Ernesto Cammarota
23 December 1859 Bari – 28 February 1934 Zagreb
Cammarota made his debut in 1882. His career developed at minor theaters, almost exclusively in Italy. For instance, he sang in
Pisa at the Teatro Rossi (Alfredo in 1886; Fernand, Ruy Blas and Riccardo in Maria di Rohan in 1893), in Savona at the
Teatro Chiabrera (Raoul in 1889, Riccardo in Ballo in maschera in 1890), in Piacenza at the Politeama in August 1886
(Edgardo, Alfredo), in Siracusa an open air Ruy Blas in July 1884, in Pavia at the Teatro Guidi in 1888 (Pery in Il Guarany,
Ruy Blas), in Acireale at the Teatro Bellini in 1894 (Ruy Blas again), or in Catania in 1894, as well (Don José, Duca and
Don Luigi in Camoëns by Pietro Musone at the Politeama Castagnola; Turiddu, Canio and Nino in Malia by
Francesco Paolo Frontini at the Politeama Pacini); but also in Venice at the much better known Teatro Malibran in 1890 (Duca).
In 1897, he moved to Zagreb where he was engaged for the season at the
National Croatian Opera. He remained there until his retirement in 1924 and sang in several local premieres (Bohème in 1898,
Mefistofele, Canio in 1894, Werther, Cavalleria rusticana, Les contes d'Hoffmann) and in the world premiere of Porin
(2 October 1897) by Vatroslav Lisinski (Zagreb, 8 July 1819 – Zagreb, 31 May 1854).
From Zagreb, he also made guest appearances in Prague or in Łódż.
Selected performances:
La traviata
1886, Piacenza in August at the Politeama with Elvira Brambilla, Adriano Acconci
1892, La Valletta/Malta in April at the Teatro Reale with Elisa Petri, Vittorio Ferraguti
La favorita
1893, Pisa in November at the Teatro Rossi with Adelina Garbini, Eduardo Missiani, Cesare Di Ciolo
Carmen
1894, Catania in February at the Politeama Castagnola with G. Mieli, Lidia Terrigi, Eduardo Missiano
1896, Łódż in January (sharing with Augusto Dianni) at the Teatr Wielki with Marie Boyer, Maria Mokrzycka
(Moscisca), Wiktor Grąbczewski
Cavalleria rusticana
1894, Catania in August (sharing with Laudani) at the Politeama Pacini with Elvira Miotti, Elisa Manenti, Vittorio Ferraguti
1906, Łódżin January at the Teatr Wielki with Zoe Nesleda/Marie Boyer, Collignon, Szymanski
Rigoletto
1890, Venezia in April (sharing with Angelo Masini) at the Teatro Malibran with
Elvira Brambilla, Elvira Brunetti, Francesco Bortolomasi, Tullio Campello
1894, Catania in February at the Politeama Castagnola with Ida Mazzoleni, G. Mieli, Oreste Mieli, Cesare Di Ciolo
1906, Łódżin January at the Teatr Wielki with Vera de Luce, Oleska, Wiktor Grąbczewski, Jeromin
In Prague at the National Opera, Cammarota sang:
Guillaume Tell, 5 June 1889, with Marie Petzoldová, Václav Soukup, Bohumil Benoni, František Hynek, Vilém Heš, Adolf Čech
Il trovatore, 8 June 1889, with Marie Sittová, Růžena Vykoukalová, Bohumil Benoni, Vilém Heš, Mořic Anger
La Juive, 13 June 1889, with Olga Paršová, Marie Petzoldová, Václav Soukup, František Hynek, Adolf Čech
Il trovatore, 15 June 1889, with Marie Sittová, Růžena Vykoukalová, Emanuel Kroupa, Vilém Heš, Mořic Anger
After retiring, he taught singing at the Zagreb conservatory.
Reference 1: Kutsch & Riemens; reference 2: the excellent website of Roberto Marcocci
Many thanks to Will Crutchfield for providing the correct dates of birth and death.
| Ernesto Cammarota sings | Biser suze (Rosenberg-Ružič)
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In RA format
In RA format
Discography
Gramophone, Zagreb, September 1902 (at least partly under the name Ernesto Vitez Cammarota)
72z Kad mnijah umrieti (B. Radičević) 72003
73z Pagliacci (Leoncavallo): Arioso (probably in Croatian) 72004
74z Vrati se (=Torna) (Denza) 72005
75z ? 72006
101C Cavalleria rusticana (Mascagni): Siciliana (probably in Croatian) 72698
102C Ti ... (J. Hatze) 72699
103C Porin (Lisinski): Zorka moja 72700
104C Manon (Massenet): Ah fuyez (probably in Croatian) 72701
105C Ave Marija (Gounod) 72702
Biser suze (Rosenberg-Ružič) 4-12801
Zlatnih zvijezda sjaj (also by Rosenberg-Ružič, by all probability) 4-12802
Lyrophon, Zagreb, about July 1907
15J Rigoletto (Verdi): La donna è mobile J15
16J Catarì (Costa) J16
Premier-Record, Zagreb, 1908
29 Porin (Lisinski): Pjesma o slobodi 29
76½ Pagliacci (Leoncavallo): Vesti la giubba 76
77 Carmela (De Curtis) 77
Sources for the discography:
- Drago Kunej: Intertwinement of Croatian and Slovenian musical
heritage on the oldest gramophone records, in: Narodna umetost 51/1, 2014
- Gesellschaft für historische Tonträger, Wien
- Roberto Marcocci
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