Franceso Vignas on the cover of Teatro Illustrato 1891

Francesc Viñas i Dordal (27 March 1863 – 14 July 1933) was a Spanish operatic

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors i ...

. He is also known by the Spanish version of his name, Francisco Viñas and the Italian version, Francesco Vignas. He was particularly known for his performances in the operas of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

and sang in the first production of ''

Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem '' Parziv ...

'' outside Bayreuth.

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

Archives
"Vignas, Francesco"
Retrieved 7 February 2013.

Life and career

Viñas was born in

Moià Moià () (Spanish: Moyá) is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Moianès, Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' b ...

, a small town near

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

. At the age of 23, he enrolled in singing lessons at the

Barcelona Conservatory Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

where he studied under . After hearing him in some of the conservatory's concerts, Juan Goula, a principal conductor at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, urged him to study the title role of ''

Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wolf ...

''. Viñas went on to make his operatic debut at the Liceu on 9 February 1888 in ''Lohengrin''. It was to become one of his signature roles.Aspinall, Michael (2006)
Liner notes: ''The Complete Francisco Viñas''
. Marston Records. Retrieved 7 February 2013. Julián Gayarre, another Spanish tenor noted for his Wagnerian roles, was in the audience at the Liceu for Viñas's debut and was reportedly so impressed with the performance that he gave Viñas his own Lohengrin costume. Viñas soon received invitations to sing at other Spanish opera houses and in Italy. In the space of three years he sang Lohengrin 120 times. He debuted at Turin's Teatro Regio in 1890 and at Milan's La Scala in 1891, both times as Lohengrin. Viñas was married to the Italian operatic mezzo-soprano

Giulia Novelli Giulia Novelli (1859 – 21 June 1932) was an Italian operatic mezzo-soprano. Early life Giulia Novelli was born in Rome in 1859. Career Giulia Novelli studied singing in Rome before making her professional opera debut in that city in 1875 ...

(1859–1932).

Legacy

In 1963 the Francisco Viñas Singing Contest was founded in his honor."Tenor Viñas Contest"

Liceu The Gran Teatre del Liceu (, English: Great Theatre of the Lyceum), known as ''El Liceu'', is an opera house in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Located in La Rambla, it is the oldest running theatre in Barcelona. Founded in 1837 at another loca ...

Francesc Viñas Contest
tenorvinas.com

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vinas, Francesc Opera singers from Catalonia People from Moianès 1863 births 1933 deaths Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu alumni Spanish operatic tenors 19th-century Spanish male opera singers 20th-century Spanish male opera singers