Filippo Coletti

Filippo Coletti
Filippo Coletti portrayed by Josef Kriehuber (1841)
Born(1811-05-11)11 May 1811
Anagni, Italy
Died13 June 1894(1894-06-13) (aged 83)
Anagni, Italy
OccupationOpera singer (baritone)
Years active1834–1869

Filippo Andrea Francesco Coletti (11 May 1811 – 13 June 1894) was an Italian baritone associated with Giuseppe Verdi. Coletti created two Verdi roles: Gusmano in Alzira and Francesco in I masnadieri.[1] Verdi revised the role of Germont in La traviata for Coletti, whose interpretation re-defined the role as it is known today.[2][3] Coletti was, with Antonio Tamburini (1800–1876) and Giorgio Ronconi (1810–1890), one of the three leading baritones of 19th century Italy, an early model of a 'Verdi baritone'.[4]

Born in Anagni, a small town southeast of Rome, Coletti started his career singing baritone coloratura roles in Rossini, Donizetti and Mercadante operas before moving on to vocally substantial Verdi repertory.[5] Coletti gained notoriety in London for his unwitting role in the 1840 Haymarket Theatre riots, and later for his successful four-year London tenure, singing leading baritone roles.[6] Coletti travelled extensively, singing in all major European theatres. Numerous accounts describe his acting as well as the beauty of his voice, which retained an agility and elegance over a long singing career.[a] Coletti performed until 1869.[7] Verdi considered casting Coletti in an unrealized King Lear opera-commission for Naples.[8] After Coletti's retirement from the stage he published an Album Melodico of songs, as well as essays on singing and on opera.[9]

For philosopher Thomas Carlyle Coletti was "by the cast of his face, by the tones of his voice, by his general bearing,... a man of deep and ardent sensibilities, of delicate intuitions, just sympathies; originally an almost poetic soul, or man of genius."[10]

  1. ^ "Verdi Role Creators".
  2. ^ Article with numerous examples of the two versions of Germont's lines: Julian Budden, The Two Traviatas, Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association, Vol. 99, (1972–1973), Pub. Taylor & Francis pp. 43–66
  3. ^ Review in L'Eptacordo, anno I, n.33, p.135, Roma, 31 January 1856
  4. ^ Ernani ieri e oggi: atti del convegno internazionale di studi, Modena, Teatro San Carlo, 9–10 dicembre 1984. Front Cover. Pierluigi Petrobelli. EDT srl, pp. 275–277
  5. ^ Giampiero Raspa, Note biografiche sul baritono anagnino Filippo Coletti (1811–1894), in Scritti in memoria di Giuseppe Marchetti Longhi, vol.II, pag.483 e ss., Istituto di Storia e di Arte del Lazio Meridionale, 1990. In Italian.
  6. ^ Laura Macy, Ed. The Grove Book of Opera Singers, Harold Rosenthal/Julian Budden, entry "Coletti, Filippo"
  7. ^ Multiple authors, "Atti del Convegno su Filippo Coletti", in Latium – Rivista di studi storici – Istituto di Storia e di Arte del Lazio Meridionale, 1996, 13 (Atti del convegno tentuoso nel 1994 ad Anagni, in occasione del centenario della morte di Filippo Coletti.)
  8. ^ Schmidgall, Gary. "Verdi's King Lear Project." 19th-Century Music 9, no. 2 (1985): 83–101. Accessed 27 August 2020. doi:10.2307/746575
  9. ^ Coletti, Filippo: Album melodico : per Canto con accomp'to di Pianoforte, Milan : F. Lucca, about 1871, Opac SBN – Musica a stampa – Monografia [IT\ICCU\MUS\0244781]
  10. ^ Thomas Carlyle, The Opera, Essay, 1854 Archived 1 March 2004 at the Wayback Machine


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