Antonio Paoli - Ah sì, ben mio (1911)

from Verdi's Trovatore. Antonio Paoli is a nineteenth-century singer through and through, and this means his voice is used like an instrument, warmly and with passion. Exquisite line and color, maximum expressiveness (marcato, eroico, nobile), tasteful ornamentation and perfect legato are the hallmarks of belcanto.


Paoli, esemplificativo per il timbro tendenzialmente chiaro, mai gonfio o artefatto, e per lo squillo argentino, della vocalità tenorile ottocentesca. Più vicini ad un gusto moderno, ma con voci parimenti salde e squillanti, De Muro e Martinelli, mentre meno famoso ma degno di nota per la qualità vocale, la forza del settore acuto, e la schiettezza di pronuncia, è Augusto Scampini. La lezione che questi ascolti offrono agli odierni... trovatori, è di cantare sempre con la propria voce, senza gonfiare o scurire artificiosamente il timbro, tentazione nella quale inspiegabilmente cadono proprio coloro che oggi vorrebbero offrire una versione lirica del personaggio.

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"Antonio Paoli (April 14, 1871 - August 24, 1946), a Puerto Rican tenor ( ... )
After spending his childhood in his birth town of Ponce, Paoli moved to Spain where he obtained a Royal scholarship to take singing lessons in Italy. After singing to standing ovation crowds in both Spain and Italy, Paoli made his grand debut in Paris.
Between 1900 and 1914 his career sky-rocketed, performing not only in Europe, but also in the Americas, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. In 1910, the singer was signed as the First Tenor by La Scala, Milan. World War I forced the closure of all opera houses in Europe (???) and Paoli made a living with a short boxing career fling, during which he also lost his singing voice. After the end of the War, Paoli, following medical advice and performing voice exercises, was able to regain his voice, and returned to the stage once more in all the glory of days past. He performed in Europe and North and South America, finally settling with his sister Amalia in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where she had opened a singing school.
He spent the last 20 years of his life teaching voice and singing in San Juan, while also working for the establishment of a music conservatory in that city. He would not see this last dream come true in his lifetime as he developed cancer, passing away at age 75 ( ... )
Paoli was also the first operatic artist to record an entire opera when he participated in a performance of Pagliacci by Ruggiero Leoncavallo in Milan, Italy. He was selected in 1907, as the First Tenor in the main character by a team of engineers and musicians which included Leoncavallo. The recording was arranged in the following manner; the musicians were placed at the end of the recording room and the cack up singers in a semi-arc in front of the gramophone while Paoli stood alone 20 feet (6.1 m) away from the gramophone."
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Paoli

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"Antonio Paoli (*14 de abril de 1871, Ponce, Puerto Rico - † 24 de agosto de 1946) fue un tenor puertorriqueño conocido como 'Rey de tenores' y considerado el primer boricua en alcanzar fama en esa disciplina, fue apodado El león de Ponce.
Según el historiador Juan Llanes Santos, Paoli fue uno de los maximos exponentes del registro e incluso rival de su contemporáneo Enrico Caruso. Paoli participó en la primera temporada del Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires, Argentina en 1908. Allí cantó Otello e Il trovatore de Verdi totalizando diez representaciones entre el 18 de julio y el 6 de septiembre de 1908.
Hijo de Amalia Marcano Intriago, oriunda de Isla Margarita, Venezuela y Domingo Paoli Marcatentti, de origen corso. El niño después de escuchar al tenor Pietro Baccei decidió su vocación, estudió con Ramon Marin. En 1883, con la muerte de sus padres se marchó a España donde vivía su hermana Amalia, también cantante.
En 1884, Amalia consiguió becas para estudiar gracias a Maria Cristina de Austria en El Escorial y en 1897, en la academia de La Scala en Milán.
Debutó en 1895 en Bari y en 1899 en Guillermo Tell de Gioacchino Rossini en París. Entre 1902-1903 participó en una gira por Estados Unidos y Canadá organizada por Mascagni. Siguieron actuaciones en Argentina, Rusia, Polonia, Egipto, Hungría, Bélgica, Cuba, Chile, Haiti, Colombia, Venezuela, Brasil, Canadá y Estados Unidos.
En 1917, se retiró en Puerto Rico debido a la Primera Guerra Mundial sin haber cantado en el Metropolitan Opera donde reinaba su rival, Enrico Caruso. Perdió su fortuna y debió ganarse la vida por diversos medios, incluso como boxeador.
Murió de cáncer en San Juan, Puerto Rico en 1946 y enterrado junto a su esposa en el panteón nacional Adina Bonimi."
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Paoli_%28tenor%29

Category:

Music

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• Antonio
• Paoli
• Ah
• sì
• ben
• mio
• Trovatore
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• Verdi
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• animation

[AntW11]

This is a great document as it shows how singers added ornaments to verdi as well as Rossini. It makes a good argument that rigid adherence to the written note is not always the ideal period practice.

[BelSoggiorno]

@AntW11 You make an excellent point, one not commonly made or appreciated by most, and that is that these early acoustic recordings are an important link in the search for an authentic belcanto tradition. Thanks for comment, very much to the point.

[WMP777]

Paoli start the Aria soft, full of romantic emotions. Then in the 3rd. score unleashes his anguished passion, with his perfect diction in an squillante column of heroic sound Every word, syllable and phrase has an specific intensity. "Precederti"is expanded without shouting. The lief motive of the Aria is La Morte. Paoli was aware of those dramatic effects and created a more powerful and emotional ending by taking La Mo-rt-e, emphasizing in 1/2 steps O_E Only tenor to sing it that way.

[BelSoggiorno]

@WMP777

Thank you very much indeed, my friend, for an excellent comment. Yes, I totally agree with you, especially about the unusually emphasized and isolated "la mor - te" in his cadenza (at 2:55): Absolutely amazing!

[BelSoggiorno]

Antonio Paoli, molto ottocentesco e 'marconiano' nell'emissione dei suoni centrali come ben si percepisce nell'esecuzione dell' 'Ah si ben mio', seguito, peraltro, da una delle Pire di forza più impressionanti dell'intero mondo dei 78 giri...

[racheleleeba]

Amazing.

[BelSoggiorno]

@gmmix

Only a CD transfer, followed by one of the most spectacular "Pira's" in the history of the gramophone...

You made an excellent Uploader Comment: "His early European Victors are genuinely thrilling when played with a high-quality horn machine and you are sitting close by. You can't video-record the sound experienced when listening LIVE to his discs ... What you hear here is about 20 percent of what the recording is really like."

[gmmix]

Stunning color photo of Paoli! It's always a pleasure to hear this great tenor. Thank you for this video.