Francesc Viñas

I would like to thank Thomas Silverbörg for the recording (Africaine).

Better known in Hispanicized form as Francisco Viñas, or Italianized as Francesco Vignas, his real Catalan name was Francesc Viñas. He was born into a poor family and had to earn money from childhood; he worked, for instance, as a shepherd, or in a textile mill. In 1879, he moved to Barcelona, where he worked in a candle factory, but also took voice lessons, both privately and at the conservatory of the Liceu.

He quit his factory job in 1887, and made his debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in 1888 as Lohengrin, while continuing to study voice. Next, he appeared in Valencia: in Mefistofele, and again as Lohengrin – in 18 performances on 18 consecutive evenings! That was his breakthrough. Soon after, in 1889 already, he made his debut at La Scala (as Lohengrin of course); the San Carlo in Naples, the Carlo Felice in Genova and Covent Garden in London followed. His 1892 London success was so phenomenal that Queen Victoria had two performances with Viñas arranged at Windsor Castle for herself and her court: L'amico Fritz and Cavalleria rusticana, both conducted by Mascagni himself.

After singing a whole lot at all important theaters throughout Italy, Viñas set sail for America in 1894, and made his Met debut as Turiddu. In 1895, he sang at the Teatro Real in Madrid for the first time (debut role: Lohengrin), and in 1896, he returned to Naples in triumph, once more as Lohengrin.

The major part of his career was spent at various theaters in Italy, plus in Madrid and Valencia. In 1903, he returned to the Liceu and sang almost his entire repertory there. From 1905, he also sang a lot in Lisbon, and appeared at the Colón in Buenos Aires as well as in Sevilla.

Perhaps the greatest highlight was still in stock for him towards the end of his career: on 31 December 1913, he sang Parsifal at the Liceu, in the very first legitimate performance anywhere outside Bayreuth, after the blocking period following Wagner's death was over; a few months ahead, Viñas even traveled to Bayreuth, and won Wagner's son-in-law Franz Beidler as the conductor for the Liceu Parsifal. The performance was a triumph (by the way, it lasted until 5 a.m.!).

Viñas' last stage appearance came in 1916 (Tannhäuser at the Teatro Real in Madrid). His last appearance ever was a concert with scenes from Joan Manén's opera Acté at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona in 1918.

Beyond opera, Viñas engaged in organic fruit tree cultivation and fostered the emergence of agricultural co-operatives. Not least, he wrote a book on vocal technique.

Reference: the fantastic website Interprets Catalans Historics

Reference: Luigi De Gregori, Francisco Viñas. El gran tenor español fundador de la "Liga defensa del árbol frutal", Barcelona 1935

Reference: The Record Collector, volume 34, July 1989

Reference: Francisco Viñas, El arte del canto. Datos históricos, consejos y normas para educar la voz, Barcelona 1932