Emilio Venturini (1878–1952) was an Italian operatic lyric tenor known for his portrayal of character roles. He made his professional

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

debut in 1900 in Italy where he remained for the next several years. In 1901 he sang the role of Brighella in Mascagni's '' Le maschere'' at the Teatro Regio in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. He made his

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

debut in 1903 as Froh in Wagner's ''

Das Rheingold ''Das Rheingold'' (; ''The Rhinegold''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86A, is the first of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nib ...

'' and sang in the premiere of

Umberto Giordano Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano (28 August 186712 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 Se ...

's ''Siberia''. In 1904, he originated the role of Prince Yamadori in Puccini's '' Madama Butterfly'' at La Scala.Puccini Role Creators
/ref> In 1905, Venturini joined the roster of the Opéra National de Paris. In 1907 he moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to sing with Royal Opera at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

. In 1910, Venturini became a member of the Chicago Opera Association where he performed roles until the summer of 1917. While in Chicago he sang mostly character parts but did sing some major roles like Turiddu in '' Cavalleria rusticana'', Edgardo in '' Lucia di Lammermoor'' and the Pinkerton in '' Madama Butterfly''. In 1911 he sang the roles of Cassio in Verdi's ''

Otello ''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the La Scala, Teatro alla Scala, M ...

'' and Spoletta in Puccini's '' Tosca'' at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

. Venturini also returned to Italy for brief periods in 1910, 1911, and 1916 to perform roles with the Teatro Massimo in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

. In 1921, Venturini joined the roster at

and sang roles with that opera house until 1948. He notably originated the roles of Il Tempiere in Boito's '' Nerone'' in 1924 and Pang in Puccini's '' Turandot'' in 1926. and was the first to record the role of Nereo in Boito's '' Mefistofele'' in the 1931

recording.

Roles created

*1903: Ivan in ''

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

'' ( Giordano) *1904: Prince Yamadori in '' Madama Butterfly'' ( Puccini) *1925: Rutger in '' I cavalieri di Ekebù'' ( Zandonai) *1926: Pang in '' Turandot'' ( Puccini).

References

Sources

Operissimo.com
1878 births 1952 deaths People from Brescia Italian operatic tenors 20th-century Italian male opera singers {{italy-opera-singer-stub