Francesco Dominici
Inspite of his Italianate name, Francesco Dominici was a Spanish-Cuban singer. He was born in La Habana (Cuba) on 28 November 1883. His real name was Francisco Fernández Dominicis. He was the son of José Fernández Goizueta from Vitoria (Álava), Spain, and Vicenta Dominicis Mendoza from La Habana (Cuba). He was very fond of music from childhood, but the first time he was on stage was in 1902 as a member of the chorus in the Spanish opera Marina (by Emilio Arrieta). After singing as "aficionado" in several zarzuelas, he started to study singing seriously with the Spanish bass Pablo Meroles, who liked his voice so much that accepted to teach him without receiving any payment for it. After four years, he made his debut as a soloist singing the epilogue from Mefistofele on 22 November 1906 at the Conservatorio de Música y Declamación de La Habana. He worked for an important bank of La Habana and his family imposed on him that he should keep on working. Anyway, from 1906 to 1912 he sang frequently in private performances and concerts with very warm reception. His professional debut took place at the Teatro Payret in La Habana on 22 January 1912 as Cavaradossi in Tosca, and was acclaimed by public and critics. His friends tried to obtain either a governement or a town hall scholarship for him to go to study in Europe, but without success. Therefore, the young Fernández Dominicis left the security of his bank employment, and with the money obtained from his appearances in Tosca and La bohème and some more concerts, he traveled to Italy. He arrived in Italy on 8 September 1913 and started to study with Gabriele Sibella, the composer and husband of Spanish soprano Graziella Pareto. Like so many other artists, he decided to italianize his name, becoming Francesco Dominici. His debut in Italy took place on 3 January 1914 at the Teatro Coccia in Novara, as Fernando in La favorite with Emma Barsanti (Leonora), Oddo Galeotti (Alfonso), Carlo Melocchi (Baltasar) and conductor Piero Fabbroni. He sang 13 performances of that opera with success. In December 1914, he sang Alfredo in La traviata at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples with Ebe Boccolini-Zacconi, Umberto Michelli and conductor Vittorio Gui. He obtained favourable reviews from critics and was offered a contract to appear in other roles, like Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Olga Morano and Mario Sammarco; des Grieux in Manon with Ebe Boccolini-Zacconi; Rodolfo in La bohème with Ebe Boccolini-Zacconi (Mimì) and Olga Morano (Musetta); and the Duke in Rigoletto with Ines Maria Ferraris and Alfredo Gandolfi.
On 7 September 1915, he appeared at the Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo as Tonio in La fille du régiment with Elvira de Hidalgo,
Vincenzo Bettoni and Costantino Thos, Arturo Vigna conducting. Later he sang the same role at the Teatro Rossini in Venice, where he also sang
Cavaradossi in
He started 1916 singing Manon, La fille du régiment and La bohème at the Teatro Garibaldi in Padova. At the
Politeama Genovese he sang Almaviva for the centenary of Il barbiere di Siviglia with Graziella Pareto, Armand Crabbé, Gaudio
Mansueto and Antonio Pini-Corsi under the baton of Tullio Serafin. It was an Italian Red Cross benefit. On 9 May 1916, he sang at the Politeama
Regina Margherita of Cagliari, again Il barbiere with Elvira de Hidalgo, Ernesto Badini, Luciano Donaggio, Gaetano Rebonato, and the
conductor was Pietro Mascagni. Later he sang the opera at the Teatro Carcano in Milano with the Mexican mezzosoprano Fanny Anitúa as
Rosina and Riccardo Stracciari as Figaro, conductor Luigi Mancinelli. He sang in several benefit concerts and performances for the wounded
soldiers, among them the second act of Don Pasquale with the Scala orchestra conducted by Serafin. On 4 October 1916, he was chosen to
sing Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, with Pareto, Stracciari, Vanni-Marcoux, Azzolini and conductor
Giuseppe Podestà. Later he sang the same opera with the same artistas in Lyon. He had already sung more than 100 performances of the role
of Almaviva, and was the only Cuban singer to have sung at the Paris Opéra-Comique.
Giacomo Puccini entrusted him with the role of Prunier in the world premiere of La rondine in Monte Carlo on 27 March 1917. The other
members of the cast were Gilda Dalla Rizza (Magda), Tito Schipa (Ruggero), Ines Maria Ferraris (Lisette), Gustave Huberdeau (Rambaldo), and the
conductor was Gino Marinuzzi. There were two more performances on 1 and 8 April. Besides the honour of singing in this first performance of a
Puccini opera, it was a very special moment in his life since he met an Italian ballerina, Anna Mariani Ragio (born in La Spezia in 1891). They
fell in love and later got married (in 1923).
Dominici repeated his success as Prunier singing the role in the Italian premiere of La rondine at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna on
2 June 1917, with Linda Cannetti, Toti Dal Monte, Aureliano Pertile and Ettore Panizza. Later he sang La rondine at the following
theaters: Donizetti in Bergamo, with Linda Cannetti, Eliza Marchini and Alesandro Dolci; Dal Verme in Milan, with Maria Farnetti, Toti Dal
Monte and Gennaro Barra; Chiarella in Torino, with Ida Quaiatti, Elisa Marchini and Alessandro Dolci; and Politeama Genovese in Genova, with
Carmen Toschi, Ines Cesari and Aureliano Pertile.
During 1918, he sang in all the Italian performances of La rondine. The composer, Giacomo Puccini, gave him the musical score of the
opera as a present, and dedicated it "To my first and I would say unique Prunier, Francesco Dominici. As as souvenir of Giacomo Puccini".
In 1918, he made his debut at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 10 January, singing the first of seven performances of La rondine, conducted
by Ettore Panizza, with Gilda Dalla Rizza, Nera Marmora and Beniamino Gigli. Later he sang two performances as Rodolfo in "La bohème"
(16 January and 13 February) with Alice Zeppilli (Mimì), Luigia Pieroni (Musetta), Arturo Romboli (Marcello), Attilio Muzio (Schaunard)
and Carlo Melocchi (Colline). From 22 January to 20 February, still at the Teatro Costanzi, he appeared as Fenton in Falstaff, with
Francesco Maria Bonini (Falstaff), Gilda Dalla Rizza/Alice Zeppilli (Alice), Benvenuto Franci (Ford), Nera Marmora (Nannetta), Ettore Bonzi
(Bardolfo), Carlo Melocchi (Pistola), Matilde Blanco Sadún (Mrs. Quickly), Ida Ferrero (Meg) and Gaetano Pini-Corsi (Dottor Cajus) The
orchestra was conducted by Ettore Panizza. At the Teatro Chiarella in Torino, he sang Ernesto in Don Pasquale; with Toti Dal Monte
(Norina), Giuseppe Kaschmann (Don Pasquale) and Umberto Sartori (Malatesta). The conductor was Federico Del Cupolo. At the Teatro Massimo in
Catania, he sang the role of Elvino in La sonnambula, with Maria Perosio (Amina). On 19 June 1918, he sang again Tonio in La fille du
régiment, with Elvira de Hidalgo (Maria), Renata Pezzati (Marquise) and Vincenzo Bettoni (Sulpice) at the Politeama Genovese, where
he also sang Il barbiere di Siviglia. On 3 November 1918 at the Teatro Sociale in Treviso, he sang Filipeto in I quattro rusteghi
by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, with Salvatore Baccaloni (Lunardo), Bianca Rossi-Lenzi (Marina), Anna Sassone-Soster (Lucieta), Giulia Tess (Felice),
Luigi Cilla (Riccardo), Enrica Carabelli (Margarita) and Aristide Baracchi (Maurizio). The conductor was Giacomo Armani.
The year 1919, he started at the Teatro Massimo in Catania, singing Nadir in Les pêcheurs de perles by Bizet, with Maria Perosio
(Leila). Later, he and Perosio sang there in Il barbiere di Siviglia and La fille du régiment. He repeated the latter opera
in La Spezia at the Politeama Duca di Genova, and returned to the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, this time as Ernesto in Don Pasquale.
In 1920, he sang at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova: Tonio in La fille du régiment with Olga Simzis (Maria). That year, he also
sang at the Sociale (Como), del Popolo (Milan) and Politeama Livornese (Livorno). On 28 September 1920, he sang for the first time the role of
Lucio in Anima allegra, an opera by Franco Vittadini, with Anna Sassone-Soster as Consuelo and Piero Fabbroni as conductor, at the Teatro
Fraschini in Pavia.
In 1921, he sang what I assume was his last role as "primo tenore", Filipeto in I quattro rusteghi with Anna Sassone-Soster (Lucieta),
Elisa Marchini (Marina), Carlo Rossi (Maurizio), Ugo Canetti (Simon) and Luigi Cilla (Riccardo). Piero Fabbroni was the conductor. From 2 April
to 29 May, he sang that production at the following Italian theaters: Comunale in Ferrara; Comunale in Bologna; Regio in Parma; Ponchielli in
Cremona; Municipale in Piacenza; Donizetti in Bergamo; Verdi in Padova; De Paoli in Rovigo; Garibaldi in Treviso; Filarmonico in Verona; Sociale
in Belluno; Sociale in Udine; Verdi in Gorizia; La Fenice and Malibran in Venice; and Grande in Brescia.
Once the tour was over, he was summoned by Angelo Scandiani, general director of the Teatro alla Scala, who offered a contract for the 1921/22
season. It included to sing at the reopening of the theatre after the First World War. He sang nine performances as Dottor Cajus in
Falstaff. The first one and inauguration of the season was on 26 December 1921. The other singers in the cast were: Mariano Stabile
(Falstaff), Ernesto Badini (Ford), Alessio De Paolis (Fenton), Gaudio Mansueto (Pistola), Giuseppe Nessi (Bardolfo), Linda Cannetti (Alice), Nera
Marmora (Nannetta), Elvira Casazza (Mrs. Quickly) and Mita Vasari (Meg). Conductor was Arturo Toscanini.
On 16 February 1922 at La Scala, he sang the first of 14 performances of Boris Godunov in the role of Prince Shujskij, with Sigismondo
Zalewski and Vanni-Marcoux (Boris), Cesira Ferrari (Ksenija), Luisa Bertana (Fjodor), Gaudio Mansueto and Ezio Pinza (Pimen), Nino Piccaluga and
Aureliano Pertile (Grigorij), Elvira Casazza (Marina), Umberto Di Lelio (Varlaam), Giuseppe Nessi (Misail), Mita Vasari (Innkeeper) and
Aristodemo Bregola (Simpleton). Conductor was again Arturo Toscanini. From 23 April 1922, he sang the role of David in the seven performances of
Meistersinger with Marcel Journet (Hans Sachs), Ezio Pinza (Pogner), Ernesto Badini (Beckmesser), Juanita Caracciolo and Eva Didur
(Eva), Anna Gramegna (Magdalene) and Francesco Merli (Walther von Stolzing). Conductor: Toscanini. On 29 April and again at La Scala, he sang
the role of Filipeto in the three performances of "I quattor rusteghi with Gaetano Azzolini (Lunardo), Guerrina Fabbri (Margherita), Anna
Sassone-Soster (Lucieta), Tatiana Menotti (Marina), Attilio Muzio (Maurizio), Abele Carnevali (Cancian), Carlo Scattola (Simone), Maria Labia
(Felice) and Luigi Cilla (Riccardo). The conductor was Ettore Panizza.
Francesco Dominici returned to La Scala for the next season and sang the roles of Dottor Cajus in Falstaff, the Dancing Master in
Manon Lescaut, David in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Shujskij in Boris Godunov, Despréaux in Madame
Sans-Gêne, Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte and Filipeto in I quattro rusteghi.
In his third season at La Scala, he sang a Jew in Salome, a "compagno" in I compagnacci by Primo Riccitelli, Gastone in La
traviata. To sing the latter role, he demanded that his name be changed in Domenico Franchini on the playbill, because he thought it was a
very small role. Toscanini told him: "There are no small or big parts. The secret is to sing them well." After that, Dominici had no problem to
accept any role he was offered. That season he also sang Dottor Cajus, Shujskij and David.
On 20 December 1923, he married the ballerina Anna Mariani, who rennounced to her career and dedicated her time to teaching.
In his fourth season at La Scala he sang, besides his usual parts, the role of Trinca in the premiere of Giordano's La cena delle beffe,
with Carmen Melis, Hipólito Lázaro and Benvenuto Franci in the main roles. He also sang the role of Almoro in Le donne
curiose by Wolf-Ferrari and in Louise by Charpentier.
He started his fifth season at La Scala singing the role of Count Riccardo in I quattro rusteghi (not the usual Filipeto of previous
years). After some performances of Meistersinger (David), he was in the cast of the world premiere of Turandot on 25 April 1926.
He sang the role of Emperor Altoum, with Rosa Raisa (Turandot), Maria Zamboni (Liù), Miguel Fleta and Franco Lo Giudice (Calaf), Giacomo
Rimini (Ping), Giuseppe Nessi (Pong), Emilio Venturini (Pang), Carlo Walter (Timur), Aristide Baracchi (Mandarin). The conductor was Arturo
Toscanini. Later, Dominici sang Dottor Cajus and the Japanese Messenger in Solovej (The nightingale) by Igor Stravinsky. On 9 September
1926, he sang in the first performance of Turandot at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. This time, his role was Pong.
He sang again and for the last time at La Scala in the 1926-1927 season, in the 14 performances of Turandot from 24 November 1926 onwards.
The role was Altoum. After five seasons at La Scala, he decided to sing at other theaters. On 3 March 1927, he was in the premiere of the opera
Basi e bote by Riccardo Pick-Mangiagalli (libretto by Arrigo Boito). The performances were at the Teatro Argentina in Rome and he sang
the role of Tartaglia. He also sang the role of "Un medico" in the first performance of La fata Malerba, an opera by Vittorio Gui, on 28
September 1927.
In Torino, he appeared in the non-singing character of Vespone in La serva padrona, and on 19 July 1928 sang Beppe on San Marco Square in
Venice, in an open-air performance of Pagliacci with Rosetta Pampanini, Aureliano Pertile and Carlo Galeffi, Pietro Mascagni conducting.
The same year, in September, he sang Shujskij in Boris Godunov at the Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo. Later he sang the same work in
Bologna.
He returned to La Scala in 1929 for the tour they made to Berlin.
Then he made the greatest mistake of his life. He decided to return to Cuba, thinking (wrongly) that things had changed in his country. He left
Italy after 17 years. He had been in the world premieres of nine operas and had sung in the most important theaters, with a repertoire of 46
works, as a "primo tenore" and as a "comprimario". He was in excellent vocal condition and could have kept singing for many years, being a
serious artist appreciated by conductors and colleagues.
On 24 May 1930, Francesco Dominici and his wife arrived in La Habana, and after some public homages, honour medals and diplomas, his penuries
started. His voice was still heard in some concerts and celebrations. And nothing more. He tried to obtain a post as a singing teacher at La
Habana's National Conservatory; but others, with lesser merits but better connections, obtained it. He just made a living teaching singing
privately. He worked as a stage director and repetiteur. Governments and dictators changed, but his situation did not change.
He had a plan of publishing his memoirs under the title "Lo que yo he hecho allá y lo que me han hecho aquí" (What I have done
there and what they have done to me here), but the project remained unfinished.
Francesco Dominici died in La Habana on 3 February 1968, at 84 years old. He was survived by his beloved wife, who died on 11 October 1976.
Juan Dzázopulos, January 2008
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