Luigi Ravelli
In between, he toured the USA, usually with the troupe of James H. Mapleson (yes, the one of the Mapleson cylinders, who was a
touring impresario at the time) – whenever he was not defaulting or had to be released from his contract because of
egregious behavior, both of which occurred regularly, though. Ravelli was the craziest, most capricious and most conceited male
diva that can be imagined; he used to ask his "oraculous" dog for advice what to do, whether to sing or to cancel, and interpreted
the animal's growling as a "yes" or a "no". Once, Mapleson even had to sue him so as to get the company's sheet music back, which
Ravelli had
confiscated until Mapleson paid him money that, as the US court subsequently ruled, he never owed him. Mapleson took him back
nonetheless every time they had broken up, because Ravelli caused considerable enthusiasm with the audiences. Mapleson's troupe
also traveled to Canada, Ireland and England. And Ravelli made individual guest appearances in Italy, for instance at La Fenice in
the 1886/87 season, as Boito's Faust and Edgardo (which latter was, together with José, his most famous role).
From later years, all information about Ravelli comes from Germany: he sang opera in Stettin in 1892 (arousing enthusiasm with the
audience in Les huguenots in March, and disdain with the critic of the "Stettiner Zeitung" who praised his voice but
shuddered at his unartistic and unmusical interpretation); and he appeared at the Berlin Hofoper in December 1894 and gave a
concert at the Berlin Singakademie in the first days of January 1895, in tired and time-worn voice. That's the latest available
news about Ravelli.
Reference 1: James H. Mapleson, The Mapleson memoirs, vol. II: 1848–1888, Chicago/New York/San Francisco 1888;
reference 2: Kutsch & Riemens; reference 3; reference 4: Stettiner Zeitung, 14
March 1892; reference 6: Musical Courier, 30 January 1895  Many thanks to Nathan Swanson for the information about Ravelli's German appearances, and the top picture. |
