian existence, frequently cold and hungry, until Gigli was offered a position as a servant in a wealthy household. There he was provided with room and board and given afternoons off to practice or to take lessons with a local teacher, Agnese Bonucci, who offered to teach him at no cost.
During World War I, a music-loving colonel saw to it that he was posted to a non-combat position in Rome and also encouraged him to audition at the famous Academia di Santa Cecilia, where his evident musical talent led them to waive the normally required piano examination. He studied there for two years, and upon graduation won the famous Parma vocal competition. On the strength of that, he was offered roles at various small opera houses and made his official opera debut as Enzo in La Gioconda at Rovigo in the fall of 1914. By December 1916, he made his Rome Opera debut as Faust in Boito's Mefistofele. When the war was over, the recording company HMV set up a studio in Milan, and it was there that Gigli began his extensive recording career. In 1918, he made his La Scala debut also as Boito's Faust in a performance conducted by Toscanini. The next year, he made his first appearance in the Americas as Cavaradossi in Tosca at the Teatro Colon. His Met debut followed in November 1920, also as Faust, and he sang there every season until 1932.
His Covent Garden debut was not until 1930, as Andrea Chénier. After World War II, which he mostly spent in Italy, he largely restricted his singing to concert performances; his last public appearance was in May 1955, at a concert in Washington, D.C., ending a professional career of 41 years.
Gigli was one of the first singers to make complete opera recordings, including a particularly fine Andrea Chénier (EMI) and Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci released as a set on Nimbus. Among his solo CDs, a two-disc set on Pearl (Gemm) captures him in his youthful prime.
© TiVo
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Gold Italian Collection (Premium-Riserva)
Pop - Released by Goodwind Records on Sep 28, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tenor Legend
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Feb 22, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gigli Vol. 2 (Recorded 1925-1940)
Beniamino Gigli, Giuseppe de Luca
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Prima Voce on Jan 1, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Romanze…serenate…canzoni
Folk - Released by Saar srl on May 1, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beniamino Gigli in Opera and Song
Beniamino Gigli, Giuseppe de Luca
Opera - Released by Nimbus Records on Jan 1, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Historical Recordings
World - Released by Azzurri LTD on Mar 15, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Opera Arias (Tenor): Gigli, Beniamino (The Very Best of Beniamino Gigli) (1927-1946) (Salvatore Cammarano - Gaetano Donizetti - Francesco Maria Piave)
Opera - Released by IDIS on Jan 1, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beniamino Gigli - 60 songs (Digitally remastered)
Pop - Released by Alpharecord - Fonotil on Jun 15, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beniamino Gigli: The BBC Recordings: 1927 - 1952
Classical - Released by Urania on Apr 25, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gigli Vol. 1 (Recorded1918-1924)
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Prima Voce on Jan 1, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: La forza del destino - Leoncavallo: Pagliacci
Classical - Released by Bongiovanni on May 1, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Napulitana No.9
Enrico Caruso, Beniamino Gigli, Giuseppe Di Stefano
Latin America - Released by Recording Arts on Jan 15, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best Neapolitan Songs
World - Released by MTPixel on Nov 16, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gigli in Song (Recorded 1925 - 1942)
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Prima Voce on Jan 1, 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Made In Italy
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 1, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: La Boheme (Recorded 1938)
Beniamino Gigli, Licia Albanese, Afro Poli
Opera - Released by Prima Voce on Jan 1, 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Leoncavallo: Pagliacci (Recorded 1934) - Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana (Recorded 1940)
Beniamino Gigli, Iva Pacetti, Lina Bruna-Rasa
Opera - Released by Prima Voce on Jan 1, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vocal Recital: Gigli, Beniamino - Verdi, G. / Massenet, J. / Puccini, G. / Bizet, G. (Complete Collection of Opera Highlights, Vol. 3) (1930-1941) (Francesco Maria Piave - Giuseppe Verdi - Temistocle Solera)
Opera - Released by IDIS on Jan 1, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Great Italian Tenors
Beniamino Gigli, Enrico Caruso, Tito Schipa
Pop - Released by Foggy Milan Records on Sep 16, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo