11 October

Anita Cerquetti – soprano

Performer with a powerful voice had brief moment in the spotlight

Anita Cerquetti, the singer whose remarkable voice received widespread praise when she stood in for a temperamental Maria Callas in Rome, died on this day in 2014 in Perugia.  Cerquetti had been singing the title role in Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma at Teatro San Carlo in Naples in 1958 when Callas, who had been singing the same part in Rome, walked out after the first act on the opening night.  Despite Callas claiming that her voice was troubling her, the incident, in front of Italian President Giovanni Gronchi, created a major scandal.  Fortunately the performances in Rome and Naples were on alternate days and so for several weeks Cerquetti travelled back and forth between the two opera houses, which were 225km (140 miles) apart. The achievement left her exhausted and three years later she retired from singing and her magnificent voice was heard no more. Read more…

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Mattias de’ Medici - Governor of Siena

Distinguished soldier was interested in art and science

Mattias de’ Medici, who was an enthusiastic supporter of the Palio horse race during his time as Governor of Siena, died on this day in 1667.  He is remembered for being a patron of art and of science and for the scientific instruments he acquired while on military campaigns during the Thirty Years War in Germany, which are now housed in the Uffizi galleries in Florence.  Mattias, who was born in 1613, was the third son of Grand Duke II Cosimo de Medici of Tuscany and of Archduchess Maria Maddalena of Austria.  He was originally intended for the church, but he had little enthusiasm for the ecclesiastical life and so from the age of 16, he pursued a military career instead.  After Cosimo II died in 1621, he was succeeded as Grand Duke by Matteo’s older brother, Ferdinando.  Grand Duke Ferdinando II appointed Mattias as the Governor of Siena. Read more…

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Cesare Andrea Bixio - composer and lyricist

Pioneer of Italian film music left catalogue of classic songs

Cesare Andrea Bixio, the composer behind such classic Italian songs as Vivere, Mamma, La mia canzone al vento and Parlami d'amore Mariù, was born in Naples on this day in 1896.  Bixio enjoyed many years of popularity during which his compositions were performed by some of Italy's finest voices, including Beniamino Gigli, Tito Schipa and Carlo Buti, and later became staples for Giuseppe Di Stefano and Luciano Pavarotti.  He was also a pioneer of film soundtrack music, having been invited to compose a score for the first Italian movie with sound, La canzone dell'amore, in 1930. As well as writing more than 1,000 songs in his career, Bixio penned the soundtracks for more than 60 films.  Bixio's father, Carlo, was an engineer from Genoa; his grandfather was General Nino Bixio, a prominent military figure in the drive for Italian Unification. Read more…

Pierre-Napoleon Bonaparte – adventurer

Colourful life of Italian-born prince

Prince Pierre-Napoleon Bonaparte, a nephew of the Emperor Napoleon, was born on this day in 1815 in Rome.  He was to become notorious for shooting dead a journalist after his family was criticised in a newspaper article.  Bonaparte was the son of Napoleon’s brother, Lucien, and his second wife, Alexandrine de Bleschamp. He grew up with his nine siblings on the family estate at Canino, about 40km (24 miles) north of Rome.  The young Bonaparte helped to keep bandits at bay, spending a lot of time with the local shepherds who were armed and had dogs to protect them.  He set out on a career of adventure, joining bands of insurgents in the Romagna region as a teenager.  In 1831 he spent time in prison for a minor offence and was banished from the Papal States.  He went to the United States to join his uncle, Joseph Bonaparte, in New Jersey. Read more…

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Book of the Day: Grand Tradition: 70 Years of Singing on Record, by J B Steane

The Grand Tradition: 70 Years of Singing on Record, published in 1974 by the celebrated British music critic John Barry Steane, is widely considered the definitive historical and critical survey of operatic singing on disc.  Covering the evolution of recorded vocal art from the dawn of the gramophone in 1900 through to the early 1970s, the book evaluates how technology transformed the public’s relationship with opera and tracks changing tastes in vocal technique, style, and interpretation. Steane divides the book into three distinct eras, using specific records to evaluate the strengths and flaws of hundreds of history's greatest vocalists: The first of these, 1900–1925 (The Golden Age), focuses on the acoustic recording era dominated by figures such as Enrico Caruso, Nellie Melba, and Mattia Battistini; 1925–1950 (The Middle Years) explores the advent of electrical recording, which captured the full weight of larger voices and orchestras; 1950–1970 (The Modern Era) details the introduction of the long-playing vinyl record and stereo sound. This era tracks the emergence of massive post-war personalities - notably Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, and Leontyne Price. Steane praises Cerquetti as an incredibly well-endowed dramatic soprano, noting the immense thrill, weight, and visceral excitement her massive voice could generate, framing her as an exceptional example of the mid-century Italian dramatic lineage, whose raw vocal excitement stood out even in an era populated by giants such as Callas and Renata Tebaldi.

John Barry Steane was an English music critic, musicologist, literary scholar and teacher, with a particular interest in singing and the human voice.

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