Editing Franco Corelli (section)

==Biography==

===Early life and education: 1921–1950===
Corelli was born Dario Franco Corelli in [[Ancona]] into a family some say had little or no musical background.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/30/arts/franco-corelli-italian-tenor-power-charisma-pillar-met-dies-82.html?scp=4&sq=Franco%20Corelli&st=cse| title=Franco Corelli, Italian Tenor of Power and Charisma, and Pillar of the Met, Dies at 82| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| first=Anthony| last=Tommasini| date=30 October 2003| access-date=16 May 2009}}</ref> While his parents were not particularly musical, his paternal grandfather Augusto had actually quit working at 35 to establish a successful career as an operatic tenor.<ref>{{cite book| first=Rene| last=Seghers| title=Franco Corelli, Prince of Tenors| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Omb44pjpl4C&q=augusto| publisher=Hal Leonard Corp| year=2008| page=3| isbn=978-1-5746-7163-6}}</ref> His older brother Aldo subsequently quit school to become an operatic baritone, and two of his uncles sang in the [[Music of Marche|Teatro delle Muse]] chorus in Ancona.<ref>Seghers, p. 11.</ref> His father was a shipbuilder for the [[Italian Navy]] and the family lived beside the [[Adriatic Sea]].<ref name="Opera News"/> Corelli loved the sea and initially decided to follow in the footsteps of his father by pursuing a degree in [[Naval architecture|naval engineering]] at the [[University of Bologna]]. While studying there he entered a music competition under the dare of a friend who was an amateur singer. While he did not win the competition, he was encouraged by the judges to pursue a singing career and Corelli entered the [[Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Gioachino Rossini"|Pesaro Conservatory of Music]] to study opera.<ref name="NYT"/>

At the conservatory, Corelli studied under [[Rita Pavoni]], but was unhappy with the results, saying these lessons basically destroyed his upper register. After this Corelli decided to become his own teacher, and referred to voice teachers as "dangerous people" and a "plague to singers".<ref name="NYT"/>  Corelli stated that he learned part of his technique from a friend who was a student of [[Arturo Melocchi]], the voice teacher who taught [[Mario Del Monaco]], and who advocated a technique based on singing with the [[larynx]] lowered.<ref name="Opera News 2">{{cite journal| last=Zucker| first=Stephan| title=Corelli: tenore del mondo| journal=Opera News| date=3 February 1996}}</ref> Corelli studied with Melocchi himself only "sometimes".<ref name="Opera News 2"/>  Corelli modified the technique to avoid limitations that Corelli perceived in the ability of students of Melocchi to handle mezza-voce (moderate volume) and [[legato]] (smooth) singing. He carefully studied the career of Del Monaco, who preceded Corelli into the first rank of Italian tenors using the lowered-larynx technique, and who was sometimes criticized for lacking subtlety in his singing. Corelli stated: "I ultimately modified the method so that my larynx 'floats'—I do not keep it lowered to the maximum at all times."<ref name="Opera News 2"/>  Corelli also learned by imitating the style and vocal effects of the recordings of great tenors like [[Enrico Caruso]], [[Giacomo Lauri-Volpi]], [[Aureliano Pertile]], and [[Beniamino Gigli]].<ref name="NYT"/> ''[[Opera News]]'' stated that Corelli's lowered-larynx technique "resulted in [a] cavernous sound even in high-flying passages, where it gained brilliance. Regulating the breath pressure, the tenor was able to reduce this sound while retaining the core of the voice in a [[Dynamics (music)#Gradual changes|diminuendo]], or even a [[Dynamics (music)|morendo]] on a high B-flat, the effect requested by Verdi at the end of 'Celeste Aida'."<ref name="Opera News"/>

===Early career: 1951–1960===
In the summer of 1951, Corelli won the [[Maggio Musicale Fiorentino]] in [[Florence]], earning a debut at [[Spoleto]] the following fall. He was originally scheduled to sing Radames in [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s ''[[Aida|Aïda]]'' and spent three months preparing the role with conductor [[Giuseppe Bertelli]]. However, Corelli eventually switched to Don José in Bizet's ''[[Carmen]]'', feeling that at this point he lacked the technical finesse and legato for the role of Radamès.<ref name="NYT"/> In May 1952, he made his debut at the [[Teatro dell'Opera di Roma|Rome Opera]] as Maurizio in ''[[Adriana Lecouvreur]]'' opposite [[Maria Caniglia]] as Adriana.<ref name="oper">{{cite web| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108175339/http://hamilton.francocorelli.nl/fc/fc0.pdf| archive-date=8 January 2018| title=Franco Corelli Performance Annals 1951–1981| url=http://hamilton.francocorelli.nl/fc/fc0.pdf| editor-first=Frank| editor-last=Hamilton| website=FrankHamilton}}</ref> The same year he appeared in operas with smaller opera houses throughout Italy and on the Italian radio. In 1953 he joined the Rome Opera's roster of principal tenors where he spent much of his time performing through 1958.<ref name="oper"/> His first role with the company in 1953 was that of Romeo in [[Riccardo Zandonai|Zandonai]]'s rarely heard opera ''[[Giulietta e Romeo (Zandonai)|Giulietta e Romeo]]''.<ref name="NYT"/> Later that season he sang Pollione in Bellini's ''[[Norma (opera)|Norma]]'' opposite [[Maria Callas]] in the title role. It was the first time the two sang opposite one another and Callas immediately became an admirer of Corelli. The two performed frequently with each other over the next several years in a partnership that lasted to the end of Callas's career.<ref name="Opera News"/>

While singing at the Rome Opera, Corelli also made numerous appearances with other opera houses both in Italy and internationally. He made his first appearance at [[La Scala]] in Milan in 1954, as Licinio in [[Gaspare Spontini|Spontini]]'s ''[[La vestale (Spontini)|La vestale]]'' opposite Callas's Giulia for the opening of the 1954–1955 season. He returned several more times to that house over the next five years, singing opposite Callas in productions of ''[[Fedora (opera)|Fedora]]'' (1956), ''[[Il pirata]]'' (1958) and ''[[Poliuto]]'' (1960).<ref name="Opera News"/> He also notably portrayed the role of Dick Johnson in a highly celebrated performance of ''[[La fanciulla del West]]'' at La Scala in 1956, opposite [[Gigliola Frazzoni]] and [[Tito Gobbi]], which was broadcast live on Italian radio.<ref name="Opera News"/> Other important debuts for Corelli soon followed, including his first appearances at: the [[Maggio Musicale Fiorentino]] in Florence and the [[Arena di Verona Festival]] in 1955; the [[Vienna State Opera]], as [[Aida|Radamès]], and the [[Royal Opera House]], [[Covent Garden]], in London, as [[Tosca|Cavaradossi]], in 1957;<ref name="Opera News"/> the [[Teatro Nacional de São Carlos]] in Lisbon, the [[Lyric Opera of Chicago]] and the [[San Francisco Opera]] in 1958; and the [[Berlin State Opera]] in 1961. Among the many triumphs of the decade for Corelli were two highly celebrated performances at the [[Teatro di San Carlo]] in [[Naples]], a 1958 appearance as Don Alvaro in ''[[La forza del destino]]'' opposite another one of his frequent collaborators, [[Renata Tebaldi]] as Leonora and a 1959 performance of Maurizio in ''[[Adriana Lecouvreur]]'' opposite [[Magda Olivero]] in the title role.<ref name="Opera News"/>

During his early career, Corelli sang in a number of rare operas in which he triumphed including performances of [[Gaspare Spontini|Spontini]]'s ''[[Agnes von Hohenstaufen]]'' in its Italian version, Agnese di Hohenstaufen, [[George Frideric Handel|Handel]]'s ''[[Giulio Cesare]]'' and ''[[Hercules (Handel)|Hercules]]'', Prokofiev's ''[[War and Peace (Prokofiev)|War and Peace]]'', and the world premiere of Guido Guerrini's ''Enea''.<ref name="Opera News"/> By 1960 his active repertory included some 30 roles including the title role in [[Umberto Giordano|Giordano]]'s ''[[Andrea Chénier]]'', Turiddu in [[Pietro Mascagni|Mascagni]]'s ''[[Cavalleria rusticana]]'', Rodolfo in Puccini's ''[[La bohème]]'', and the title roles in Verdi's ''[[Don Carlo]]'' and ''[[Ernani]]''.<ref name="NYT"/>

In 1957, Corelli met soprano Loretta di Lelio when she came backstage after one of his performances at the [[Teatro dell'Opera di Roma|Rome Opera House]] to get his autograph. They began seeing each other romantically and married in 1958. After their marriage, Loretta gave up her fledgling opera career to serve as her husband's business manager, secretary, public relations agent, cook, and English translator. Their marriage endured until Corelli's death forty-five years later.<ref name="NYT"/>

===The Metropolitan Opera years: 1961–1975===
Corelli made his debut at [[New York City|New York]]'s [[Metropolitan Opera]] on 27 January 1961 as Manrico in ''[[Il trovatore]],'' opposite soprano [[Leontyne Price]] as Leonora who was also making her house debut at the Met that evening.<ref name="Opera News"/> He would sing to great acclaim at the Met until 1974 in roles such as [[Turandot|Calaf]] (with [[Birgit Nilsson]] as [[Turandot]]), [[Tosca|Cavaradossi]], [[Adriana Lecouvreur|Maurizio]], [[Ernani]], [[La bohème|Rodolfo]] and [[Lucia di Lammermoor|Edgardo]]. He also undertook French parts in new productions of ''[[Roméo et Juliette]]'' and ''[[Werther]]''. He sang at a number of historic nights at the Met including: the closing gala at the old Met, the concert honoring Sir [[Rudolf Bing]]'s retirement, and Callas's legendary comeback Tosca.<ref name="Opera News"/>  His last performance at the Met was on 28 December 1974 as Calàf with [[Ingrid Bjoner]], also singing her last performance at the Met, as Turandot. However, Corelli did tour extensively with the Metropolitan Opera in 1975, singing in performances in cities throughout the United States and in Japan.<ref>[http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/frame.htm] {{dead link|date=April 2025}}</ref>

While singing at the Met, Corelli continued to be a presence on the international stage. In 1961 he made his debut with the [[Deutsche Oper Berlin]]. He returned to La Scala in 1962, for a revival of [[Giacomo Meyerbeer|Meyerbeer]]'s ''[[Les Huguenots]]'', opposite [[Joan Sutherland]], and that same year appeared as Manrico in a lauded production of ''Il trovatore'' at the [[Salzburg Festival]] under [[Herbert von Karajan]] and opposite Leontyne Price, [[Giulietta Simionato]], and [[Ettore Bastianini]].<ref name="Opera News"/> Also in 1962 he made his first appearance with the [[Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company]] as Mario Cavaradossi. He returned to Philadelphia almost every year through 1971 portraying close to a dozen different roles.<ref>[[Free Library of Philadelphia]]: ''Box: Phila. Lyric Opera Company'': 782.1 P5326p Bal Two [1968–1975]</ref> He made his debut at the [[Palais Garnier|Paris Opéra]] in 1964 opposite Callas in Tosca and Norma. He also earned high acclaim while collaborating with the Italian-American conductor [[Alfredo Antonini]] in several gala concerts in New York during the mid 1960s.<ref>The New York Times, 6 December 1964, p. 114</ref><ref>The New York Times, 14 November 1965, p. 101</ref>

In the early 1970s, Corelli's voice began to show some signs of wear after years of hard use in a demanding repertory. As a result, the resultant nerves surrounding performances became increasingly difficult to handle for the tenor. He made his last opera appearance as Rodolfo in 1976 in [[Torre del Lago]] at the age of 55.<ref name="Opera News"/> Corelli later said of the decision, "I felt that my voice was a little tired, a little opaque, less brilliant than before. The singer's life cost me a great deal. I was full of apprehension and mad at everyone. I was a bundle of nerves, I wasn't eating or sleeping."<ref name="NYT"/>

===Later life: 1976–2003===
After retiring from the stage, Corelli became a popular voice teacher in New York City, somewhat ironic for a man who himself disdained voice teachers for much of his life.<ref name="Opera News"/><ref>{{cite news| author-link=William H. Honan| last=Honan| first=William H.| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE6DA1131F93BA25752C0A965958260&pagewanted=all| title=The Stuff of Musical Myth Turns Up in the Flesh| newspaper=The New York Times| date=18 January 1993| page=C11| url-access=subscription| access-date=31 October 2021}}</ref> He was briefly coaxed out of retirement for concerts in 1980 and 1981.<ref name="Opera News"/> He died in [[Milan]] 29 October 2003, aged 82, after suffering a stroke earlier that year, and was buried in Milan's [[Cimitero Monumentale di Milano|Cimitero Monumentale]].

===Critical reception===
With a rich and ringing [[Tenor#Spinto|spinto tenor]] voice and movie-star good looks, Corelli won a wide public following from early on his career. However, while the public was enthralled with the tenor, music critics were divided, with some complaining about what they perceived as self-indulgence of phrasing and expression. During the 1960s the anti-Corelli sentiment was epitomized by [[Alan Rich]] of ''[[The New York Herald Tribune]]'' in a 1966 article which, while acknowledged the vibrancy and white heat of his singing, considered Corelli a throwback. Rich said that Corelli is "not employed by an opera, but employs it to serve purposes it was not meant to serve."<ref name="NYT"/> Also, many critics did not look favourably on his performances in French opera, owing to the tenor's exotic French diction and style.<ref name="Opera News"/> However, Corelli also had his admirers among several highly respected and notable critics, including [[Harold C. Schonberg]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'', who once defended the expressive liberties taken by Corelli saying that his performance possessed "its own kind of logic".<ref name="NYT"/>