Gian Giacomo Guelfi- Pietà, rispetto, amore

Gian Giacomo Guelfi (b.1924)

Perhaps one day someone will be able to give me a logical explanation as to WHY in the wide world Guelfi's name pops up so infrequently in discussions of great baritones of the 1950's and '60's. Born in Rome, Guelfi studied in Florence with Bianca Elice (Enzo Mascherini's teacher) and Titta Ruffo; in time he became a worthy heir to the latter's mantle of Verdi baritone par excellence. Indeed, in terms of pure vocal refulgence, I can think of only two other baritones that could equal him in the post-Leonard Warren era: the great Romanian Nicolae Herlea, and Cornell Macneil. Yet, although Guelfi was well-respected and enjoyed a fine worldwide career, he never seemed to garner the lavish praise bestowed on such contemporaries as Bastianini, Taddei, Cappuccilli, and Gobbi. It can be said that he was a relatively straightforward singer and certainly not the last word in subtlety, but that is true of a great many singers (think Merrill, or Warren himself). And while Guelfi did not possess Gobbi's gift of nuance, he had a much, MUCH better voice and sang with substantially greater technical assurance.

I am at a total loss as to why Guelfi's voice- a huge, dark, potent, rugged instrument that never thinned out on top- was virtually ignored by the record companies, who must surely shoulder at least part of the blame for his "second-tier" status today. Aside from the famous Karajan-led "Cavalleria" with Bergonzi and Cossotto on Deutsche Grammophon (and film of the same opera with Cecchele substituting for Bergonzi), I am unaware of any major label opera recordings. Fortunately, there are quite a few "live" performances that have been preserved on labels ranging from Opera d'Oro to Myto, including many Verdi roles for which he was justly acclaimed (he had made his debut in Spoleto in 1950 as Rigoletto). One of my favorites is his Macbeth, recorded April 9, 1968 at the Teatro la Fenice in Venice, with Gianandrea Gavazzeni at the helm. Those looking for deft, detail-oriented phrasing a la Bruson or Taddei won't find it here, but the outpouring of rich, golden tone is ample reward in itself. And despite the relative lack of nuance, Guelfi does not sing at an unvaried forte: witness the beautiful pianissimo on the word "inaridita", at the end of the recitative. The recording is clear but low level, so be sure to adjust speaker volume accordingly. For those interested in further investigating Guelfi, I highly reommend his Scarpia (alongside Renata Tebaldi's Tosca) and Jack Rance in "La Fanciulla del West" (with Eleanor Steber), in addition to Alfio in the Cavallerias mentioned above.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Gian
• Giacomo
• Guelfi
• Italian
• baritone
• opera
• aria
• Macbeth
• Pietà
• rispetto
• amore
• Giuseppe
• Verdi

[rexeterna]

your description is a little off. i've rarely heard a singer NOT sing "inaridita" on pianissimo. and his voice doesn't thin out on top? hmm. obviously i never heard him live but it definitely sounds as if it thins out. also, he screws up the diction several times. the sound and color are lovely but this excerpt here is far from a perfect example of it.

[khankonchak]

1) Many singers sing pianissimo on "inaridita", many do not. There are plenty examples of the latter on Youtube alone, i.e. Justino Diaz, who decrescendos to mp at best, and Louis Quilico, who hardly makes a shift in dynamics at all. 2) If you know of a contemporary of Guelfi (other than Herlea or Macneil) with a fattier, more robust sound above the passaggio, I would LOVE to hear him. It's amazing to me that anyone could fail to hear the heft and fullness in all registers of Guelfi's voice.

[khankonchak]

3) Diction issues? Where?? Guelfi makes a mistake at the end, when he repeats "non spargeran d'un fiore..." instead of "sol la bestemmia..". It's a flubbed line, but that has NOTHING whatsoever to do with "diction", which refers to pronunciation and elocution. Given the glorious sound here, I think I can forgive Guelfi the lapse. Perhaps this record is less than "perfect", but I (and many aficionados) find it thrillingly virile. I see that despite your remarks, it even made your favorites list.

[GSHartman2001]

I had a teacher, a famous tenor, who said Guelfi was the biggest voice he ever heard. They sang an Aida together and he said when Amonasro sang "Sua Padre" at his first entrance that it seemed like the back wall of the house picked up and moved back five feet.

To address the poster's question- my teacher also said that Guelfi suffered from debilitating arthritis and went on a regimen of Cortisone injections which gave him his massive, pumped up sound. It also contributed to a shortened career.

[khankonchak]

Thank you for your post. However, I fail to see the connection between cortisone and "massive, pumped up" sound. If you mean to suggest that it is because cortisone is a steroid, keep in mind that it's a corticosteroid, whose effects are CATABOLIC- the very opposite of anabolic steroids. Furthermore, as someone who is both a singer and has been involved in the health/fitness industry for years, I can tell you that in mature men such injections have no effect on vocal amplitude whatsoever.

[Rocky1357924680]

R.I.P.

[mrice99]

Died today.

[federicotrainajr]

in questo ed in altri ruoli è stato uno dei più grandi di tutti i tempi

[IRA77GEOTENORE]

real dramatic verdi baritone

[assindiastignani]

@marcellny These are the "mezze calzette" as we say in Italian. Fine for recordings but laughable live. Listen to Hampson and Georghiu (the latter a very good singer, in the right rep.) try to sing the Boccanegra/Amelia duet from the MET. It's a parody. S. Hampson canta come un comprimario in calore.

[marcellny]

@assindiastignani Bravo!!!!! they have light mezzos singing this rep now, keenleyside, hampson, even dieskau's horrible version of this. I miss this sound in baritones, I miss the Bastianinis, Warrens, Merrills, Milnes' guelphis. Miss them ever so much. There is so much white soundind unitalian singing going on now over all in baritones.

[VolkgartenBySquirrel]

That was an amazing Macbeth! Curiously, though, I don't see the guy singing this being cat whupped into paranoia by one scheming witch or a dozen. It just wouldn't happen. There's a clip with him as Scarpia, which might be closer to the mark.

[assindiastignani]

Did any of you "experts" ever hear this man live? Because this was THE biggest baritone voice I ever heard, not excluding Cornell MacNeil. Often a bit below the pitch, he also sometimes darkened vowels around eflat, e and f (as did Basiola, Molinari, Ruffo) to achieve a certain color. The current white-bread-and lo-cal-mayonnaise generation of opera fans just doesn't or cannot understand:these were all minor things when one was confronted with that sound and musicality live. These were voices!

[piasecznik]

@minnie888444

Yes, you're right, I was mistaken. Boito only started to write for Verdi after Piave died in 1876, some 30 years after the Macbeth premiere.

Well, if you follow the libretto along with the original play, then there are not too many changes in the plot. The whole 'chain of being' thing disappears with Duncan becoming a silent role (actually Act I is pretty much reduced to a few pieces), but apart from that they're quite close to Shakespeare's play.

[minnie888444]

@piasecznik Thanks. Seems to be Act V Scene 3, before Lady Macbeth dies. Yes, they took it from another part of the play. Anyway, it is far from a "poetic translation"...

I know who Boito was, but did he write this libretto? I thought Piave wrote it and one Andrea Maffei added some to it.

Anyway, I am aware that the original or even a good poetic translation could NOT be used for a bel canto opera. But I still think they made a mess of the play.