Mario Del Monaco
(July 27, 1915 - July 16, 1982) was an
Italian
tenor
, particularly associated with Italian heroic roles, notably
Otello
. One of the leading "tenore di forza" (dramatic tenor) of the 1950s, he possessed a voice of considerable range and power with a thrilling upper register.
Born in
Florence
, Italy, he studied in
Pesaro
with Melocchi but was mostly self-taught. He began his operatic career in Pesero in 1940, as Turriddu in
Cavalleria rusticana
. He then sang widely in Italy and made his debut at
La Scala
in
Milan
in 1943, as Rodolfo in
La boheme
. After the war, he began to appear outside Italy,
Barcelona
,
London
,
Paris
,
Rio de Janeiro
,
Buenos Aires
, etc. He first sang at the
Metropolitan Opera
in
New York
in 1950, as des Grieux in
Manon Lescaut
.
Although mostly associated with the Italian
repertoire
(
Ernani
,
Il trovatore
,
La forza del destino
,
Aida
,
Andrea Chenier
,
Tosca
,
La fanciulla del West
,
Turandot
, etc.), he also enjoyed considerable success as Don Jose in
Carmen
and Samson in
Samson et Dalila
. He left several complete opera recordings, often with soprano
Renata Tebaldi
.
Del Monaco was married to
soprano
Rina Filippini, who was also his
vocal coach
. Their son, Giancarlo (b. 1945), is an operatic stage director. Del Monaco died from
nephritis
in
Mestre
, near
Venice
, at the age of 67.
- Le guide de l'opera
, Roland Mancini & Jean-Jacques Rouveroux, Fayard, 1986.