Ottavio Taddei
15 July 1926 San Miniato – 26 June 2011
He studied singing at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, where in 1953 he sang Rodolfo at the Teatro dei Ravvivati,
under the guidance of maestri such as Capuana.
His official debut was in Rigoletto in 1954 at the Teatro Sistina in Rom, where he also sang Edgardo.
He won an international competition reserved to young singers that allowed him to sing at the Teatro Nuovo in Milano,
Teatro della Pergola in Firenze,
Teatro Giglio in Lucca, Teatro Comunale in Modena and Teatro Eliseo in Roma. He also was successful in concert appearances.
In 1958, he sang in Costa Rica and in Caracas as Duca and Edgardo.
He sang in Iris at the San Carlo in Napoli in 1959. The critic wrote:
La voce di Taddei è risultata armoniosa, con delicata vibrazione, con sicuro fraseggio, con gusto et espressione (ha svolto la sua
parte).
He sang also there in Conchita and Il malato immaginario.
(He is not listed at all in the San Carlo chronology by
Carlo Marinelli Roscioni as
Mateo in Conchita. Conchita was given in Naples for the last time on 14 February 1959.
The role of Mateo was sung by Angelo Loforese. He is not mentioned either in Il malato immaginario, 12 May 1960, where the main
tenor role seems to have been sung by Angelo Marchiandi, and in Iris the tenor was Borsò. Those three works were given several
times. It is possible
that some changes in the cast were not noted. However, that this happened three times for the same singer is very improbable. Maybe he
sang those works in another theater in Napoli. Though it is also very improbable that two theaters in the same city gave those
works at the same time. What about the review for Iris, an invention?)
He sang at the Teatro Margherita Genova as Rodolfo and at the Teatro Verdi Pisa as Edgardo.
Since 1960, he sang very often at the Teatro Comunale in Firenze, where he settled.
He toured Holland (not in opera), Switzerland, Turkey, Scotland, and Central America.
RAI appearances: 1961, Terra senza passato by Luigi Manenti (Terra senza passato was sung at the
RAI Milano on 25 March 1961. Ottavio Taddei appears in the minor role of Giacomo. Renato Berti and Nestore Cattalini were
also in the cast.) as well as La guerra by Renzo Rossellini
(La guerra was sung at the RAI Roma on 7 January 1961. The role of Erik was sung by Giacinto Prandelli.
O. Taddei appeared as Un uomo); 1963,
Pikovaja dama.
In 1966, he sang in Hamburg, Nürnberg and Frankfurt a. M. as Pinkerton. The same year, he sang in Firenze and Roma
in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea.
After that, he sang mostly comprimario roles at the Comunale in Firenze and appeared in concerts.
He recorded Pinkerton for Allegro Royale in 1953. He is also to be heard in RAI live recordings.
He also taught singing, Francesco Anile was one of his students.
The name of Ottavio Taddei appears in the Zandonai biography as singing, in an otherwise symphonic concert on 2 August 1959 at the Maggio Musicale
Fiorentino, two fragments from Conchita by Zandonai.
Reference: Kutsch & Riemens
Reference: Gino Dell'Ira Il firmamento lirico pisano, Grafica Zannini, Pisa, 1983
Chronology
1953
Siena, Teatro dei Ravvivati, La bohème (Rodolfo)
Siena, Teatro dei Ravvivati, Due oratori
1954
Roma, Teatro Sistina, Rigoletto (Duca)
Roma, Teatro Sistine, Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo)
1955
February, Grosseto, Teatro Comunale, La traviata (Alfredo)
May, San Miniato, Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo)
15 June, Milano, Teatro Nuovo, Madama Butterfly (Pinkerton)
17 July, San Miniato, Tosca (Mario)
20 July, Fucecchio, Arena Garibaldi, Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo)
6 September, Siena, Accademia Chigiana, concerto
8 September, Siena, Teatro dei Ravvivati,La bohème (Rodolfo)
6 October, Firenze, Teatro della Pergola, La bohème (Rodolfo)
30 December, Siena, Teatro dei Ravvivati, Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo)
Milano, Teatro Nuovo, Madama Butterfly (Pinkerton)
1956
17 March, Lucca, Teatro del Giglio, Rigoletto (Duca)
12 July, San Miniato, Rigoletto (Duca)
July, Montecatini Terme, Parco della Torretta, concerto
12 December, Modena, Teatro Comunale, concerto
1957
12 May, Pistoia, Teatro Manzoni, concerto
1958
Roma, Teatro Eliseo, Il tabarro (Luigi)
San José (Costa Rica), Rigoletto (Duca)
San José (Costa Rica), Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo)
Caracas, Rigoletto (Duca)
Caracas, Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo)
1959
Firenze, Chiostro SS. Annunziata, concerto
Napoli, Teatro ?, Conchita (Mateo)
Napoli, Teatro ?, Il malato immaginario
Treviso, Teatro Comunale, Madama Butterfly (Pinkerton)
Genova, Teatro Margherita, La bohème (Rodolfo)
Pisa, Teatro Verdi, Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo)
9 August, Ravenna, Piazzale della Loggetta Lombardesca, Madama Butterfly
(Pinkerton) with Lidia Nerozzi, Franco Mieli, Giannella Borelli, Ezio Boschi,
Edgardo Di Stasio, Corrado Benvenuti
1960
23 June, Firenze, Teatro Comunale, Messa da Requiem (Paisiello) with L. Londi,
Adriana Ricci Materassi, S. Maionica
1961
7 January, Roma, RAI, La guerra (Un uomo) with Olivero, Panni, Parandelli,
Rubeo, Cesari, Freccia
25 March, Milano, RAI, Terra senza passato (Giacomo) with Aureliana Agnitti,
Vera Montanari, Olga Santini, Palmira Vitali Marini, Boris Cannecchi, Nestore
Catalani
11 April, Pisa, Teatro Verdi, Adriana Lecouvreur (L'abate) with Magda Olivero,
Anna Maria Rota, Nicola Filacuridi, Afro Poli, Manno Wolf Ferrari (total 2)
8 May, Firenze, Teatro Comunale, Don Carlo (L'araldo) with C. Rubio, O.
Dominguez, G. Gibin, M. Zanasi, P. Washington, Vittorio Gui (total 4)
25 May, Firenze, Teatro Comunale, Il mercante di Venezia (Baldassare) with
R. Carteri, R. Capecchi, G. Meneguzzer, R. Ongaro, F. Capuana (total 2)
1962
26 May, Firenze, Teatro Comunale, concerto with R. Panerai
Istanbul, Radio, Rigoletto (Duca)
Istanbul, Radio, Cavalleria rusticana (Turiddu)
Pisa, Teatro Verdi, Madama Butterfly (Pinkerton)
1963
23 July, Firenze, Teatro Comunale, Lucia di Lammermoor (Arturo) with R. Scotto,
A. Kraus, S. Bruscantini, P. Washington, Bruno Rigacci (total 4)
Ankara, Andrea Chénier (Chénier)
26 November, Milano, RAI, Pikovaja dama (Master of Ceremonies) with Gianna Galli,
Rena Grazioti, Miriam Pirazzini, Antonio Annaloro, Enzo Sordello, Walter
ALberti, Arturo Basile
28 December, Firenze, Teatro Comunale, Madama Butterfly (Pinkerton) with O.
Fineschi, A. Erede (total 2)
1964
February, Pisa, Teatro Verdi, Madama Butterfly (Pinkerton) with F. Cavalli,
A. Poli, Annovazzi (total 2)
2 May, Firenze, Teatro Verdi, Doktor Faust, with R. Cesari, H. Handt,
G. Loomis, Previtali (total 3)
23 December, Firenze, Teatro Comunale, Gianni Schicchi (Geraldo) with R. Cesari,
R. Ongaro, A. Marchiandi, A. M. Canali, G. Del Vivo, Bartoletti (total 3)
1965
21 January, Firenze, Teatro Comunale, Parsifal (Knappe) with O. Wiener, G.
Stern, E. Wollitz, E. Kozub, Herta Fischer, Lovro von Matačić (total 5)
1 June, Firenze, Teatro Comunale, Billy Budd (Maintop) with A. Rinaldi, M. Picchi,
W. Monachesi, N. Rossi-Lemeni, Paul Strauss (total 3)
15 July, Firenze, Teatro Comunale, Turandot (Altoum) with F. Labò/F. Tagliavini,
Mietta Sighele, Gladys Kuchta, P. Washington, O. De Fabritiis (total 4)
Pistoia, Teatro Manzoni, La bohème (Rodolfo)
1966
9 January, Firenze, Teatro Comunale, Turandot (Altoum) with Liane Synek, Lidia
Malimpietri, Milena Pauli, Bruno Prevedi, Giuseppe Campora, Renato Capecchi,
Paolo Washington, Franco Mannino
31 May, Firenze, Teatro Comunale, Orfeide (by Malipiero) with R. Capecchi,
A. Rinaldi, M. Olivero, Scherchen (total 3)
27 November, Firenze, Teatro Comunale, L'incoronazione di Poppea (Soldato) with C.
Parada, M. Picchi, M. Parutto, B. Christoff, R. Ongaro, Carlo Franci (total 2)
Hamburg, Madama Butterfly (Pinkerton)
Nürnberg, Madama Butterfly (Pinkerton)
Frankfurt, Madama Butterfly (Pinkerton)
Trieste, Teatro Verdi, Judith
1967
Pisa, Teatro Verdi, Otello (Cassio) with Antonietta Cannarile, Gioia Coli,
Pier Miranda-Ferraro, Dino Dondi, Giuseppe Morelli
1972
8 October, Ravenna, Istituto del Nastro Azzurro, concert with Giovanna Santelli,
Marcella Merli, Benito Appoloni, Gianni Del Testa (piano)
| Ottavio Taddei sings | Madama Butterfly: Amore o grillo, with Giorgio Giorgetti
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| Ottavio Taddei sings | Madama Butterfly: Addio, fiorito asil, with Giorgio Giorgetti and Maria Bertolini
|
I wish to thank Juan Dzazópulos for the important corrections/additions. One more time we can see that the Kutsch &
Riemens dictionary contains many mistakes.
Discography
Rondo-lette (a less than well-known US record company)
Madama Butterfly – Excerpts
Anna Maria Frati, soprano; Ottavio Taddei, tenor; Georgio Giorgetti, baritone;
Maria Bertolini, mezzo-soprano
Orchestra and chorus of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Erasmo Ghiglia, conductor; Andrea Morosini, choral director
Amore o grillo – Ancora un passo – Ieri son salita – Bimba, non piangere –
Un bel dì vedremo – Che tua madre – Tutti i fiori – Waiting Music –
Trio – Addio, fiorito asil – Tu, tu, piccolo Iddio
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