Achille De Bassini
Encyclopedia
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
, particularly noted for his performances in Verdi's opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s. He created the roles of Francesco Foscari in I due Foscari
I due Foscari
I due Foscari is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on a historical play, The Two Foscari by Lord Byron....
(1844), Pasha Seid in Il corsaro
Il corsaro
Il corsaro is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, from a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on Lord Byron's poem The Corsair...
(1848), Miller in Luisa Miller
Luisa Miller
Luisa Miller is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play Kabale und Liebe by Friedrich von Schiller. The first performance was given at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on December 8, 1849...
(1849) and Fra Melitone in La forza del destino
La forza del destino
La forza del destino is an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on a Spanish drama, Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino , by Ángel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas, with a scene adapted from Friedrich Schiller's Wallensteins Lager. It was first performed...
' (1862).
He studied in Milan and is thought to have made his début in Voghera
Voghera
thumb|250px|The Castle of Voghera in a 19th century etching.Voghera is a town and comune of Lombardy, Italy, in the province of Pavia...
in 1837 in the title-role of Donizetti's Belisario
Belisario
Belisario is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after Luigi Marchionni's adaptation of Eduard von Schenk's play. The plot is loosely based on the life of the famous general Belisarius of the 6th century Byzantine Empire...
. Although he had a talent for portraying noble, suffering characters, Verdi also recognized his capacity for humorous roles and wrote the character of Fra Melitone specifically for him. He sang throughout Italy and from 1852–1863 in St. Petersburg as well. He made his London debut in Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in 1859.
De Bassini was married to the soprano Rita Gabussi. Their son, Alberto De Bassini, was also an opera singer, first as a tenor, and later as a baritone.
Sources
- J. Warrack and E. West, 'De Bassini, Achille', The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, 1992.
- Francesco Regli, Dizionario biografico dei più celebri poeti ed artisti melodrammatici, E. Dalmazzo, 1860, pp. 151-152