Gino Bechi

Gino Bechi ( born October 16, 1913 in Florence, † February 2, 1993 ) was an Italian singer (baritone ) and actor.

Life

Bechi began to study at the Istituto Industriale, but was discovered by Vito Frazzi as a singer of the vocal range baritone and presented in La Traviata. His clear voice led to immediate recognition and numerous engagements. Besides opera work but Bechi was also fond of light music and has published numerous songs that were great successes. The film industry took notice; from 1943 turned Bechi regularly well-equipped and expertly staged films that showed him in sympathetic and jovial roles. One example is his debut, the sentimental comedy with lots of music Fuga a due voci, in which Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia directed. After the war Bechi was, inter alia, Alessandro Stradella as seen in the dramatized biopic Amanti in fuga and comedy Signorinella. In all his films he gave both arias as entertainment songs for the best. By the early 1950s he concentrated with a few exceptions back on stage and on recordings.

In his opera work his Verdi interpretations have become known; Bechi was considered a leading interpreter of Verdi of his best time. After his debut in Empoli Bechi was also involved in a number of world premieres; so in 1939 Lodovico Rocca's Monte Ivnor or Don Juan de Manara by Franco Alfano. His repertoire included not only Verdi baritone roles Rossini, and Richard Strauss. To mark the reopening of La Scala in 1946 Bechi was heard in Nabucco. In 1950, on the occasion of his first visit to England after the war, confirmed the critics, however, deficits. He regularly was heard at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (1938-1952) and La Scala in Milan ( 1939-1953 ). In the 1950s, performances have taken him to San Francisco, Chicago, Lisbon, Buenos Aires and Cairo. In 1965 he gave up his career and taught singing in his hometown.

Filmography (selection)

Discography

  • Cavalleria rusticana, with Lina Bruna Rasa, Beniamino Gigli, conductor Pietro Mascagni - EMI 1940
  • Andrea Chénier, Beniamino Gigli, Maria Caniglia, conductor Oliviero De Fabritiis - EMI 1941
  • Un ballo in maschera, Beniamino Gigli, Maria Caniglia, conductor Tullio Serafin - EMI 1943
  • Aida, with Maria Caniglia, Beniamino Gigli, Ebe Stignani, conductor Tullio Serafin - EMI 1946
  • Carmen, with levels Stignani, Beniamino Giglli, Rina Gigli, conductor Vincenzo Bellezza - EMI 1949
  • Nabucco, with Maria Callas, Luciano Neroni, Gino Sinimberghi, conductor Vittorio Gui - live recording 1949 Naples ed. Cetra / melodrama / Urania / GOP
  • Otello, with Ramón Vinay, Renata Tebaldi, conductor Gabriele Santini - Lievaufnahme Naples 1952 ed Bongiovanni
  • Il Barbiere di Siviglia, with Cesare Valletti, Dora Gatta, conductor Victor De Sabata - Lievaufnahme La Scala 1952 ed GOP / Memories / Urania
  • Il Barbiere di Siviglia, with Victoria de los Angeles, Nicola Monti, conductor Tullio Serafin - HMV 1952
  • La Traviata, with Anna Moffo, Franco Boni Olli, conductor Bruno Bartoletti - Euro Disc 1966
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