Francesco Merli - O muto asil
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- čas přidán 22. 06. 2016
- Francesco Merli (1887-1976) was born into a family of humble means on a farm just outside Milan. The young man began his working life as a school janitor but always displayed a talent for singing. Merli had a few scattered voice lessons over the years, but never completely took his singing seriously. However, in June of 1913, the Milan City Council sponsored a concert at the Teatro dal Verme, intended to encourage musical education in the city’s schools. As a school janitor who was popular with students, Merli was asked to participate in the program. With two other vocalists, he sang the trio from Verdi’s I Lombardi, impressing all in attendance with his powerful voice. So impressed was the city council, that they promoted Merli from school janitor to janitor of the municipal offices!
Perhaps the honor of sweeping floors at Milan’s government buildings was not quite the result Merli was expecting, for he began to turn his attentions more and more to singing. When famed conductor and impresario Cleofante Campanini organized an international competition for young singers in Parma the following year, Merli entered. He took first prize in the division for dramatic tenors and second prize overall. Coincidentally, the top prize was awarded to a fledgling tenor from Recanati…Beniamino Gigli. Merli’s rise to fame was not a smooth one, however. At the time of the aforementioned competition, he was essentially a natural singer with no real technique. A sponsor (Tullio Serafin’s brother) arranged for a stipend to be provided that would allow Merli to take a one year leave of absence from his city janitorial duties. Arrangements were also made to pay for the young tenor’s vocal studies. However, this good fortune came to a grinding halt when Merli was conscripted into the Italian Army. He continued vocalizing in the trenches and, according to an entry in his diary, entertained both his comrades and the enemy Austrian soldiers while singing “Cielo e mar” at the front lines!
Merli came through the war unscathed and made his debut toward the end of 1916 in the small role of Alvaro in La Scala’s production of Spontini’s Fernand Cortez. In the fall of 1918, he made a second debut at La Scala, this time in the more substantial role of Elisero in Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto. This was the beginning of a long association with this prestigious theater. It also marked the start of a major international career for the tenor. Over the course of the next thirty years, Merli appeared in the major theaters of Verona, Florence, Palermo, Naples, Padua, Trieste, Rome (singing Calaf in the Roman premiere of Turandot), London (he was also Covent Garden’s first Calaf), Sydney (yes, he was the first Calaf there, too), Melbourne, Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen, Sao Paolo, Buenos Aires and New York. His Met debut came on March 2, 1932 as Radames in Aïda. However, after singing only eight performances of four operas, including Lucia di Lammermoor, Simon Boccanegra and Madama Butterfly (as well as a pair of concerts), Merli was taken ill and had to return to Italy. Sadly, he never again returned to the U.S.
Merli’s repertoire was vast, encompassing over 40 roles in such works as Pagliacci, Cavalleria Rusticana, Siberia, Andrea Chénier, La Fanciulla del West, Manon Lescaut, Turandot, La Gioconda, Carmen, Samson et Dalila, Lohengrin, Die Meistersinger, Fidelio, La Forza del Destino, Ernani, I Lombardi, Il Trovatore and, what was considered his greatest triumph, Otello. He sang nearly 300 performances as the Moor, culminating in a final Otello in Trieste in 1946. The veteran tenor retired two years later and devoted himself to teaching during the final three decades of his life. Merli passed away in Milan in December of 1976, just six weeks shy of his 90th birthday.
Francesco Merli’s recorded legacy, preserved on scores of discs made for Columbia between 1925 and 1937, includes a complete recording of Il Trovatore and the very first complete recording of Turandot. These recordings reveal a sturdy, well balanced dramatic tenor, capable of explosive top notes as well as some truly delicate singing. Here, Merli sings "O muto asil" from Rossini's Guglielmo Tell. This recording was made in Milan for Columbia on November 14, 1930. - Hudba
An unusual high register for a dramatic tenor, combined with vibrato. The old good school of singing.
Thank you for the post.
He has everything, such a grand artist!!
Merli, Renato Zanelli, & Antonio Cortis were perhaps the 3 best Spinto tenors, vocally, during the mid 1920s through the 1930s in Europe. Merli in particular was an outstanding OTELLO unfairly overshadowed by Martinelli who started singing this role past his vocal prime despite a memorable interpretation. Merli had a fine upper extension & a beautiful sound as did his Spanish counterpart Cortis & Zanelli remains, IMO, the best example I know of an artist who made splendid recordings as both baritone & tenor. In his short career as a tenor (he died of an advanced Kidney condition at only 43 years of age) Zanelli also was an acclaimed OTELLO.
All 3 of these artists are becoming even more familiar these days thanks to You Tube.
SUBLIME .
Tenore immenso con una sicurezza vocale ormai scomparsa...
Adoro Francesco! Otello e Arnoldo insieme!!!
Tenore semplicemente magnifico.
con un vibrato persistente
Colpa della registrazione.
Che bravoooooo che bravooooooooo stupendo
Francesco Merli è un vero fuoriclasse!!! Dovendo fare la solita antipatica classifica diciamo che sicuramente è sul podio e direi in lizza x la medaglia d oro
Grazie di ❤👍per la condivisione
Just great! What a gem!
One cannot describe this with human words. So great must suffice :) let us listen with our hearts :)
¡¡Grande!!
Posso solo dire che a me ricorda più Caruso e non Lauri Volpi anche se gli acuti sono al top. Veramente difficile per formare così e certo non ai nostri tempi. Quasi irripetibile per timbro e capacità di controllo vocale sempre sull'appoggio. Grande.
His singing is very similar to that of Lauri Volpi.
Volpi was great but merli was better
Yes but i think he is even better,a nicer sound
@@amantedellopera1681 ? This is transposed down at least 1/2 tone, but still wonderful
@@sugarbist it’s still in the original key of E flat major although I think not quite with the modern temperament but only very very slightly.
@@joshuafurtado-mendes9327 Can you clarify what you mean by ''the modern temperament''?
assomiglia a bomba a lauri volpi
Migliore di Volpi.
ma nemmeno un pò....Vocalità solida e brunita, Volpi dopo i trent'anni iniziò a non tenere le note centrali e sparare gli acuti senza modularli
Where is the Bel Canto in this? He's like Bonisolli in his last years, just a heavy, loud voice, and a top far worse than Bonisolli's.
Dear Alex, what is the point of criticizing any tenor in their declining years. Have you also criticized your favorite tenor when declining? Have you ever heard Merli or Bonisolli live? Early Bonisolli was a very fine singer, adhering and caressing the music through a wide variety of roles. I've always been a little bit on the fence about Merli. An impressive heroic tenor who had a fine career, but I find myself having some conflicting opinions about him. He was suppose to be a great Otello, but perhaps he had to be heard live to be fully appreciated. Unfortunately, this option is no longer available to us. Enjoy
@@sugarbist Dear sugarbist, Merli is 43 here, 14 years after his debut. Do tenors last only 14 years? Does 43 qualify as declining years for you? I agree Bonisolli was a fine singer in his 30's, perhaps a little too much in love with his high notes but a fine promising singer nevertheless. I like the timbre of his voice in the first decade of his career very much but I am not deaf to what he had made of his voice in his 40's, which is not declining years for me. Here I am not criticizing voice or technique, I an criticizing the style, and I am of the opinion it is fair game to criticize style at any point of a singer's career, though I do not consider Merli to be old here. Does this sound like bel canto to you? If not, what is the point of NOT criticizing it?
@@alexingresss2420 You said that Merli is like Bonisolli in his last years, which translates to me, FB's declining years without an age being attached. Not only was Bonisolli a little too much in love with his high notes, but so was the public. You do not consider Merli to be old here, but you did say that he sounds like Bonisolli in his declining years. No tenor lasts only 14 years? Are you correct? Gino Penno lasted about 5 years. He had a huge voice but nat a vry pretty one. We are fortunate to have recordings of tenors from the years gone by, but the best way to judge a tenor is LIVE.
@@sugarbist Dear sugarbist, we continue to misunderstand each other. I hope this reply will address all your points.
1. I said I meant the style of singing, there is no mention of vocal decline anywhere in my comments. For me vocal decline is related to age or abusing one's voice mercilessly for years. Bonisolli practically retired in 1990 (aged 52), the few performances he did sing between 1990 and 1999 are of no importance. The last years in which he appeared with regularity were his late 40's. I compared Merli in his early 40's with Bonisolli in his mid-late 40's. I don't understand why comparing two singers, both in their 40's, deserves such censure from you. *The comparison wasn't even the main point of my comment, bel canto was the main point.* Both singers in my opinion began with a lighter voice which changed into a heavier voice later (Merli's heavier than Bonisolli's), with Merli's range, which had never been very extended, contracting further while Bonisolli's extreme was top became a little unreliable. The manner of singing changed too, it became more slapdash. Do you disagree with this? Are you of the opinion the opposite was the case, they started with a heavy voice and ended up with a lighter, more agile voice, more nuance, and an expanded, rock solid top?
2. I can confirm the public liked Bonisolli's high notes. I appreciate them too, on a good day his high notes were extraordinary, but I do not belong to 'that' public who can't get enough of high notes, the longer held, the better. I am old fashioned and I still like to believe opera is art, not exhibitionism for the gratification of a vociferous minority sitting up in the gallery. I appreciate many and various aspects of a singer's skill and artistry, and I'm not ashamed to stick to my values. From your comments I got the impression you too appreciate other aspects, and I am surprised you defend Bonisolli's high notes idiosyncrasy just because a part of the public used to react with screams of delight every time he hung on a high note.
@@sugarbist 3. Unrelated to my comment but related to your reply, I don't see why singers in declining years should be spared from commenting upon their performance. When a singer, regardless of age, performs live on stage or records in the studio, they perform for the public, don't you agree? The singers do, the public judges, this is the division of labor in performing arts. If we are not allowed to have opinions, why waste time watching anything? I like to believe serious opera lovers are understanding and compassionate enough to expect less from a singer in decline vs a singer in his prime, but they are also honest enough not to pretend a very poor performance is great just for the sake of preserving the sanctity of some has-been. What's the point of pretending there's no decline at all? If a singer in decline can't stand critique, they should retire, or go on giving just recital concerts, which are fan lovefests, and safe for the singer's ego. I know quite a few opera singers who used to live off recital concerts, feted by fans and untroubled by critique. Do you believe present singers care about youtubers opinions? I doubt it. Dead tenors certainly are past such cares 😁️.
4. I didn't say NO tenor lasts only 14 years, I asked, rhetorically, if tenors (please note the plural) last only 14 years. I meant to say the AVERAGE tenor career is longer than 14 years. Gino Penno had indeed a very short career, but he was the exception, not the norm, how many singers do you know who had such a short career, and how many singers do you know who had a 20-25 years career?