THE VOICE OF CESARE SIEPE

In the 1950s and much of the 60s, the great bass roles in the Italian repertoire and the title part in ‘Don Giovanni’, were synonymous with the name of Cesare Siepi. Gifted with a commanding presence on stage and a firm, sonorous, pliant ‘basso cantante ‘– a true successor to the mantle of Pinza and Pasero, his great Italian forebears – he was in demand in all the major houses of the world. At the same time, Decca used him regularly for complete recordings of opera; he was a renowned interpreter of Verdi. Many of these arias come from a recital he committed to disc in 1954 when his voice was at its sappy best. In 1957, he was the natural choice for the implacable Alvise in ‘La Gioconda’, here telling his unfaithful wife that she is about to die for her adultery. He was also inevitable casting for the 1958 recording of Boito’s ‘Mefistofele’ whose two solos are given with relish and a spirit of negation just right for the incarnation of the devil so sharply caught in Boito’s writing.

‘anyone in doubt still of the artistic progress of the present singer might well begin by hearing the grand, not to say majestic, fashion in which he handles both the minor section and flowers out into the consoling major theme [of the ‘Boccanegra’ aria]. It is Verdi most nobly done. … first rate’ (Verdi: Simon Boccanegra, Gomes, Meyerbeer, Halévy) Gramophone, June 1955

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Le nozze di Figaro, KV 492
Bravo, signor padrone … Se vuol ballare
Non più andrai
Wiener Philharmoniker
Erich Kleiber

Don Giovanni, KV 527
Fin ch’han dal vino
Deh! vieni alla finestra
Wiener Philharmoniker
Josef Krips

Madamina, il catalogo è questo

GIUSEPPE VERDI
Don Carlo: Ella giammai m’amo
Nabucco: Vieni, o levita … Tu sul labbro dei veggenti
Ernani: Che mai vegg’io … Infelice! Et tu credevi

ANTONIO CARLOS GOMES
Salvator Rosa: Di sposa, di padre le gioie serene

GIUSEPPE VERDI
Simon Boccanegra: Il lacerato spirito

GIACOMO MEYERBEER
Les Huguenots: Signeur, rempart et seul soutien … Piff, paff
Robert le diable: Nonnes qui reposez

JACQUES HALÉVY
La Juive: Si la rigeur et la vengeance
Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Alberto Erede

AMILCARE PONCHIELLI
La Gioconda: Sì, morir ella de! … Là turbine e farnetichi
Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale, Florence
Gianandrea Gavazzeni

ARRIGO BOITO
Mefistofele
Ave Signor!
Sono lo spirito che nega
Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Tullio Serafin