1939 EZIO PINZA Program BASSO Classical Music OPERA SINGER Italy ITALIAN Concert

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EZIO PINZA CONCERT AD
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1939 four-sided concert advertisement from an Ezio Pinza performance in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
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Ezio Pinza
(May 18, 1892 – May 9, 1957) was an
Italian
opera
singer. A
bass
with a rich, smooth and sonorous voice, he spent 22 seasons at
New York
's
Metropolitan Opera
, appearing in more than 750 performances of 50 operas. At the San Francisco Opera, Pinza sang 26 roles during 20 seasons from 1927 to 1948. Pinza also sang to great acclaim at
La Scala
,
Milan
and at the
Royal Opera House
,
Covent Garden
,
London
.
After retiring from the Met in 1948, Pinza enjoyed a fresh career on
Broadway
in musical theatre, most notably in
South Pacific
. He also appeared in several
Hollywood
films.
Biography
[
edit
]
Early years
[
edit
]
Pinza, christened
Fortunio Pinza
,
[
1
]
was born in modest circumstances in
Rome
in 1892 and grew up on Italy's east coast, in the ancient city of
Ravenna
. He studied singing at
Bologna
's Conservatorio Martini, making his operatic debut in 1914, as Oroveso in
Norma
at
Cremona
.
Ezio Pinza (left) jokes with comedian
Jimmy Durante
as Pinza leaves his imprints at
Grauman's Chinese Theater
in
Los Angeles
, 1953.
As a young man, Pinza was a devotee of bicycle racing. He also undertook four years of military service during
World War I
, prior to resuming his operatic career in Rome in 1919. He was then invited to sing at Italy's foremost opera house,
La Scala
, Milan, making his début there in February 1922. At La Scala, under the direction of the brilliant and exacting principal conductor
Arturo Toscanini
, Pinza's career blossomed during the course of the next few seasons. He became a popular favourite of critics and audiences due to the high quality of his singing and the attractiveness of his stage presence.
Pinza never learned to read music. He learned all his music by ear.
[
2
]
Lacking academic musical training, Pinza was unable to sight-read a musical score. However, he would listen to his part played on the piano and then sing it accurately. Pinza succeeded the great Italian basses Francesco Navarini and Vittorio Arimondi, both of whom enjoyed international opera careers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and
Nazzareno De Angelis
, who arrived on the scene in the early 1900s. Another of his eminent predecessors in the Italian operatic repertoire was the Spaniard Jose Mardones, who had appeared regularly with the Boston and Met companies between 1909 and 1926.
Tancredi Pasero
, whose vibrant voice sounded remarkably similar to Pinza's, was his chief contemporary rival among Italian-born basses. Pasero, however, lacked Pinza's magnetic personality.
[
citation needed
]
Success in the opera world
[
edit
]
Pinza's Metropolitan Opera debut occurred in November 1926 in
Spontini's
La vestale
, with famed American soprano
Rosa Ponselle
in the title role. In 1929, he sang
Don Giovanni
, a role with which he was subsequently to become closely identified. He subsequently added the
Mozart
roles
Figaro
(in 1940) and
Sarastro
(in 1942) to his repertoire, a vast number of Italian operatic roles of
Bellini
,
Donizetti
, and
Verdi
, and
Mussorgsky
's
Boris Godunov
(sung in Italian). Apart from the Met, Pinza appeared at the
Royal Opera House
,
Covent Garden
, in 1930-1939, and was invited to sing at the
Salzburg Festival
in 1934-1937 by the celebrated German conductor
Bruno Walter
.
Pinza sang once again under the baton of Toscanini in 1935, this time with the
New York Philharmonic Orchestra
, as the bass soloist in performances of
Beethoven
's
Missa Solemnis
. One of these performances was broadcast by
CBS
and preserved on
transcription discs
; this recording has been issued on LPs and CDs. He also sang in Toscanini's February 6, 1938,
NBC Symphony Orchestra
's broadcast performance of Beethoven's
Ninth Symphony
.
[
3
]
These performances both took place in
Carnegie Hall
. In March 1942 he was arrested and detained 3 months on Ellis Island with hundreds of other
Italian-Americans
who were suspected of supporting the Axis.
[
4
]
Pinza retired from the Metropolitan Opera in 1948. He had sung opposite many celebrated singers at the Met during his heyday. They included, among others, such international stars as
Amelita Galli-Curci
,
Rosa Ponselle
,
Elisabeth Rethberg
,
Giovanni Martinelli
,
Beniamino Gigli
,
Lawrence Tibbett
,
Giuseppe De Luca
, and
Salvatore Baccaloni
. The Metropolitan Opera honored Pinza by dedicating all the water fountains at the new
Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center)
to him.
[
5
]
Before his retirement from opera, his repertoire consisted of some 95 classical roles.
Later years and death
[
edit
]
After his Met farewell, he embarked on a second career in Broadway
musicals
. In April 1949, he appeared in
Rodgers and Hammerstein
's
South Pacific
, originating the role of French Planter Emil de Becque, and his operatic-style, highly expressive performance of the hit song "
Some Enchanted Evening
" made him a matinée idol and a national celebrity. In 1950, he received a
Tony Award
for best lead actor in a musical.
Pinza became a member of
Westchester Country Club
in
Rye, New York
, and lived in a private house adjacent to the fifth golf hole of the South Course. In 1953, he had his own short-lived
NBC
situation comedy
on TV,
Bonino
, in which he appeared as a recently widowed Italian-American opera singer trying to rear six children. Two of the children were portrayed by
Van Dyke Parks
and
Chet Allen
, who had also been with the
American Boychoir
.
Mary Wickes
appeared on
Bonino
as the bossy housekeeper. Then, in 1954, he appeared in the Broadway production of
Fanny
opposite
Florence Henderson
. On March 28, 1954, Pinza appeared with Henderson in the TV special
General Foods 25th Anniversary Show: A Salute to Rodgers and Hammerstein
which was broadcast on all four American TV networks of the time.
The grave of Ezio Pinza
Pinza died on May 9, 1957, of a stroke at the age of 64 in
Stamford, Connecticut
. His funeral was held at the
Cathedral of St. John the Divine
in New York City.
[
6
]
He is interred at
Putnam Cemetery
, in
Greenwich
, Connecticut. Shortly before his death, Pinza completed his memoirs, which were published in 1958 by
Rinehart & Company
. Photos taken during his career, as well as images of his family, were included in the book.
[
7
]
Movies and television
[
edit
]
Pinza appeared in several films, beginning with 1947's
Carnegie Hall
, which featured a number of famous classical singers, musicians, conductors, and the
New York Philharmonic Orchestra
. He received a film contract from
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
and appeared in
Mr. Imperium
with
Lana Turner
and
Strictly Dishonorable
, both released in 1951. His final big-screen appearance was in 1953's
Tonight We Sing
, playing the famous Russian bass
Feodor Chaliapin
in a movie biography of impresario
Sol Hurok
. During this movie, Pinza sings a portion of Mussorgsky's
Boris Godunov
in the original Russian. A recording of his singing
Anema e core
is heard in the 1980 film
The Blues Brothers
playing on the radio in the scene where Jake and Elwood visit Mrs Tarantino.
Pinza hosted his own television musical program during 1951, which for a time alternated with
The RCA Victor Show Starring Dennis Day
, later named
The Dennis Day Show
. Pinza continued to make appearances on American television until 1955.
[
8
]
He appeared on NBC's
The Martha Raye Show
.
[
citation needed
]
Recordings
[
edit
]
Pinza recorded extensively for
HMV
and the
Victor Talking Machine Company
/
RCA Victor
during his prime in the 1920s and 1930s. These 78-rpm discs consist largely of individual operatic arias and some ensemble pieces (plus a complete
Verdi Requiem
conducted by
Carlo Sabajno
in 1927, and another with
Tullio Serafin
in 1939). They are prized by music critics and general listeners alike for the exceptional beauty of voice and the fine musicianship that Pinza displays on them. Today, they are available on many CD reissues.
As late as 1953, Pinza was still committing arias to disc, although his voice was now in obvious decline. Previously, in the mid-1940s, he had made a few 78-rpm albums for
Columbia Records
that have been re-released on CD. He occasionally recorded popular songs and was featured on Columbia's original cast recording of
South Pacific
with
Mary Martin
, which was sold on both LP and 78-rpm discs. This recording has been digitally remastered from the original magnetic tapes by
Sony
and reissued on CD. Pinza can also be heard on the
RCA Victor
original cast album of
Fanny
, recorded in 1954.
[
9
]
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