Important voices: PASQUALE AMATO

Born in Naples and studied with Benjamino Carelli and Vincenzo Lombardi (teacher of Fernando de Lucia) at San Pietro a Majella. He made his début at the Teatro Bellini in Naples at the age of 21 as Germont père soon followed by Lescaut, Escamillo, Renato and Valentin. He sang at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan, in Genua, Salerno, Catania, Monte Carlo and appeared in Germany and Russia. Covent Garden 1904, huge success in South America, 1907 Scala, 1908 Met, where he sang frequently opposite Enrico Caruso. He created Jack Rance in Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West in 1910. Vocal decline began slowly but surely in around 1912 (at the age of only 43) and from 1920 on his career was mainly reduced to appearances in provincial theatres and on tour with various companies.

One of the greatest Italian baritone voices of all time with a very distinctive timbre. A splendidly firm and vibrant voice with an effortless upper register and magnificiently ringing top notes. Yet – in trying to make the sound of his voice seem bigger than it actually was, he used a slight overdose of muscular tension and pressure in his singing, which surely contributed to his relatively early vocal decline. The biting sound, the grinta in his voice ideally suited roles like Barnabà, Scarpia, Luna, Iago, Renato or Carlo di Vargas. Although Ester Mazzoleni – a frequent partner on stage during his Italian years as well as on record – stated, that „he was not a Verdi baritone in the real sense of the word“. … tempi beati…