Giovanni Zenatello
Many thanks to Davide Denti for the Malta picture.
I wish to thank Thomas Silverbörg for the above picture and recordings. 
In 1902, he made his Scala debut, and quickly developed into one of the world's leading tenors. His repertory ranged from
Alfredo to Otello, his most important role by far (he sang it more than 500 times!). At La Scala, he created Init in Oceana
by Antonio Smareglia (22 January 1903), Vassili in Siberia (19 December 1903), Pinkerton (17 February 1904, a failure),
Aligi in La figlia di Iorio by Franchetti (29 March 1906) and Lionetto Ricci in Cilea's Gloria (15 April 1907).
From 1905, he was a regular guest at Covent Garden, and from 1907, he sang primarily in the US (Boston, Philadelphia), though
never at the Met proper, and just a few performances for the Met company on a 1909 tour, where he replaced Enrico Caruso, who had had recent surgery.
In 1913, Zenatello was the driving force behind the institution of the opera festival at the Arena di Verona (as whose impresario
he served much later, after WWII, where he boosted the careers of both Maria Callas and Richard Tucker by giving them prominent roles).
After 1928, his performances became rare, and he retired in 1934, to become a teacher, numbering Lily Pons and Nino Martini among his students.
From 1916 to her 1943 death, his partner in life (and often also on stage) was the Spanish mezzosoprano Maria Gay. For those who
have a penchant for meaningless formalities, Zenatello and Gay were never married, which was certainly remarkably modern for
people of their generation.
Reference 1, reference 2, reference 3: Kutsch & Riemens
Pagliacci (Silvio) – Belluno, April 1898 Cavalleria rusticana (Alfio) – Belluno, April 1898 Mignon (Laerte) – Napoli, January 1899 Pagliacci (Tonio) – Napoli, 1899 Pagliacci (Canio) – Napoli, March 1899 Il trovatore – Napoli, June 1899 Faust – Napoli, 29 July 1899 Lucia di Lammermoor – Napoli, 11 August 1899 Il falconiere – Catania, 3 September 1899 Cavalleria rusticana – Catania, 1899 Carmen – Catania, 1899 La bohème – Corato, 1900 La forza del destino – Corato, 1900 Un ballo in maschera – Cosenza, spring 1900 Rigoletto – Cosenza, spring 1900 Il violino di Cremona – Napoli, 2 June 1900 I pescatori di perle – Napoli, 27 October 1900 La traviata – Napoli, 7 November 1900 Aida – Siracusa, November 1900 Ruy Blas – Malta, 10 January 1901 Agnese Visconti – Malta, February 1901 Andrea Chénier – Suzarra, 12? August 1901 Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg – Lisboa, 5? February 1902 Iris – Palermo, 22 February 1902 Manon Lescaut – Rio de Janeiro, 11 August 1902 Mefistofele – Rio de Janeiro, 13 August 1902 Tosca – Rio de Janeiro, 17 September 1902 Il Guarany – Rio de Janeiro, 25 September 1902 La damnation de Faust – Milano, 22 December 1902 Oceana – Milano, 22 January 1903 Siberia – Milano, 19 December 1903 Germania – Milano, 9 February 1903 Madama Butterfly – Milano, 17 February 1903 Les huguenots – Rio de Janeiro, 27 September 1904 Adriana Lecouvreur – Roma, 18 February 1905 La cabrera – Roma, 12 March 1905 Manuel Menendez – Roma, 12 March 1905 Edgar – Buenos Aires, 8 July 1905 Loreley – Buenos Aires, 23 July 1905 Vita bretone – Buenos Aires, 15 August 1905 Pikovaja dama – Milano, 18 Janury 1906 La figlia di Jorio – Milano, 22 April 1906 Fedora – London, 5 November 1906 La Gioconda – Milano, 15 January 1907 Gloria – Milano, 15 April 1907 Samson et Dalila – Buenos Aires, 14 July 1907 Otello – London, 1 July 1908 Tess – London, 14 July 1909 La fanciulla del West – Boston, 17 Janury 1912 I gioielli della madonna – Philadelphia, 23 November 1912 Louise – Boston, 4 January 1913 Masaniello – Chicago, 4 October 1915 L'amore dei tre re – Boston, 15 November 1915 I wish to thank Tom Kaufman for giving me access to his unpublished Zenatello chronology. Nina Zenatello-Consolaro: "Giovanni Zenatello, tenore", Nova Stampa, Verona, 1976. |
