Giovanni Matteo De Candia, also known as Mario (17 October 1810 – 11 December 1883), was an Italian opera singer. The most celebrated

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

of his era, he was lionized by audiences in Paris and London. He was the partner of the opera singer Giulia Grisi.

Early life

Mario was born in

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

, Sardinia on 17 October 1810 as Giovanni Matteo de Candia; his inherited titles were ''Cavaliere'' (Knight), ''Nobile'' (Nobleman) and ''Don'' (Sir) in the Kingdom of Sardinia and subsequently the Kingdom of Italy. His family belonged to the Savoyard- Sardinian nobility and aristocracy, within the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

ruled by the

House of Savoy The House of Savoy (, ) is a royal house (formally a dynasty) of Franco-Italian origin that was established in 1003 in the historical region of Savoy, which was originally part of the Kingdom of Burgundy and now lies mostly within southeastern F ...

. His relatives and parents were members of the Royal Court of

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 ...

, while his father don Stefano, Marquess de Candia, held the ranks of military general, and Royal Governor General of

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

, and was aide-de-camp to King

Charles Felix of Sardinia Charles Felix (; 6 April 1765 – 27 April 1831) was the King of Sardinia and ruler of the Savoyard states from 12 March 1821 until his death in 1831. He was the last male-line member of the House of Savoy that started with Victor Amadeus I ...

(house of Savoy).De Candia, "The Romance of a Great Singer" 1910: Italian edition: "Il Romanzo di un celebre Tenore. Ricordi di Mario" (Le Monnier, Firenze 1913). This book, however, contains many factual errors. In order to free himself from the burdensome ancestral traditions which he had inherited, and to mitigate his father's opposition to a member of the high-born De Candia family pursuing a 'lowly' musical career, the budding singer adopted the

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

''Mario'' as his stage name when he made his debut on 30 November 1838. Sometimes, however, he is referred to in print by the fuller appellation of "Giovanni Mario", and he is also called "Mario de Candia". Mario's decision to become a professional singer arose accidentally. He was 12 years old when he moved from Cagliari to

, where he studied at the Royal Military Academy. Among his fellow students at the academy was the future Prime Minister of Italy, Camillo Cavour. While serving as a second-lieutenant in the King of Sardinia's Royal Guards in Turin, he became interested in politics and held meetings to debate the unification of the Italian Peninsula. He spent his own money to support this unpopular political movement, and he found himself in financial trouble. His father, who opposed his youngest son's political view, refused to support or help Mario. On 24 November 1836, Mario was expelled from the army and escaped by sea with his comrades to the French coast.

Exiled in Paris

After fleeing

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

, he landed with his comrades at a fishermen's town on the French coast near

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

's. Then, disguised as a French fisherman, he travelled to San Lorenzo al Mare to meet one of his brothers-in-law, Lieutenant Roych. Roych had arranged for Mario to have a secret meeting with his mother, the Marchioness of Candia. The marchioness provided Mario with gold coins and clothing sufficient for him to escape to the French capital. He intended to return to Turin after a few months to resume his studies at the military academy as his father expected. Soon after this, the young nobleman travelled as a fugitive disguised as a comedian. In

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

he was hosted at ''"l'hôtel particulier"'' of the Prince and Princess of Belgiojoso. Being also Italians in exile, they showed Count Giovanni M. de Candia kindness and hospitality and were instrumental in the launching his singing career. At the princess's parties, Giovanni Mario began to entertain with his singing while meeting many celebrities of the time, among them Lady Blessington,

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. Being more renowned than either Victor Hugo or Honoré de Balz ...

, Alfred de Musset,

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly ; ; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'', which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is ...

Alessandro Manzoni Alessandro Francesco Tommaso Antonio Manzoni (, , ; 7 March 1785 – 22 May 1873) was an Italian poet, novelist and philosopher. He is famous for the novel ''The Betrothed (Manzoni novel), The Betrothed'' (orig. ) (1827), generally ranked among ...

and

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

. Soon Mario was made welcome in Parisian salons and in the city's radical milieu. He was especially welcomed at the salon events of Princess Cristina Belgiojoso, where he was appreciated as an amateur tenor. For a time he earned his living by giving fencing and horseriding lessons. The Marquess of Brême (who was from a noble Piedmontese family and one of his father's old friends) became one of Mario's most helpful financial supporters. The marquess also served as mentor to Mario while he was making the transition to a musical career.

Operatic career and liaison with Grisi

While exiled in Paris, Mario became widely known for his exceptionally fine natural voice. The composer

Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Meyer Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart and Richard Wa ...

encouraged him to become a singer. He took singing lessons from two former tenors, now teachers, Frenchman Antoine Ponchard and Italian Marco Bordogni. Mario proved so gifted that he was swiftly offered an engagement with the Opéra. At the same time he travelled to London by invitation of the Duke of Wellington, an acquaintance and frequent visitor at Mario's family home in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionBarty Mitford, Lord Redesdale. The young tenor made his opera debut there on 30 November 1838 as the hero of Meyerbeer's ''

Robert le diable ''Robert le diable'' (''Robert the Devil'') is an opera in five acts composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer between 1827 and 1831, to a libretto written in French by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne. ''Robert le diable'' is regarded as one of the first ...

''. Meyerbeer provided a new recitative and aria for him in the second act (the "Mario-Aria"). Mario's performance generated great excitement, and "a new star was born". Despite achieving immediate success, he chose not to stay long at the Paris Opéra. With the splendid quality of his singing and his dashing stage presence, he hoped to perform in other places. In 1839 he first sang in London, achieving instant success in Donizetti's ''

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She was a former governor of Spoleto. Her family arranged ...

''. There he met the famous Italian soprano Giulia Grisi. He then joined the Théâtre Italien, where Grisi and other illustrious singers including Maria Malibran, Henriette Sontag, Fanny Tacchinardi Persiani, Giovanni Battista Rubini, Antonio Tamburini, and Luigi Lablache regularly performed. His first appearance there was as ''Nemorino'' in Donizetti's '' L'elisir d'amore''. From 1841 Mario and Grisi lived together. The acclaim which Mario received in

Italian opera Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous ope ...

surpassed the renown he had won in French opera, and he soon acquired a Europe-wide reputation for the beauty of his singing and the elegance of his bearing. He possessed a handsome face and a lithe figure; he liked to show off his legs in tights. His lyrical voice, though less dazzling than that of the older virtuoso tenor Giovanni Battista Rubini and not as powerful as that of his younger rival

Enrico Tamberlik Enrico Tamberlik (16 March 1820 – 13 March 1889) was an Italian tenor who sang to great acclaim at Europe and America's leading opera venues. He excelled in the heroic roles of the Italian and French repertories and was renowned for his po ...

, was described as having grace and a beguiling, velvety softness that made it unique. The music critic and playwright

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

, who was born in 1856 and therefore could not have heard Mario in his prime, remarked that Mario's singing featured a marked

vibrato Vibrato (Italian language, Italian, from past participle of "wikt:vibrare, vibrare", to vibrate) is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch (music), pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. ...

. Mario created few operatic parts, the most notable being that of Ernesto in Donizetti's '' Don Pasquale'' (1843). However, he sang in the première of Rossini's '' Stabat Mater'', and Verdi wrote a new cabaletta for him to sing in the main tenor aria in '' I due Foscari'' for a production in Paris. In established roles, Mario's greatest performances were as the title character in Rossini'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 ...

'', Gennaro in ''

'', Almaviva in '' Il Barbiere di Siviglia'', Fernando in '' La favorite'', the Duke in ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...

'', Alfredo in '' La traviata'', Manrico in '' Il trovatore'', Lionel in ''

Martha Martha (Aramaic language, Aramaic: מָרְתָא‎) is a Bible, biblical figure described in the Gospels of Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of John, John. Together with her siblings Lazarus of Bethany, Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is descr ...

'' and many others. The

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

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 London and the Théâtre Italien in Paris were the scenes of most of his stage triumphs. He sang in London from 1847 until 1867, and again during 1871. Mario also made occasional appearances elsewhere in England in

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

, for example at the Birmingham Festival of 1849 and at the Hereford Festival of 1855. He also undertook a string of concert tours around the United Kingdom. In about the year 1849, he acquired the "Villa Salviati" in Florence. At his salon, he received many distinguished cultural figures and members of the European nobility. In 1854, he toured America with Giulia Grisi, earning both money and adulation during their trans-Atlantic jaunt. Mario could not marry Grisi because she was already married to Gérard de Melcy. Although Grisi and de Melcy were separated, divorce was not permitted by the Catholic Church in Italy nor in France. Eventually she married Mario in London, England. Before meeting Mario, Grisi had had a son by Lord Frederick Stewart, a nephew of the famous

Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, (18 June 1769 – 12 August 1822), usually known as Lord Castlereagh, derived from the courtesy title Viscount Castlereagh ( ) by which he was styled from 1796 to 1821, was an Kingdom of Ireland, Ir ...

. The child was acknowledged by Castlereagh with the name Frederick Ormsby. He was later recognized as an adoptive son through his mother's marriage to Mario; he was known as Frederick Ormsby de Candia, socially styled as Fredo de Candia. Mario and Grisi had six daughters (three died as children): * Rita de Candia, the eldest surviving daughter, never married and became a reporter. * Cecilia Maria de Candia, married Godfrey Pearse, an Englishman, and became a writer, recounting her parents' careers in one of her books "The Romance of a Great Singer"; * Clelia de Candia, married Arthur Powys-Vaughan, a Welshman, and became a watercolour artist; In 1869, Mario and Grisi were traveling from Paris to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, for Mario to perform at the Italian Opera House at the Mariinsky Theater. Grisi died during their mid-trip stop in Berlin, but Mario went on to sing for the Tsar at the St. Petersburg theatre. Following their mother's death, his daughters were put under the care of tutors appointed by their godmother, the Grand Duchess Maria of Russia and president of the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. Mario bade farewell to the stage at

in 1871, but his last performances were concerts in a US tour with Carlotta Patti in 1872–73.

Retirement, death and legacy

He spent his last years in Rome, where he was a friend of Prince Odescalchi. Financial difficulties beset him at times, due to his habitual extravagance. It is said that he used to smoke cigars habitually, even when taking a bath. He continued to entertain the rich and famous at social gatherings. He was a frequent guest at the Quirinal Palace where he could be found casually singing with Queen Margherita of Italy, herself an artist and a great lover of music. After Mario's death, his legacy was kept alive by a fund for opera singing education in his honor and name. A benefit concert was staged for Mario in London in 1878, and collections reached £4,000, which provided a pension for the singer. He died in Rome in 1883 and was buried in his home town, Cagliari, in 1884.

His fortune and the De Candia ancestral seat

During his singing career, Mario and Grisi both accumulated a significant fortune, particularly at their assignments at the Mariinsky Theatre where the Tsar used to pay them in gold coins. During their extensive tours in France and England they were paid handsomely in the currency of the time. They had also accumulated a great deal of jewelry—diamonds and other precious stones—as gifts from admiring kings and queens of Europe. Their joint fortune was estimated to be over 600 gold-bars, equivalent to 12 million US dollars in today's currency. They owned a home near L'Opéra in Paris, a mansion in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, London, and the Villa Salviatino near Florence, as well as a cottage for Mario's mother in

. Mario's finances were entrusted to the Rothschild & Cie Banque in Paris, France, and eventually transferred to N M Rothschild & Sons in London, England. Unfortunately, by the end of his life, he had spent most of the funds in his daughters' dowries, and he had used the remaining funds to partially self-finance his last tour of the Americas. Nevertheless, he maintained a large art collection that he had accumulated together with Grisi. He put these works up in an estate sale in London before he relocated to Italy. Most of his art collection and the other contents of the estate sale were acquired by the British family of the fiancé of his daughter Rita following her death. Most of the paintings he acquired with Grisi remain in the private collection of Sir John Aird, Bart. In 1847 Mario bought a house in Sardinia, where his mother lived with his brother Carlo until he got married. The property is situated in Cagliari Old Town (Castello), in Contrada S. Caterina 1 (now via Canelles). After his death, the house passed down to his daughters. This house is now a part of a nuns' convent. The main family house, called Palazzo de Candia, is nearby. It had been owned by his father don Stephano, Marquis of Candia. According to the rules of Sardinian nobility, the highest rank (nobiliary title) and main residence pass to the oldest male in line; thus, the Palazzo de Candia passed on to Mario's older brother. Eventually, that property became the home of his brother Carlo and family. It is located at the bottom of Via dei Genovesi, where until the 16th century the Pisan town walls stood, between the

Elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

and the Lion Towers. The façade was designed in the neoclassical style, possibly by the architect Gaetano Cima, or possibly by Mario's brother Carlo himself. Carlo had studied architecture in Turin together with Cima. On the first floor, there are halls with some frescoes and a terrace with scenic views of the gulf of Cagliari.

References

Notes Cited sources *De Candia, Cecilia Pearse; Frank Hird (1910)
''The romance of a great singer; a memoir of Mario''
London: Smith and Elder & Co., on the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

* Forbes, Elizabeth (1992), "Mario, Giovanni Matteo" in ''The

New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes. The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, L ...

'', ed. Stanley Sadie (London) . * Kühnhold, Wolfgang (1998). "Meyerbeer's ''Robert Le Diable'': The First Singers of Robert and the 'Mario-Aria' at the Beginning of Act 2 (1998)", written for the Meyerbeer Fan Club, 15 May 1998. Reprinted, as revised by Robert Letellier on 28 July 2007, in Letellier 2007, pp. 534–542. * Letellier, Robert Ignatius. Editor (2007). ''Giacomo Meyerbeer: A Reader''. Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. . *Pleasants, Henry (1966),''The Great Singers: From the Dawn of Opera to Our Present Time''. New York: Simon & Schuster. Other sources *Beale, Thomas Willaert (1890), ''The Light of Other Days'', London: Richard Bentley and Son. * *Engel, Louis (1886), ''From Mozart to Mario'', London: Richard Bentley and Son, 1886, pp. 332 and 336–337. *Floris, Francesco; Sergio Serra (1986), ''Storia della nobiltà in Sardegna'', Cagliari, Ed. della Torre. *Todde, Felice (2012), ''Convenienze e inconvenienze tra Verdi e il tenore Mario'', in Nuova Rivista Musicale Italiana, Rome Ed. RAI-ERI. *Todde, Felice (2016), ''Il tenore gentiluomo. La vera storia di Mario (Giovanni Matteo De Candia)'', Varese, Zecchini editore.

External links

*
De Candia family tree (in Italian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mario, Giovanni Matteo 1810 births 1883 deaths People from Cagliari Italian operatic tenors 19th-century Italian male opera singers