Everyone has an opinion about this tenor. When he was younger, he sang lyric tenor roles. As he got older, however, he took on heavier roles. While he was young enough, his voice had incredible high notes, with the squello that Italians are so famous for. He also had beautiful legato.
However, his voice began to show signs of having pushed too much, and in his later years, he doesn’t sound good at all.
I have posted three arias that he sang when he was young enough to still remain impressive. There are many stories about Bonisolli that indicate that he was not rational. But, you know, to stay in the opera business, you have to be a little crazy. The story that I will leave you with is that he caused a major scandal in 1978 when, after throwing his prop sword at the conductor Herbert von Karajan, he furiously left the stage just before the famous cabaletta “Di quella pira” during a public dress rehearsal of Il trovatore at the Vienna State Opera.
Massenet, Manon, “Ah! Fuyez douce image”
Je suis seul! Seul enfin!
C’est le moment suprême!
Il n’est plus rien que j’aime
que le repos sacré que m’apporte la foi!
Oui, j’ai voulu mettre Dieu même
entre le monde et moi !
Ah! fuyez, douce image, à mon âme trop chère;
respectez un repos cruellement gagné,
et songez si j’ai bu dans une voupe amère.
que mon cœur l’emplirait de ce qu’il a saigné!
Ah! fuyez! fuyez! loin de moi!
Que m’importe la vie et ce semblant de gloire?
Je ne veux que chasser du fond de ma mémoire…
Un nom maudit! … ce nom … qui m’obsède, et pourquoi?
Mon Dieu!
De votre flamme
purifiez mon âme…
Et dissipez à sa lueur
l’ombre qui passe encor dans le fond de mon cœur!…
Ah! fuyez, douce image, à mon âme trop chère!
Ah fuyez! fuyez! loin de moi! etc.
Massenet, Manon, “Ah! Vanish sweet memory”
I am alone! At last alone!
It is the supreme moment!
There is nothing more that I love
except the sacred calm that my faith brings me.
Yes, I have sought to place God himself
between the world and me.
Ah! Vanish sweet memory too dear to my heart;
respect a calm won through much suffering,
and remember that if I have tasted of a bitter cup,
my heart could fill it full with the blood it has shed!
Ah! Vanish, vanish, go far from me!
Life itself and sham glory mean nothing to me.
I want only to expel from the depths of my memory…
A cursed name!… this name… which obsesses me, and why?
My God!
With Your fire
purify my soul!
and by its light dispel
the shadow that still lurks in the depths of my heart!
Ah! Vanish, sweet memory, too dear to my heart.
Vanish, vanish, go far away from me! etc.
Puccini, La Bohème, “Che gelida manina!”
Che gelida manina!
Se la lasci riscaldar.
Cercar che giova?
Al buio non si trova.
Ma per fortuna
è una notte di luna,
e qui la luna l’abbiamo vicina.
Aspetti, signorina,
le dirò con due parole chi son,
chi son, e che faccio, come vivo.
Vuole?
(Mimì tace.)
Chi son? Chi son? Sono un poeta.
Che cosa faccio? Scrivo.
E come vivo? Vivo.
In povertà mia lieta
scialo da gran signore
rime ed inni d’amore.
Per sogni e per chimere
e per castelli in aria
l’anima ho milionaria.
Talor dal mio forziere
ruban tutti i gioielli
due ladri: gli occhi belli.
V’entrar con voi pur ora
ed i miei sogni usati,
ed i bei sogni miei
tosto si dileguar!
Ma il furto non m’accora
poiché, poiché v’ha preso stanza
la speranza.
Or che mi conoscete
parlate voi. Deh parlate.
Chi siete? Vi piaccia dir?
Puccini, La Bohème, “How cold your little hand is”
How cold your little hand is!
Let me warm it for you.
What’s the use of searching?
We’ll never find it in the dark.
But luckily
there’s a moon,
and she’s our neighbour here.
Just wait, my dear young lady,
and meanwhile I’ll tell you
in a word who and what I am.
Shall I?
(Mimì is silent.)
Who am I? I’m a poet.
My business? Writing.
How do I live? I live.
In my happy poverty
I squander like a prince
my poems and songs of love.
In hopes and dreams
and castles-in-the-air,
I’m a millionaire in spirit.
But sometimes my strong-box
is robbed of all its jewels
by two thieves: a pair of pretty eyes.
They came in now with you
and all my lovely dreams,
my dreams of the past,
were soon stolen away.
But the theft doesn’t upset me,
since the empty place was filled
with hope.
Now that you know me,
it’s your turn to speak.
Who are you? Will you tell me?
Rossini, Guglielmo Tell, “O muto asil”
ARNOLDO
Non mi lasciare, o speme di vendetta.
Guglielmo è fra catene, ed impaziente
Io di pugnar ora l’istante affretto.
In questo dolce asilo… qual silenzio!
Andiamo… io non ascolto
Che il suono de’ miei passi. . . Oh! vada in bando
Il segreto terror… entriam…
(fermandosi dopo aver fatto alcuni passi per penetrare nelle stanze interne)
Oh Dio!
Sul limitar malgrado mio m’arresto…
Fu spento il padre mio e in vita io resto!
O muto asil del pianto
Dov’io sortiva il dì:
Ieri felice… ahi, quanto!
Oggi fatal così!
Invano il padre io chiamo:
Egli non m’ode più.
Fuggir quel tetto io bramo
Che caro un dì mi fu.
VOCI DI DENTRO
Vendetta!!
ARNOLDO
Oh mia speranza!
D’allarme io sento i voti!
Son essi i miei più fidi;
Chi mai li guida a me?
CORO
Guglielmo è prigioniero
E ognun di ferro è privo.
Di farlo salvo
È in noi desir.
Armi vogliamo,
Per lui morir.
CORO
Ad armarci, su, corriam
Ad armarci, su, voliam.
ARNOLDO
Dal pianto omai si resti;
L’ira al pensier si desti
Di mia fatalità.
Su chi mio padre ha spento,
E del mio ben mi priva,
La morte scenderà.
CORO
Non temere, no, t’affida,
Già sul reo la morte sta.
ARNOLDO
Corriam, voliam, s’affretti
Lo scempio di quel vile
Che su noi trionfò.
Sì, vendetta dell’empio facciamo:
Il sentiero additarvi saprò.
Ah! venite; delusa la speme
Renderem di chi vili ne brama.
Gloria, onore, vendetta ci chiama,
E Guglielmo per noi non morrà.
Rossini, William Tell, “O silent asylum”
ARNOLDO
Don’t leave me, oh hope of revenge.
Guglielmo is in chains and impatient
I hurry to attack the moment now.
In this sweet asylum… what silence!
Come… I’m not listening
That the sound of my steps. . . Oh! let the secret terror
Be banished… let’s enter…
(stopping after taking a few steps to enter the interior rooms)
Oh God!
On the edge, despite myself, I stop…
My father was killed and I remain alive!
O silent asylum of tears
From where I left on the day:
Happy yesterday… Ai, how much!
Fatal like this, today!
In vain I call my father:
He doesn’t hear me anymore.
I long to escape that roof
That was one day to me so dear.
VOICES FROM INSIDE
Vengence!
ARNOLDO
Oh my hope!
I hear the vows in warnings!
They are my most faithful;
Which ever leads them to me?
CHOIR
William is a prisoner
And everyone is devoid of arms.
To make him safe
It is in us desire.
We want weapons,
To die for him.
CHOIR
To arm ourselves, come on, let’s run
To arm ourselves, let’s fly.
ARNOLDO
Let us stop from crying now;
Anger awakens at the thought
Of my fate.
From whom my father perished,
And it deprived me of my loved one,
Death will come.
CHOIR
Don’t be afraid, no, trust yourself,
Death is already upon the criminal.
ARNOLDO
Let’s run, let’s fly, hurry
The massacre of that coward
Who triumphed over us.
Yes, let us take revenge on the wicked:
I know the path to show you.
Ah! come; hope disappointed
We will account for all those cowards who crave it.
Glory, honor, vengeance calls us,
And William shall not die for us.
Franco Bonisolli
May 25 1937 – October 30 2003
Franco Bonisolli fitted all too unerringly the stereotype of an Italian tenor, being – at least in the later part of his career – unpredictable and egocentric. He loved to hold on to his top notes until the last possible moment and to strike attitudes in his portrayals. These eccentricities detracted from his obvious gifts as a singer, with a clear tenor that was both strong and attractive.
Indeed, at the start of his career, none of the future faults were in evidence. He made his mark as an Alfredo in La Traviata that was elegant, both from a vocal and dramatic standpoint. He sang the part in his American debut at San Diego Opera, with Monserrat Caballé as his Violetta, in 1965, then again in a 1966 film opposite the moving Violetta of Anna Moffo, and then – in his first British appearance – at Scottish Opera in 1969.
Bonisolli, who was born at Rovereto, began his career at the Spoleto Festival in 1961, as Ruggero in Puccini’s seldom-performed La Rondine. He returned the following year as the Prince in Prokofiev’s The Love Of Three Oranges. These appearances led to engagements in various Italian houses, culminating in the role of Cleomene in Rossini’s Siege Of Corinth at his La Scala debut in 1969. His roles at this time included Rodolfo, Nemorino and the Duke of Mantua.
He made his first appearance at the Vienna State Opera in 1968 and with the San Francisco Opera the following year, both well received. He went on to be admired at his debut with the Metropolitan in New York, in 1971, as Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere Di Siviglia, returning there as Alfredo, Faust and the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto.
In the mid-1970s he moved from lyrical roles to a heavier repertory. He became a sought-after interpreter of Manrico in Il Trovatore, the title part of the poet-revolutionary in Giordano’s Andrea Chénier, Calaf in Turandot and Canio in Pagliacci, eventually singing the great Verdi role, Otello.
It was about this time that his antics began to get the better of him. Manrico’s Di Quella Pira has an unwritten, but customarily sung high C at its conclusion. Bonisolli habitually hung on to the note until the last possible moment. On one occasion he actually missed it altogether; undaunted he came before the curtain at the end of the scene, and delivered the note on its own.
On another occasion during a public rehearsal of the same opera at the Vienna State Opera, he became infuriated by something and threw his sword into the pit, much to the consternation of Herbert Von Karajan, who was conducting. Naturally enough he did not sing the performances, being replaced by Placido Domingo.
He did not appear at Covent Garden until 1981, when he was Vasco da Gama in Meyerbeer’s epic work, L’Africaine. He returned as Calaf in Turandot. He also sang that part and Don José in Carmen on the Royal Opera’s Far Eastern tour in 1985. There was one more Calaf in 1987 at Covent Garden.
By that time his career was past its peak, although he continued to sing intermittently in various centers throughout the 1990s.