Saverio Bocardi

His real name was Javier Bojart – he only used it in his native Murcia, where he appeared at least three times at the Teatro Romea: on 26 April 1901, as a beginner, in Marina, a performance given to his benefit, so as to collect funds for him to further his studies in Italy. In May 1913, in a mixed Wagner concert, where he sang "Winterstürme". And in December 1914, in another mixed concert and again to his own benefit, where he sang "In fernem Land". Newspaper critics were fond of the 1901 Marina; "El Correo de Levante" wrote his voice had a pleasant timbre, although it wasn't large, and the "Heraldo de Murcia" lauded his vocal talents and predicted that he could become a very acceptable tenor after thorough study.

Outside Murcia, he appeared as Saverio Bocardi, or mostly just as Señor Bocardi. In the 1908/09 season he was, very surprisingly, on the roster of the Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona (together with luminaries like Giuseppe Anselmi, Francisco Viñas, Emilio De Marchi, Mattia Battistini, Giuseppe Kaschmann, Eugenio Giraldoni or Hariclea Darclée). Bocardi appeared there in Emporium, an opera by the Catalan composer Enric Morera, on 18 January 1909; he was a complete failure, and there was no applause for him in the whole theater. A review chides his "complete lack of stage experience", which raises the question what he did from 1901 to 1909, other than probably taking voice lessons in Italy. Anyway, his Liceu career seems to have been limited to that single evening...

He must then have moved to London, where he sang at a society event presided by the Italian ambassador, Guglielmo Imperiali di Francavilla; London is also where most of his recordings were made for Edison Bell/Winner/Millophone and Stella/Victory/Kalliope in 1911 and 1912 (a few followed in Paris in 1913/14 for Aérophone).

One of the mysteries of this obscure tenor is why he would record selections (like "Salve, dimora", "Spirto gentil" or "Che gelida manina") that require a good top when he had none at all; but he is equally awful beyond the acuti, with his clumsy phrasing, with his constant (and mostly fruitless) search of vocal support, and with his getting lost in the scores.