Titta Ruffo

Note by Norman White











It is not surprising that the thrilling, vibrant baritone voice of Titta Ruffo has been described ad "the Voice of the Lion". Giuseppe de Luca another great baritone described it, "not a voice but a miracle!" Tullio Serafin the veteran conductor near the end of his life said that he had known but three miracles in singing: Caruso, Ponselle and Ruffo.

Ruffo Titta, (he reversed his names for the stage) was born in Pisa on June 9th 1877 but within a few years the family moved to Rome. Coming from a large and poor family, Ruffo had an unhappy childhood and received no education. From an early age he assisted his father as a blacksmith, but because of continued friction between them, ruffo left home. By the age of eighteen he had discovered his fine baritone voice and was admitted to the Santa Cecilia in Rome, becoming a pupil of the celebrated teacher, Persichini.

Ruffo's operatic debut took place on April 9th 1898 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome as the Herald in Lohengrin. Word of his success soon spread quickly, and engagements followed in such operas as La Forza del Destino, La Boheme, La Gioconda, Rigoletto and Un Ballo in Maschera. Before the turn of the century his reputation was formed throughout Italy and he was invited to sing in South America. After 1900 all the major opera houses of the world opened their doors to him including Covent Garden where he sang for only one season, in 1903. The probable season for this was a disagreement with Nellie Melba who on hearing him rehearse for Rigoletto, realised that he might outshine her. She had him removed from the cast on the pretext that he was too young for the role!

Success followed success and his repertoire over the years expanded to fifty five roles. Soon only the wealthiest opera houses could afford this fees, as he had become the most expensive baritone in the world. Despite his lack of schooling he was a well-read intellectual and he used this knowledge for his highly developed characterisations.

In 1916, during the First World War, he returned to Italy and joined the army being released on special occasions to sing at fundraising events for the wounded. At the end of the war he resumed his operatic career, and appeared with the greatest singers of the generation: Caruso, Storchio, Sobinov, Ponselle, Chaliapine and Gigli. His last operatic appearance was as Scarpia in Tosca, in Buenos Aires, 1931. For the next four years he gave occasional concerts which included excerpts and complete acts from operas. He retired from singing in 1935 after a career lasting thirty-seven years. His latter years were marred by conflict with the facist authorities in Italy whose regime he violently opposed. He died in Florence on July 5th 1953.

Ruffo's recording career began in Paris in 1904 with the Pathe Freres company for whom he recorded fifteen titles. His recording contracts for the Gramophone Company (and the then affiliated the American Victor Company) began in 1907 and lasted until 1933 by which time he had recorded 188 titles.

This collection of recordings includes examples of some of his finest interpretations: Hamlet, Iago, Rigoletto, Scarpia and Nabucco. In Verdi's Nabucco Ruffo shows his virtuosity by singing both the bass and baritone roles, the High-Priest and Nabucco, in an excerpt from Act 1.


© 1990 Norman White

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