Giacomo Aragall

I wish to thank Daniele Godor for the picture.

I wish to thank Thomas Silverbörg for the picture.

I would like to thank Thomas Silverbörg for the recordings.

The basic facts about Aragall are easily found everywhere on the web: his real name is Jaume Aragall i Garriga, he was so successful as a track and field athlete that he was to represent Spain at the Olympic Games – but decided, at age 20, to study voice instead, first in Barcelona with Francesc Puig (who later also taught José Carreras), then in Milano. He made his Italian debut at La Fenice in Venice in 1963 as Gaston in Jérusalem, was almost immediately hired by La Scala to sing Amico Fritz, and then embarked on a world career that led him to most every important opera house and festival on this planet, for more than 35 years. He was originally a belcanto specialist; the most famous part of his later years was Cavaradossi.

Aragall was a great favorite with the ladies, not only as a singer; he was definitely a star... and yet he was a deeply unhappy person. He suffered terribly from depression, to the extent of sometimes being unable to leave the house for months on end. Although his voice was certainly exceptional (and his early recordings beautiful, like the ones above), I've never been crazy about his technique, which led to early problems with the top register, and later to quite excessive pushing. But the really remarkable thing about Aragall was his personality: a bright, modest and incredibly likeable man, he spoke about both his psychological and vocal problems with a frankness unheard of from any other singer (let alone a world star). He was absolutely forthright about not having a high C anymore and hence needing to transpose where a C would be required, and he told about it in a refreshingly nice way, saying that he was glad to have had a high C for many years, and that he accepted that the time was over now. In the same style, he would also talk about his depression. He was, quite surprisingly for a clear-timbred tenor, a really heavy smoker, unable to bear up without a cigarette for more than about one hour. He was also a good actor, which helped greatly when, in his later years, the voice was in less than splendid condition.

David Sugden: Jaume Aragall en escena, Lleida 2000