Tullio Serafin (1 September 18782 February 1968)
Biography
Tullio Serafin was a leading Italian opera conductor with a long career and a very broad repertoire who revived many 19th-century
bel canto operas by
Vincenzo Bellini, Rossini and Donizetti to become staples of 20th-century repertoire. He had an unparalleled reputation as a coach of young opera singers and famously harnessed and developed both
Renata Tebaldi's and
Maria Callas's considerable talents.
Born in Rottanova (Cavarzere), near Venice, and trained in Milan, he played viola in the Orchestra of La Scala under Arturo Toscanini, later being appointed Assistant Conductor. He took over as Music Director at La Scala when Toscanini left to go to New York, and served 1909–1914, 1917–1918, and returned briefly after the Second World War, 1946–1947.
He joined the conducting staff of the Metropolitan Opera in 1924, and remained for a decade,
Maestro Serafin was much appreciated in Buenos Aires. During nine seasons at the Teatro Colón between 1914 and 1951, he conducted 368 opera performances of 63 operas. This included many operas that are seldom performed, by composers such as Alfano, Catalani, Giordano, Massenet, Montemezzi, Monteverdi, Pizzetti, Respighi, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Zandonai.
Serafin was instrumental in expanding the repertory, conducting the Italian premieres of works by Alban Berg, Paul Dukas, and Benjamin Britten. He also conducted important world premieres by both Italian and American composers, such as Franco Alfano, Italo Montemezzi, Deems Taylor, and Howard Hanson.
His goddaughter was the soprano Claudia Pinza Bozzolla.
Studio discography
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Verdi Requiem (Caniglia, Stignani, Gigli, Pinza; 1939) EMI
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Un ballo in maschera (Caniglia, Barbieri, Gigli, Bechi; 1943) EMI
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The Barber of Seville (de los Ángeles, Monti, Bechi, Luise, Rossi-Lemeni; 1952) EMI
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Lucia di Lammermoor (Callas, di Stefano, Gobbi, Arié; 1953) EMI
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I puritani (Callas, di Stefano, Panerai, Rossi-Lemeni; 1953) EMI
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Cavalleria rusticana (Callas, di Stefano, Panerai; 1953) EMI
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Norma (Callas, Stignani, Filippeschi, Rossi-Lemeni; 1954) EMI
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Pagliacci (Callas, di Stefano, Monti, Gobbi, Panerai; 1954) EMI
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La forza del destino (Callas, Tucker, Tagliabue, Rossi-Lemeni; 1954) EMI
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Aida (Callas, Barbieri, Tucker, Gobbi, Modesti, Zaccaria; 1955) EMI
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Rigoletto (Callas, di Stefano, Gobbi, Zaccaria; 1955) EMI
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La traviata (Stella, di Stefano, Gobbi; 1955) EMI
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Linda di Chamounix (Stella, Valletti, Taddei, Barbieri, Capecchi, Modesti; 1956) Philips
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Moïse et Pharaon (Mancini, Danieli, Filippeschi, Lazzari, Taddei, Rossi-Lemeni, Clabassi; 1956) Philips
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Turandot (Callas, Schwarzkopf, Fernandi, Zaccaria; 1957) EMI
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Manon Lescaut (Callas, di Stefano, Fioravanti; 1957) EMI
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Médée (Callas, Scotto, Pirazzini, Picchi, Modesti; 1957) Dischi Ricordi
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Suor Angelica (de los Ángeles, Barbieri; 1957) EMI
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Tosca (Stella, Poggi, Taddei; 1957) Philips
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L'elisir d'amore (Carteri, Alva, Panerai, Taddei; 1958) EMI
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Madama Butterfly (Tebaldi, Cossotto, Bergonzi, Sordello; 1958) Decca Records
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Mefistofele (Tebaldi, Danieli, del Monaco, Siepi; 1958) Decca Records
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Lucia di Lammermoor (Callas, Tagliavini, Cappuccilli, Ładysz; 1959) EMI
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La traviata (de los Angeles, Dal Monte, Sereni; 1959) EMI
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La bohème (Tebaldi, d'Angelo, Bergonzi, Bastianini, Siepi; 1959) Decca
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Cavalleria rusticana (Del Monaco, Simionato, MacNeil; 1959) Decca
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Norma (Callas, Ludwig, Corelli, Zaccaria; 1960) EMI
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Otello (Rysanek, Vickers, Gobbi; 1960) RCA Victor
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Il trovatore (Stella, Cossotto, Bergonzi, Bastianini; 1962) Deutsche Grammophon
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Isabeau (Pobbé, Ferraro, Rola; 1962) Cetra
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Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages,
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Nicla Sguotti, Tullio Serafin, il custode del bel canto, Padova, Armelin Musica, 2014,
External links
