Pasquale Amato (Pasquale Amato) |

Pasquale Amato

Pasquale Amato. Credo in un Dio crudel (Iago in Verdi’s Otello / 1911)

Born in Naples, with which are associated years of study with Beniamino Carelli and Vincenzo Lombardi at the Conservatory of San Pietro a Magella. He made his debut there in 1900 as Georges Germont at the Bellini Theatre. His early career developed rapidly, and soon he was already performing in such roles as Escamillo, Renato, Valentin, Lescaut in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut. Amato sings at the Teatro dal Verme in Milan, in Genoa, Salerno, Catania, Monte Carlo, Odessa, in theaters in Germany. The singer performs extremely successfully in the operas “Maria di Rogan” by Donizetti and “Zaza” by Leoncavallo. In 1904, Pasquale Amato made his debut at Covent Garden. The singer performs the part of Rigoletto, alternating with Victor Morel and Mario Sammarco, returning to the parts of Escamillo and Marseille. After that, he conquers South Africa, performing with great success in all parts of his repertoire. Glory comes to Amato in 1907 after performing at La Scala at the Italian premiere of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande as Golo (in an ensemble with Solomiya Krushelnitskaya and Giuseppe Borgatti). His repertoire is replenished with the roles of Kurvenal (Tristan und Isolde by Wagner), Gellner (Valli by Catalani), Barnabas (La Gioconda by Ponchielli).

In 1908, Amato was invited to the Metropolitan Opera, where he became a constant partner of Enrico Caruso, mostly in the Italian repertoire. In 1910, she participated in the world premiere of Puccini’s “The Girl from the West” (the part of Jack Rens) in an ensemble with Emma Destinn, Enrico Caruso and Adam Didur. His performances as Count di Luna (Il trovatore), Don Carlos (Force of Destiny), Enrico Astona (Lucia di Lammermoor), Tonio (Pagliacci), Rigoletto, Iago ( “Othello”), Amfortas (“Parsifal”), Scarpia (“Tosca”), Prince Igor. His repertoire includes about 70 roles. Amato sings in various contemporary operas by Cilea, Giordano, Gianetti and Damros.

From the very beginning of his career, Amato mercilessly exploited his magnificent voice. The consequences of this began to affect already in 1912 (when the singer was only 33 years old), and in 1921 the singer was forced to stop his performances at the Metropolitan Opera. Until 1932, he continued to sing in provincial theaters, in his last years Amato taught vocal art in New York.

Pasquale Amato is one of the greatest Italian baritones. His specific voice, which cannot be confused with any other, stood out with remarkable power and a stunningly sonorous upper register. In addition, Amato had excellent bel canto technique and impeccable articulation. His recordings of the arias of Figaro, Renato “Eri tu”, Rigoletto “Cortigiani”, duets from “Rigoletto” (in ensemble with Frida Hempel), “Aida” (in ensemble with Esther Mazzoleni), the prologue from “Pagliacci”, parts of Iago and others belong to the best examples of vocal art.

Selected discography:

1. MET — 100 Singers, RCA Victor.
2. Covent Garden on Record Vol. 2, Pearl.
3. La Scala Edition Vol. 1, NDE.
4. Recital Vol. 1 (Arias from operas by Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Meyerbeer, Puccini, Franchetti, De Curtis, De Cristofaro), Preiser – LV.
5. Recital Vol. 2 (Arias from operas by Verdi, Wagner, Meyerbeer, Gomez, Ponchielli, Puccini, Giordano, Franchetti), Preiser – LV.
6. Famous Italian Baritones, Preiser — LV.