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[Antoniu, Christache]

(b Bucharest, Romania, Dec 25, 1907; d Tirana, Albania, March 17, 1979). Tenor, actor, and stage director. He studied at the Mimodramatic High School of Bucharest and then in Rome, with M. Polverosi. In Romania, he had a successful career as an actor and singer. He was in the movie industry in the 1920s and early 30s, playing in more than 15 films, including Ciocoii (1931), Iancu Jianu, (1928), and Maiorul Mura (1927). In the meantime, he worked in the Alhambra theater as a singer and stage director of operettas. In the mid 1930s, Antoniu moved to Albania and pursued a singing career. He made only one cinematic appearance in 1943, for the short film documentary Takimi në liqen (‘Meeting at the Lake’). He was a dramatic tenor, with a baritone quality in his voice. This led him to explore a large range of operatic characters from both the Western opera repertory and the Albanian one. He performed and recorded Albanian traditional or folk songs, handled with an operatic vocal posture and arranged with western harmonies. His son, Gjergj Antoniu was a prominent Albanian cellist....

(b Brockton, MA, USA, Nov 4, 1925). Albanian tenor and pedagogue. Born in the large Albanian immigrant colony in New England (USA), Athanasi returned as a child to his parents’ hometown of Korça, where he participated in its vibrant prewar choral, theatre, and sports scenes. During World War II, he performed with resistance groups singing patriotic and partisan songs and, in 1948, he was selected as a soloist in the newly formed National Army Ensemble by director Gaqo Avrazi. Athanasi was among a handful of young men in this ensemble to receive a scholarship to study in the Soviet Union, and following the completion of his degree in vocal performance at the Moscow State Conservatory in 1958, he was appointed soloist at Tirana’s Theatre of Opera and Ballet. He performed leading roles in premières of Albanian operas, and was active as a recitalist, performing a broad range of art music works from the Western European and Albanian repertories as well as arranged folk songs into the 1980s. In ...

(b Glišikj, Kavadarci, Republic of Macedonia, 1918; d Skopje Sept 25, 1976). Macedonian folk singer. His lyric tenor voice, with its distinctive timbre (simultaneously light and warm), was recognized soon after his first performance in Radio Skopje in 1948, and it was established as a model for the male vocal repertory of traditional Macedonian music. He sang softly, with richness, in a narrow piano dynamic spectrum, and with delicate use of vibrato and ornaments. He became an idol among Macedonian audiences worldwide and has been adored by Balkan audiences as well, taking tours in Europe, Canada, USA, and Australia.

His recorded repertory of over 230 songs (without variants) is published on dozens of LPs and cassettes. 359 recorded songs have been digitized and stored in the Buzarovski Archive (BuzAr) in 2005. His diverse repertory was carefully selected with a refined musical taste, mainly from urban traditional songs of all genres—love, elegiac, patriotic, and humorous songs. His voice was well suited to ensemble performance, resulting in duets with V. Ilieva, A. Sarievski, Mirvet Belovska, Dragica Nikolova, Blagoj Petrov Karagjule, Violeta Tomovska, E. Redžepova, Anka Gieva, and Atina Apostolova....

Member of Berton family

(b Paris, 1817; d Algiers, Feb 28, 1857). French tenor, son of Henri Berton. After studying at the Paris Conservatoire, he began his career at the Opéra-Comique and the Théâtre de la Renaissance. Lack of success prompted him to seek work elsewhere in France and in ...

(b London, England, March 20, 1774; d London, England, Feb 17, 1856). English tenor and composer. He made his debut as a boy soprano at Covent Garden in 1787. He sang in Europe after his voice broke, returning to England at the turn of the century, where he established a reputation as one of the country’s leading tenors. He traveled to the United States in the autumn of 1840 and, at the age of 68, “surpassed all expectations” with the “pathos, sublimity, power, and wonderful execution” of his voice. He appeared first in concert, with a selection of tenor and baritone airs from opera and oratorio mixed with popular ballads. His American operatic debut, at the Park Theatre in New York, was in Stephen Storace’s The Siege of Belgrade, and he went on to re-create many of his famous roles, in Charles Horn’s The Devil’s Bridge, Thomas Dibdin’s The Cabinet, and Weber’s Der Freischütz. At one point he astonished audiences and critics by appearing in seven demanding roles in less than two weeks....

(b Korça, Albania, Jan 24, 1935). Albanian tenor and pedagogue. Identified early as a talented singer in his hometown of Korça, he attended the Arts Lyceum ‘Jordan Misja’ in Tirana where he received his first formal training, with the pedagogue Mihal Ciko. In 1957 he received a scholarship to study at the Moscow State Conservatory, where he remained until 1961. On his return to Tirana, Çako was named soloist to the Theater of Opera and Ballet, where he performed a number of leading roles in foreign and Albanian operas during the 1960s and 1970s. Chief among his roles in Albanian operatic works were Dhimitër in Lulja e Kujtimit (by P. Jakova, 1961), Doda in Mrika (by P. Jakova, 1966), and Muji in Vjosa (by T. Daija, 1980). In addition to art music, he interpreted light popular songs and arrangements of folk songs throughout his career. Named as a pedagogue to Tirana’s State Conservatory in ...

[Joseph TennielliTennielli]

Member of Calkin family

(b London, Jan 13, 1816; d London, June 6, 1874). English tenor, son of James Calkin. He took the name Tennielli from his mother Victoire Calkin (née Tenniel). He studied in Milan with Francesco Lamperti, then returned to London where he sang at the Philharmonic Society, the Society of British Musicians and in other concerts. He also worked as a singing teacher and composed a few songs. He was a director of the Philharmonic Society, ...

(b Columbus, OH, June 23, 1943; d Königstein im Taunus, Jan 16, 2022). American tenor. Educated at Wesleyan University, he studied singing at the Curtis Institute with Martial Singher. In 1969 he sang Froh with the San Francisco Opera in Los Angeles. After winning the Lauritz Melchior Heldentenor Foundation Award in 1969, he became a member of the Frankfurt Opera (1970) and the Vienna Opera. He sang in many other European houses as well as in concert with the New York PO (1971), the Boston SO, and a number of other American orchestras. He made his Covent Garden début in 1974 as Laca (Jenůfa) and returned to San Francisco in 1977 (having sung Froh in Das Rheingold there in 1968) to sing Tichon (Kát′a Kabanová). In addition to all the Wagnerian heroic tenor roles, his repertory included Idomeneus, Jason (Cherubini’s ...

Member of Corfe family

(b Salisbury, bap. Feb 26, 1713). English tenor and organist. He was a chorister at Salisbury Cathedral from 1722 to 1729. He sang in Rosamond at Lincoln’s Inn Fields in 1733, in Handel’s operas and oratorios from c1733 to 1744 and in Messiah...

Member of Corfe family

(b Salisbury, bap. Feb 9, 1741; d Salisbury, July 29, 1820). English organist and tenor, son of Joseph Corfe (b 1705). He was a chorister at Salisbury Cathedral, 1752–3, lay vicar, 1759–60, and was apprenticed to the cathedral organist John Stephens. He was made a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1783 and in 1784 sang at the Handel Commemoration. He was also organist of Salisbury Cathedral from 1792 to 1804. Joseph was a respected singing teacher with Nancy Storace and Mrs Second among his pupils. He married Mary Bernard on 14 April 1766 and they probably had three sons. His published works include A Treatise on Singing (1799), Sacred Music (1800), The Beauties of Handel (1803), Beauties of Purcell (c1805), Thorough Bass Simplified (1805) and Church Music (c1810...

Member of Corri family

(b Edinburgh, ?1784; d Baltimore, Feb 19, 1832). Italian composer, tenor, pianist, and teacher, son of Domenico Corri, and possibly twin brother of Montague Philip Corri. As P. Antony Corri he was well established as a composer in London from about 1802 to 1816, when many of his piano pieces and songs were published. His L’anima di musica (1810) is the most extensive piano tutor of its period, and ran to several editions. He was a founder of the London Philharmonic Society and the Royal Academy of Music in 1813, and was director of the Professional Society in 1816. He was expelled from the Philharmonic in December 1816 (due to a scandal probably involving his wife) and emigrated to the USA, where he settled in Baltimore by autumn 1817. There he was christened Arthur Clifton on 31 December 1817 and remarried the following day. He served as organist of the First Presbyterian Church (...

[Francisco Rafael ]

(b San Antonio, TX, May 16, 1883; d New York, NY, Dec 12, 1943). American operatic tenor and recitalist of Mexican and German heritage. He was the most prominent Mexican American opera singer of his day, although perhaps to advance his career he used the Italian-sounding first name “Rafaelo,” and press reports sometimes identified him as Spanish instead of Mexican American or Mexican. Díaz attended the German-English School and the West Texas Military Academy (now Texas Military Institute) in San Antonio. He studied piano with Amalia Hander, a local music teacher, and at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin. After vocal studies with Vincenzo Sabatini in Milan, he returned to the United States and in 1911 began appearing in small roles with the Boston Grand Opera Company, quickly moving up to more prominent assignments. He accompanied the soprano Luisa Tetrazzini on a tour in 1913 and made his Metropolitan Opera debut in Massenet’s ...

Member of Duplessis family

(fl 1722–44). French singer (taille=tenor). He entered the Paris Opéra chorus in 1711 and received an annual salary of 500 livres. He officially stopped singing in 1733 and collected tickets at the door of the Opéra until Easter 1744 when he received a pension; however, chorus lists in contemporary librettos show that he remained active as a singer well after ...

[Giovanni]

(b São Paulo, July 10, 1929; d Verona, Italy, June 12, 1997). Brazilian tenor. He began singing as a baritone; after winning the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer South American ‘Caruso Competition’ in 1954, he went to study in Italy and made the change to tenor while at the Scuola della Scala, Milan. His engagements in Italy made him known elsewhere: in ...

(b Plzeň [Pilsen], July 14, 1939; d Prague, Oct 1, 2019). Czech pop singer, actor, and painter. The best-known and most successful Czech pop singer of the 20th and 21st centuries. In his youth Gott aspired to become a painter, and after completing his schooling in Plzeň, he applied to study art in Prague. After failing to be admitted, he trained as an electrician, and during his training devoted himself also to singing. He began by studying as an opera singer (lyric tenor) with Konstantin Karenin, a pupil of Chaliapin, at first at the Prague Conservatoire and later privately. In 1962 he was engaged at the Semafor Theatre in Prague of Jiří Suchý and Jiří Šlitr, where he achieved great success singing the songs of Suchý and Šlitr; in 1963 he won the Zlatý slavík (‘Golden Nightingale’) poll for the first time, with the hit Oči má sněhem zaváté...

Member of Grazani family

(b Fermo, Nov 14, 1820; d Fermo, May 15, 1885). Italian tenor, brother of Giuseppe Graziani. He made his début at Bologna in 1845 and appeared at the Théâtre Italien, Paris, in 1851 as Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia. He sang Alfredo at the first performance of ...

Member of Guglielmi family

(b Massa, Aug 16, 1782; d ?Naples, after 1830). Italian tenor, son of Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi. According to Piovano he studied solfège with Ferdinando Mazzanti, voice with Piccinni’s nephew, and the violin with Capanna. After his début in 1805 at the Teatro Argentina, Rome, he sang, mostly in comic opera, at Parma, Naples, Florence, Bologna, and Venice. He then went to Amsterdam and in 1809 to Paris for two years. By 1812 he had returned to Naples, to sing leading roles; he sang there again in 1819–20 and 1825. In 1820–21 he sang in Malta. His last stage appearance was probably in Parma in 1827 in an opera by Mercadante. After retiring from the stage he was held in considerable esteem as a teacher; among his pupils were Giulia Grisi and Enrico Tamberlik. Reports about his teaching ability circulated into the early 1830s and his singing method was published in Toulouse in ...

Member of Hemmerlein family

(b Bamberg, 1766; d Bamberg, 1838). German violinist and tenor, grandson (through Georg Ludwig) of Johann Nikolaus Hemmerlein. He was ordained in 1793 but the same year embarked on unauthorized freelance travels as a violinist and tenor which were to last for 25 years. The assumed name under which he travelled is still unknown. From ...

(b Ojai, CA, Dec 27, 1939). American tenor. He studied at the Music Academy of the West, UCLA with martial Singher and from 1963 to 1972 at the Juilliard School with Jennie Tourel. He began his professional career as Francesco Cavalli’s Ormindo with the Opera Society of Washington (1969) and as Tonio in a concert performance of Gaetano Donizetti’s La fille du régiment with Beverly Sills at Carnegie Hall (1970, recorded on the Adagio Classics label). Shortly thereafter he made his New York City Opera debut in Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw and went on to sing with opera companies in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, France, Switzerland, and England. His repertoire of more than seventy roles includes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Ferrando, Belmonte, and Tamino, Charles Gounod’s Faust and Roméo, Georges Bizet’s Don José, and Claude Debussy’s Pelléas. He has appeared regularly with major American orchestras, choral societies, and music festivals and has performed Franz Schubert’s song cycles with fortepiano. Known for his versatility and acute attention to style, he has sung in the premieres of works by Leonard Bernstein, Jack Beeson, Thomas Pasatieri, Alberto Ginastera (...

(b Norfolk, VA, Dec 27, 1909; d Amsterdam, Holland, Nov 7, 1987). American tenor. He began singing at the age of 14, studied with May Hamaker Henley, and in the 1930s sang with Benny Carter and Fletcher Henderson’s jazz bands. He appeared in Marc Connelly’s drama Green Pastures and the film Hullabaloo (1941), and had a 13-week concert program on NBC radio. He then became a pupil of Georges Le Pyre, an assistant to Bruno Walter, in Hollywood, California. He moved to New York, where he studied with Clyde Burrows and performed in Jeb (1948), Hall Johnson’s Run Little Chillun’, Thomson’s Four Saints in Three Acts, and the premiere of Blitzstein’s The Airborne. Holland felt that he was unable to make a life for himself as a respected singer in the United States due to racial prejudice, and thereafter decided to make his home in Europe. After settling in France in ...