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Mattia Battistini

King of Baritones and Baritone of Kings

Jacques Chuilon - Translated by Thomas E. Glasow - Foreword by Thomas Hampson - Other Liza Mrosovsky-Shaw

Mattia Battistini (1856-1928) is considered by many to be among the finest examples of the bel canto singing style. His unique vocal abilities and strong stage personality made him the most famous singer of his time, with a career spanning nearly 50 years in the most revered opera venues in Europe. Mattia Battistini: King of Baritones and Baritone of Kings covers the singer's entire career, from his first performance in Rome in 1878 to his final concert 50 years later.

Jacques Chuilon analyzes Battistini's principle roles, recordings, and vocal technique, accessing a rich collection of reviews from the time to show Battistini's relationship with and influence on the day's top composers, such as Wagner, Verdi, and Massenet, even going into detail on how Massenet rewrote his music especially for Battistini's voice. Through this important research, Chuilon offers a fresh portrayal of this unique and inspiring, yet often misrepresented, individual.

Mattia Battistini: King of Baritones and Baritone of Kings also contains an informative postscript by Battistini's granddaughter, as well as the most complete list ever compiled of Battistini's performances around the world, an impressive selection of photographs, a discography, and a 90-minute CD, re-mastered to reveal the full splendor of Battistini's magnificent voice as nearly as possible. It is an unmatched reference for teachers, students, professional musicians, and singers, as well as the casual opera lover.
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  • Author
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  • Reviews
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Scarecrow Press
Pages: 456 • Trim: 6½ x 9⅜
978-0-8108-6144-2 • Hardback /CD-ROM • April 2009 • $152.00 • (£117.00)
978-0-8108-6727-7 • eBook • April 2009 • $144.00 • (£111.00)
Subjects: Music / Genres & Styles / Opera, Music / Individual Composer & Musician
Jacques Chuilon has published articles in Opera Quarterly and Opera International, and is the author of Opéra Opinions (1994) and La voix qui chante (1998).

E. Thomas Glasow was an author and opera critic for Opera News and was editor-in-chief of Opera Quarterly from 1998 until his death in 2004. He has translated several titles into English, including Olivier Messaien: Music and Color: Conversations with Claude Samuel (1994), and Daniele Pistone's Nineteenth-Century Italian Opera (1995).
Such an easily-accessible and wide-ranging account of Battistini's and his colleagues' performances of his hitherto almost-unknown life away from the stage, and the background to his recordings is certain to be of great interest to his many admirers....The accompanying CD presents a well-chosen survey of the recordings made over its subject's entire recording career, 1902-1924.
— Michael E. Henstock


Author Chuilon covers Battistini's career in astounding detail....vociferous advocacy of a singing titan is hardly a crime, especially when it is backed up by so much excellent research and knowledgeable commentary by both the author and others.
— Joe Pearce


This book is indispensable for all singers and lovers of the "lost" bel canto tradition. In this biography of one of the consummate masters of singing, Mattia Battistini, Chuilon has lovingly collected every possible piece of information about this "glory of Italy," analyzed it, sorted it, and now in this English version, made it possible for a new generation of opera lovers to understand how this singer was so important to the success of Verdi and Massenet, to Wagner and Saint-Saëns, among so many others. The restored musical excerpts on the enclosed CD, and the thorough analysis of Battistini's vocal technique and career, make it a valuable reference work, and a source of inspiration musically and aesthetically.
— Thomas Hampson, baritone, founder of the Hampsong Foundation, and collaborator on Leonard Bernstein's final Mahler recording


• Winner, Finalist for the 2010 ARSC Award for Excellence_Best Historical Research in Recorded Classical Music

Mattia Battistini

King of Baritones and Baritone of Kings

Cover Image
Hardback
eBook
Summary
Summary
  • Mattia Battistini (1856-1928) is considered by many to be among the finest examples of the bel canto singing style. His unique vocal abilities and strong stage personality made him the most famous singer of his time, with a career spanning nearly 50 years in the most revered opera venues in Europe. Mattia Battistini: King of Baritones and Baritone of Kings covers the singer's entire career, from his first performance in Rome in 1878 to his final concert 50 years later.

    Jacques Chuilon analyzes Battistini's principle roles, recordings, and vocal technique, accessing a rich collection of reviews from the time to show Battistini's relationship with and influence on the day's top composers, such as Wagner, Verdi, and Massenet, even going into detail on how Massenet rewrote his music especially for Battistini's voice. Through this important research, Chuilon offers a fresh portrayal of this unique and inspiring, yet often misrepresented, individual.

    Mattia Battistini: King of Baritones and Baritone of Kings also contains an informative postscript by Battistini's granddaughter, as well as the most complete list ever compiled of Battistini's performances around the world, an impressive selection of photographs, a discography, and a 90-minute CD, re-mastered to reveal the full splendor of Battistini's magnificent voice as nearly as possible. It is an unmatched reference for teachers, students, professional musicians, and singers, as well as the casual opera lover.
Details
Details
  • Scarecrow Press
    Pages: 456 • Trim: 6½ x 9⅜
    978-0-8108-6144-2 • Hardback /CD-ROM • April 2009 • $152.00 • (£117.00)
    978-0-8108-6727-7 • eBook • April 2009 • $144.00 • (£111.00)
    Subjects: Music / Genres & Styles / Opera, Music / Individual Composer & Musician
Author
Author
  • Jacques Chuilon has published articles in Opera Quarterly and Opera International, and is the author of Opéra Opinions (1994) and La voix qui chante (1998).

    E. Thomas Glasow was an author and opera critic for Opera News and was editor-in-chief of Opera Quarterly from 1998 until his death in 2004. He has translated several titles into English, including Olivier Messaien: Music and Color: Conversations with Claude Samuel (1994), and Daniele Pistone's Nineteenth-Century Italian Opera (1995).
Reviews
Reviews
  • Such an easily-accessible and wide-ranging account of Battistini's and his colleagues' performances of his hitherto almost-unknown life away from the stage, and the background to his recordings is certain to be of great interest to his many admirers....The accompanying CD presents a well-chosen survey of the recordings made over its subject's entire recording career, 1902-1924.
    — Michael E. Henstock


    Author Chuilon covers Battistini's career in astounding detail....vociferous advocacy of a singing titan is hardly a crime, especially when it is backed up by so much excellent research and knowledgeable commentary by both the author and others.
    — Joe Pearce


    This book is indispensable for all singers and lovers of the "lost" bel canto tradition. In this biography of one of the consummate masters of singing, Mattia Battistini, Chuilon has lovingly collected every possible piece of information about this "glory of Italy," analyzed it, sorted it, and now in this English version, made it possible for a new generation of opera lovers to understand how this singer was so important to the success of Verdi and Massenet, to Wagner and Saint-Saëns, among so many others. The restored musical excerpts on the enclosed CD, and the thorough analysis of Battistini's vocal technique and career, make it a valuable reference work, and a source of inspiration musically and aesthetically.
    — Thomas Hampson, baritone, founder of the Hampsong Foundation, and collaborator on Leonard Bernstein's final Mahler recording


Awards
Awards
  • • Winner, Finalist for the 2010 ARSC Award for Excellence_Best Historical Research in Recorded Classical Music

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