Dead Tenors’ Society honors Giuseppe di Stefano on his 100th Birthday!

This remarkable tenor…Pippo to his friends…was born near Catania, Sicily on July 24, 1921. The son of a shoemaker, di Stefano moved with his family to Milan as a child. He briefly considered becoming a priest but began taking singing classes after discovering his voice as a teen. To earn money, he sang in boys’ choirs, as well as cafes and restaurants around Milan. Despite reports that di Stefano never studied voice, the young tenor began lessons with Adriano Tocchio at 17. It was through Tocchio that di Stefano found a position as a chorister with La Scala. At 19, he began working with baritone Luigi Montesanto, but his studies were interrupted when he was drafted into the Italian Army in early 1941. Although he avoided active combat, the young tenor was busy singing camp shows for the troops. In 1943, he was sent to Switzerland where he was interned in a refugee camp. Strangely, it was here that di Stefano made his first recordings as well as his first radio performances. It was also here that the young tenor sang his first complete role, Edward Milfort in La Cambiale di Matrimonio, during a January 20, 1945 radio production of Rossini’s forgotten opera. His official stage debut occurred on April 20, 1946 as des Grieux in Manon at Reggio Emilia’s Teatro Municipale. Di Stefano’s rise was meteoric, with appearances at Venice’s Teatro La Fenice, Teatro Politeama in Genoa, Bologna’s Teatro Comunale, Rome’s Teatro dell’ Opera, Teatro Regio in Parma, Barcelona’s Liceu, and Milan’s La Scala…all within a year of his debut. The young tenor wisely stuck to roles that suited his lyric voice, including Elvino in La Sonnambula, Nadir in Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Wilhelm Meister in Mignon, Rodolfo in La Bohème, Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore, Fenton in Falstaff, Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Fernando in La Favorita.

The 26 year old di Stefano made his Metropolitan Opera debut on February 25, 1948 as the Duke in Rigoletto. The response from both critics and the public was astounding, seemingly setting the stage for a long and fruitful career with the company. After only four years, however, di Stefano was fired for accepting contracts that conflicted with his Met schedule. He returned to the company, however, for the 1955/56 season. By now, di Stefano was taking on more dramatic roles, which eventually took a toll on his lyric voice. Of his Don José in the fall of 1955, Musical America described his voice as “a bit dry and whittled down”, an early warning of things to come. The tenor’s career continued to soar, with appearances in the major theaters of Europe and North and South America. His pairings with Maria Callas were the stuff of legend, and the two broke box office records wherever they appeared together during the 50s and 60s.

By the mid 1960s, di Stefano’s early promise had faded. He continued adding heavier roles to his repertoire, which did little for his vocal health. There were ill advised attempts at Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Wagner’s Rienzi and a disastrous Otello in Pasadena. Even after taking on operetta roles to save his voice, he made poor decisions…50 performances of Land das Lächelns in less than two months…which were practically suicidal. Crowds flocked to the international Callas/di Stefano concert tours of 1973/74, earning much needed cash for the tenor. Luckily, there were master classes, concerts and recitals in far flung venues, and the occasional operatic role. His final stage role was the Emperor Altoum in Turandot at Caracalla in 1992. The recitals continued until the mid 90s, after which Di Stefano retired to his Kenyan estate. Tragically, he was brutally attacked during a burglary late in 2004. He was eventually flown to Milan, but never fully recovered from his injuries. Di Stefano passed away near Milan on March 3, 2008 at age 86.

Assessing Giuseppe di Stefano is a difficult task. It is always easy to criticize any artist from the sidelines and although I would rather not dwell on the negative aspects of di Stefano’s singing, it would be impossible to paint a complete picture without mentioning the obvious. Yes, he often sang his top notes too open. Yes, he took on roles far too heavy for his voice. Yes, there were signs of premature vocal decline as early as the late 1950s. BUT…in his prime, Giuseppe di Stefano possessed one of the most ravishing voices of the 20th Century. He sang over 50 roles in a career that took him to nearly every major opera house on the planet. Even in his decline, he sang with a passion that has rarely been matched by others. Whenever he sang, he communicated with the audience. It is a singer’s job to communicate. And Giuseppe di Stefano did his job.

Here, di Stefano sings “Nessun dorma” from Puccini’s Turandot. This recording was made during a Martini & Rossi concert in Turin on December 12, 1952.

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