Gastone Limarilli (Gastone Limarilli) |
Gastone Limarilli
Now he is practically forgotten. When he died (in 1998), the English magazine Opera gave the singer only 19 laconic lines. And there were times when his voice was admired. However, not all. For there was in his singing, along with the magnificent nature, some kind of uncouthness, excess. He did not spare himself, sang a lot and chaotically, and quickly left the stage. The peak of his career came in the 60s. And by the mid-70s, he began to gradually disappear from the stages of the world’s leading theaters. It’s time to name him: it’s about the Italian tenor Gaston Limarilli. Today in our traditional section we talk about him.
Gastone Limarilli was born on September 29, 1927 in Montebelluna, in the province of Treviso. About his early years, about how he came to the opera world, the singer, not without humor, tells Renzo Allegri, the author of the book “The Price of Success” (published in 1983), dedicated to opera stars. Long gone from the world of art, living at home in a small villa, surrounded by a large family, dogs and chickens, fond of cooking and winemaking, he looks like a very colorful figure on the pages of this work.
As often happens, no one in the photographer’s family, including Gaston himself, imagined such a turn of events as a singer’s career. The young man followed in the footsteps of his father, was engaged in photography. Like many Italians, he loved to sing, participated in the performances of the local choir, but did not think about the quality of this activity.
The young man was noticed during a concert in the church by one passionate music lover, his future father-in-law Romolo Sartor. It was then that the first decisive turn in the fate of Gaston happened. Despite Sartor’s persuasion, he did not want to learn to sing. That’s how it would have ended. If not for one but … Sartor had two daughters. One of them liked Gaston. This radically changed the matter, the desire to study woke up suddenly. Although the path of a novice singer cannot be called easy. There was desperation and bad luck. Sartor alone did not lose heart. After unsuccessful attempts to study at the conservatory in Venice, he took him to Mario del Monaco himself. This event was the second turning point in the fate of Limarilli. Del Monaco appreciated the ability of Gastone and recommended that he go to Pesaro to the maestro of Malocchi. It was the latter who managed to “set the true” voice of the young man on the path. A year later, Del Monaco considered Gastone ready for operatic battles. And he goes to Milan.
But not everything is so simple in a difficult artistic life. All attempts to get engagements ended in failure. Participation in competitions also did not bring success. Gaston despaired. Christmas 1955 was the most difficult of his life. He was already on his way home. And now … the next contest of the Nuovo Theater brings good luck. The singer goes to the final. He was granted the right to sing in Pagliacci. Parents came to the performance, Sartor with his daughter, who was by that time his bride, Mario del Monaco.
What to say. Success, dizzying success in one day “descended” to the singer. The next day, the newspapers were full of phrases like “A new Caruso was born.” Limarilli are invited to La Scala. But he heeded the wise advice of Del Monaco – not to rush with large theaters, but to strengthen his strength and gain experience on the provincial stages.
Limarilli’s further career is already on the rise, now he is lucky. Four years later, in 1959, he made his debut at the Rome Opera, which became his favorite stage, where the singer performed regularly until 1975. In the same year, he finally appears at La Scala (debut as Hippolyte in Pizzetti’s Phaedra).
In the 60s, Limarilli was a welcome guest on all the major stages in the world. He is applauded by Covent Garden, the Metropolitan, the Vienna Opera, not to mention the Italian scenes. In 1963 he sang Il trovatore in Tokyo (there is an audio recording of one of the performances of this tour with a brilliant cast: A. Stella, E. Bastianini, D. Simionato). In 1960-68 he performed annually at the Baths of Caracalla. Repeatedly (since 1960) he sings at the Arena di Verona festival.
Limarilli was the brightest, first of all, in the Italian repertoire (Verdi, verists). Among his best roles are Radamès, Ernani, Foresto in Attila, Canio, Dick Johnson in The Girl from the West. He successfully sang the parts of Andre Chenier, Turiddu, Hagenbach in “Valli”, Paolo in “Francesca da Rimini” Zandonai, Des Grieux, Luigi in “The Cloak”, Maurizio and others. He also performed in such roles as Jose, Andrey Khovansky , Walter in the Nuremberg Meistersingers, Max in the Free Shooter. However, these were rather episodic digressions beyond the boundaries of Italian music.
Among Limarilli’s stage partners were the biggest singers of that time: T. Gobbi, G. Simionato, L. Gencher, M. Olivero, E. Bastianini. The legacy of Limarilli includes many live recordings of operas, among them “Norma” with O. de Fabritiis (1966), “Attila” with B. Bartoletti (1962), “Stiffelio” with D. Gavazzeni (1964), “Sicilian Vespers” with D .Gavazzeni (1964), “The Force of Destiny” with M. Rossi (1966) and others.
E. Tsodokov
