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Giuseppe de Luca
Note by Norman White |
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| 'Bel canto ' is a term frequently used to describe a particular vocal style popular in the last century, and usually applies to the higher voices of soprano and tenor.
In literal translation, it means beautiful singing and can apply to all voice types.
Outstanding exponents of With Ruffo, Stracciari, Amato and Sammarco as his contemporaries de Luca had formidable competition.
He didn't have the natural vocal gifts of any of those singers, and like Schipa a few years later de Luca compensated for what he lacked by mastering the technicalities of his art in a manner that has rarely been surpassed since.
His musicianship was impeccable, every nuance of phrase receiving subtle treatment, and like a great painter, his use of colours to paint vocal pictures was the envy of his contemporaries.
He never resorted to harshness or coarseness to create a dramatic effect, but achieved his results through the flexibility of his vocal skill.
Because of this his career was to last for fifty years, encompassing more than one hundred roles, in contrast to many of his rivals whose careers were finished in less than twenty years.
Giuseppe de Luca was born in Rome on 25th December 1876. As a boy he was a member of the Vatican choir and at the age of thirteen already had a fine baritone voice. At fifteen he won a scholarship to the St. Cecilia Academy in Rome. His début was as Valentine in Faust at Piacenza in 1897. Because of his outstanding interpretative skills he was soon in demand for a wide range of established, as well as new works. Amongst the world premières that he took part in, were Giordano's Siberia, Cilèa's Adriana Lecouvreur, Pucccini's Madame Butterfly and Gianni Schicchi. For a baritone so distinguished in his interpretation of the Italian and French repertoire, it is surprising to learn that during his early seasons at La Scala he performed the Wagnerian roles of Alberich in Das Rheingold, Wolfram in Tannhäuser and Beckmesser in Die Meistersinger. De Luca joined the Metropolitan Opera in 1915 as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and remained as a member of the company for the next twenty years. His last public appearance was in a concert to celebrate his fifty years of singing, held in New York in 1947. He died in New York on 26th August 1950. De Luca's recording career lasted from 1895 to 1950. Throughout this period the character of his singing hardly changed and his art provided a model for the Bel Canto tradition. This collection covers his greatest period, from 1907 to 1930. |
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