Di Stefano as Radames in Aida. This article is about the marketing term AIDA For other uses of the term see Aida (disambiguation.

Giuseppe Di Stefano (24 July 1921 – 3 March 2008) was an Italian operatic tenor whose career spanned from the late 1940s to the early 1970s. Events 1132 - Battle of Nocera between Ranulf II of Alife and Roger II of Sicily. Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar Events 1284 - Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales into England 1575 - Indian 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto The tenor is the highest male voice within the Modal register, just above the Baritone voice The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949 Events and trends The 1940s was a period between the radical 1930s and the conservative 1950s which also leads the period to be He was also known for his long association with Maria Callas, with whom he performed and recorded many times, and with whom he was briefly romantically involved.

Biography

Giuseppe Di Stefano was born in Motta Sant'Anastasia, a village near Catania, Sicily. Motta Sant'Anastasia is a Comune (municipality in the Province of Catania in the Italian region Sicily, located about 160 km Catania ( Greek: &ndash Katánē; Latin: Catăna and Catĭna; Arabic: Sicily ( Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia) is an autonomous region of Italy. He was the only son of a carabiniere turned cobbler and his dressmaker wife. Di Stefano was educated at a Jesuit seminary and briefly contemplated entering the priesthood. The Society of Jesus ( Latin: Societas Iesu, SJ and SI or SJ, SI) is a Catholic religious order

Di Stefano made his operatic debut in 1946 in Reggio Emilia as Des Grieux in Massenet's Manon, the role with which he made his La Scala debut the following year. Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. For the city in the southern Italy See Reggio Calabria. For the basketball club "Bipop Carire Reggio Emilia" see Pallacanestro Reggiana. Jules (Émile Frédéric Massenet ( May 12, 1842 – August 13, 1912) was a French composer best known for his Operas Manon is an Opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based The Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala, as it is known in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous Opera houses The theatre was He made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera in 1948 as the Duke in Rigoletto, and he went to perform regularly in New York for many years. The Metropolitan Opera Association of New York City, founded in April 1880 is a major presenter of all types of opera including Grand Opera. Rigoletto is an Opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian Libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based In 1957, Di Stefano made his British debut at the Edinburgh Festival as Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore and his Royal Opera House, Covent Garden debut in 1961 as Cavaradossi in Tosca. Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for several simultaneous arts and cultural Festivals which take place during August each year in Edinburgh, L'elisir d'amore ( The Elixir of Love) is a Melodramma giocoso in two acts by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. WikipediaWikiProject Opera --> The Royal Opera House is an Opera house and major performing Covent Garden (Pronunciation kɒvʌnt is a district in London, England, located on the easternmost parts of the City of Westminster and the southwest Tosca is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on

As a singer, Di Stefano was admired for his excellent diction, unique timbre, and passionate delivery, and particularly for his sweet soft tones. In his Metropolitan radio debut in Faust, he attacked the high C forte and then softened to a pianissimo. In Music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a Sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece either stylistic Sir Rudolf Bing said this was the most beautiful sound he had heard come out of a human throat during his years as General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera. Sir Rudolf Bing ( January 9, 1902 &ndash September 2, 1997) was an Austrian-born Opera Impresario. But the heavier roles that he began to take on were not really suited for a lyric tenor, and by the mid 1960s he had all but ended his operatic career. During his international career he won a gold Orfeo, an Italian musical award similar to America's Oscar. ^[1]

In 1973, he accompanied Callas on her final recital tour, an undertaking that was eventually aborted in 1974 due to the vocal shortcomings of both singers. Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. His final operatic role was as the aged Emperor in Turandot, in July 1992.

Tenor Luciano Pavarotti modeled himself after Di Stefano, a fact that gained much attention after Pavarotti’s death in September 2007. WikipediaWikiProject Opera#Infoboxes. Thank you--> Luciano Pavarotti, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI ( October 12, However, on the 1992 PBS television program "Pavarotti and the Italian Tenor," ^[2] a vocal coach explained that Di Stefano's technique was faulty because he did not use the passaggio in his voice as he should have. Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) The Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) is a Non-profit Public broadcasting Television service with 354 member TV stations in the Passaggio is a term used in classical singing to describe the pitch ranges in which Vocal registration events occur )

Recordings with Maria Callas

Although his career was relatively brief, Di Stefano sang the tenor leads in several of the most famous recordings of Maria Callas, all of which were for EMI. The EMI Group is a British music company comprising the major record company EMI Music – which operates several labels and is based in Kensington in Together they recorded the following complete operas:

• Lucia Di Lammermoor - 1953
• I Puritani - 1953
• Cavalleria Rusticana - 1953
• Tosca - 1953
• Pagliacci - 1954
• Rigoletto - 1955
• Il Trovatore - 1956
• La Boheme - 1956
• Un Ballo in Maschera - 1956
• Manon Lescaut - 1957

A series of duets with Giuseppe di Stefano and Maria Callas were recorded by the Philips label in the period November-December 1973 with Antonio de Almeida conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico (tragic Opera) in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. I puritani ( The Puritans) is an Opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. Cavalleria rusticana ( Rustic Chivalry) is an Opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian Libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti Tosca is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Pagliacci ( Players, or Clowns) is an Opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. Rigoletto is an Opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian Libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based Il trovatore ( The Troubadour) is an Opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian Libretto by Leone Emanuele Bardare Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball, is an Opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. For other versions of the Manon (story/movie/theater/opera see Manon (disambiguation. These recordings were not published officially but a 'pirate' version did appear.

Other recordings

Besides his recordings with Callas, he also made complete EMI sets of Madama Butterfly (opposite Victoria de los Ángeles, 1954) and La traviata (with Antonietta Stella and Tito Gobbi, 1955). The EMI Group is a British music company comprising the major record company EMI Music – which operates several labels and is based in Kensington in Victoria de los Ángeles (in Catalan Victòria dels Àngels ( November 1, 1923 &ndash January 15 Antonietta Stella ( March 15, 1929, Perugia, Italy) is an Italian Operatic Soprano, one of the finest Italian Spinto Tito Gobbi ( October 24, 1913 &ndash March 5, 1984) was an Italian Baritone.

For English DECCA he recorded L'elisir d'amore with Hilde Güden and Fernando Corena (1955), La Gioconda (with Zinka Milanov and Leonard Warren, 1957), La forza del destino (1958) and a second Tosca (with Leontyne Price and Giuseppe Taddei, von Karajan conducting, 1962). The Austrian Soprano Hilde Gueden, or Güden (born in Vienna, September 15, 1917; died in Klosterneuburg, Fernando Corena ( December 22, 1916 - November 26, 1984) was a Swiss bass, one of the greatest Buffo of the post-war era Zinka Milanov née Zinka Kunc ( May 17, 1906 in Zagreb, Croatia – May 30, The American Opera singer Leonard Warren ( April 21, 1911 - March 4, 1960) was a famous Baritone Mary Violet Leontyne Price (born February 10, 1927) is an American Opera singer ( Soprano) Giuseppe Taddei (born June 26, 1916) is an Italian Baritone who enjoyed a long and distinguished career particularly in operas by Wolfgang WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Herbert von Karajan ( April 5

For Ricordi (Ricordi MRO 104/105), he made a complete stereo Lucia di Lammermoor with Renata Scotto, Ettore Bastianini and Ivo Vinco in 1958, with Nino Sanzogno conducting the orchestra and chorus of the Teatro alla Scala, Milan. Casa Ricordi is a classical music publishing company founded in 1808 as G Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico (tragic Opera) in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Renata Scotto (born February 24, 1934) is an Italian Soprano. Ettore Bastianini ( September 24, 1922 &ndash January 25, 1967) was an Italian Opera singer who began his professional career The Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala, as it is known in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous Opera houses The theatre was Milan (Milano Milan (listen) is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy.

In 1995, VAI issued an approved version of La bohème, from a 1959 performance in New Orleans, with the tenor starring opposite Licia Albanese, Audrey Schuh, Giuseppe Valdengo and Norman Treigle. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Licia Albanese (born July 22, 1913, in Bari, Audrey Schuh (Redmann was born in New Orleans Louisiana, on June 11 1931 and studied both music and medical technology at Loyola University of the South, where Norman Treigle (né Adanelle Wilfred Treigle 6 March, 1927 - 16 February 1975) was born in New Orleans Louisiana, the fifth and Additionally, in 1962 the tenor recorded excerpts from Massenet's Manon, with Anna Moffo, conducted by René Leibowitz. Jules (Émile Frédéric Massenet ( May 12, 1842 – August 13, 1912) was a French composer best known for his Operas Anna Moffo (June 27 1932 - March 9 2006 was an Italian-American Opera singer one of the leading dramatic-coloratura Sopranos of her era she possessed a warm and René Leibowitz (17 February 1913 &ndash 29 August 1972 was a French composer conductor music theorist and teacher born in Warsaw, Poland.

In 1951, Di Stefano sang in a performance of the Verdi Requiem, at Carnegie Hall, conducted by Arturo Toscanini, other soloists being Herva Nelli, Fedora Barbieri and Cesare Siepi. Carnegie Hall (generally ˌkɑrnɨgi ˈhɔːl is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Arturo Toscanini (ɑrˈturɔ ˌtɔskɑˈnini (March 25 1867 &ndash January Herva Nelli ( January 9, 1909 &ndash May 31, 1994) was an Italian -born Operatic Soprano. Fedora Barbieri ( 4 June 1920 - 4 March 2003) was an Italian Mezzo-soprano. Cesare Siepi (born Milan, February 10, 1923) is an Italian opera singer generally considered to be one of the finest basses It was released by RCA. RCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986

Diani Beach incident and following death

In November 2004, Di Stefano was critically injured in his home in Diani Beach, Kenya, after a brutal beating by unknown assailants. Diani Beach is a major Beach resort, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya, 30 km south of Mombasa. The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north Somalia to the northeast Tanzania to the south ^[1][3] Di Stefano was ambushed in his car with his wife as they prepared to drive from their villa in Diani, a coastal resort near Mombasa on the Indian Ocean. A villa was originally an Upper-class Country house, though since its origins in Roman times the idea and function of a villa has evolved considerably Mombasa is the second largest City in Kenya, lying on the Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's Oceanic divisions covering about 20% of the water on the Earth 's surface The singer was still unconscious a week after the attack and was fed intravenously, and underwent several operations.

In December, 2007 Di Stefano was flown to the San Raffaele clinic at Milan, where he slipped into a coma. Events in December Union Day of Romania (1 December World AIDS Day ( December 1) National Day of Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Milan (Milano Milan (listen) is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. ^[4] He died in his home in Santa Maria Hoè near Milan on March 3, 2008. Santa Maria Hoè is a Comune (municipality in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 35 km northeast Events 1284 - Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales into England 1575 - Indian 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common ^[3]

References

• The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, by John Warrack and Ewan West (1992), 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5

External links

• Alan Blyth Obituary: Opera singer Giuseppe di Stefano, 1921-2008 The Guardian 3 March, 2008