Born in Milan in 1923
and largely self-taught Cesare Siepi
started his operatic career extremely
early, singing Sparafucile in Rigoletto
in 1941. As an opponent of the fascist
regime he had to flee his country. He
spent the war years in Switzerland but
immediately after the war he returned
and quickly established himself at La
Fenice and La Scala. In 1950 Rudolf
Bing brought him to the Metropolitan
Opera. His debut there was as Philip
II in Don Carlo and he also sang
Mephistofele in Faust that first
season. A live recording from that year,
with Jussi Björling as Faust, was
released on Naxos a couple of years
ago (review).
He remained at the MET until 1974 but
continued singing elsewhere for another
decade. I remember hearing him in a
broadcast recital well into the 1980s
with the glorious voice still in good
shape.
The recordings on this
well-filled disc are all from his earliest
years and they must have been sensational
when they appeared. What we hear is
apparently no beginner but an authoritative
worldclass mastersinger with deep insight
and perfect vocal control. If there
is anything at all that might reveal
his age – the earliest sides (tr. 3-5)
are from July 1947 when he was 24 –
it is a slight unsteadiness on the lowest
notes. A couple of years later his tone
was rock-steady all through the register.
The Verdi arias are
all superb with a warm O tu, Palermo
and a mature and gripping reading of
Philip II’s monologue from Don Carlo
standing out. Alviso’s aria from La
Gioconda is another high spot. He
sings the aria from La sonnambula
with melting tone.
Don Giovanni was of
course his most famous role and there
are two commercial recordings on Decca,
one with Josef Krips, the other with
Erich Leinsdorf. Quite recently the
Royal Opera House Covent Garden issued
on their own label a live recording
from the Zefirelli – Solti production
in 1962 (review)
– a set that is worth seeking out. It
is good to have what I assume is his
earliest recording of the Serenade,
showing that he was a fully fledged
seducer even by then (tr. 10). The recording
date is not known but the catalogue
number shows that it must be from the
same period.
Like his fellow bass
Ruggiero Raimondi, Siepi was also drawn
to Neapolitan songs, normally regarded
as tenor repertoire, but hearing a good
bass in such songs is just as attractive
and Siepi makes the most of them. My
personal favourite is the honeyed reading
of Brogei’s Visione Veneziana
(tr. 17).
There have been few
better basses around during the last
sixty years and hearing Cesare Siepi
in his mature youth is a treat indeed.
Göran Forsling