grig035
My knowledge of Pertile is not as thorough as I would like. I'm more familiar with various landmarks among his Electricals, including his "Quando le sere" and "Ah si, ben mio" singles of '27 and the complete AIDA/TROVATORE/CARMEN, than among his Acoustics, for instance. And when it comes to his stage rep, I'm more familiar with the roles he sang in the latter half of his career, up to and including the Mascagni NERONE and the Verdi OTELLO, than I am with those he sang when first making his way up.
I'm especially curious as to the extent to which he may have "graduated" to the more heroic parts in which he made his greatest fame, instead of plunging right in at the "deep end" as someone like Merli _appears_ to have done. I only recently heard a 1923 Acoustic, for example, of Pertile's Beppe Serenade from PAGLIACCI, which I find a revelation. Here is a lyric tenor piece where Pertile demonstrates an intimacy and a suppleness worthy of Schipa!
I know that one of Pertile's earliest roles (his very first?) was the relatively lyric part of Lionel in MARTHA. And apparently Edgardo in LUCIA was also one of his roles around this time, a role that some view as a lyric and others don't.
Now, a Pertile contemporary like Lauri-Volpi, say, shows in his recorded output an early aptness to a bel canto style in arias like Arturo's "A te o cara" (PURITANI) and/or Raoul's "O qual soave vision" (HUGUENOTS), an aptness not necessarily typical of spinto tenors of that era.
But going by examples like the recorded Pertile Beppe and his having actually performed a few roles like Edgardo, etc., can anyone here supply any information, either by citing some relatively less familiar Pertile Acoustics or by citing contemporary accounts from Pertile's earliest years, as to the extent to which Pertile may or may not have started out as apt to the bel canto genre as a Lauri-Volpi did?
Many thanks,
Geoffrey Riggs
http://www.operacast.com
I'm especially curious as to the extent to which he may have "graduated" to the more heroic parts in which he made his greatest fame, instead of plunging right in at the "deep end" as someone like Merli _appears_ to have done. I only recently heard a 1923 Acoustic, for example, of Pertile's Beppe Serenade from PAGLIACCI, which I find a revelation. Here is a lyric tenor piece where Pertile demonstrates an intimacy and a suppleness worthy of Schipa!
I know that one of Pertile's earliest roles (his very first?) was the relatively lyric part of Lionel in MARTHA. And apparently Edgardo in LUCIA was also one of his roles around this time, a role that some view as a lyric and others don't.
Now, a Pertile contemporary like Lauri-Volpi, say, shows in his recorded output an early aptness to a bel canto style in arias like Arturo's "A te o cara" (PURITANI) and/or Raoul's "O qual soave vision" (HUGUENOTS), an aptness not necessarily typical of spinto tenors of that era.
But going by examples like the recorded Pertile Beppe and his having actually performed a few roles like Edgardo, etc., can anyone here supply any information, either by citing some relatively less familiar Pertile Acoustics or by citing contemporary accounts from Pertile's earliest years, as to the extent to which Pertile may or may not have started out as apt to the bel canto genre as a Lauri-Volpi did?
Many thanks,
Geoffrey Riggs
http://www.operacast.com