Editing Franco Corelli (section)

===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"/>