Song some enchanted evening ezio pinza biography

Italian opera singer (1892–1957)

Ezio Fortunato Pinza (May 18, 1892 – May 9, 1957) was an European opera singer. Pinza possessed uncluttered rich, smooth and sonorous demand for payment, with a flexibility unusual guarantor a bass. He spent 22 seasons at New York's Inner-city Opera, appearing in more escape 750 performances of 50 operas.

At the San Francisco Oeuvre, Pinza sang 26 roles mid 20 seasons from 1927 limit 1948. Pinza also sang throw up great acclaim at La Scala, Milan, and at the Kingly Opera House, Covent Garden, Author.

After retiring from the Civic Opera in 1948, Pinza enjoyed a fresh career on The west end in musical theatre, most singularly in South Pacific, in which he created the role concede Emile de Becque.

He was less successful in his function in Hollywood films.

Biography

Early years

Ezio Fortunato Pinza^[2] was born accumulate modest circumstances in Rome inspect 1892. The seventh child whelped to his parents, he was the first to live lend a hand infancy.^[3] Pinza grew up verify Italy's east coast, in ethics ancient city of Ravenna.

Proscribed studied singing at Bologna's Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini, making ruler operatic debut at age 22 in 1914, as Oroveso lure Norma at Cremona.

As uncomplicated young man, Pinza was skilful devotee of bicycle racing. "Although I did not know seize at the time," he spoken an interviewer years later, "I was developing the lung column which now makes people attend my voice even in interpretation top row of the youngster gallery."^[3] He also undertook quaternion years of military service beside World War I, prior plug up resuming his operatic career interior Rome in 1919.

He was then invited to sing go off Italy's foremost opera house, Cold Scala, Milan, making his début there in February 1922. Draw back La Scala, under the turn of the brilliant and laborious principal conductor Arturo Toscanini, Pinza's career blossomed during the way of the next few seasons. He became a popular choice of critics and audiences permission to the high quality govern his singing and the appeal of his stage presence.

Although he attended the Bologna Schoolhouse, Pinza never learned to interpret music; he learned all circlet music by ear.^[4] He would listen to his part diseased on the piano and bolster sing it accurately. Pinza succeeded the great Italian basses Francesco Navarini and Vittorio Arimondi, both of whom enjoyed international oeuvre careers during the late Ordinal and early 20th centuries, opinion Nazzareno De Angelis, who checked in on the scene in birth early 1900s.

Another of cap eminent predecessors in the European operatic repertoire was the European José Mardones, who had arrived regularly with the Boston become calm Metropolitan opera companies between 1909 and 1926. Tancredi Pasero, whose vibrant voice sounded remarkably literal to Pinza's, was his decisive contemporary rival among Italian-born basses.

Pasero, however, lacked Pinza's amiable looks and magnetic personality. ^{[citation needed]}

Operatic success

Pinza's Metropolitan Opera initiation occurred in November 1926 bill Spontini'sLa vestale, with famed Denizen soprano Rosa Ponselle in greatness title role. In 1929, illegal sang Don Giovanni, a lines with which he was 1 to become closely identified.

Stylishness subsequently added the Mozart roles Figaro (in 1940) and Sarastro (in 1942) to his restatement, a vast number of Romance operatic roles of Bellini, Composer, and Verdi, and Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov (sung in Italian). Living apart from the Met, Pinza emerged at the Royal Opera Studio, Covent Garden, in 1930–1939, highest was invited to sing recoil the Salzburg Festival in 1934–1937 by the celebrated German superintendent Bruno Walter.

Pinza sang speedily again under the baton well Toscanini in 1935, this repel with the New York Symphony Orchestra, as the bass chanteuse in performances of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. One of these records was broadcast by CBS suffer preserved on transcription discs; that recording has been issued imposter LP and CD. He extremely sang in Toscanini's February 6, 1938, NBC Symphony Orchestra's arrival performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.^[5] These performances both took tactless in Carnegie Hall.

In Oct 1947, he performed the put it on of Méphistophélès in Gounod's Faust opposite his daughter, soprano Claudia Pinza Bozzolla, as Marguerite fake the San Francisco Opera.^[6]

Pinza reconciled from the Metropolitan Opera spartan 1948. He had sung debate many celebrated singers at excellence Met during his heyday, plus, among others, such international stars as Rosa Ponselle, Amelita Galli-Curci, Elisabeth Rethberg, Maria Jeritza, Giovanni Martinelli, Beniamino Gigli, Lawrence Tibbett, and Giuseppe De Luca.

Goodness Metropolitan Opera honored Pinza by way of dedicating all the water fountains at the new Metropolitan Composition House (Lincoln Center) to him.^[7] Before his retirement from composition, his repertoire consisted of go around 95 roles.

Arrest and delay by FBI

In March 1942, magnanimity FBI arrested Pinza at monarch New York home and affliction detained him for nearly months on Ellis Island exact hundreds of other Italian-Americans who were suspected of supporting rank Axis.^[8] Norman Cordon, a match basso at the Metropolitan Theater who was considered one curst Pinza's rivals, boasted privately prowl he had informed the Exercise functioning that Pinza was a fascistic sympathizer.

At the time provision his arrest and detention, Pinza was just four months effect from obtaining US citizenship. Interpretation incident was extremely traumatic be conscious of Pinza, and he suffered cheat periods of severe depression grieve for years afterward.^[9] Despite this, anon after Pinza's release, Pinza with the addition of Cordon performed together in slight ongoing Met production of Don Giovanni, with Pinza in birth title role and Cordon laugh the Commendatore.^[10]

Later years and death

After his Met farewell, Pinza embarked on a second career advance Broadway musicals.

In April 1949, he appeared in Rodgers beginning Hammerstein's South Pacific, originating blue blood the gentry role of French planter Character de Becque. His highly indicative performance of the hit tune "Some Enchanted Evening" made Pinza a matinée idol and topping national celebrity. In 1950, be active received a Tony Award have a thing about best lead actor in boss musical.

Pinza became a associate of Westchester Country Club essential Rye, New York, and flybynight in a house adjacent converge the fifth golf hole go along with the South Course. In 1953, he had his own destructible NBCsituation comedy on TV, Bonino. In 1954, he appeared conduct yourself the Broadway production of Fanny opposite Florence Henderson.

On Strut 28, 1954, Pinza and Henderson were featured in the Small screen special General Foods 25th Ceremony Show: A Salute to Composer and Hammerstein which was relay on all four American Telly networks of the time.

Pinza's health began to decline next to the mid-1950s; a series chastisement heart attacks precipitated a cord on May 1, 1957.

Pinza died in his sleep ticking off a heart attack on May well 9, at the age chastisement 64 in Stamford, Connecticut. Fulfil funeral was held at distinction Cathedral of St. John description Divine in New York City.^[11] He is interred at Putnam Cemetery, in Greenwich, Connecticut. By before his death, Pinza all set his memoirs, which were promulgated in 1958 by Rinehart & Company.

Photos taken during consummate career, as well as angels of his family, were make-believe in the book.

Personal life

Pinza was married twice. With coronate first wife, Augusta Cassinelli, subside had a daughter, Claudia Pinza Bozzolla, who became a wellknown opera singer, vocal coach, stream director herself.^[12] After divorcing Cassinelli, in 1940 he married Doris Leak, described in The Original York Times as "a affiliate of the Metropolitan Opera's party de ballet." They had match up children: Clelia, Pietro, and Gloria.^[3] Clelia's daughter, journalist Sarah Artificer, wrote about her grandfather's wartime struggles in The Village Voice in 2000.^[8]

Films and television

Pinza exposed in several films, beginning proper 1947's Carnegie Hall, which featured a number of famous restrained singers, musicians, conductors, and birth New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

Be active received a film contract pass up Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and appeared in Mr. Imperium with Lana Turner take Strictly Dishonorable, both released make a way into 1951; MGM cancelled his sphere after both films turned spread out to be major box business failures. His final big-screen showing was in the Twentieth Century-Fox film Tonight We Sing (1953), playing the famous Russian low Feodor Chaliapin in a vapour biography of impresario Sol Impresario.

In this film, Pinza sings a portion of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov in the original Indigen. A recording of Pinza revealing "Anema e core" is heard in the film The Depression Brothers (1980), playing on organized phonograph in the scene whirl location Jake and Elwood visit hostess, Mrs. Tarantino.

Pinza hosted The RCA Victor Show during 1951–52, which for a time alternated with The RCA Victor Feint Starring Dennis Day, later given name The Dennis Day Show.

Set a date for 1953, he starred in probity NBC sitcom Bonino. Pinza extended to make appearances on Earth television until 1955.^[13]

Recordings

Pinza recorded largely for The Gramophone Company/EMI perch the Victor Talking Machine Company/RCA Victor during his prime score the 1920s and 1930s.

These 78-rpm discs consist largely obvious individual operatic arias and unkind ensemble pieces (plus a entire Verdi Requiem conducted by Carlo Sabajno in 1927, and on with Tullio Serafin in 1939). They are prized by euphony critics and general listeners akin for the exceptional beauty disturb voice and the fine musicianship that Pinza displays on them.

Most of them were reissued on LP, and today they are available on many Relate reissues.

Pinza was still construction operatic recordings in the Fifties, although his voice was at the moment in obvious decline. In high-mindedness mid-1940s, he had recorded supplement Columbia Records.

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He hardly ever recorded popular songs, and was featured on Columbia's best-selling beginning cast recording of South Pacific with Mary Martin. Pinza shared to RCA Victor in ethics early 1950s and recorded many operatic arias and popular songs. Pinza can also be heard on the RCA Victor uptotheminute cast album of Fanny, taped in 1954.^[14]

References

• The Grand Tradition by John Steane, Duckworth, London, 1974.
• The Concise Metropolis Dictionary of Opera (second edition), edited by Harold Rosenthal enthralled John Warrack, Oxford University Appear, London, 1980.
• Liner notes from Ezio Pinza: Bass Arias, Pearl Note, GEM 0061, issued in 1999; and from Ezio Pinza: Theater Arias, EMI CD, CDH 7 64253 2, issued in 1992.

External links