Lorenzo Abruñedo
I wish to thank J. Medina for providing this recording.
He was a foundryman, and in his spare time an extra for various opera companies that came to Oviedo. There, his
beautiful voice and his sharp ear were noted (he knew every musical selection by heart after hearing it just once). As a result,
he went to Barcelona and then to Valencia and Granada for vocal studies, while always having to do work in a bread-and-butter-job.
Finally, he was accepted at the Madrid conservatory, until completing his studies in Milano.
Beyond the places where he made his numerous role debuts (see repertory list below), he appeared also in Brescia, Bologna,
Genova, Paris (Théâtre des Champs-Élysées), Caracas (with particular success), Porto, Boston,
Philadelphia and throughout Spain (Valladolid, Oviedo, Alicante, Zaragoza, Cóordoba, Murcia, Cartagena, Málaga,
Jerez).
In Italy, he wrote his name Abrugnedo so as to make sure it was correctly pronounced. In Spain, he was very successful except for
Madrid, where he was never a particular favorite.
In later years, he had his own touring opera company, also beyond his farewell from the stage in 1893. In concert, he sang up to
his death; in fact, he was in Madrid for a concert, but it was very cold, and he had no money to buy warm clothes, so he
contracted pneumonia and died before that concert could take place.
Of his many cylinder recordings, six are known to still exist.
Reference 1, reference 2, reference 3: Kutsch & Riemens
La sonnambula – Cagliari, Teatro Cerruti, 8 August 1864 Ernani – Mantova, Teatro Andreini, 25 December 1864 Lucia di Lammermoor – Mantova, Teatro Andreini, January 1865 Gemma di Vergy – Mantova, Teatro Andreini, 11 February 1865 Un ballo in maschera – Madrid, Teatro Real, 8 January 1866 Attila – Milano, Scala, 22 March 1867 La favorite – Senigallia, Teatro Comunale, 12 July 1867 Saffo – Lucca, Teatro del Giglio, August 1867 Maria di Rohan – Lucca, Teatro del Giglio, 7 September 1867 Norma – Bologna, Teatro Comunale, 4 December 1867 Celinda (by Petrella) – Rimini, Teatro Nuovo, 26 December 1868 Vittor Pisani (by Achille Peri) – Rimini, Teatro Nuovo, January 1869 Lucrezia Borgia – Zagreb, Gornjogradsko kazalište, April 1869 Jone – Zagreb, Gornjogradsko kazalište, May 1869 Bianca de' Rossi (by Amadei) – Ancona, Teatro delle Muse, October 1869 Nabucco – Messina, Teatro Vittorio Emanuele, 13 March 1870 La muette de Portici – Messina, Teatro Vittorio Emanuele, 22 March 1870 Rigoletto – Taganrog, Teatro Italiano, November 1870 Faust – Taganrog, Teatro Italiano, December 1870 I vespri siciliani – Taganrog, Teatro Italiano, early 1871 Il trovatore – Kharkiv, 28? April 1871 L'Africaine – New York, Academy, 30 September 1872 La forza del destino – Firenze, Teatro della Pergola, 31 January 1874 I goti (by Gobatti) – Firenze, Teatro della Pergola, 24 March 1874 Mariulizza (by Cortesi) – Firenze, Teatro della Pergola, 23 April 1874 La traviata – Lisboa, Teatro São Carlos, 24 November 1874 La Juive – Lisboa, Teatro São Carlos, 19 December 1874 Mignon – Palermo, Teatro Bellini, 28 February 1875 Dom Sébastien – Bergamo, Teatro Donizetti, 19 August 1875 Diana di Chaverny (by Sangiorgi) – Roma, Teatro Argentina, November 1875 Aida – Barcelona, Teatre Principal, 16 April 1876 Poliuto – Havana, Teatro Payret, 28 February 1877 Robert le diable – Havana, Teatro Payret, 25 March 1877 Francesca da Rimini (by Antonio Cagnoni, world premiere) – Torino, Teatro Regio, 19 February 1878 Les huguenots – Sevilla, Teatro San Fernando, 2 December 1888 I wish to thank Tom Kaufman for having put his unpublished chronology of Abruñedo at my disposal. Hugens y Acosta
Puerto y Novella, Valencia, cylinders, about 1898–1901 Those cylinders sold for 13 pesetas per solo and 15 pesetas per duet. I wish to thank Antonio Massísimo for providing this information. |
