Tito Capobianco
Encyclopedia
Tito Capobianco is a noted stage director of opera.
He made his official debut with Aïda
, at the Teatro Argentino, La Plata, in 1953, then worked at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. His American debut came in 1964 with a production of Carmen
at the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company
, with Jean Madeira
in the title role.
Capobianco is former Artistic Director of the Cincinnati Opera Festival (1961 to 1965) and the Cincinnati Opera
(1962 to 1965) before moving to the New York City Opera
in 1965 with Les contes d'Hoffmann
, a production which included Beverly Sills
and Norman Treigle
in the cast. Then followed posts at the San Diego Opera
and the Pittsburgh Opera
, 1983–2000, where his 17-year tenure was described as: "armed with a towering personality, glittering charisma and determined artistic vision, he's ruled the Pittsburgh Opera - sometimes, say his critics, with an iron fist."
A man who has been described as difficult to work with and who "admits his intense management and directing style was at times hard on his singers and staff: "I am obsessed with something that does not exist: perfection.", Capobianco seemed to relish the control which the post of general director gave to him: "The impetus of general director was the assurance to me that I could do whatever I wanted. There will be nobody except the board to stop me. I don't believe in democracy in the arts. You don't use four persons to do the same painting."
's Don Rodrigo
(with Plácido Domingo
), Giulio Cesare
(which brought Sills to preëminence in 1966), Le Coq d'Or, Manon
, Mefistofele
(with Treigle in his greatest role), Lucia di Lammermoor
, Les contes d'Hoffmann, I puritani
, Il turco in Italia
and the world premiere of Menotti's La loca.
In addition there was the now-famous "The Three Queens" operas of Donizetti, Roberto Devereux
(1970), Maria Stuarda
(1972), and Anna Bolena
, all of which starred Sills. The director established a solid working relationship with Sills - and the feeling was mutual: "I can ask her to try anything onstage,” marvels Tito Capobianco, who has directed most of her successes at City Opera and whom Beverly regards as “her” director."
Capobianco commented on some of the features which allowed the trio of operas to be presented: "It was a golden era....We had singers who could act. It was total theatre; drama. It was just a fantastic moment..."
as part of the regular season, the Festival continued in the summers of 1978 with the Requiem and Aida
; in 1979 with I Lombardi; in 1980 with Il trovatore
and Giovanna d'Arco
; in 1981 with Un giorno di regno
plus the Requiem and 1982 saw stagings of Il corsaro
and Un ballo in maschera
. Capobianco left the company in 1983, but his successor was able to present I masnadieri
(with Joan Sutherland
) along with Simon Boccanegra
while the Festival concept ended in March 1985 with Oberto
.
debut in 1978, with Thaïs
, featuring Sills, and returned to that theatre for Simon Boccanegra
in 1984, with Sherrill Milnes
in the title role.
He made his official debut with Aïda
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
, at the Teatro Argentino, La Plata, in 1953, then worked at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. His American debut came in 1964 with a production of Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
at the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company
Philadelphia Grand Opera Company
The Philadelphia Grand Opera Company was the name of four different American opera companies active at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the twentieth century. The last and most well known of the four was founded in November 1954 with the merger of the Philadelphia Civic...
, with Jean Madeira
Jean Madeira
Jean Madeira was an American mezzo-soprano, particularly known for her work in late-romantic German repertoire such as the operas of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss...
in the title role.
Capobianco is former Artistic Director of the Cincinnati Opera Festival (1961 to 1965) and the Cincinnati Opera
Cincinnati Opera
Cincinnati Opera is an American opera company based in Cincinnati, Ohio and the second oldest opera company in the United States .-History:...
(1962 to 1965) before moving to the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
in 1965 with Les contes d'Hoffmann
Les contes d'Hoffmann
Les contes d'Hoffmann is an opéra by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on short stories by E. T. A...
, a production which included Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. In her prime she was the only real rival to Joan Sutherland as the leading bel canto stylist...
and Norman Treigle
Norman Treigle
Norman Treigle was an American operatic bass-baritone, who was acclaimed for his great abilities as a singing-actor, and specialized in roles that evoked villainy and terror....
in the cast. Then followed posts at the San Diego Opera
San Diego Opera
The San Diego Opera Association is a professional opera company located in the city of San Diego, California and is a member of OPERA America. It was founded in 1950 to present productions by San Francisco Opera in the San Diego area...
and the Pittsburgh Opera
Pittsburgh Opera
Pittsburgh Opera is an American opera company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is one of two opera companies in the city, the other being Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Opera gives performances in several venues, primarily at the Benedum Center, with other performances at the...
, 1983–2000, where his 17-year tenure was described as: "armed with a towering personality, glittering charisma and determined artistic vision, he's ruled the Pittsburgh Opera - sometimes, say his critics, with an iron fist."
A man who has been described as difficult to work with and who "admits his intense management and directing style was at times hard on his singers and staff: "I am obsessed with something that does not exist: perfection.", Capobianco seemed to relish the control which the post of general director gave to him: "The impetus of general director was the assurance to me that I could do whatever I wanted. There will be nobody except the board to stop me. I don't believe in democracy in the arts. You don't use four persons to do the same painting."
New York City Opera, 1966 to 1976
Capobianco was to become one of the City Opera's important directors, mounting ground-breaking productions including Alberto GinasteraAlberto Ginastera
Alberto Evaristo Ginastera was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered one of the most important Latin American classical composers.- Biography :...
's Don Rodrigo
Don Rodrigo
Don Rodrigo is an opera in three acts by Alberto Ginastera, the composer's first opera, to an original Spanish libretto by Alejandro Casona. Ginastera composed the opera on commission from the Municipality of the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first performance was at the Teatro Colón,...
(with Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
), Giulio Cesare
Giulio Cesare
Giulio Cesare in Egitto , commonly known simply as Giulio Cesare, is an Italian opera in three acts written for the Royal Academy of Music by George Frideric Handel in 1724...
(which brought Sills to preëminence in 1966), Le Coq d'Or, Manon
Manon
Manon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost...
, Mefistofele
Mefistofele
Mefistofele is an opera in a prologue, four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito.-Composition history:...
(with Treigle in his greatest role), Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
, Les contes d'Hoffmann, I puritani
I puritani
I puritani is an opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. It was his last opera. Its libretto is by Count Carlo Pepoli, based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine, which is in turn based on Walter Scott's novel Old Mortality. It was first produced at...
, Il turco in Italia
Il turco in Italia
Il turco in Italia is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The Italian-language libretto was written by Felice Romani...
and the world premiere of Menotti's La loca.
In addition there was the now-famous "The Three Queens" operas of Donizetti, Roberto Devereux
Roberto Devereux
Roberto Devereux is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, by Gaetano Donizetti...
(1970), Maria Stuarda
Maria Stuarda
Maria Stuarda is a tragic opera, , in two acts, by Gaetano Donizetti, to a libretto by Giuseppe Bardari, based on Friedrich Schiller's 1800 play Maria Stuart....
(1972), and Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli's Anna Bolena, both telling of the life of Anne Boleyn...
, all of which starred Sills. The director established a solid working relationship with Sills - and the feeling was mutual: "I can ask her to try anything onstage,” marvels Tito Capobianco, who has directed most of her successes at City Opera and whom Beverly regards as “her” director."
Capobianco commented on some of the features which allowed the trio of operas to be presented: "It was a golden era....We had singers who could act. It was total theatre; drama. It was just a fantastic moment..."
San Diego Opera, 1976 to 1983
One of the features of his tenure at the company was the introduction of a Verdi Festival, with two opera presented each summer, one generally a late composition, the other an early work from the composer's "galley years". Beginning in 1976 with OtelloOtello
Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887....
as part of the regular season, the Festival continued in the summers of 1978 with the Requiem and Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
; in 1979 with I Lombardi; in 1980 with Il trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
and Giovanna d'Arco
Giovanna d'Arco
Giovanna d'Arco is an operatic dramma lirico with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera....
; in 1981 with Un giorno di regno
Un giorno di regno
Un giorno di regno, ossia il finto Stanislao is an operatic melodramma giocoso in two acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on the play Le faux Stanislas by Alexandre Vincent Pineu-Duval...
plus the Requiem and 1982 saw stagings of 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...
and Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
. Capobianco left the company in 1983, but his successor was able to present I masnadieri
I masnadieri
I masnadieri is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Andrea Maffei, based on Die Räuber by Friedrich von Schiller....
(with Joan Sutherland
Joan Sutherland
Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....
) along with Simon Boccanegra
Simon Boccanegra
Simon Boccanegra is an opera with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Simón Bocanegra by Antonio García Gutiérrez....
while the Festival concept ended in March 1985 with Oberto
Oberto (opera)
Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio is an opera in two acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on an existing libretto by Antonio Piazza probably called Rocester....
.
Metropolitan Opera
Capobianco made his Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
debut in 1978, with Thaïs
Thaïs
Thaïs was a famous Greek hetaera who lived during the time of Alexander the Great and accompanied him on his campaigns. She is most famous for instigating the burning of Persepolis. At the time, Thaïs was the lover of Ptolemy I Soter, one of Alexander's generals...
, featuring Sills, and returned to that theatre for Simon Boccanegra
Simon Boccanegra
Simon Boccanegra is an opera with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Simón Bocanegra by Antonio García Gutiérrez....
in 1984, with Sherrill Milnes
Sherrill Milnes
Sherrill Milnes is an American operatic baritone most famous for his Verdi roles. From 1965 until 1997 he was associated with the Metropolitan Opera....
in the title role.
Videography
- Donizetti: Roberto Devereux (Sills, Marsee, J.Alexander, Fredricks; Rudel, 1975) [live] VAI
- Verdi: La traviataLa traviataLa traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
(Sills, H.Price, Fredricks; Rudel, 1976) [live] VAI - Massenet: Manon (Sills, H.Price, Fredricks, Ramey; Rudel, 1977) [live] ParamountParamount Home EntertainmentParamount Home Entertainment is the division of Paramount Pictures dealing with home video founded in late 1975.-History:...
- Verdi: Simon Boccanegra (Tomowa-Sintow, Milnes, Plishka; Levine, 1984) [live] Deutsche GrammophonDeutsche GrammophonDeutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...