Tajo as "Mephistopheles" in Gounod's Faust
Following T.S Eliot's advice to "only connect", I write to reach back to my mentors and connect them to you. Last week I attempted to connect you to Sir Anthony Quayle, and today I salute Italo Tajo.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines mentoring as:
The act or process of helping and giving advice to a younger or less experienced person, especially in a job or at school.
Biographical information is from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Italo Tajo (April 25, 1915 – March 28, 1993) was an Italian operatic bass, particularly acclaimed for his Mozart and Rossini roles.
Tajo was born in Pinerolo, Piedmont, Italy and studied violin and voice at the Music Conservatory of Turin. He made his stage debut in 1935, as Fafner (Das Rheingold), under Fritz Busch. At Busch's invitation, he followed him to Glyndebourne, where he became a member of the chorus, also appearing in comprimario roles.
In 1939, he returned to Italy, where he became a member of the Rome Opera, in 1942 taking part in the Italian premiere of Berg's Wozzeck. In 1940, he joined the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, where he sang regularly until 1956. He appeared with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in 1942, as Leporello in Don Giovanni, a role he would sing numerous times during his career.
The war over, his career quickly took an international turn, with debuts in Paris, London, Edinburgh and Buenos Aires. In 1946, he made his debut at the Chicago Opera Company, and 1948 saw his debut at both the San Francisco Opera and Metropolitan Opera in New York (Don Basilio in The Barber of Seville, with Giuseppe Valdengo); his other roles at the Met included Figaro, Leporello, Don Basilio, Dulcamara, Don Pasquale and Gianni Schicchi.
Although he made a specialty of comic roles, he sang a fair number of dramatic roles, notably Verdi's Attila and Banco, and Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov. In 1957, he replaced Ezio Pinza in the role of Emile de Becque in the musical South Pacific on Broadway, later also appearing in Kiss Me, Kate.
In 1966, he began teaching at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, where he was largely responsible for the establishment of an opera workshop. He continued singing until well into his seventies, mostly at the Metropolitan Opera in character roles such as Geronte, Benoit, Alcindoro, and the Sacristan. His last stage appearance was at the Met as the Sacristan in Tosca in 1991.
Tajo made relatively few recordings, the most famous being the acclaimed 1950 RCA Victor Rigoletto, with Leonard Warren, Erna Berger and Jan Peerce, conducted by Renato Cellini. Tajo can be heard in live broadcasts of Macbeth, opposite Maria Callas, conducted by Victor de Sabata.
Tajo died in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1993, at the age of 77.
In 1980, Loretta and I began exploring where we wanted to complete our formal musical education. Our decision would be based upon three principle criteria: 1) reputation of the school; 2) reputation of a voice teacher; and 3) scholarship money offered. It is safe to say that two of the leading schools known for their opera programs at that time were Indiana University, and Tajo’s opera program at the University of Cincinnati College/Conservatory of Music. We auditioned at Cincinnati and Loretta was offered full tuition and a scholarship and I was offered a teaching assistantship with a work stipend. We proudly chose Cincinnati. We quickly discovered that we were surrounded by a cohort of very talented singers under the tutelage of Italo Tajo.
Tajo was a warm, patient teacher. He had come to Cincinnati to build a program where he could share his knowledge of the great operatic traditions that he had learned from Italian conductors and directors.
Tajo as "Don Basilio" in Rossini's "The Barber of Seville"
On one very memorable occasion, Tajo was late to his “Opera Characterization” class (he was always very punctual and did not tolerate tardiness) so the class sat patiently awaiting the entrance of the master teacher. When he arrived, we knew by his demeanor that he was angry. He marched to the front of the class and exclaimed, “I’m a giant among midgets” in a commanding Italian accent. We later found out that he had just left a contentious faculty meeting where the funding of his program was being questioned. In the years that followed, Tajo proved that he was indeed a “giant”.
During my year of residency at CCM, Tajo directed Verdi’s Falstaff. I had been employed to sing the role of “Spoletta” in Puccini’s Tosca in Nashville during the performance dates for Falstaff, and therefore, couldn't be cast in a singing role in Tajo's production. I asked Tajo if I could work as an assistant director (gofer) for the production. He agreed, and I was able to sit at the director’s table during the rehearsals and observe Tajo’s staging. He was a Master teacher/director and that experience was one of the highlights of my doctoral study. I learned many things from him, but two items stand out in my memory: 1) look first to the music for information about staging; 2) techniques for building a stage character. Later, I was involved in two different productions of Falstaff (stage director for one, and producer for another). I was delighted to be able to share with my students stage techniques that I had learned from Tajo.
photo from a production of Falstaff at The Ohio State University in 2012 (Scott Parry, stage director; C. Patrick Woliver, producer)
photo from a production of Falstaff at Austin Peay State University (C. Patrick Woliver, stage director & conductor; Kevin Helppie in the role of Falstaff)
photo from a production of Falstaff at Austin Peay State University (C. Patrick Woliver, stage director & conductor)
I saw Tajo perform two roles at the Metropolitan Opera: “Pistol” in Falstaff, and his final performance at the Met as “The Sacristan” in Puccini’s Tosca. Following the Tosca performance, he invited me backstage to his dressing room. It was a very poignant moment for him to share with me his feelings about the end of a very successful operatic career.
I salute a GIANT.
Tajo as "The Sacristan" in Puccini's Tosca
CPW
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