Aristodemo Giorgini (1879-1937) was a celebrated lyric tenor who enjoyed a quarter century career that encompassed opera, concerts and recordings. Born in Naples, he spent much of his childhood in Rome, where he sang as a treble with the Sistine Chapel Choir. After his voice broke, he was persuaded by his father to take a job as a salesman for an electrical supply house. As a teen, Giorgini sold his wares throughout Italy, but never lost interest in music. It was while doing his usual rounds that he began singing in the streets of Rome, attracting the attention of bass Romano Nanetti. Although Nanetti encouraged the young man to leave his job to pursue vocal studies, it was the tenor Francesco Marconi who secured a place for Giorgini at Rome’s Santa Cecilia Academy. Academic life did not agree with Giorgini, and he left the Academy after only a few months and returned to Naples. Despite his meager vocal study, Giorgini decided that he was ready for his stage debut. His hometown theater, the Teatro San Carlo, took a chance on the fledgling tenor and offered him a contract to sing Rodolfo in La Bohème, a role he shared with renowned tenors Alessandro Bonci and Giuseppe Krismer. His debut late in 1903 was nothing short of disastrous. His performance, particularly when compared to those of his esteemed colleagues, clearly suffered from his inexperience. Stage fright, from which he was to suffer during his entire career, was also very much in evidence. Needless to say, the critical response to his performance was scathing, and Giorgini withdrew from the scene to concentrate on further studies.
Following a year of intensive work with Massimino Petrilli, Giorgini made a second debut at the Teatro Faraggiana in Novara as Ernesto in Don Pasquale late in 1904. This time the response was overwhelmingly positive, and the young tenor’s career began to take off. In March of 1905, Giorgini made his La Scala debut, again as Ernesto and November saw Giorgini’s Covent Garden debut as the Duke in Rigoletto. He next travelled to Russia, where he appeared in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Kharkov. Giorgini’s Spanish debut took place at Madrid’s Teatro Real on February 13, 1907 as Alfredo in La Traviata. A week later, he debuted at Barcelona’s Liceo as Almaviva in Barbiere di Siviglia. Giorgini’s fame spread throughout Europe, with appearances in Florence, Rome, Palermo, Bari, Trieste, Lisbon, Warsaw, and Monte Carlo.
On January 15, 1913, Giorgini made his American debut as Rodolfo with the Chicago Grand Opera Company. The tenor remained in the U.S. until that fall, when he returned to Milan to sing Verdi’s Requiem in honor of the composer’s centenary. In December of that same year, Giorgini returned to the U.S. for appearances in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, Kansas City, St. Louis, Milwaukee, St. Paul, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, and Dallas. Upon his return to Italy at the close of the 1913/14 season, he attempted to resume his European career. However, war had erupted by summer’s end and Giorgini’s activities were interrupted, possibly due to military service. After the war was over, the tenor, by then nearing forty, found that the best days of his career were behind him. Although still in splendid voice, Giorgini was no longer in demand at the major theaters and found himself relegated to the provinces. He continued performing in opera and concert for another decade, including a tour of Belgium and Holland in the mid-1920s. Crippling stage fright, however, was always a concern, and often prevented the tenor from giving his best. The stress of maintaining a performing career was also having a detrimental effect on Giorgini’s health. Chronic stomach issues began to sideline him and in 1930, Giorgini underwent emergency surgery for an ulcer. With his career already in decline, the tenor decided to retire from the stage and devoted himself to teaching thereafter. Aristodemo Giorgini passed away in January of 1937 at the age of fifty-seven.
Aristodemo Giorgini’s repertoire of some two dozen operas was diverse, including such roles as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Fernando in La Favorita, Arturo in I Puritani, Elvino in La Sonnambula, Carlo in Linda di Chamounix, Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Almaviva in Barbiere di Siviglia, Faust in Mefistofele, Nadir in Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Gennaro in Gioielli della Madonna, Enzo in La Gioconda, Loris in Fedora, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana and the title role in L’Amico Fritz. Giorgini’s recording career, launched in 1904, spanned a quarter of a century. He made dozens of discs for G&T, Pathé, Edison and HMV, including the very first full length recording of Puccini’s La Bohème in 1928. These recordings reveal a full lyric tenor with some of the characteristics of a spinto. Here, Giorgini joins soprano Adelaide Saraceni (1895-1995) for the duet "È il sol dell’anima" from Verdi's Rigoletto. This was recorded for H.M.V. in Milan on June 13, 1925.
Aristodemo Giorgini & Adelaide Saraceni - Rigoletto
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Mario LanzaMario del MonacoCarlo BergonziFranco CorelliFranco BonisolliTito SchipaGiuseppe di StefanoLuciano PavarottiPlacido DomingoJose CarrerasAlfredo KrausJussi BjörlingJonas KaufmannJan PeerceRichard TauberRichard TuckerNicolai GeddaJohan BothaMatthew PolenzaniJerry HadleyJon VickersLauritz MelchiorEnrico CarusoFritz WunderlichFerruccio TagliaviniAlessandro BonciGiuseppe Verdi