Francesco Albanese | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1912-08-13)13 August 1912 Torre del Greco,Naples, Kingdom of Italy |
| Died | 11 June 2005(2005-06-11) (aged 92) Rome, Italy |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Occupation | Operatictenor |
| Years active | 1940–2005 |
Francesco Albanese (13 August 1912 – 11 June 2005) was alyric tenor, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.
Albanese studied in Rome with Francesco Salfi, and made his stage debut in 1940, at theTeatro dell'Opera di Roma, as Evandre inGluck'sAlceste, where he remained until 1942, also singingAlmaviva,Fenton,Rinuccio.
In 1942, he made his debut atLa Fenice in Venice, asRamiro, at theMaggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, asDon Ottavio, and at theTeatro alla Scala in Milan, as Fenton.
After the war, he began appearing abroad, notably at theTeatro Nacional de São Carlos inLisbon, theRoyal Opera House inLondon, theTeatro Colón inBuenos Aires, and theHungarian Opera House inBudapest.
His roles included; Nemorino inL'elisir d'amore, Jeník inBedřich Smetana'sLa sposa venduta, Ernesto inDon Pasquale, Ismaele inNabucco, Faust inFaust, Rodolfo inLa bohème, Giuliano inGustave Charpentier'sLuisa, Wolfgang Capito inPaul Hindemith'sMathis il pintore, Avito inItalo Montemezzi'sL'amore dei tre re, Giasone inLuigi Cherubini'sMedea, Pilade inChristoph Willibald Gluck'sIphigénie en Tauride and Rinaldo inGioachino Rossini'sArmida, etc.
Albanese had a fine, well-schooled voice. He can be heard on record inArmida (1952),La traviata (1953) andIphigénie en Tauride (1957), in each of these oppositeMaria Callas.
