Rolando Panerai

"Panerai was a large-voiced and exceptionally lively Figaro who raced to and fro like a kitten intrigued by everything around him. The portrayal looked like a delightfully impulsive improvisation."
Arthur Bloomfield on the baritone's debut in San Francisco in 1958

Rolando Panerai was one of a number of fine Italian baritones to emerge onto the international operatic scene immediately after World War ll. Some, like Giuseppe Taddei, Gino Bechi, Enzo Mascherini, Paolo Silveri, Tito Gobbi and Giuseppe Valdengo had made their debuts during the late 30's, which meant that during the hostilities their activities and any recordings made were confined to European audiences. However, from 1945, together with the new wave, which included Aldo Protti, Giangiacomo Guelfi, Giampiero Malaspina, Piero Cappucilli, Anselmo Colzani, Mario Sereni, Antonio Manca-Serra (who died tragically aged 32) and the young Rolando Panerai, their talents began to be recognised world wide, through the media of recordings, stage performances, and in some cases films, many of them enjoying excellent careers. None more so than Rolando Panerai, who incredibly in his late 70's was still undertaking principal roles and singing with a command and freshness of vocal timbre that surely was the envy of many a singer 30 years younger.

Rolando Panerai was born on 17 October 1924 at Campi Bisenzo near Florence. From a very early age he demonstrated a good ear, sang well and commenced his vocal studies at the Florence Conservatoire with Raoul Frazzi. He underwent a further period of study in Milan, first with Giacomo Armani and then with Armani's wife the celebrated soprano Giulia Tess, who also numbered among her many successful pupils the mezzosoprano Fedora Barbieri and the tenor Ferruccio Tagliavini. Panerai made a well received semi-professional debut in his hometown at the Teatro Dante as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, and spurred on by this success he entered a singing competition in Spoleto, winning first prize. His made his fully professional debut on 8 February 1947 as De Siriex in Giordano's Fedora at the Teatro Leopoldo in Livorno, and in the December of that year he also made his debut at the Teatro San Carlo Naples as Pharoah in Rossini's Mosè. The cast included Maria Pedrini, an outstanding dramatic soprano, Giovanni Voyer a Spanish tenor who enjoyed a huge career in Italy and the great bass Tancredi Pasero, in the title role. During his first season there he appeared as Marcello in La Bohème and also in Rigoletto, with the 26-year-old Giuseppe di Stefano, just beginning to make his mark as a possible successor to Gigli. La Traviata followed with the young Renata Tebaldi, Il Trovatore with Franca Sacchi, and the exciting tenor Spanish tenor José Soler. Panerai also sang as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Pizzetti's Fra Gherardo, retaining links with that company and appearing regularly with them until 1980. In 1948 he sang Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana at the Teatro Umberto Giordano in Foggia and also began his association with RAI, where he was regularly heard on the radio singing in a wide-ranging repertoire until 1978.

From 1950 until 1975 audiences in Genoa heard himinmany diverse roles. He had made his debut at Il Teatro La Fenice the 1949 as Paolo in Simone Boccanegra and over the next 30 years appeared there in a number of standard roles, such as Gelner in Catalani's La Wally, Malatesta in Don Pasquale, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte and Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Obviously his ability to master the complexities of modern compositions enabled him to add to the increasing number of characters in the operatic canon, as he appeared as the Padrone del Caffè in Malipiero's La Favola del figlia cambiato (The Fable of the changeling son), the première of Tosatti's Partita a pugni, and as Ruprecht in the première of the revised version of the Fiery Angel by Prokofiev. In 1950 in Moderna he sang De Siriex in Giordano's Fedora and on 6 August that year made his Rome debut at the Teatro Costanzi (now the Reale) as the Pharoah in Mosè with the giant bass Giulio Neri singing the title role. Over the next two seasons he was heard in La Bohème, Cilea's L'Arlesiana as Baldassare and Paolo in Simone Boccanegra, finally making his La Scala debut on 17 April 1952 as the High Priest in Saint-Saëns's Sansone e Dalila. The title roles were sung by his former fellow pupil Fedora Barbieri and the Chilean Ramón Vinay, a former baritone but now distinguished dramatic tenor and recognised with Mario del Monaco as a leading interpreter of Verdi's Otello.

Panerai's next role at La Scala was as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Constantina Araujo and Giacinto Prandelli, followed by Marcello in La Bohème with Rosetta Noli and Giuseppe Campora. In the next season he began to undertake roles in Mozart operas, the first of these as Masetto in a series of performances of Don Giovanni as part of a truly international cast that included fellow Italian Mario Petri the Yugoslav Carla Martinis, the German Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and French Canadian Léopold Simoneau, who alternated with the Swedish Nicolai Gedda. He then sang the baritone solos in a performance of Carmina Burana by Carl Orff conducted by Herbert von Karajan. He was to remain a member of the La Scala Company for almost a quarter of a century, appearing in many of the standard baritone roles and also appearing in a number of Baroque and modern works, which is again a tribute to his musicianship. These included 'the Husband' in Menotti's Amelia al Ballo, in what was the Scala première on 24 March 1954, Apollo in Gluck's Alceste, De Guiche in Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac and Matteo in Arlecchino by Busoni. He also appeared as Mathis in Hindemith's Mathis der Maler, Tingoccio in Pizzetti's I Calzare D'Argento and the title role in Turchi's Good Soldier Schweik and Cimarosa's Marito disperato.

In the 1954-1956 seasons at the Teatro Communale Trieste, he again expanded his repertoire, when he appeared as Cascart in Leoncavallo's Zazà, Posa in Don Carlos and the title role in Borodin's Prince Igor, as well as his by now much admired Figaro in Il Barbiere, and during 1954 appeared as a guest in Amsterdam, singing Tonio in Pagliacci. La Piccola Scala revived Donizetti's Il Campanello di notte on 15 April 1957, when Panerai excelled as the jokester, who in many disguises rings the bell to disturb the wedding night of the aging apothecary played by Fernando Corena. In a tradition established by his great Italian predecessors Mariano Stabile (1888-1968) and Ezio Pinza (1892-1957) and continued by Tito Gobbi and Cesare Siepi, Panerai was invited to take part in the Salzburg Festival, where for many yearsMozart baritone roles had been sung mainly by artists from Central and Western Europe. However, on 10 August 1957, he made his debut there as Ford, in Verdi's Falstaff. In the 1958 season he appeared as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte repeating his outstanding success in that role in 1959. In 1960 he sang Masetto in Don Giovanni and in 1961 sang PaoloAlbani in Simone Boccanegra, with Gobbi as the Doge. His North American debut took place in San Francisco on 13 September 1958 as a reportedly 'very lively' Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and also in Le Nozze di Figaro. He sang Marcello in La Bohème with the charming Lisa Della Casa as Mimi, with Rodolfo sung by Gianni Raimondi, a good looking tenor who had gained a fine reputation for his splendid top notes and who was to appear with Panerai and the delightful Mirella Freni in Zeffirelli's famous filmed production of the opera in Vienna.

London audiences welcomed him enthusiastically in 1960 as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, in performances conducted by Giulini, with a sparkling Teresa Berganza as Rosina, Luigi Alva as Almaviva, Fernando Corena as Bartolo and Ivo Vinco a sonorous Basilio. Harold Rosenthal commented in Opera Magazine on the fact that Panerai exhibited an 'infectious personality and possessed one of the finest baritone voice to be heard anywhere'. Over what must be one of the longest careers of any singer, he made guest appearances in many of the important regional opera houses in Italy, including Bari, Piacenza the Reggio Emilia, and most of the major European opera centres as well as the Bolshoi in Moscow. He also appeared in Rio de Janeiro, and as late as 1996, aged 72, he made a remarkable Chicago Opera debut in the title role of Gianni Schicchi. Still in brilliant form and in his late 70's he can be seen on a television broadcast of La Traviata as Germont père. One can say he is a vocal phenomenon, as he was still displaying a full-bodied and youthful tone complete with dramatic high notes. That he was still able to amaze audiences with performances in the title role of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi at the age of 80 is a tribute, not only to his basic technique, but to his remarkable physical fitness. Bravo! Bravissimo! Panerai.

Prima Voce have chosen selections from his recorded legacy dating from the 50's. His tone is fresh, opulent, virile and vibrant and must surely be rated as one of the most beautiful baritone voices of the 20th Century.