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Ferruccio Tagliavini - Boheme - Cha gelida manina - Cetra BB 25021 enregistré le 23 mai 1941

Ferruccio Tagliavini (Cavazzoli, Reggio d'Émilie, 15 août 1913 - Reggio d'Émilie, 29 janvier 1995) est un ténor italien, l'un des éminents tenore di grazia de son époque.
Tagliavini étudie d'abord à Parme avec Branducci, puis à Florence avec Bassi. Ses débuts à Florence en 1938, dans le rôle de Rodolfo de La Bohème, provoque une sensation pour son timbre évoquant Beniamino Gigli, et son expressivité proche de Tito Schipa, deux grands ténors de la génération précédente.
En 1941, il enregistre L'amico Fritz, sous la direction de Pietro Mascagni lui-même, pour le cinquantenaire de la création de l'œuvre. Il débute à La Scala de Milan en 1942, en Almaviva. Il chante alors dans toute l'Italie, s'imposant dans le répertoire lyrique italien et français (L'elisir d'amore, Don Pasquale, La sonnambula, Lucia di Lammermoor, Rigoletto, La traviata, Manon, Werther, L'arlesiana, etc).
Une fois la guerre terminée, il entame une carrière internationale, avec des débuts au Teatro Colon de Buenos Aires en 1946, au Metropolitan Opera de New York en 1947, au Royal Opera House de Londres en 1950, à l'Opéra de Paris en 1951, etc.
Au fil des ans, Tagliavini aborde des emplois plus lourds, notamment Un ballo in maschera, Mefistofele, Tosca. Il quitte la scène en 1965, mais continue à se produire en concert jusqu'en 1977.
Tagliavini possédait l'un des plus beaux timbres de ténor de son époque, avec une exquise « mezza voce » et d'inéffables « pianissimi ». Il fut marié à la soprano Pia Tassinari.

Ferruccio Tagliavini (pronounced [ferˈruttʃo taʎʎaˈviːni]; 14 August 1913 – 28 January 1995) was an Italian operatic tenor mainly active in the 1940s and 1950s. Tagliavini was hailed as the heir apparent to Tito Schipa and Beniamino Gigli in the lyric-opera repertory due to the exceptional beauty of his voice, but he did not sustain his great early promise across the full span of his career.
Tagliavini was born in Cavazzoli, Reggio Emilia and studied in Parma with Italo Brancucci and in Florence and with Amedeo Bassi, a well-known dramatic verismo and Wagnerian Italian tenor of the pre-World War I era whose voice (as recorded) could not be more unlike Tagliavini's (see M.Scott, The Record of Singing, 1978). It was also in Florence that he made his professional debut in 1938 as Rodolfo in La bohème.
He swiftly gained recognition as one of the leading tenori di grazia of his time in operas such as The Barber of Seville, L'elisir d'amore, Don Pasquale, La sonnambula, Lucia di Lammermoor, Rigoletto, La traviata, Manon, Werther, L'amico Fritz and L'arlesiana.
Debuts at many of the world's major opera houses ensued. They included: La Scala, Milan, in 1942; the Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, in 1946; the Metropolitan Opera, New York City, in 1947 (as Rodolfo in La bohème); the San Francisco Opera in 1948; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, in 1950; and, finally, the Paris Opéra in 1951.
During the 1950s, Tagliavini took on heavier roles such as Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera, Cavaradossi in Tosca and Faust in Mefistofele; but the quality of his voice suffered as a consequence.
Tagliavini retired from the stage in 1965. He continued, however, to give recitals until the mid-1970s. He left behind an impressive discography. The finest of his recordings are those that he made of operatic arias during his heyday in the 1940s. In them, one can fully appreciate his remarkable skill at soft, or mezza voce, singing. He also made a few opera films, notably Il barbiere di Siviglia in 1946 with Tito Gobbi and Italo Tajo.
Tagliavini married the soprano Pia Tassinari in 1941. He made several recordings with her and they appeared together often on stage. There is a recording available of them singing Massenet's opera Werther.
He died in Reggio Emilia in 1995, aged 81.

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