Ramón Vinay
Ramón Vinay Mario Francisco Sepúlveda ( born August 31, 1911 in Chillán, Chile, † January 4, 1996 in Puebla, Mexico) was a Chilean operatic tenor.
Origin
Vinay's father had emigrated from France to Chile, Mexico and Peru, and his mother was Italian. The parents were married in 1907, Vinay was the third of four children.
The father was forced during a business trip to France in 1914 to fight in the French army as a soldier in the First World War. However, he deserted in 1917 and returned to Chile, where in the meantime his wife had passed away. After the French government had guaranteed him amnesty, he returned in 1920 with his children back to Digne in France, where Ramón Vinay completed his education.
Against the wishes of his father, he emigrated in 1928 to Mexico, where he first worked for the company of his grandmother's family, and a little later with a brother founded a factory for the production of medicines boxes.
Vocal training and debut
From about 1930 Vinay took singing lessons with José Pieson which several Mexican singer had formed, such as Alfonso Ortiz Tirado, Juan Arvizu, Pedro Vargas and Jorge Negrete. Although Vinay sang during this training time bass-parts, he made his debut on 16 September 1931 in the baritone role of Don Alfonso in Donizetti's La Favorita at the Teatro de las Bellas Artes in Mexico City. Then Vinay occurred for several years in the Mexican broadcasting.
From 1938 Vinay sang again at the Teatro de las Bellas Artes, until 1944, he expanded his repertoire, including the title role in Verdi's Rigoletto, Tonio in Pagliacci and Germont in La Traviata.
Change of subject and career
After a change of subject to tenor made his debut in 1943 as Don José in Georges Bizet's opera Carmen. The following year he made her first appearance in the title role of Verdi's Otello. Then he sang roles such as Samson ( Samson et Dalila), Cavaradossi ( Tosca ) and Des Grieux (Manon Lescaut ).
Other important positions and debuts:
- Don José ( Carmen ), Metropolitan Opera House, New York ( 1946)
- Otello ( Otello ), Florence 1947
- Otello ( Otello ), La Scala, Milan 1947
- Otello ( Otello ), Metropolitan Opera House, New York ( 1948)
- Otello ( Otello ), Royal Opera House Covent Garden, London (1950 )
- Radames ( Aida ), Metropolitan Opera House, New York ( 1950)
- Tristan ( Tristan und Isolde ), Bayreuth Festival (1952 )
- Siegmund ( Die Walküre ), Bayreuth Festival (1953 )
- Parsifal ( Parsifal ), Bayreuth Festival (1953 )
- Tannhäuser ( Tannhäuser ), Bayreuth Festival (1954 )
- Herod ( Salome ), Metropolitan Opera ( 1954/1955 )
- Tannhäuser ( Tannhäuser ), Metropolitan Opera ( 1955).
1946 to 1962 he appeared in tenor roles at the Metropolitan Opera, from 1952 to 1957 on the Bayreuth Festival.
Renewed trade exchange
From 1957 Vinay took almost exclusively parts of the German hero compartment, in March 1962 he sang his last tenor part, the Herod in "Salome" at the Metropolitan Opera. A few months later he was back as a baritone on stage: He sang the Telramund ( Lohengrin ) in Bayreuth.
It was followed by appearances as Scarpia ( Tosca ), Iago ( Otello ), Dutch ( The Flying Dutchman ), Nerone (L' Incoronazione di Poppea ), Germont, Amonasro ( Aida ), Dr. Schön ( Lulu ), Falstaff, Gianni Schicchi, Michele ( Il tabarro ), Escamillo ( Carmen ), Belcore, Kurvenal ( Tristan und Isolde ), Marcello (La Bohème ) and Tonio ( Pagliacci ).
Vinay also sang some bass parts, but so was less successful: Basilio ( The Barber of Seville ), Varlaam ( Boris Godunov ), Wotan ( Das Rheingold ), Commendatore ( Don Giovanni) and the Grand Inquisitor ( Don Carlos ).
End of career
His farewell performance was Ramón Vinay on September 22, 1969, at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago in Verdi's ' Otello '', where he appeared in the first two acts in the baritone role of Iago in the third and fourth act in the tenor role of Otello. By the year 1974, which he definitely gave up his career, he still sang some performances in the USA and some recitals.
Movies
Vinay appeared in two films: Fantasia Ranchera (1943) and Sinfonia de una Vida.
Private
Vinay married in 1940 los Angeles Padilla Brondo the Mexican María de, with whom he has the children Elvira and Ramón Jr.. Already in 1945 he left his wife to the soprano Lushanya Mobley († 1990) to live together.
After her death, the family tried to explain Vinay under age, and took him to different sanatoriums in the U.S., where he among other things, was treated with electroshock therapy.
His children from his first marriage eventually brought him to her to Mexico, where he died on 4 January 1996 of a heart attack.
His remains were brought on behalf of the Government of Chile to Santiago, where Vinay was honored with a memorial ceremony at the Teatro Municipal. Ramón Vinay was buried in the cemetery of Chillán, his grave is near the tomb of the Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau. .
Recordings and effect
Vinay is known in particular for four legendary interpretations: Otello (Verdi) under the direction of Arturo Toscanini (1947 ); Tristan under the direction of Herbert von Karajan (1951 ) and Siegmund and Parsifal, conducted by Clemens Krauss ( 1953). This last, live resulting recording, however, testifies next to the power and energy of his voice, even from his great effort with the German language.
Ramón Vinay applies for his musicianship and his enormous stage presence alongside Jon Vickers and Mario del Monaco as "the" Otello of the 20th century.
Clips
Conductor: Clemens Krauss; Bayreuth Festspielhaus, 1953
- (MP3, 835 kB) Richard Wagner, Die Walküre Act 2: " Woe Woe Sweetest woman! "
Conductor: Clemens Krauss; Bayreuth Festspielhaus, 1953
- (MP3, 1.3 MB) Richard Wagner Lohengrin Act 2: " Arise, my comrade shame! " (as Telramund )
Conductor: Wolfgang Sawallisch; Bayreuth Festspielhaus, 1962
- (MP3, 1.1 MB) Richard Wagner Lohengrin Act 2: "You wild seer " (as Telramund )
Conductor: Wolfgang Sawallisch; Bayreuth Festspielhaus, 1962