Before the Three Tenors were the Three Tenors and took centre stage there were three other great singers Mario del Monaco, Franco Corelli and Giuseppe di Stefano who dominated the opera stages around the world in the 40s and 50s. They were all thrilling singers, all good looking and charismatic and, if at times they lacked subtlety, they gave their all and their performances were never less than 100%.
Out of these three my favourite was Giuseppe di Stefano and I was saddened to hear that he has just died aged 86. He sang many times with Maria Callas on stage and in the the recording studio and I learned my opera when I was in my early teens by listening to a series of recordings of the great Italian operas with di Stefano, Callas and more often than not, my other favourite opera singer, Tito Gobbi. Di Stefano had a superb voice with a terrific top register and exemplary phrasing.
Di Stefano began his career as a lyric tenor and sang roles such as Nemorino in L'eslisir d'amore and Des Grieux in Massenet's Manon. He moved onto the heavier roles such as Don Jose, Cararadossii, Don Jose and Chenier and gradually his vocal production began to suffer. He was a generous artist who gave his all so that by the time he was in his mid-forties his voice was badly damaged and his career was coming to an end.
Di Stefano was an outgoing character who delighted in his fame and was not renowned for his self discipline. He enjoyed life off the stage as well as on, "Yes I smoked a lot, and it's true I used to gamble and sometimes drove around all night". He sang in Britain on only a few occasions and his first Covent Garden appearance came as late as 1961 when his voice was already in decline. He sang only once more in the House, as Rodolfo in La Boheme in 1963 when he had to be replaced by, wait for it, the then little-known Luciana Pavarotti.
Out of all the recordings I own of my favourite operas the one that I treasure the most is the legendary recording of Tosca with di Stefano as Cavaradossi, Callas as Tosca and Tito Gobbi as Scarpia. What a dream team. This combination of three fantastic opera singers at the peak of their powers resulted in a recoding that is still the bench mark for all aspiring performers of this opera. Over 50 years old and still simply stunning.
Di Stefano persuaded Callas to join him on an ill judged tour in the 1970s, a tape of which is in my video collection. Their careers were over, their vocal health was poor but of course they packed the audiences in at every venue they played, their names alone drawing in the crowds. It was sad in many ways to watch and listen to, it was a venture they should never have undertaken, but I remember one duet from Cavalleria Rusticana where he, as Turridu was going to face a challenge from his love rival which he knew would end in his death, and he was pleading with his mother Callas, to look after Santuzza the woman he had seduced and wronged. The intensity and focus of the performance from both of them was overwhelming and, suddenly, out of the joint wreckage that was their voices they produced singing of sudden beauty, vanishing almost as it started but for those brief moments, reducing the audience, including me at home, to sudden tears as we caught a glimpse of what had been.
Giuseppe di Stefano was one of the great tenors and if he had been wiser and husbanded his resources more carefully his career would have been prolonged, but perhaps it might not have been quite so exciting.
He died in his home north of Milan having never fully recovered from injuries he received when attacked on holiday in Kenya in 2004. He was hit on the head while trying to defend his wife from robbers who were attempting to steal her necklace. After emergency surgery he was flown home still in a coma and never fully recovered.
Di Stefano is the last in that great triumvirate who taught me to love opera, he, Callas and Gobbi and these three will always have a place in my affections for showing me the joy of this greatest of all the arts.
