Herbert Ernst Groh
Herbert studied singing in Milan and Munich and made his …
Feodor Chaliapin
Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin was “la voce storica” among basses at the turn of the century, the great basso-cantante that combined the art of singing with the art of acting and strove to find the ideal vocal expression for his characters. “To him, the voice was only a pretext and a docile, sometimes insidious instrument of will and whim. He was a tenor, baritone or bass as he wished, making use of all colours on the lyrical palette” He remains perhaps one of the four truly mythical figures of opera to this very day.
Hipólito Lázaro
Lázaro’s early years were the years of an unusually promising tenor, the Caruso-successor, the incarnation of the Tenor-Torero, self-secure, with ringing top notes and fearless of extreme tessitura. Lauri-Volpi claims he could sometimes approach the audience at the proscenium in the middle of a performance, whispering to them: “Behold, you are listening to the number one tenor in the world!” Yet he didn’t succeed in becoming the household name Caruso had before him, despite the fame and the acknowledgment he enjoyed in his native Spain and throughout Central and South America. According to Lauri-Volpi, Lázaro “stopped his ascent half way for his fixation of imitating Caruso and surpassing his glory or for giving up the 19th century repertory and choosing to sing Mascagni’s operas.”
Claudia Muzio
Once described by Giacomo Lauri-Volpi as a voice “made of …
Juan Diego Flórez
Juan Diego Flórez was born in Lima, Peru, on 13 …
