Fernando Valero

I would like to thank Thomas Silverbörg for the recording.

He was called "il piccolo Gayarre" for the resemblance of his voice with that of the legendary Spanish 19th century tenor, and he had actually taken voice lessons with Gayarre's teacher Melchor Vidal (though Vidal was not his primary teacher).

Valero grew up in Córdoba and studied law in Granada. While also comtemplating to become a painter, he had enough vocal talent to sing in two zarzuelas already as an amateur; he was heard by Enrico Tamberlick, who convinced him to study voice. And so Valero did, in Granada and Madrid (among others with Tamberlick himself).

He made his professional debut at the Teatro Real in Madrid on 4 February 1878, in the secondary part of Narco in Poliuto. After a few further appearances at the Real, he was hired by the Teatro de la Comedia for main roles, and made his debut there as Ernesto in May 1878. In November of the same year, he was already back at the Teatro Real, this time as a first tenor; he stayed – with guest appearances in Sevilla, Valencia, Granada and at the Liceu in Barcelona – until moving to Milano for further studies in 1881.

He made his Italian debut, still in 1881, at the Teatro Brunetti in Bologna, and appeared also at the Carcano and the Dal Verme in Milano, as well as in Florence and Venice. In 1882, he sang in Buenos Aires, at the Teatro Colón (and married a Russian soprano colleague there). 1883 earned him success at La Scala in Milano, where he continued to have great success until 1895. In winter 1883/84, he sang in St. Petersburg, which was his definitive international breakthrough – Vienna, Berlin, Lisbon, Naples, Rome and Genova followed shortly, and he also returned to Venice and Florence, and very regularly to the Teatro Real and the Gran Teatre del Liceu. In 1890, he made his London and Palermo debuts, and in late 1891, his Metropolitan Opera debut; he stayed for four and a half months, singing both at the Met proper and on Met tours to Chicago, Boston or Philadelphia, a total of 28 performances.

He returned to Spain in 1892, and to Italy in 1893. In 1897, he caught tuberculosis, and had to pause his career for a while. After he resumed it, success was not quite what it had been before. In 1904, he retired to St. Petersburg, where he taught voice. He died after surgery in a Moscow hospital.

Valero's repertory ranged from Nadir to Don José, from Raoul to Lohengrin, from Duca to Turiddu; the latter was his most famous role.

Reference

G&T, London, 16 June 1903
3922R	Dormi pure (Scuderi)					52716
3923R	Rigoletto (Verdi): La donna è mobile			unpublished
3924R	Cavalleria rusticana (Mascagni): O Lola			52717
3925b	Cavalleria rusticana (Mascagni): Viva il vino		52718
3926R	El amor es la vida (Espinosa de los Monteros)		52719

G&T, London, 15 July 1903
4041R	Cavalleria rusticana (Mascagni): O Lola			unpublished
4042R	Rigoletto (Verdi): La donna è mobile			unpublished

G&T, Milano, about November 1903
Con279	En la soledad (composer?)				unpublished
Con280	Rigoletto (Verdi): La donna è mobile			52009
Con672	Mattinata (Tosti)					052022