Umberto Giordano
Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano (28 August 1867 – 12 November 1948) was an Italian composer, mainly of operas. His best-known work in that genre was Andrea Chénier (1896). He was born in Foggia in Apulia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Serrao at the Conservatoire of Naples. His first opera, Marina, was written for a competition promoted by the music publishers Casa Sonzogno for the best one-act opera, remembered today because it marked the beginning of Italian verismo. The winner was Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana. Giordano, the youngest contestant, was placed sixth among seventy-three entries with his Marina, a work which generated enough interest for Sonzogno to commission the staging of an opera based on it in the 1891–92 season. The result was Mala vita, a gritty verismo opera about a labourer who vows to reform a prostitute if he is cured of his tuberculosis. This work caused something of a scandal when performed at the Teatro Argentina, Rome, in February 1892. It played successfully in Vienna, Prague and Berlin and was re-written as Il Voto a few years later, in an attempt to raise interest in the work again. Giordano tried a more romantic topic with his next opera, Regina Diaz, with a libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci (1894), but this was a failure, taken off the stage after just two performances. Giordano then moved to Milan and returned to verismo with his best-known work, Andrea Chénier (1896), based on the life of the French poet André Chénier. Fedora (1898), based on Victorien Sardou's play, featured the rising young tenor Enrico Caruso. It was also a success and is still performed today. His later works are much less known, but occasionally revived and in the case of La cena delle beffe (based on the play of the same title by Sem Benelli) recognised by musicologists and critics with some respect. He died in Milan at the age of 81. The most important theater in his home town of Foggia has been dedicated to Umberto Giordano. A square in Foggia is also named after him and contains several statues representing his most famous works. |
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 101-125 of 138 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gramophone | 0BA572 | 10-in. | Amor ti vieta di non amar | Franco Ghione ; Members of the Teatro alla Scala Orchestra ; Alessandro Ziliani | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | ||
Gramophone | 762a | 7-in. | June 1900 | Un dì all'azzurro spazio | Carlo Caffetto | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Gramophone | 950ah | 10-in. | 12/12/1910 | Su questa santa croce | Giuseppina Lufrano | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Gramophone | BE978 | 10-in. | 2/12/1923 | Ora soave | Bernardo De Muro ; Augusta Oltrabella | Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra | composer | |
Gramophone | BE979 | 10-in. | 2/12/1923 | Vicino a te s'acqueta | Bernardo De Muro ; Augusta Oltrabella | Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra | composer | |
Gramophone | 02323½v | 12-in. | 3/1/1912 | Un dì all'azzurro spazio | Bernardo De Muro | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Gramophone | 3008b | 10-in. | February 1903 | Improvviso | Francesco Tamagno | Tenor vocal solo, with piano | composer | |
Gramophone | 3176c | 12-in. | 5/2/1917 | Si, fui soldato | Bernardo De Muro | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Gramophone | 3205c | 12-in. | 6/5/1917 | Vicino a te s'acqueta | Bolis, Luigi (1841-1932) ; Celestina Boninsegna | Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia (U.K.) | A1864 | 10-in. | between May 1923 and October 1925 | Son sessant anni o vecchio | Riccardo Stracciari | Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia (U.K.) | WA3477 | 10-in. | either June or July 1926 | Come un bel dì | Aroldo Lindi | Tenor vocal solo | composer | |
Columbia (U.K.) | WA3478 | 10-in. | either June or July 1926 | Come un bel dì | Aroldo Lindi | Tenor vocal solo | composer | |
Columbia (U.K.) | BX1 | 12-in. | 6/29/1923 | Improvviso | Ulysses Lappas | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia (U.K.) | BX2 | 12-in. | 6/29/1923 | Come un bel di | Ulysses Lappas | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia (U.K.) | WBX31 | 12-in. | 9/6/1926 | Improvviso... | Hipólito Lázaro | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia (U.K.) | WBX32 | 12-in. | 9/6/1926 | Come un bel di... | Hipólito Lázaro | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia (U.K.) | WBX134 | 12-in. | January-May 1927 | La mamma morta | Rosetta Pampanini | Female vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia (U.K.) | WBX134 | 12-in. | January-May 1927 | La mamma morta | Rosetta Pampanini | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia (U.K.) | WBX232 | 12-in. | January-June 1928 | La nostra morte | Francesco Merli ; Bianca Scacciati | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia (U.K.) | WBX234 | 12-in. | January-June 1928 | Improvviso | Francesco Merli | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia (U.K.) | WBX236 | 12-in. | January-June 1928 | Si, fui soldato | Francesco Merli | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia (U.K.) | B259 | 10-in. | between June 1923 and June 1924 | Son sessant'anni | Benvenuto Franci | Baritone vocal solo | composer | |
Columbia (U.K.) | WBX270 | 12-in. | January-June 1928 | Un di mi era di gioia | Carlo Morelli | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia (U.K.) | B273 | 10-in. | between June 1923 and June 1924 | Un dì mi era di gioia | Benvenuto Franci | Baritone vocal solo | composer | |
Columbia (U.K.) | WBX321 | 12-in. | September-December 1928 | La mamma morta | Iva Pacetti | Female vocal solo, with orchestra | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Giordano, Umberto," accessed September 28, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102526.
Giordano, Umberto. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved September 28, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102526.
"Giordano, Umberto." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 28 September 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Umberto Giordano
Discogs: Umberto Giordano
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Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Giordano, Umberto, 1867-1948 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79107709
Wikidata: Umberto Giordano - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q294826
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/12491416
MusicBrainz: Umberto Giordano - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/e3d1c4a4-d64e-4afa-9fc7-264fb871d0e0
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