The legendary baritone Tito Gobbi, who was born 100 years ago on October 24th 1913 in the picturesque Venetian city of Bassano del Grappa, was an importantly influential innovator in the history of opera performance. From the early days of his singing career, which began properly in 1937 when the celebrated conductor Tullio Serafin took him into the Teatro Reale Company in Rome (later it became the Rome Opera), he passionately aspired to reveal the musical and theatrical truth of the characters he sang with the utmost concern for both vocal and acting realism.

In his searching motivation to realize composers’ and librettists’ intentions as faithfully and fully as possible, he conveyed a remarkable range of subtly varying vocal colors as he inflected the words that he sang, and he achieved a groundbreaking sophistication of reality as an operatic stage actor. All this exerted a very powerful influence on the art of opera performance both during and after his lifetime. Performers as well as audiences were strongly affected, and in this documentary made in celebration of his centenary, some of the most distinguished and celebrated opera singers of the last several decades explain why and how Tito Gobbi made such a profound impression on them. Among them are the bass baritone Ruggero Raimondi, the soprano Renata Scotto, and the host of the documentary, baritone Thomas Hampson.

Additionally there are many highly revealing comments about his life and some of his most celebrated roles from Tito Gobbi himself, which he made in two pricelessly valuable interviews for the WFMT Radio Network in 1971 and 1973. His daughter, Cecilia, who is the President of the Associazione Musicale Musicale Tito Gobbi, also adds a unique extra dimension with many recollections of her father at home as well as on stage.

–Jon Tolansky

Listen to the documentary immediately below (in two parts; total length of approx. 1 hour, 55 min.)

Host:

Baritone Thomas Hampson

Contributors include:

• Soprano Renata Scotto
• Bass-Baritone, Ruggero Raimondi
• Conductor James Conlon
• Former General Director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago William Mason
• Former General Director of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Sir John Tooley
• Former Opera Director at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Paul Findlay
• Cecilia Gobbi, daughter of Tito Gobbi
• Lady Valerie Solti, widow of conductor Sir Georg Solti
• EMI Classics historian Tony Locantro
• And Tito Gobbi in conversation with Studs Terkel, from the archives of WFMT and the Chicago History Museum

Musical excerpts included in this feature:

• “Per me giunto” from Don Carlos (Verdi, from the album Icon: Tito Gobbi), with conductor Gabriele Santini and the Rome Opera Orchestra
• “Deh! Vieni alla finestra” from Don Giovanni (Mozart, from the album Icon: Tito Gobbi), with conductor Umberto Berretoni and the Milan La Scala Orchestra
• “O sole mio” (Di Capua), sung by Tito Gobbi’s teacher Giulio Crimi, with Vocalian Orchestra (from 78 rpm disc, VOCALION – 30153)
• “O Carlo, ascolta” from Don Carlos (Verdi, from the album Royal Opera House: Don Carlo), with conductor Carlo Maria Giulini and the Royal Opera House Orchestra
• Extracts from Wozzeck (Berg, from the album Wozzeck), with soprano Dorothy Dow, conductor Nino Sanzogno, and the Rome RAI Orchestra
• Extract from Act 1 of Don Carlos (Verdi, from the album Chicago Lyric: Don Carlo), with conductor Antonino Votto and the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra
• “Pura siccome un angelo” from La Traviata (Verdi, from the album La Traviata), with conductor Tullio Serafin and the Milan La Scala Orchestra
• “Di provenza al mar” from La Traviata (Verdi, from the album La Traviata), with conductor Tullio Serafin and the Milan La Scala Orchestra
• “Pari siamo” from Rigoletto (Verdi, from the album Icon: Tito Gobbi), with conductor Tullio Serafin and the Milan La Scala Orchestra
• “Si, vendetta” from Rigoletto (Verdi, from the album Rigoletto), with soprano Renata Scotto, conductor Sir Edward Downes and the BBC Symphony Orchestra
• Extracts from Falstaff (Verdi, from the album Falstaff), with soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, conductor Herbert von Karajan and the Philharmonia Orchestra
• Extracts from Tosca (Verdi, from the album Tosca), with soprano Maria Callas, bass Melchiorre Luise, tenor Angelo Mercuriali, conductor Victor de Sabata, and the Milan La Scala Orchestra
• Masterclass on Puccini’s Tosca with Tito Gobbi and students (ASSOCIAZIONE MUSICALE TITO GOBBI CD)
• “Si corre dal notaio” from Gianni Schicchi (Puccini, from the album Il Trittico), with conductor Gabriele Santini and the Rome Opera Orchestra
• “Addio, Firenze” from Gianni Schicchi (Puccini, from the album Il Trittico), with conductor Gabriele Santini and the Rome Opera Orchestra
• “Inaffia l’ugola” from Otello (Verdi, from the album Royal Opera Gala), with conductor Sir Georg Solti and the Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra
• “Vanne!…Credo in un dio crudel” from Otello (Verdi, from the album Icon: Tito Gobbi), with conductor Alberto Erede and the Philharmonia Orchestra
• “Plebe! Patrizi!” from Simon Boccanegra (Verdi, from the album Icon: Tito Gobbi), with conductor Alberto Erede and the Philharmonia Orchestra