Giuseppe Borgatti - tenor

Beautiful voice brings fame for former bricklayer

Borgatti was an illiterate bricklayer
before his vocal talent was spotted

Opera singer Giuseppe Borgatti, who became known as Italy’s greatest Wagnerian tenor, was born on this day in 1871 in Cento in the province of Ferrara.

Borgatti began his working life as a bricklayer and stone cutter, until a wealthy patron discovered that he had an outstanding voice and arranged for him to have music lessons. 

He went on to sing leading roles at Teatro alla Scala in Milan for a period of 20 years and he was the first Italian tenor to be invited to sing at the annual Wagner festival held in Bayreuth in Germany.

After being born into a poor family, Borgatti had grown up to be illiterate, but when his singing talent was discovered, a local aristocrat paid for him to have professional singing lessons and to acquire some basic education.

When Borgatti was in his early twenties, he made his debut at Castelfranco Veneto, singing the title role in Faust by Charles Gounod. After performing at some Italian opera houses, he was given the chance to sing the role of Chevalier des Grieux in Giacomo Puccini’s Manon Lescaut in a production in Venice. 

Later in the year, he appeared at Teatro del Verme in Milan as Lohengrin, which was his first Wagnerian role.

Borgatti’s big breakthrough came when he sang the title role in Andrea Chénier on the night of the premiere of the opera at La Scala in Milan. The composer of the opera, Umberto Giordano, had worked with the tenor Alfonso Garulli to create the role of Andrea Chénier, but Garulli became ill at the eleventh hour and his place on the first night in 1896 had to be taken by the young tenor Borgatti.

On the night of the premiere, many members of the audience in Milan were moved by the emotional intensity of Giordano’s music sung by Borgatti. 

The opera was a big success and his triumph in the role escalated him into the top tier of Italian opera singers. 

Borgatti continued to appear in Italian operas, but also worked closely with La Scala’s principal conductor, Arturo Toscanini to try to master the main tenor parts in the Richard Wagner repertoire. He also travelled to Spain, Russia, and South America with other Italian opera stars to perform. 

Borgatti on stage at as Siegfried in the
third opera of Wagner's The Ring Cycle

In 1901 he took part in a grand concert at La Scala, held to mark the death of Giuseppe Verdi, in which the rising young star Enrico Caruso also appeared. 

Borgatti was honoured by being the first Italian tenor asked to sing at the Bayreuth festival in Germany in 1904, after which Cosima Wagner, the composer’s widow, praised his voice.

When he was at the height of his career in 2007 and his voice was at its peak, Borgatti began losing his sight due to glaucoma. After another seven years, he had to retire from the operatic stage, even though his voice was still excellent.

He continued to give concerts and the theatre in his home town of Cento was named in his honour in 1924. Eventually he lost his sight in both eyes and, in 1928, he gave his last public performance in Bologna.

After retiring, he taught singing in Milan. His best known pupils were the English Lyric tenor, Heddle Nash, and the German baritone, Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender.

Borgatti married one of his singing teachers, Elena Cuccoli, and they had a daughter, Renata Borgatti, who became a concert pianist.

Borgatti died in 1850 when he was 79 at Reno di Leggiuno, a resort he had moved to near Lago Maggiore. He left fewer than 20 recordings, which were all sung in Italian, of extracts from works by Wagner, Verdi, and Puccini. Borgatti had been La Scala’s original Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca in 1900 and among the recordings he left behind is the aria E lucevan le stelle, from Tosca.

Cento's impressive Rocca, the 14th century castle
originally built by the Bishop of Bologna

Travel tip:

Cento, where Giuseppe Borgatti was born, is a town in the province of Ferrara in Emilia-Romagna. It grew from being a little fishing village to become an established farming town and, in 1502, Pope Alexander VI took Cento away from the dominion of the Bishop of Bologna and made it part of the dowry for his daughter, Lucrezia Borgia, when she was betrothed to Duke Alfonso I d’Este. Cento was returned to the Papal States in 1598.The town’s 19th century theatre was named the Teatro Comunale Giuseppe Borgatti in honour of the famous tenor.  Known sometimes as "Little Bologna" for its arcaded streets and colourful buildings, it is famous as the birthplace of the Baroque painter Guercino, for its historic 14th-century Rocca fortress, and its world-renowned carnival.  Some of Guercino’s works can be seen in the Palazzo del Monte di Pietà, which houses the Civic Gallery, as well as in the Basilica Collegiata San Biagio, the Church of the Rosary and, in the frazione of Corporeno, the 14th-century church of San Giorgio.  The Rocca, a massive square castle with square towers, was built in 1378 by the Bishop of Bologna and enlarged by Giulio della Rovere, the future pope Julius II, in 1460.

Hotels in Cento by Hotels.com

The Hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso, built into
the rock face, is accessible only by boat or on foot

Travel tip:

Giuseppe Borgatti went to live at Reno di Leggiuno, a resort at Lago Maggiore in the province of Varese, when he retired and he died there in 1850. Reno di Leggiuno is a picturesque  hamlet on the Lombardy shore of the lake. The area is famous for the Hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso, a Roman Catholic monastery perched on a rocky ridge overlooking the lake, which dates back possibly to the 12th century. It is thought to have been founded by a hermit, Alberto Besozzi. Though still in use as a monastery, it serves mainly as a tourist attraction and pilgrimage site. It can be reached by boat or on foot by climbing down a winding stairway and was declared a national monument in 1914. Reno di Leggiuno, which has a marina and a number of hotels, is a tranquil, authentic location featuring a scenic sand-and-pebble beach, lakefront dining, and panoramic views of the Borromean Islands. It is the birthplace of the footballer Luigi ‘Gigi’ Riva, while the actor and playwright Dario Fo, was born in nearby Leggiuno Sangiano. Reno di Leggiuno is about 25km (15 miles) northwest of the city of Varese.

Stay in Reno di Leggiuno with Expedia

More reading:

The opera that propelled Umberto Giordano into the front rank of composers

How the great conductor Toscanini became an orchestra leader by chance

The painter Guercino, 17th century master who is Cento’s most famous son

Also on this day:

1542: The death of playwright Angelo Bealco

1826: The birth of inventor Innocenzo Manzetti

1861: Kingdom of Italy proclaimed 

1925: The birth of actor Gabriele Ferzetti

1939: The birth of football coach Giovanni Trapattoni

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