Francesco Marconi
| Marconi made his debut as Faust at Alicante on April 22nd, 1878. It was followed by Lucrezia Borgia,
and Rigoletto. He went on to sing the same three operas in Alcoy.
His repertory included: Faust, Rigoletto, La Gioconda, I puritani, Otello, Mefistofele,
and L'africana. |
In RA format
In RA format
A word about I mulattieri: while Marconi is excellent here, Antonio Cotogni even outdoes him – in my opinion also as far as singing is concerned, but certainly as far as historical
importance. This is Cotogni's only published recording. He was 77 when it was made, and sure doesn't sound that old. Cotogni, for the very few who don't know yet, was one
of the most important Italian baritones of the 19th century, the second oldest singer on record (born 1831), and definitely the most important and most successful singing teacher
ever – among his pupils were, to name but the most famous, Jean de Reszke, Beniamino Gigli, Mario Basiola, Mattia Battistini, Augusto Beuf, Guido Ciccolini, Giuseppe De Luca,
Benvenuto Franci, Carmen Melis, Vladimir Kastorsky, Enrico Nani, Ellison Van Hoose, Domenico Viglione-Borghese, Julian Biel, Giacomo Lauri-Volpi, Mariano Stabile, Carlo
Galeffi and Dinh Gilly. And he was, though not his voice teacher, also of particular importance for Francesco Marconi. Marconi wrote about their first joint performance, in
Puritani: "When I came to the first rehearsal, and heard him sing his first line, Or dove fuggo io mai, I was outright shocked by his terrific art and said that I didn't want to go
on singing. What an overwhelming artist! The great and impressive melodies that Bellini had created for this divine opera became even greater thanks to Cotogni's incomparable
interpretation. And I'm not ashamed of confessing that I've learned Puritani and a considerable part of my other repertory from Toto Cotogni."
Checco Marconi nei Puritani al Teatro Argentina di Roma
Marconi was in complete control of his vocal power during the entire work, especially during the great duo of the last act. Together with Pinkert, a great artist, they generated straight forward and legitimate enthusiasm. Il Messagero, 1896
Starting with Marconi (why not start with him?), all were up to their parts. The great Roman artist was delightful. His voice fascinated. Maybe not even he himself realizes the natural effect that derives from his large phrasing, his colored accents, full of passion and soul. The aria di sortita A te, o cara and the last duo with the soprano Vieni fra queste braccia were sung by Marconi like nobody else can today. The public rewarded his favorite with deafening and thunderous applause. La Tribuna, 1896
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Discography
G&T, Milano November 1903
Con366 Rigoletto (Verdi): Questa o quella 52788
Con367 Mefistofele (Boito): Dai campi, dai prati 52016
Con368 Nerone (Rubinstein): Stanze 52017
Con720 Eugen Onegin (Tchaikovsky): Romanza del duello 052054
Con721 Africaine (Meyerbeer): O paradiso 052055
Con722 Gioconda (Ponchielli): Cielo e mar 052056
Con724 Requiem (Verdi): Ingemisco 052057
Con728 Non guardami così (Paloni) 052065
Con730 Bella cantiam l'amore (Mascagni) 052058
Gramophone, Milano October 1907
11131b Nerone (Rubinstein): Invan, invan 2-52631
11133b Rigoletto (Verdi): Questa o quella 2-52632
1414c Roméo et Juliette (Gounod): Madrigale (w. Mililotti) 054186
1415c Geisha (Jones): O mia Mimosa (w. Mililotti) 054187
1416c Martha (Flotow): Duetto della rosa (w. Mililotti) 054188
1417c Lucrezia Borgia (Donizetti): Di pescatore ignobile 052200, VB27, Vic 88226, 76004
1418c Guarany (Gomez): Sento una forza indomita (w. Mililotti) 054189
1419c Lucrezia Borgia (Donizetti): Madre se ognor lontano (w. Mililotti) 054190
Gramophone, Milano May 1908
11170b Mefistofele (Boito): Dai campi, dai prati 2-52672
11171b Ruy Blas (Marchetti): Ed ei non 2-52662
11178b In questa sera (Denza) 2-52673
11180½b I mulattieri (Masini) (w. Cotogni) 54373
11185b Favorita (Donizetti): Una vergine 2-52663
1437c Africaine (Meyerbeer): O paradiso 052233
1438c Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti): Fra poco a me ricovero 052221
1439c Forza del destino (Verdi): Solenne in quest'ora (w. della Torre) 054214
1440c Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti): Tu che a Dio 052234
1446c Puritani (Bellini): Vieni, vieni fra queste braccia (w. Galvany) 054208, DB481, VB4, Vic 89046
Discography reference: 78opera.com, a now defunct site with excellent stuff.
I wish to thank Thomas Silverbörg for the picture.
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